pitino's book

["Lance and Christine Gee" <frannieg@mako.com>]

I just finished Pitino's book "Lead to Succeed".  I was surprised that he
had written a book after a mediocre season as opposed to most coaches who
write after they win it all.  Basically the book is really about the
difficulties Pitino has had with the Celtics and how he feels about his time
as Celtics President and Coach.

To be honest with you I think a lot of Pitino because of his obvious
perserverence and refusal to quit.  You can't blame him for taking on the
challenge of the Celtics.  I think he owns up pretty well to the last 2
seasons, stating that the NBA is the heavyweight of basketball - all the
coaches are good, all the players are good.  He even admits that he can do
all the coaching in the world, but if you don't have the talent you are
going to win anything.  He remains steadfast in his confidence as a coach
and the principles of building a winning team.

As farfetched as this may seem, I think the only way for the Celtics to win
is to go heavy after Tim Duncan.  If you are running a great company, what
do you do - you go after the best people you can find.  This is no
different.  In fact now we'll see if Pitino was really worth it because if
he's such a great salesman then he might be able to attract a good free
agent.  All this talk about highest salary and good weather is very
superficial.  Players can come to Boston and play for tradition in a great
city with a lot of history.  If sun and fun is all that a player really
wants, then that player is not a Celtics player.  I think we should give the
team a chance this summer.

Lance Gee
Colusa, CA