Riley Resigning; Pitino's Regret; Croshere Elsewhere

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Why it's Jersey Red (The Herald News - May 24, 2000):

This came in right as I was ready to submit the column, and while I
don’t believe it, the source is usually right on target. 

Pat Riley is seriously thinking of resigning and will make up his mind
one way or another in a couple of days. He took the loss to the Knicks
real, real hard. My problem with it is that he owns a pretty good chunk
of the team and has absolute power. Stay tuned. 

Keep your eye on Austin Croshere in the Pacers-Knicks series. He just
might be wearing another uniform next year. 

What a great line by former Georgetown coach John Thompson, who was
working the Knicks-Heat game. With the Heat up 43-26, the camera panned
the crowd and Big John quipped, "This looks like a town without pity."
You ought to come to Beantown Johnny. 

Well, Donna Harris Lewis is at it again. She has filed yet another
appeal in the Reggie Lewis case, causing Reggie’s mother to lash out at
her and say that she bears as much blame for Reggie’s death as anyone.
What a shame that this kid cannot rest in peace. 

Portland coach Mike Dunleavy’s decision to foul Shaq every trip down in
the last four minutes of the series opener was not only wrong, it was
stupid and it actually stopped his Blazers from getting into any
offensive flow. Yet, when asked after the game about his decision,
Dunleavy said he would do it again.

While appearing on WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog Show last week, Rick
Pitino said his biggest regret was not drafting high school kids. Many
people have asked me if he meant it and the answer is yes. 

Rick was very close-minded when it came to bringing in kids without
college experience because he felt an urgency to try and win immediately
in Boston, but after seeing what guys like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett
and Tracy McGrady have achieved, he knows he was wrong. 

So will he take a diaper dandy in this year’s draft? Probably not,
because there doesn’t appear to be a kid out there with the potential of
those guys. 

Next Saturday is the biggest day of racing in Massachusetts as Suffolk
Downs offers the prestigious Mass. Handicap and the horse named after
this writer, The Groom Is Red, will be in the field. 

Also on the undercard, Nick Zito will be running Captain Red named after
Red Auerbach in a $200,000 race. 

If both Reds win, we could be seeing a lot of green. 

I told you the Portland vs. Los Angeles series would be worth watching
as the Trailblazers annihilated the Lakers Monday night in Los Angeles. 

The New York Knicks-Indiana Pacers series has all the makings of a war
with players throwing verbal torpedoes at each other, but Larry Bird had
the best and meanest line of all when he asked, "How do you expect me to
take a team seriously when I have more rings than their franchise?"