Re: today's boston herald

[Dan Forant <dforant1@nycap.rr.com>]

Duuuuuuuhhhhh, it took Pitino 3 years to figure this out? We need someone
quicker on the draw than Pitino.

At 01:31 PM 3/1/00 +0800, you wrote:
>Celtics set to consider new age
>by Steve Bulpett
>Wednesday, March 1, 2000
>As Celtics coach Rick Pitino has continually
>responded to difficult questions about the team by
>stating how young his club is, he has come to the
>realization that he must treat the symptom before
>the patient gets well.
>As noted here during the recent Western trip, the
>Celts will be looking for veteran help this
>offseason.
>``As I research every team - go over with a
>microscope every little thing they do - it all
>boils down to them getting veterans,'' Pitino said
>yesterday, looking at the younger teams that have
>made dramatic improvement. ``If we surrounded Paul
>Pierce with some powerful interior people,
>(Monday) night (Sean) Rooks doesn't get easy
>buckets in crunch time in the low post (in Dallas'
>comeback win).
>``So, yes, we've got to do that because that's how
>Toronto and Philadelphia suddenly went from here
>to here,'' he said, placing his hands from a lower
>to higher position. ``Our dilemma is a little more
>difficult than theirs, but we still have to do
>that, because that's the way to make that jump.''
>Pitino has shuffled the roster a great deal but
>avoided the veteran move to this point.
>``Three years ago, Philadelphia, Toronto and
>Boston were starting at the bottom sort of
>together,'' he said. ``And Toronto and
>Philadelphia have elevated and we have not.
>(Allen) Iverson and (Vince) Carter have had
>phenomenal years, but I think the reason they have
>is they're playing with veterans who really
>understand the game and physically take a big
>burden off of them.
>``(The Raptors) made the decision to go out and
>get (Kevin) Willis and (Charles) Oakley and
>(Antonio) Davis, and Philadelphia added (Toni)
>Kukoc, and they had gotten (Tyrone) Hill and
>(Theo) Ratliff and (Matt) Geiger. Those veterans
>have helped both of those guys because, on an off
>night, those other guys defensively keep their
>teams in the game with their physical play.''
>The dilemma Pitino mentioned earlier involves the
>fact he may have to spend heavily to get a quality
>veteran.
>``Or,'' he said, ``you've got to give up an asset.
>Obviously, I don't ever see the day giving up an
>asset like Paul Pierce, because we've got to keep
>on developing him. But we've got to give up some
>assets to get an asset, whether that be a draft
>pick or I don't know what. But I think that we
>have to do that.
>``We've got to get somebody like an Antonio Davis,
>somebody like a Ratliff - I don't mean those
>players, I mean somebody like that - to physically
>come in and help us out at the defensive end.''
>Antoine Walker noted Philadelphia's key move for
>Kukoc, but said: ``I don't think we're one player
>away from where we have to get. I think we have a
>good nucleus, but we don't have the dominating
>shot blocker. If you look at our other positions,
>we can hold court with anybody in the league. But
>it's difficult to get a dominating center. You
>have to give up a lot to get one and I don't know
>if we have the personnel to get a good center, so
>it's hard to say. You have to try to get it done
>with what you've got now.
>``Having youth with veterans is a great thing,
>because sometimes you can balance it off. Look at
>Toronto. They've got the youth guys doing the bulk
>of the scoring, but they've got the veteran guys
>that are doing the dirty work. And sometimes the
>veteran guys know how to be mentally prepared
>night in and night out.
>``We come to play when we play the big teams. But
>when we play the Chicagos of the world, our mental
>focus ain't there, compared to maybe a veteran
>team that goes out and they won't let a victory
>like that slip away.''
>
>
>Cheaney will chip in
>Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett
>Wednesday, March 1, 2000
>Calbert Cheaney and wife Yvette welcomed their
>first child into the world at 1:05 yesterday
>morning. That means the Celtics will welcome the
>6-foot-7 swingman back into their lineup this
>evening.
>And much like the attending doctor may have given
>9-pound, 4-ounce Julian Alexander a rude
>awakening, so will C's coach Rick Pitino welcome
>his daddy back from a seven-game absence with a
>starting role and the task of guarding Toronto
>superstar Vince Carter.
>Cheaney has been working out diligently, but he
>also has been through an emotional time as he and
>Yvette dealt with the delayed process. The Celtics
>let him stay home from the Western trip when it
>seemed the delivery time was close. Now Cheaney
>has to offer relief to Adrian Griffin, who has
>done well in two matchups against Carter.
>``Adrian's a little tired right now, a little
>banged up,'' said Pitino. ``It looks like he's
>fought a few heavyweight fights.
>``It'll help getting Calbert back, especially at
>the defensive end.''
>Anderson rests
>Kenny Anderson was allowed to sit out yesterday's
>practice after playing 46 minutes in Monday's ugly
>108-100 loss to Dallas during which the Celts blew
>a 20-point, third-quarter lead.
>``I did not do a good job (Monday),'' Pitino said.
>``I played Kenny Anderson way too many minutes. I
>should have gone longer with Doug Overton. The
>problem I have is when Paul Pierce leaves the
>lineup we have a very difficult time scoring
>without Kenny on the floor. But I should have
>gambled. With Paul in the lineup, we're a tough
>offensive basketball team. The moment he leaves,
>we really struggle scoring points.'' . . .
>Vitaly Potapenko had a tooth knocked out during
>yesterday's workout when he took a hit from Pervis
>Ellison.
>Security reports
>FleetCenter security issued a report on the late
>Monday night incident in which reporters were
>allegedly jostled and knocked down while trying to
>get a post-game comment from Dennis Rodman as he
>made his way to the Dallas bus. According to the
>report, the contact made was initiated by
>reporters trying to get past security people to
>Rodman. . . .
>Antoine Walker on the fallout from the loss to the
>Mavericks: ``I mean, we're still playing. Yes,
>it's a disappointing loss, but right now we're at
>the point with 26 games left that we can't afford
>to get down. Our goal was to finish 19-8, so we
>did figure we were giving ourselves eight games to
>lose. . . .
>``Unfortunately, you hate to lose at home and blow
>the type of lead we had. It gets frustrating at
>times, especially at this point in the season. You
>hate to let a 20-point lead go. You can understand
>maybe in the first couple of weeks of the season
>you let one slip away, but now it does get
>frustrating.'
>
>