re: more strategy for the future

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

Some more good analysis from Alex. I agree with your break down off the
options, particularly the distinction between a Chicago style implosion
(where one truly begins from zero) and the rebuilding of the Suns (where
there may be a lot of pieces but they - for whatever reason - just don't
seem to fit together). I have to say that I credit Pitino with the lion's
share of the blame for why our pieces don't fit together better. You're
right to say that Kidd certainly seems like a better building block, but
that benefits from hindsight - could we say so at the time Phoenix obtained
Kidd? (actual question, not rhetorical). The weather in Phoenix is something
we obviously cannot match, hence the need to also get under the cap while
retaining the two players who have shown the greatest aptitude for
improvement (Pierce & Potapenko; I would also argue for Fortson, but that's
my opinion). I think the fans would support the team as long as the team
shows effort, is competitive most nights, shows gradual improvement, and has
a plan for the future. I think that's what most of us were responding to
during Pitino's first year (not his personality). I agree that a Chicago
style implosion, where we just got rid of everyone, would be just too
brutal.

Maybe if we actually saw progress, no matter how slight, we could persevere
under the Indy model. That was my belief before this week. Perhaps we could
do so with a new coach. I don't think we will be given the choice to
persevere if Rick sticks. He is giving every indication that IF the captain
is going to have to go down with the ship THEN he's going to toss everything
of future value overboard first. Who knows, maybe Pitino is trying to rattle
Gaston into paying him off before Pitino sells off the team's future. An
unlikely scenario I admit, but then why announce to the world your future
trade intentions?

Our owner has been willing to shell out some significant $$ but doesn't have
either the will or resources to follow the Portland/Knicks model. That
leaves us with the need for a bold/risky move at some point.  Pierce for
Kandi and Derek A. would certainly qualify. I have my doubts, but at least
such a move would be indicative of an understanding of our long-term
situation. Unfortunately, Rick has yet to demonstrate that he even grasps
our short-term situation.

On another thread: whether the players are tuning Pitino out. Perhaps they
are just taking their lead from the top. Didn't Pitino basically write last
year off because he had no training camp? Likewise this year Pitino seems to
have lost any real interest in coaching (but not yapping ;) - at least since
it became obvious that he won't be able to redeem his playoff pledge. He
seems to coach by numbers most nights, as if our real coach has been
replaced by a Disney automaton - not terribly inspirational. Sure, you can
blame the players if they begin to act as if they share his opinion. And of
course, this could be a chicken/egg sort of thing. But, after all is said
and done, isn't Pitino the coach? Isn't he supposed to be the mature one,
the one providing leadership?

-TomM

> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2000 00:08:30 -0500
> From: Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>
> Subject: More strategy for the future
>
> Building on Tom's posts, there seem to be several options for the future:
>
> 1) Stay with the present core, develop it over several years, and hope
> that it eventually grows into a playoff team, and then a championship
> contender. I'll call this the Indiana approach. They've had Miller,
> Smits, and Davis for basically forever, and struggled through long
> periods of mediocrity before finally having their chance; even so they
> are a marginal contender because their top talent is not All-NBA First
> Team type talent.
>
> 2) Try to stay decent while structuring for massive free agency. I think
> this is what Tom had in mind. I'd call this the Pheonix approach: they
> built around Kidd, a true All-NBA talent, and added some nice pieces
> through free agency and trade - Gugliotta, Penny Hardaway. I'm impressed
> by how they managed this, but they did have Kidd to build around.
> Personally I don't think Pierce is anywhere near as good a player (or
> building block) as Kidd. They also had the "warm weather" advantage.
>
> 3) Blow up the team and try to be bad to get draft picks as well as get
> massively under the cap. This is the Chicago approach. It's a wonderful
> long-term strategy if you can get the fans to not kill you. It seems
> like most championships are the result of superstar players acquired
> in the draft, rather than through trade or free agency, although the
> Lakers and Portland may change that this year.
>
> 4) Try to restructure the team through trades without blowing it up to
> get under the cap. I guess this is the Portland or New York approach.
> It helps to have deep pockets because you can absorb all sort of cap
> trash to get better talent.
>
> One question to ask is: Do the Celtics have the talent on their roster
> to form the core of a championship team, even in the far future? If
> they don't, it's probably not possible to trade for it without taking
> some big risks, since they don't have super-deep pockets to safely buy
> improvement. So if they don't have the talent, and we are really
> hampionship-oriented, then at some point blowing up the team to some
> degree will be necessary.
>
> I guess I'm not advocating any particular approach at this point. I'm
> leaning towards feeling that our talent isn't sufficient to contend
> for a championship yet I don't think we're bad enough to improve through
> the draft without significant luck, like hitting the top 3 in the
> lottery or getting another Pierce type talent around #10. So I guess
> I'm hoping for some sort of bold move during the offseason. Hopefully
> something that involves a athletic center with real size, either through
> trade (I've already mentioned Pierce for Olowokandi and Anderson) or
> the draft, which I know nothing about.
>
> But if Pitino wants to stay with the current core, I'm basically
> willing to give him another year with this core and the addition of a
> draft pick and a middle-class exception player. If he doesn't make
> the playoffs, I think that drastic measures will probably be taken:
> a change in management, or a change in approach to rebuilding again
> the right way.
>
> Alex