RE: It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

incidentally, speaking of Pitino, has anybody noticed that he's
not as hyper on the sidelines as usual?  Maybe it's because of
preseason, but I bet one of the benefits of us winning games
(and deserving to win games -- not trading baskets for 48 minutes)
is that he may feel less inclined to yell and stomp, etc.

Alex, did you see the Magic game?

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Alexander Wang [SMTP:awang@MIT.EDU]
> Sent:	Tuesday, October 24, 2000 11:33 AM
> To:	celtics@igtc.com
> Subject:	Re: It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
> 
> At 02:41 AM 10/24/00 -0400, Kestutis Kveraga wrote: 
> >
> > ...which is exactly why some of his college successes are probably more
> > attributable to his abilities as a recruiter than as a coach. IMO, his
> > winning at Kentucky had less (if anything) to do with his "system" and
> more
> > with a team stocked with future NBA players pouncing on teams mostly
> stocked
> > with future office workers. I don't follow college ball enough to know
> > whether the achievements of his PC and BU teams were out of proportion
> to
> > their (lesser) talent. 
> 
> 
> Other people who have followed Kentucky basketball have commented on this
> before. Pitino was successful with Kentucky even before he had recruited
> all
> that NBA talent. He succeeded with a bunch of leftovers when the school
> was
> under probation and lacked scholarships. I believe that it's generally
> agreed
> that he succeeded far beyond his team's talent with PC and BU also, but I
> didn't follow those either.
> 
> >
> > While I don't for a moment imagine that I could coach a team better, or
> know
> > more about basketball, than Pitino, I also don't buy the argument that
> we
> > fans don't know or see anything that he doesn't. Sometimes it's the case
> of
> > 'not seeing the forest for the trees' or being too clever for your own
> good,
> > as some of us believe is the case with the vaunted "headless chicken
> > outbreak" defense. Besides, technical knowledge =/= coaching ability.
> For
> > example, he may know the optimal way to execute a particular offense or
> > defense, and it may even work at the NBA level, but micromanaging the
> play in
> > real time from the sideline, as he so often does, doesn't lend itself to
> the
> > team's executing the said schemes on the floor, IMO. I just couldn't
> imagine
> > playing well while being yanked about like a puppet by his sideline
> > instructions. The better NBA coaches seem to know this, but he still
> gets
> > into his college-coach-working-himself-into-a-lather mode. 
> 
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Pitino is coaching perfectly. What
> I'm
> saying is that Pitino is aware of the faults that are pointed out on this
> list.
> When we complain about Walker jacking up a three-pointer two seconds into
> the
> shot clock, Pitino is aware that it's a problem. When we talk about the
> headless chicken outbreak and how Dana Barros is guarding a center and
> we're
> giving up millions of open jumpers and dunks -- he knows that. I mean, the
> guys
> is a tape fanatic. We sometimes behave on this list like he doesn't know
> these
> things. He just has access to so much more information than we do. 
> 
> About the execution, you could be completely right. There's obviously a
> problem
> because the goal of the defense is not to  give up 47% shooting. My main
> point
> is that Pitino wouldn't learn a thing about coaching basketball by
> subscribing
> to this list. We could teach him something about GMing though: "Hey Rick,
> why
> don't you trade Cheaney for Vince Carter?"
> 
> >
> > Besides, it's well known that professionals in all fields can get into
> > groupthink and "idee fixe" ruts, and make all kinds of disastrous
> decisions
> > that no amateur would succumb to. If I always genuflected to this
> "authority
> > argument" and trusted so-called professionals to make the correct
> decision
> > for me, I'd be in pretty bad fiscal and physical shape now. The NBA and
> the
> > Boston Celtics exist because of, and for, us fans, and we certainly
> shouldn't
> > hesitate to let the coach/GM know when we think he's screwing up -
> because,
> > chances are, he probably is. 
> 
> 
> Tom Murphy's post was essentially about the same type of groupthink. But,
> if
> anything, we are criticizing Pitino for NOT coaching like the other pros
> --
> for
> using his wacky substitutions and headless chicken outbreak. And the other
> basketball people still respect him as an Xs and Os guy. Anyway, you're
> right
> about whether he's screwing up though. He's given us less than he's
> promised
> and probably less than a guy like Riley would have (can't imagine Riley
> coaching the Celtics though) and that's the guy who he's comparable to in
> reputation (pre-Celtics), power, and salary.
> 
> Alex