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Mitch Lawerence on Celtics and Pitino ( kind of long)
<A HREF="http://www.nydailynews.com">http://www.nydailynews.com</A>
Beantown Blues
Rick Pitino says his Celtic ride
may be near its end after three seasons
By MITCH LAWRENCE
NY Daily News Sports Writer
BOSTON
o you want to be a multi-millionaire and run one of the most
successful sports franchises ever? Look at what it's done to Rick
Pitino.
Badly in need of a lifeline to make the playoffs, the Celtics
president and coach tried to go after a hometown fan, blew his
cool
in front of the media and was ejected for blowing his cool on the
court, all in the past week.
Who says a $50 million contract buys happiness, or even a .500
record? Not Pitino, whose failure to rebuild the Celtics in his
first three seasons has him talking about stepping down as coach
at
the end of next season.
Rick Pitino lashed out at Celtics fans last Wednesday.
"I'm not going to run away from this challenge," he said after
practice Tuesday. "I've got three options. I can stick this out
and
persevere, which is something I've learned from reading Joe
Torre's
book. He had to wait, what 12, 13 years, before he went to the
Yankees and experienced some success.
"But at the end of next season, I can say, I gave it my best shot
and move on and get somebody else to coach this team. Or, I can
decide to break this team up and rebuild, which I don't see
myself
doing."
Forget about option No. 3. And anyone who knows how Pitino
agonizes
over every loss would also call the "Torre option" highly
unlikely.
So it could boil down to how soon he decides to call it quits.
With
UCLA and Michigan expected to have openings in the near future,
who's to say he won't opt to go for a settlement on the remaining
seven years of his contract (worth $29 million) and take off
after
this season? He certainly won't dismiss that possibility.
"This is the first time that I've failed in my life as a coach,
and
I am failing," he said in his office, which overlooks the Celtics
practice court. Replicas of the team's 16 championship banners
hang
from the gym walls, serving as friendly reminders as to what
Celtics
fans expect from the New York native.
"I think I can go one more year and be realistic and say, 'I'm
not
getting it done,' and go out and hire somebody else. At that
point,
I might have to, to be fair to the ownership and the town.
"This is the first time I'm losing. It's a different feeling for
me,
one I'm not accustomed to. If I could, tomorrow, bring in Larry
Bird
to be the coach here, I would step aside in a second. Because I
think this town loves Larry Bird. Because I think this town would
benefit. It would be very upbeat and very positive. The same goes
for Bill Russell. I'd step aside and maybe be in an executive
role.
But, I don't think any of those people will outwork or outcoach
me.
My ultimate goal is still to be part of a championship on the pro
level. That's why I came here."
The coach of the 1996 national champion Kentucky Wildcats is
still a
long way from delivering. The Celtics, who need a win today at
home
against Orlando to keep their faint playoff hopes alive, aren't
getting any closer to where Red Auerbach will start regularly
lighting up victory cigars.
"We're stuck in the 30s," said Pitino, referring to his team's
victory total. "We're a lot like Denver or New Jersey. We need to
do
something to get over the hump. You look at what your opponents
have
done to get where they are."
He mentions how the Knicks were able to retool on the fly by
getting
Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby in trades.
"Our problem is, we don't have a whole lot of assets to get
something done," he said. "But I'm not down and I'm not
depressed.
Sometimes, yes, it does get frustrating."
Apparently never more than the past two games. On Friday, Pitino
was
ejected for mouthing off to a referee in the third quarter of a
114-104 loss to the Raptors, a loss that dropped the Celtics 11
games under .500 and put them that much closer to their fifth
straight lottery finish.
On Wednesday, the Celtics also lost to the Raptors, this time on
a
last-second shot. But before Vince Carter made the first
game-winning shot of his pro career, a three-pointer at the
buzzer,
Pitino's team missed four foul shots in the final moments.
As the team trudged off the FleetCenter court, a fan yelled, "Why
don't you have them practice their free throws!" Instead of
turning
a deaf ear, Pitino tried to get at the fan. A member of the
team's
security detail, walking beside Pitino, pulled the coach away and
escorted him to the dressing room before anything got out of
hand.
But he still hadn't cooled off when it was time to address the
media. For the first time since he was hired in May 1997, he let
loose.
"All this negativity in this town sucks," he said. "I was around
when Jim Rice was booed. I'd been around when (Carl) Yastrzemski
was
booed, and it stinks. It makes the greatest town, the greatest
city
in the world, lousy. If you think I will succumb to the
negativity,
you are wrong. You've got the wrong guy leading this basketball
team."
The near two-minute diatribe also brought up the Celtics fans'
impatience with the rebuilding, which has been a flop largely
because of Pitino's trades and signings.
"Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans," he said.
"Kevin
McHale is not walking through that door. And Robert Parish is not
walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through
the door, they're going to be gray and old. People need to
realize
that. And as soon as they realize it, the better this will be for
all of us. I wish we had $90 million under the salary cap. I wish
we
could buy the world. We can't. The only thing we can do is work
hard."
