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Bob Ryan: C's Don't Look Too Promising
Preach on Brother Bob, but some help may be on the way. Peter Vecsey
reports that the Sixers are thinking about trading Theo Ratliff.
What could the Celtics give up for him?
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
It doesn't look very promising
Despite Pitino's pledge, how much better
can these Celtics be?
By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist, 10/24/99
The folks here in River City are
frettin' a mite. Professor Rick
Pitino said our band instruments are on
the way, but it's been a couple of years
since we gave him our money, and we kinda
thought we'd be blasting out our 76
trombones by now.
He's a promising machine. This year he
promises we're gonna be in the playoffs.
Sounds great. Would be nice. It's sad to
comtemplate, but we're coming up to Year 5
of the FleetCenter and there has yet to be
an NBA playoff game in that building. The
name ''Boston Celtics'' simply doesn't
mean anything to the current generation.
It's just another also-ran team whose
players' names are known outside of Boston
only by certifiable basketball junkies.
Professor Rick says that's about to
change. In the third year of his regime,
we will see some real progress. This will
be the playoff year.
So, as they say these days, let us do the
math. Last year eight Eastern Conference
teams made the playoffs. In order for
Professor Rick's team to make the playoffs
in the spring of 2000, one of those eight
must drop out.
It won't be Indiana. It won't be Miami. It
won't be Atlanta. It won't be
Philadelphia. It won't be New York. It is
not likely to be Milwaukee.
On the plus side, it might be Detroit. The
Pistons don't exactly stir the soul. And
we surely know that the unrecognizable
Orlando Magic will be playing their final
game April 19.
So we have one definite and one possible
vacancy for Professor Rick's team to
occupy. But that's not the whole story.
Charlotte missed the playoffs by one game
last year, and most people believe the
Hornets will be one of the most improved
teams in the league. Anthony Mason is
back, he is very much his old ornery self,
and in Paul Silas he will be playing for a
no-nonsense coach who should be able to
cope with Mase's con games. Give them a
definite slot.
Toronto was in the hunt for a long while,
and there is no reason why the Raptors
won't be better. Washington has a new
coach (Gar Heard) and a new center (Ike
Austin, in great shape), and if Mr. Heard
can deal with the recurring Rod Strickland
attitude problem (he was AWOL again during
the past week), the Wizards might be all
right. The Nets were everyone's chichi
pick last year before injuries ruined
their season and cost John Calipari his
job. If they can manage not to get blitzed
in November and December, they could be
very formidable in the second half.
Finally, there is Cleveland, which should
respond much better to a new coach - any
new coach - than it did to the unyielding
Mike Fratello. If Zydrunas Ilgauskas can
recover from his foot injury, the
Cavaliers will be heard from.
The first preseason publication I picked
up had the Celtics in last place. It
certainly isn't inconceivable, if they
don't play well.
I'm not sure how many people even realize
that Professor Rick promised the playoffs,
anyway, because people have learned to
write down his pronouncements in pencil,
not ink. What he says ordinarily has
meaning only in the very short run. It's
not that he doesn't mean what he says;
it's just that he reserves the right to
change his mind.
He is going to war with a team whose
alleged leader has no true respect in the
league, whose point guard has been skating
by on his exquisite raw talent since he
was 14 years old, and whose center was, in
fact, a backup a year ago at this time.
Professor Rick is once again trying to
sell us Pervis Ellison.
The Nos. 3 and 6 first-round draft picks
of two years ago are long gone. Last
year's No. 1 pick never arrived, thanks to
the Vitaly Potapenko deal. Pitino did make
a truly great pick in 1998 with Paul
Pierce, who already has become the best
player on the team. We will give him that
one.
Aside from that, capriciousness has been
his middle name. He has proclaimed someone
as his ''best point guard'' one day and
buried him the next. He actually said that
Bruce Bowen was ''John Havlicek without a
jump shot.'' There is always the
appearance of constant activity, but so
much of it turns out to be wheel-spinning.
Going from 15 wins to 36 was the easy
part. He took over a nucleus that was
better than its record, and with his
X-and-O capability and his personality, he
pushed the Celtics to a much better
record. Great. But the next step is always
exponentially harder.
This Celtics experience is something very
new to Professor Rick. For the first time
in his coaching career, Year 2 was not
substantially better than Year 1. He is
using the lockout as an excuse, as if the
Celtics were the only team adversely
affected. Fans don't want any more
excuses. Professor Rick has had two years
to put his stamp on the team, and after
two years the only apparent constant in
the Pitino regime is change for change's
sake.
He didn't have to promise the playoffs,
because right now they really aren't the
point. People here are sophisticated
enough to understand that the Celtics
could improve and still miss the playoffs.
What they want is to see a team play
quality basketball. They want to see
Antoine Walker and Kenny Anderson play at
a high, spirited, and intelligent level,
and if they do not see that they will hold
the coach accountable.
Let's be blunt. These two are the key to
everything for the Boston Celtics. Walker
can do things few players his size have
ever done, and Anderson does have some
basic point guard skills. The problem is
that neither has ever made the complete
mental and physical commitment to be the
best individual player he can be, let
alone making the commitment to being the
best team player he can be.
For his $7 million a year, Professor Rick
was supposed be able to bring out the best
in people such as Walker and Anderson.
That's the trouble. He's got his money.
The rest of us here in River City are
still waiting for our instruments.
Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist.
This story ran on page D03 of the Boston
Globe on 10/24/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.