Re: Peter May On Fortson & Blount

[bird <bird@pixi.com>]

Thanks, Joe, for the Lucid Post of the Month.

>From: Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>
>
>Pitino says a lot of things. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he said before the
>lockout that his contract with Gaston allows him to sign any player for
>under 14 million per year without the approval of the owner.

You're not wrong.  But he's also said he needs to stay within a few 
million of the cap + exceptions.  He's also said the team needs to be 
run fiscally responsibly.  He's also said they couldn't afford 
Mercer.  As you say, he's said a lot of things, most of them 
contradictory.  Either Pitino and Gaston aren't really clear on what 
the budget really is, or they are and they're not letting on what it 
is.  Or, even more likely, Gaston's an owner who wants to make as 
much money as possible while fielding a reasonably decent team, 
mostly because he knows that that increases profits, and Pitino wants 
the freedom to spend money on players, both because he knows you 
gotta pay to play in the NBA, and also because it isn't his money.

>To put Peter May's "staggering" $47 million in context, for one thing it
>isn't in the top ten of team payrolls. Being above the artificially low
>salary cap is not an abberation or case of lousy management.

Just another case of Peter May trying to spin statistics in order to 
perpetuate his agenda of Pitino- and Walker-bashing.  I think either 
May literally hates these guys' guts or he knows that this kind of 
conflict sells papers.  It's amazing what kind of behaviors some 
people will manifest for attention.

>In the end, the thing that is "staggering" is that Gaston hasn't already
>sold the team that dad gave him to people like Bird (3rd highest team
>payroll last year) who are willing to compete for championships. I say
>Gaston should quit kidding around about being overbudget and quit the game.

Yup.  Much as some folks would quail at the thought of an finacially 
unfettered Pitino running around (and there's a lot to feel that way 
about -- one envisions two or three more Wallah-like signings ... or 
worse), he might have a better chance of making those big blockbuster 
trades we keep hearing about, or fielding a team more to his liking. 
Then again, a new owner might install his own coach/GM, and although 
I'll give the current management one more chance, no one would mind 
that too much, I don't think, especially if we can get some former 
Celtic family member back into the fold.

>1) Can Pitino's defense ever work at the NBA level, especially now that
>every opponent is used to it? [...] From the rest of the league's
>perspective, familiarity just breeds contempt of the Boston defense.

It can work.  It can cause some teams to turn the ball over.  It can 
cause tired teams to mentally give in the game.   It also may not 
work against veteran teams that can pass the ball, as nothing breaks 
a press quicker than five guys on the court who know how to find the 
open man.  As someone mentioned, it's not the press so much as the 
half-court traps.  The press can work fine -- if players are willing 
to get back on halfcourt D if/when it is broken.  That's when the 
Celts give up layups, which is murder for any fan watching.  But the 
halfcourt traps are what kills us.  The C's end up with some sort of 
hellish Kenny Anderson-on-Karl Malone kind of matchup, or good teams 
just find the open man under the hoop.

The press itself is kind of like a haymaker in boxing: it can put the 
other guy away, but if not executed properly, it can leave you very 
open to the counterattack.  If you're not going to do it right, it's 
best you keep that out of your arsenal.  (The press is more "chicken 
outbreak" and the traps are more "headless monkey" to put it in terms 
I think we're all familiar with.)

>2) Can Pitino actually coach any talented athlete to make intelligent
>(Celtic-like) decisions on the court and not jack up bad shots or show zero
>signs of improvement or understanding as the seasons unfold? Pitino
>basically has a blank canvas in the talented Moiso. I dread to see his
>development mirror that of Walker, Mashburn, Mercer,Waltah etc.

I don't know.  And it's a good question.  No Celtic has made a marked 
improvement in his game since Pitino arrived.  That's not to say they 
haven't improved, to be fair (KA's defense, Walker's free throws, V's 
jumper, Pierce's inside game), but we need a much more substantial 
amount of improvement from these guys, and the other players, too 
(maybe mostly Battie), if improvement is going to translate to wins.

I wonder if it's not "the system."  Guys come down the court, throw 
up the three without even so much as a "by-your-leave," and we're 
back to playing headless monkey defense again. You don't win games 
that way.  What I mean to say is that this seems fine to Pitino, all 
in accordance with "the system" that dictates (seemingly) that any 
open Celtic take the long shot, whether there be 20 seconds or two 
seconds on the shot clock.  Isn't it the coach's job to rein in 
behavior like this?

>Once the
>season slowly approaches I'll probably go right back to my usual ways of
>predicting 50 wins and the delivery of major cans of whup-ass by Battie and
>Moiso ... .

Atta boy, Joe.

Regards,

Bill

P.S. I'll assert my right to respond to any email posted on the Celts 
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"Way to go schmoe."