Re: Don't stop with Pitino

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

    I'm not on the same wavelength at all with you guys obviously. The issue of
coach v. player matches the visual evidence you all now seem to see, namely guys
like Stith or whomever scrambling from ten feet away to get a late hand in the
face of a wide open shooter. I saw this so many times last year. It is the
halfcourt traps, with players switching assignments sometimes three times in a
15 second sequence. I'm sure it is discouraging as hell, and fine I'll even
agree that running a failing defensive system wears out the players to the point
that it may cut into their decision-making ability on both ends due to the
fatigue (and anxiousness to rush shots to get back in a blowout game). But
honestly I recommend everybody videotape the next game, cue up to the point
where an opponent takes a wide open jumper, then rewind and follow how all that
"bad defense" actually transpired. Is it because a Celtic was daydreaming or
blew an obvious assignment? Or was it because the logical, nearest defender was
assigned to do something else? As far as I can tell it is almost always the
system. I see a gimmicky, counter-intuitive, no-question tricky to implement
system that fails regularly and places no measure of accountability on
individual players, as a byproduct of the constant schitzophrenic, headless
chicken switches and traps in the halfcourt set. If the players don't "get it"
after all these years together, or the system continues to fail on its own, then
ditch it. Ditch the coach. I say this admitting full well I'm no basketball
coach and just an avid fan and game video watcher. Take it with the grain silo
of salt it deserves.

    But if you said to Larry Brown: "Look sucker we are taking away Geiger and
Lynch and giving you Potapenko and Pierce instead" (or whatever similar
defensive swap on the face of it), I guarantee you Brown would have these guys
looking just as good or even better on defense as the guys they replace.
Similarly if George Lynch or Theo Ratliff spent the last three years in
Poultryville, they would look like crap defenders just like Battie and we'd all
be trashing them for not hitting the weightroom or being for "not being athletic
enough".

    If you ask me, the Celtics as a team have shown a great attitude this year
and last year. I doubt I have their work ethic or faith.  But the system
(.462FG% allowed) is making all the efforts and hopes of the playoffs go to
waste. This was the year when fans would finally read the writing on the wall
(the headless chicken outbreak system fails against NBA caliber players). I know
that even Poultrino must be weighing this evidence, and looking for an exit
strategy. Maybe it really was ALL Fortson's fault last season, but the Celtics
this year have good enough athletes and good enough conditioning. Good enough
for most coaches. These new guys were hand-picked by Poultrino and applauded by
the list.  Now I should have known Pitino apologists would keep digging for
excuses, but there are no more of these excuses left if you ask me. Antoine
played really hard under ML Carr according to my recollection and he'll play
hard under the next coach. Same with Paul Pierce. No problem. Let's get ready to
move on already. At this stage I am happily rooting for Antoine, Paul and one or
two other young players to have great individual seasons, because you can't
start winning next year without a bonafide talent base and that is still a bit
uncertain. If at the same time Pitino can turn this whole thing around, all the
better.

    In general, I think we are a bit too doom and gloom when the Celtics lose a
game. The team can bounce back with the upcoming schedule and one of these days
you'll see the big momentum kick in and take us to a new place.



------
OzerskyJA wrote:

> I really am in a bad mood after tonight's win, but I think all this stuff
> about Pitino and the team misses the point.  They're really stupid.  We're
> used to smart teams in Boston, and these guys are stupid.  I don't get
> them at all, and I'm not going to pay attention to them any more until they
> start showing they have brains.  They are just dumb.  I just don't get it.
>
> Josh Ozersky
> Marketing Communications Specialist
> Corning Museum of Glass
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Berry, Mark  S [SMTP:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 11:15 AM
> > To:   'damekmo@teleport.com'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
> > Subject:      Re: Don't stop with Pitino
> >
> > Walker and Pierce are working hard to score their points, but they've been
> > a
> > disaster defensively and in the team concept. Pierce especially. And let's
> > see, we've played 10 games, and Pierce has stunk in Cleveland, in Toronto,
> > in Washington and now against Philly (and for all but two minutes in
> > Philly). He's shown up a little more than half the time. And even when
> > he's
> > scoring big, it's sometimes at the expense of the team. He's "unleashing
> > the
> > dragon" by thinking shoot-first every time he touches the ball. I've
> > encouraged him to be more aggressive, but there are limits.
> >
> > Am I being too hard on Walker? Maybe. He's improved his outside shot. He
> > still makes terrible decisions and his refusal to commit to either
> > slimming
> > down to play SF or muscling up to play PF has handcuffed Pitino since he
> > got
> > here.
> >
> > Look, I'm willing to admit it's time for Pitino to go... and that's a big
> > change for me. I don't think a guy who has won as much as he has gets
> > stupid
> > overnight. But he's made some terrible personnel decisions and he's
> > responsible for the team on the floor.
> >
> > But let's say you're right and the team has decided Pitino's system
> > doesn't
> > work... is that OK with you? When did they decide? When they were in the
> > playoff race during Pitino's first year? During the playoff race last
> > year?
> > Did they decide before or after that 10-game losing streak? This year? 10
> > games in? And that's OK in your book? These guys are paid incredibly well
> > to
> > come to work, work hard, and listen to the coach. That's it. It's not
> > hard.
> > If they can't do that, find someplace else for them.
> >
> > Mark