Re: Hawks Game

[Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:

That's one thing I've never understood about Pitino.  He has the greatest
players in the history of the game walking around him and hires college
asst. coaches to teach a "system" that doesn't take into consideration
individual matchups.  
--- end of quote ---

I think it's a control issue - it's one thing to have Russell give motivational speeches, and quite another to have former Celtic greats become de facto assistant coaches. He no doubt wants to do things his way, and probably thinks his coaching team has all the knowledge it needs to get the job done. 

Which is a pity, because, even if, say, Jim O'Brien knew everything Bill Russell knows about playing center, who would you take more seriously if you were Tony Battie - the Master himself, or a 6' guy whose playing career probably peaked in high school? This is obviously not to say that people who weren't great players themselves can't be great coaches, but with these young kids reputation seems to matter more than anything.
Kestas