Pitino traded away Ron Mercer (l.) because he didn't think
he
could re-sign him, signed Antoine Walker (c.) to a huge
contract and gave up on guard Chauncey Billups after less
than
one season.
And think about what might have been.
Coming off a 15-win season in 1997, the Celtics had two ping-pong
balls in the lottery and Tim Duncan waiting as the grand prize.
But
the blueprints for Pitino's rebuilding went up in flames almost
as
soon as he walked in the door. In the lottery, the Celtics
finished
with the Nos. 3 and 6 picks, hardly where superstars are found.
At No. 3, Pitino drafted Colorado sophomore Chauncey Billups. He
tried to make Billups his point guard, even though he had played
shooting guard in college. Pitino, also known as impatient, gave
up
on Billups after a half-season, trading him to Toronto, with
Kenny
Anderson coming back in the multi-player deal.
At No. 6, Pitino took his former Kentucky star, Ron Mercer. But
fearing that he wouldn't be able to re-sign Mercer this summer,
Pitino unloaded the potential star six months before the Feb. 24
trading deadline this season. All he got in return of note was
Danny
Fortson, an undersized power forward who looks no better than a
backup.
Now, being "stuck in the 30s" in the NBA and at Kentucky, are two
different animals.
"Not getting Duncan really set us back," Pitino said. "Because
now
we didn't have free agency and we didn't have the big man we were
supposed to get. So now you're really stuck." He'd really be in
deep
trouble if Paul Pierce, a star in the making, didn't fall to him
at
No. 10 in the 1998 draft.
Pitino didn't inherit a great salary cap. Boston is still paying
$20
million to the departed Dino Radja and Greg Minor, and to two
veterans, Dana Barros and Pervis Ellison, who are collecting dust
on
the bench.
However, starting with his overpaying for Travis Knight in the
summer of 1997, Pitino's signings have put the Celtics in a worse
cap bind. He has committed $30 million to Vitaly Potapenko and
another $25 million to Tony Battie.
The two players Pitino decided to build around, Anderson and
Antoine
Walker, are on the books for $96 million total. Both have their
share of baggage. Too much, some would argue, if they're your
foundation. And both are with David Falk, who has yet to drop off
any top-notch clients, despite his close association with Pitino
and
other Celtics officials.
"If you polled all the GMs, I don't know if any of them would
rank
those two among the top 100 players," said one Eastern Conference
GM. "Maybe Walker, on one of his good days."
The Celtics got an undersized power forward in Danny
Fortson
(above) when they traded away Mercer.
Largely because of Pitino's moves, the Celtics are $12 million
over
the $34 million cap this season. They already are at $43 million
for
next and $39 million for 2002. So there's no room to buy a
veteran
physical power forward or center who can close down the lane and
rebound.
As a result, the Celtics are at the bottom of the league in
defensive field-goal percentage (allowing an astounding 47%) and
are
one of the worst rebounding teams. Plus, teams get to the
free-throw
line a league-high 30 times a night against Boston.
"When Dennis Rodman scores inside against you, then you've really
got problems," said Anderson, after Dallas' rebounding specialist
hit two shots in the Celtics' latest embarrassment. "But what can
we
do? We've got to go with the guys we have here. Some nights,
we're
OK."
On those nights, the Celtics have beaten the Knicks, Charlotte,
Indiana, Miami, Toronto twice and the Jazz on the road.
But they've also blown 20-point leads at home to Dallas and
Milwaukee and lost by 22 at Golden State after leading the Antawn
Jamison-less Warriors by 15.
"Everybody is saying, 'Why don't you do more?' But people just
don't
understand the salary cap when they say these things," Pitino
said.
"There's not a whole lot we can do. We've had to do it the
old-fashioned way. That means by drafting and having patience and
developing talent. The old-fashioned way really doesn't work too
much at this level. We're living in a microwave society."
Don't remind Celtics fans. Since Pitino has come to town, they've
seen Philadelphia and Toronto rebuild faster, albeit around the
kind
of stars (Allen Iverson and Vince Carter) Boston doesn't have.
And
now Orlando has passed them in the Atlantic Division standings.
Even
if most of the Magic's success can be attributed to many players
playing for future contracts — whereas almost all of the main
Celtics have long-term deals — Orlando still also has enough
cap-room to attract Duncan and Grant Hill this summer and three
extra draft picks this summer and two more in coming years.
Pitino wishes he had such flexibility. Now, he is the new M.L.
Carr,
but an even more inviting target because of his contract.
"If I didn't come in with the contract I signed and the
reputation I
got with the Knicks and Kentucky, then people would be a little
patient," he said. "But I really can't blame anybody. When you
come
in with a contract my size, when you come in being overly
optimistic, that we're going to get this done, because that's the
way I've been my entire life, I think the fans are justified in
wanting to know when we'll get there. I'm working around the
clock.
But to be honest with you, I don't know what to do about it."
Which brings us to the question all of Boston wants to know.
Final answer?