Time to part with Pitino

[Vinny Natale <vnatale@map.com>]

Time to part with Pitino




By Adrian Wojnarowski
Special to ESPN.com


   The $70 million emperor of the Boston Celtics had missed practice, 
pocketed 50 grand for a speaking engagement with Indianapolis businessmen 
in the morning and made sure the network cameras caught him courtside for 
the Florida-Michigan State national championship game on that April night.


Rick Pitino, the executive, and Pitino, the coach, both need to go, writes 
Wojnarowski.
Nobody could miss him. Of course, this was precisely the point for Rick Pitino.

"It was my wife's anniversary present to see Billy Donovan win the national 
championship," he said.

Chances are, this was mostly Rick Pitino's gift to Rick Pitino. Just a 
chance to be seen, to rub close to his past glory, to remind the world of 
his association with winning. It was a sad scene, him shrouding himself in 
the glory of his protégé. His guy, his system, his legacy. Pitino had gone 
to great trouble to make sure this night reflected on him.

He had a job to do with the Celtics, but used the excuse that they were out 
of the playoff chase to justify his visit to Indianapolis. Even one of his 
coaching friends had to wonder why even the shrewd Pitino would do 
something so transparent.

"Could you imagine," the coach said, "if Antoine Walker had said, 'Hey, 
Billy Donovan is my old coach, and I'm going to skip a practice to go watch 
him in the Final Four.' "

This was surely a mixed message to his players, but anyway, this failed 
regime with the Celtics has been the home office for self-serving 
explanations and excuses. Pitino has gone on record threatening to fire 
himself as coach when this season is over. He's gone. He'll take his money, 
find a college fiefdom where his authority will be unchallenged and start 
winning again.

Pitino has destroyed his share of forests to publish his self-help 
motivational books, burned tanks of jet fuel to fly into corporate events 
and tell cliché-starved businessmen the secrets to his old successes. 
Always, one of his big themes in these pages and talks has been the 
accountability of a leader. Of course, there's never been accountability 
with Pitino and the Celtics, just delusional, flawed excuses.

Pitino has two favorites. First, ownership won't pay for high-priced free 
agents, and thus, the Celtics can't compete. Of course, he knew this when 
he took the job. He knew this when he demanded the largest coaching salary 
in the history of professional sports. When owner Paul Gaston paid Pitino 
his $70 million, the priority was clear: The coach was paid to be a 
franchise player, along with Antoine Walker.

   Over and over, (Pitino) acted on his impulses, falling in and out of 
love with draft picks and free agents. He compounded bad picks and bad 
signings with more bad trades, bringing back even less value and stability 
to his roster.


When Pitino wanted Ron Mercer to stay a Celtic for less money, his old 
Kentucky star sure had a terrific point: Why should I? Pitino didn't take 
less money.

And then, there's the 1997 draft. As Pitino tells it, he was victim of the 
bouncing balls in the lottery. "I never would have left Kentucky if I 
thought I wasn't going to get (Tim) Duncan, or, at least, (Keith) Van Horn."

This is the most shameless of all. The worst record in the NBA never 
guarantees good fortune in the lottery. The odds were on his side, but 
nobody would've made a career choice based on it. Anyway, Van Horn wouldn't 
have changed the face of his franchise. Pitino is kidding himself there, 
too. The truth is, Pitino had run his course at Kentucky, had a historic 
financial offer to resurrect the storied Celtics in his adopted hometown of 
Boston and so he was gone. With or without Duncan, Pitino saw himself as a 
savior. He would win anywhere, under any circumstances.

Even so, Pitino had the No. 3 and No. 6 picks in the draft. Three years 
later, his choices -- Chauncey Billups and Mercer -- are gone and Pitino 
has the immortal Tony Battie to show for them in trades. As the Celtics 
continued to crumble under him, Pitino has turned into a case study for 
owners who should be leery of giving complete control of operations to a 
coach. Over and over, he acted on his impulses, falling in and out of love 
with draft picks and free agents. He compounded bad picks and bad signings 
with more bad trades, bringing back even less value and stability to his 
roster.

Pitino needed an executive over him to serve as a check and balance, to 
remind him he couldn't keep running recruits off scholarship when a losing 
streak had him down on his patience. Finally, Pitino, the executive, is 
talking about firing, Pitino, the coach. Please. Actually, they both need 
to go. Just one suggestion: The next time he wants to cuddle close to the 
court of the NCAA championship game to reshape his legacy, Pitino ought to 
make sure he's coaching it.

Adrian Wojnarowski, a columnist for the Bergen (N.J.) Record is a regular 
contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at NJCOL1@aol.com.


ALSO SEE
Pitino says he's gone if Celtics don't improve