RE: Lady and the Tramp

[Dan Parker <danp@town.ipswich.ma.us>]

On Fri, 3 Mar 2000, Jim Meninno wrote:

> So, we are left with a lot of accusations and one unfulfilled demand for an 
> apology.  Interesting.  I would say that if you're going to accuse someone, 
> you should at least show your evidence, not just keep referring to it.

I hold here, in my virtual hand, a list of 57 card carrying members of the
Communist Party...


> Personally, though, it makes no difference to me whether these people are 
> individuals or not.

Me too.  Quite frankly, I don't care if there's only one other member on
the list besides myself and he/she just writes all of these messages under
the dozens of different e-mail addresses.  The list provides
interesting Celtics discussion, and that's all I expect from it.  And if
you think that 'Dan Parker' is somehow more trustworthly or reliable than
'Way of the Ray' on the Internet, you're only fooling yourself.

Celtics Content:

>From: R. Bentz Kirby <bocelts@usit.net>

>This is reality.  WE DO NOT HAVE THE TALENT OR MATURITY TO BE A GOOD
>TEAM.  Coaching is not the problem, at least yet.  You will feel better
>and live longer if you accept this reality.  Repeat after me, Phil
>Jackson could not win with this talent.  Larry Brown could not win with
>this talent.  Pat Riley could not win with this talent.  Larry Bird
>could not win with this talent.
>
>The problem right now is the owner, not the coach.

I could not possible disagree more.  The owner has shelled out $50 million
for the coach, $71 million for his "star", and allowed Rick to take on
some horrible contracts that have killed the Celtics salary cap -- most
notably Anderson and Williams.  Gaston is not willing to throw money away
like water, but he's not a complete tightwad, either.  Furthermore, I've
always believed the Celtics won in the past not by having the highest
payroll or the most talent, but rather by playing smarter, more
team-oriented basketball than any other club out there.  Teamwork makes
scrubs into role-players, role-players into stars, and stars into
superstars.

Pitino had two big jobs to do when he came aboard:  (1) Acquire talent,
and (2) get them to believe they could win.  When he came aboard in New
York, they had #1, and Pitino helped them achieve #2.  With the Celtics, I
think he's done a pretty good job of #1, given the constraints.  I won't
take that away from him.  I look at the team and I think if they play hard
and play to their strengths they are a 40-win team.  But with the Celtics,
Pitino has completely failed in getting them to believe they can win.  I
think this is Phil Jackson's and Larry Bird's strongest talent as a coach.
They command respect, they don't jerk around their players, and they wind
up with players who will run through walls for them.

The Celtics have talent, and I believe any of the coachs you mentioned
above would be doing better than Pitino with it.

Dan