Recap of Pitino chat at NBA.Com

["Alessandro Celtics-Fan" <alessan420@hotmail.com>]

In conjunction with the relaunch of its official Boston Celtics site, 
NBA.Com scheduled a chat session with team president/coach Rick Pitino early 
this morning ... Fans sent in questions for the man in charge to answer, and 
here is a quick recap of some of the more interesting things he had to say :

Starts off by saying that defense will be the key to improving the team's 
record this season.

Expects Randy Brown to be a great leader for the Celts; Dana Barros and 
Pervis Ellison were "great people, but were very quiet". So not only is 
Brown a veteran, but he will definitely give the team a leader to look up 
to.

Describes Jerome Moiso as having "great physical ability for the style of 
play we're trying to get back to : running, trapping, shot blocking".

There are no starters this season, as far as Pitino is concerned - "Paul 
Pierce and Antoine Walker stick out on this team, but the rest of the guys 
are going to have to battle for positions".

Calls Pierce a "dedicated athlete" and says that the reason he signed Chris 
Carr was so that they could have an athletic shooting guard on the floor 
when Paul is on the bench ("when Pierce is out of the lineup, we struggle").

Thinks that Orlando and Milwaukee (!) have improved themselves the most in 
the East, while Miami and New York remain at the top of the heap.

When a fan asked if there is a long-term commitment to building the team 
around Pierce and Walker, Pitino remarked that they are trying to live in 
the "precious present", where "we are planning for the future [with three 
first-round picks] but we're taking it one day at a time, one year at a 
time".

The prerequisites for being a coach are "diligence, organization, and 
leaving no stone unturned in terms of getting your job done".

Still can't get Tim Duncan off his mind ... Says that he has "all the 
attributes I like - he passes from the post, plays defense, and would really 
make us a great basketball squad". Give it up, Rick; it ain't happening :(

On the subject of more trades on the way, Pitino says that general manager 
"Chris Wallace is on the phone everyday, looking for ways to make our team 
stronger". However, he doesn't expect any "major trades" in the future; 
maybe minor ones.

Ends the chat session by thanking the fans for "all the support we've been 
given in Boston, New England, and throughout the country" and promises that 
this young team will "work their tails off" to bring the team back to 
championship glory.


Alessandro
alessan420@hotmail.com
http://celtics.rivals.com
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at 
http://profiles.msn.com.