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Re: Michael Holley finally says it.
Folks, say what you will about Holley, but this is 100% correct in every
facet!! No one with any basketball smarts would/could argue that this
column is right on the money.
Troy
----- Original Message -----
From: Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@Dartmouth.EDU>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2000 6:38 AM
Subject: Michael Holley finally says it.
> I've been waiting for someone in the Boston area papers to call Pitino on
> his "brilliant" performance as GM and coach, but May & Co. are too chicken
> to come out and just say that the emperor has no clothes - they prefer
the
> roundabout route. Only Michael Holley is man enough to plainly state
what's
> obvious - that Pitino has failed. I disagree with Holley on the Potapenko
> trade, but at least he's not hiding behind others' quotes and snide
asides.
> (Highly recommended reading for card-carrying members of the Pitino
> personality cult.)
>
>
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/042/sports/It_s_time_for_Celtics_boss_to_c
> onfess+.shtml
>
> It's time for Celtics boss to confess
>
> By Michael Holley, Globe Columnist, 2/11/2000
>
> Rick Pitino should say aloud what he knows to be true. I
> am sure he has
> come close to saying it before. Maybe he has pushed the
> words to the
> edge of his tongue, dared them to leap, and then reeled
them
> back to a place
> of safety.
>
> Hey, Rick. Push them off.
>
> When the president and head coach of the Celtics does that,
> we will have the
> necessary audio for what we already know to be a visual
> wreck. There are so
> many ways to say it.
>
> He can say he has failed.
>
> He can say he is not going to lead the Celtics to the
> playoffs (never mind an
> NBA title) before he leaves Boston.
>
> He can say he has failed.
>
> He can say he has made some crippling moves since becoming
a
> celebrated
> executive and coach in the spring of 1997.
>
> Or he can say he has failed.
>
> I don't think failure is anything to be ashamed of, because
> the experience
> usually makes you better. I have no doubt Pitino will be
> stronger from his
> Boston failure. It's too bad that's not the case for the
> franchise that employs
> him.
>
> Pitino has played Ali to the Celtics' Frazier - ''Down goes
> Frazier!'' - since he
> has been in town. The team's sad 21-28 record at the
> All-Star break,
> following a Pitino playoff guarantee, is merely the public
> face of Pitino's
> behind-the-scenes chaos.
>
> To his credit, Pitino almost acknowledged his failure to
PBS
> talk show host
> Charlie Rose during a program that aired Wednesday night.
> Rose asked
> Pitino if he ever had dreams or nightmares about Tim
Duncan.
> This is what
> followed:
>
> Pitino: ''Not nightmares. I think more dreams. I think, if
> you said to me today
> ...''
>
> Rose: ''Yeah?''
>
> Pitino: ''... As much as I love going back to Boston ... If
> you said to me today,
> `Would you leave Kentucky knowing that you would not get
Tim
> Duncan?' I
> probably would say, `No, I would not leave Kentucky.' ...
> Turning this thing
> around to the championship level without Duncan is very
> difficult to imagine.''
>
> Or, he could have said he failed.
>
> I don't consider myself a narcissist, but I wish Rose would
> have invited me to
> join the interview. I would have asked Pitino why he left
> Lexington, even
> though he had less than a coin flip's chance of getting
> Duncan. How many
> people switch jobs because they are banking on a lottery
> that hasn't even
> happened?
>
> The loss of Duncan is not why Pitino has won 42 percent of
> his 181 games
> here. It is not Paul Gaston's fault. It is not Antoine
> Walker's fault. It is not the
> fault of the fans, the fault of the NBA lockout, or the
> fault of M.L. Carr.
>
> Pitino's liberal spending and bad decisions are the major
> reasons the Celtics
> are looking up at, of all teams, the Orlando Magic. It is
as
> if he puts his
> personnel thoughts on a compact disc, slides it into the CD
> player, pushes
> ''Random Play,'' and goes with whatever he gets.
>
> His three-year anniversary doesn't come until May, but
> Pitino has already
> traded away three lottery picks (No. 3, No. 6, No. 8).
> That's three lottery
> picks exchanged for no playoff appearances. Bobby Grier,
Dan
> Duquette,
> and Harry Sinden have presided over playoff teams since
> Pitino has been
> here. But if any of them had done what Pitino has done, the
> commentary
> would be unmerciful. There are volumes of Pitino's words
> which, when put
> together, provide a vivid portrait of his Boston struggles.
>
> ''I have to tell myself to chill out. Antoine and Ron are
> going to be great
> players. They make mistakes, but I have to remember how
> young they
> are. That's when I tell myself to chill out, to settle
down.
> Both of them
> could still be in college.''
>
> He said that about Walker and Mercer in March 1998. A year
> later, he began
> exploring trades for both players. Before sending Mercer to
> the Nuggets last
> summer (in another unsuccessful deal), he traded for center
> Vitaly Potapenko.
>
> This is where talk of a budget becomes humorous. He
overpaid
> Potapenko,
> who was a backup in Cleveland, and tried to get Mercer on a
> discount. If he
> hadn't traded for the center, he would have had the cash to
> sign Mercer, and
> he also would have been able to keep his first-round pick.
>
> ''So you don't have to worry about killing me because I'll
> kill me. The
> best bridge to hang from is the BU Bridge.''
>
> He said that in March 1999. He said he would do that if
this
> year's Celtics
> don't make the playoffs. (Rick, let's not take this failure
> thing too far: You ain't
> gonna make the playoffs, but please don't take your life.)
>
> Obviously, the Celtics are not going to make the playoffs.
> They will finish with
> a losing record this year, and it will be the first time in
> Pitino's career that he
> will lead a team to three consecutive losing seasons.
>
> His team will not win now because he still doesn't know how
> to communicate
> with his players. He lurks on the sideline, coaching as if
> he were watching over
> pawns rather than players. Many of the pros who play for
him
> regularly tune
> him out. He complains about his team's lack of defensive
> talent, even though
> he built the team. For three seasons, he has been promising
> a team that will
> defend tenaciously and play unselfishly. He hasn't
delivered
> yet: The Celtics
> allow the highest field goal percentage in the league
(.473).
>
> ''I think when you are young and talented, what you need is
> practice.
> And I am positive that we'll get the necessary practice
time
> and become
> a very good basketball team. I think we have the necessary
> ingredients.''
>
> That was last April. I don't agree that this team has the
> ingredients, but if
> Pitino believes that it does, what does the awful record
say
> for him?
>
> Pitino draws a $7 million annual paycheck from the Celtics,
> and many people
> don't walk away from salaries like that. But I will be
> surprised if he is here
> next year and shocked if he is here in two seasons.
>
> ''Danny is going to get 13 or 14 rebounds a night.''
>
> He said that about Danny Fortson in November. Three months
> later, he
> couldn't find playing time nor money for the ferocious
> rebounder. Fortson
> averaged five rebounds and was dealt to Toronto for
> nondescript point guard
> Alvin Williams.
>
> The spring day Pitino held his FleetCenter press
conference,
> the parquet floor
> was taken out of storage and some of the title banners were
> lowered. Now
> we know they were lowered in half-staff sadness rather than
> joy. Pitino
> arrived. He brought his charisma, savvy, and exciting
system.
>
> The system failed.
>
>
>