Ptino feeling the pressure

[Gregory Hurst <gh18@juno.com>]

SALT LAKE CITY - As his reeling Celtics embark on a six-game Western 
swing that could not have come at a worse time, Rick Pitino said 
yesterday he is undeterred by the heat that hovers above him.



He stated flatly he is not looking for a way out of Boston, but added 
that if he was fired he would look to stay in the NBA.

``I'm not going anywhere,'' Pitino said after the Celts practiced in 
Utah to start the post-All-Star break schedule. ``I'm not quitting. Heat 
to me is something that can be deserved or undeserved depending on your 
perception of it, but I'm not walking out any doors.

`(Celtics owner) Paul (Gaston) someday may say, `I really think we 
should make a move.' Then I say, `Thank you Boston, but I'm going on to 
my next professional team.'

``I don't want to leave the NBA. If it is me that someday moves on, I'll 
try to find something else. I came here - back to professional 
basketball - to win an NBA championship. And if it can't be Boston, then 
I've got to try somewhere else obviously.''


Pitino said he is largely unaware that Celtics fans are growing a bit 
restless with a team that too often doesn't seem to play to its 
capabilities.

``The heat I have no problem with, because I don't pay any attention to 
it at all,'' he said. ``I don't read it. I don't listen to it. My son 
down at Georgetown called and asked me what was going on. I said, 
`Chris, we've got to have a rule in our family. You don't read the 
newspapers at all. In good times don't read them, and in bad times don't 
read them.'

``I'm sure Pete Carroll went through it, I'm sure Red Sox managers have 
gone through it, I'm sure the Bruins' coach is going through it. Any 
time you lose, that's part of professional sports today. But I can't pay 
attention to the heat because I can't determine my fate.''


When it was noted that he could easily negotiate a buyout of his Celtics 
deal (three more years as coach at nearly $7 million per, and four more 
years after that in the front office at $2 million per), Pitino said, 
``That's not me to do something like that 2 years into a major 
rebuilding process.

``Look, I could get very upset back and act in a very negative way. Why 
are we different than Denver, the Clippers, Vancouver and all these 
teams? They started the same time I did. The why is, they say, `You 
turned around every other place; you should turn around this place.' 
Well, this is the NBA. I cannot turn it around with a magic wand in the 
NBA. It needs an accumulation of talent and getting better. And we are 
improving. We are playing competitively with Portland, Miami, the 
Pacers. We're not winning because we're not physically talented enough 
at the defensive end to win.

``I think what people have a short memory with is a year and a half or 
two years ago, they were a non-competitive 15-win team with terrible, 
terrible contracts. And now we are a competitive team.


``That's the hand I was dealt. If we had (Tim) Duncan right now, we'd be 
kicking ass. But we don't.

`Look, anybody can get fired. But if people want to say it is my fault 
we're not there because of my eternal optimism of trying to make the 
playoffs, then good. I'm going to be overly optimistic at every job I 
have, and I'm going to be optimistic next year. . . . There are still 
some things we have to do, but I know this is going to be a good team.''


One he hopes can survive the opportunities to break apart during a 
brutal trip

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