No Subject

We need to deal Kenny out of this lineup or at the very least keep him
on the injured list, but he is presently the only Celtic that I'd like
to see moved (aside of Walter McDuddy, who I dont consider a Celtic at
the best of times). Its also easier to say to trade a player than to go
out and do it, but I'd love to get that point forward for him - that way
we'd be able to really compete NOW and not next year.

Rick Pitino wise;

I think hes becoming a very good general manager - whoever said that his
last few moves have been very good ones - I do agree with you BIG TIME.

I think hes a great collegiate coach - his record testifies to that fact

However, I dont think is nor nor will he ever be a great coach at the
NBA level and you need a great coach to win a championship. Even Greg
Poppovich has developed into a great NBA coach.

I'd love to see Rick Pitino step down as the Celts head coach, stay on
with the team as the general manager (making Wallace his assistant) and
for him to install a head coach who he believes the team would benefit
most greatly from. It'd take a lot for Rick Pitino to admit that hes not
a good enough coach to get the Celtics to the next level, but I think he
deserves to complete his contract in the role of general manager.

I love how he went after Herren and took the gamble on him when most
GM's wouldn't. It was a huge gamble which will pay dividends in a big
way in a relatively short amount of time. Sure, Herren's contract wasn't
big, but to place him as your starting point guard the second he gets
off of IR is something pretty big to me even with Kenny Anderson out
injured.

The Herren move is just one of the moves since the stupid Vitaly trade
that Rick has made which has been proven to be the right one for the
organisation. The end record for Ron Mercer has been far greater than
the traded sums and that includes the first round picks acquired - their
just the icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned.

Why did Pitino make so many bad moves early on? My answer; the pressure
that he was under (with added pressure by himself "The Celtics will make
the playoffs in three seasons") to make the Celtics a competitive
playoff basketball team. Sure, we're not at that level yet, but he did
make moves which he thought would get the Celtics to the playoffs the
quickest. It backfired on him and taught him that there is no easy way
to accomplish something. You cannot possibly go from the bottom end of
the NBA to among the better teams in the league within three years and
often if you do you only ever get so far as the likes of the Atlanta
Hawks except for when you get a player the calibre of Shaquille O'Neal
via free agency and there are only so many of those sort.

Battie is beginning to step the level of his performance up - he
requires consistent play from Walker (which is that whole process with
Herren and consistent playmaking)- Battie is not a good enough player
where he can dominate by himself. He is the perfect shotblocking
complimental player, much like Camby in New York- the reason why Camby
is much more consistent than Battie though is because Sprewell and
Houston are who he feeds off - which in turn is much the same process as
with Boston and Walker/Pierce -- Sprewell and Houston work off the
highly underrated and underappreciated work of Charlie Ward and Chris
Childs. While Childs and Ward are far from star point guards in
comparison to a lot of point guards in this league, they are hardworking
consistent players who give their all all night every night - just like
Herren will for the Celtics but Herren hasn't got the experience that
Ward and Childs do and thats where the difference in the two ball clubs
will be this season. However, Herren has much more potential to become
stars than either Ward or Childs ever had.

The worst player on this team is of course Walter McCarty. The huge
contract that Pitino gave him is the worst error of the Pitino era. It
has cost us a player who could have made a difference this year; either
a point forward, another big man who can score, block and crash the
boards or a scoring swingman for the bench - take your pick really. I'd
choose to cut McCarty now and take multi-dimensional Scott Burrell.

The big off-season acquisition that was most unexpected has been Bryant
Stith. He has had three big performances so far this season and he is
the perfect complimental player to Paul Pierce. However, if we could get
the point forward for the starting lineup I believe Stith would be just
as solid coming from the bench giving a bit of everything. That is
Stith's strength - his versatility. He is a nice shooter, he plays solid
defense and can give you a more well-rounded version of Adrian Griffin.

Speaking of Griffin, I think he should put in a great second half of the
season once he gets over his injuries. I think Pitino is hoping that
Adrian will work on his ball handling abilities so perhaps he has
another option as a playmaker. I dont know if Adrian has the offensive
skills to become a solid offensive player in this league, but for 15 to
20 minutes a game he provides much appreciated support.

Well, I'm sure this has been well past too long, but me and Dorine do
have quite detailed conversation about the Celtics and I appreciate
every second of it. She being a fan of the Celtics for so long and for
me such a short time in comparison its interesting what differences of
opinion we have. However, one thing always remains true - we're both
fans of the single greatest sporting organisation in the world and we
ride the highs and the lows of what comes with it.

Cheers,

Warwick