McDonough: Keep Pitino, C's Bad, Not Improving For A Long While

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

(Who was McDonough talking to? Sounds like Bob Cousy maybe.)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/260/sports/In_praise_of_ailing_Armstrong+.shtml

Search for Green pastures


One of the Celtics' greatest players ever had this perspective on the
team's upcoming season and the future of Rick Pitino:


''Rick has not done the greatest job in the world as a general manager.
He's made poor moves and hasn't done a good job evaluating talent. But
he's a good coach. He can X and O with any coach in the league, and is
better in this department than almost all of them. If the season goes
bad, which it easily could, it wouldn't make any sense to fire him,
because they couldn't bring in anyone who could coach the team better.


''What we have to understand around here, and try to deal with, is the
Celtic mystique is a thing of the past. It's over. These kids nowadays
don't give a damn about those 16 [championship] flags or what went on
here in the past. All these kids think about is making money and leading
a comfortable life. If they can play for a winner along the way, great.
But the other two are more important. This is why the Celtics will
never, ever get a shot at a great player in free agency. A Grant Hill or
a Tim Duncan would never play here. They'll go to an Orlando or a Miami
or a Los Angeles. Someplace where it's warm and nice to live and have a
good time. The only way the Celtics are ever going to get back to the
top is to have a terrible team and luck out with a guy like Duncan in
the draft. That didn't happen for them a few years ago and it isn't
going to happen to them for a long time. This situation they are in
right now isn't going away for a long time. So if [Paul] Gaston thinks
he is going to make things better by getting rid of Pitino, he's wrong.
He's going to have to pay him all of that money and he won't end up with
anyone nearly as good.''


Pitino has four years left on a contract that averages $7 million a
year.