Kenny is Pitino's man

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

Pitino says Kenny is the starter, but fudges a bit.

Kenny admits his mind hasn't been on basketball for the past few weeks,
due to the birth of Kenny Jr and a fiancée who is ''going through weird
things''.


---

ON BASKETBALL
A happy face on guard status
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 10/18/2000

WALTHAM - All together team, repeat after me: Kenny is my guy. Kenny is
my guy. Kenny is my guy.

There, wasn't that easy?

Rick Pitino didn't have to make such a declaration to the Celtics
yesterday, but he felt compelled to do so to reporters after practice.
The coach, who says he does not read the papers, had come to learn that
some of his statements about his point guard situation might have been
interpreted as rips against old favorite Kenny Anderson.

''I'm not unhappy with Kenny at all,'' Pitino said of Anderson, who
returned to practice yesterday after missing the last several days to be
in attendance for the birth of his son. ''The more I praise Randy
[Brown], the more apparently you people think I'm unhappy with Kenny.''

We people might somehow have come to that conclusion based on what
Pitino said last Saturday: ''We haven't been happy right now with our
point guard situation in terms of defense and getting after it, so we're
looking at a lot of people. Now, Randy's back [from an ankle sprain] and
we've looked great the last two days with him at the point.'' Or we
people could have been similarly misguided after hearing Pitino
following Monday's victory over Atlanta: ''Randy is exactly what this
team needs. He's sort of rejuvenated everything I believe in in
basketball personally.''

No, there's no way those remarks could be construed as anything other
than effusive praise for Brown, who basically is the anti-Kenny. Asked
yesterday if Anderson was still his starter, Pitino said, ''Yeah.'' He
then paused and added, ''Or I have to explain to Paul [Gaston] why we're
paying him $7 million.'' He'll be in the same situation next year ($8.35
million) and the year after that ($9.185 million).

Underscoring all this has been Anderson's play in the first two
exhibition games, which, to be charitable, has been uninspiring. Even
habitual optimist Tom Heinsohn noted that Anderson was a couple steps
slower than last year. Anderson, who hit the big 3-0 nine days ago, did
not look to be in what Celtic players ominously call ''Coach P. Shape,''
and he said yesterday that the birth of his child had been dominating
his thoughts over the last few weeks.

The delivery of baby Kenneth was a complicated one, he said. His fiancee
had been ''going through weird things'' prior to delivery and he was in
Boston while she was in Atlanta.

''It's a headache at times,'' he said. ''I can't be hands-on. I have to
talk on the phone. It's bothersome at times.''

As for training camp, Anderson said, ''I haven't been thinking about
basketball the last few weeks. I've been thinking about a healthy baby.
I have to get my mind back on basketball and start playing, and I will
do that. The main concern was the health of my child.''

He was asked if he could tell how far he had come or needed to go.

''I don't know where I'm at,'' he said. ''But no one knows. You have
guys who tear it up in training camp and then you never hear about them.
It's a give-and-take situation. It's all about what type of team you're
on, what type of role you play on that team, and what that team needs
from you.

''But don't get me wrong, you don't want to just do nothing. You want to
get in shape and work hard in training camp. That's what I'm doing. But
I don't know where I'm at as far as any barometer.''

Meanwhile, the veteran Brown, who has the reputation of being a
defensive specialist and locker room leader, took over Anderson's duties
for the Atlanta game. In 31 minutes, he had 8 points and 6 steals. But
even prior to that, Pitino had raved about Brown in practices, mainly
after he returned from an ankle sprain that sidelined him for the first
two exhibition games.

''I'm very happy with Randy,'' Pitino said. ''Kenny is like Adrian
[Griffin], like some of the other guys that have been away, haven't been
practicing that much, and they're behind a little bit. But I'm not
unhappy with him at all.''

Seasoned Celtic observers know that the Pitino/Anderson relationship has
had its moments. The coach took the radical step of suspending Anderson
for one game during the lockout season. Anderson and Antoine Walker
sniped at each other during a game in Washington. Anderson at times
doesn't get the ball up the court quickly enough. But his rising salary
and sinking reputation - one GM put him in the bottom third of point
guards in the league - basically have made him unmovable.

Anderson also never has been known for his defense, although he said he
has worked hard on that aspect of his game since coming to Boston.

''I think I really played extremely well on defense last year,''
Anderson said. ''I was really happy with myself. But I want to take it
up to another level defensively.''

If he does that, Pitino will have two point guards to praise. Oh, that's
right. He already does.

This story ran on page F02 of the Boston Globe on 10/18/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.