RE: Pitino pushing the right buttons

["Michael Griffin" <mgriffin@rillc.com>]

On the other hand, things are looking up for my teams:

Yankees have won 3 in a row and sign Mussina - one for Jeter's thumb next
year.

Dolphins remain competitive despite the pundits predictions of last place in
the AFC East (by the way this is favorite kind of team to root for - the
underdog who has a lot of "moxy" and outperforms not on talent but effort)

Celtics win five in a row for the first time since McHale suited up and
could, maybe, maybe make the 8th seed and take Philly five games or pulloff
the unthinkable (I know - let's beat Vancouver first which is a "must" win
as Josh pointed out.  Boston MUST beat all sub-500 teams through the end of
the year).  Gotta look at the Cs as glass half-full now Mark.  Floundering
was 12-22 and hoping they lose the rest of the games to secure Eddie
Griffin's services.

Edmonton Oilers - very competitive in a tough conference despite
considerable sal cap restriction  (no other reason to trade Guerin to the
Bruins)

Fighting Illini (NCAA) - best team since 89 and anything less than final
four this year would be a disappointment.

So things are looking good with none of the above teams in rebuilding mode -
Celtic basketball has been tough for the last 13 years after being spoiled
from 81-90 (those last three were great just because the big three were
still around).


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-celtics@igtc.com [mailto:owner-celtics@igtc.com]On Behalf Of
> Berry, Mark S
> Sent: Friday, February 09, 2001 12:58 PM
> To: 'rallis@vgi.com'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
> Subject: Re: Pitino pushing the right buttons
>
>
> Guys, I was as optimistic as anyone on this list early this season. The
> thing that changed it for me was when I could see, just watching the games
> at home, the players quit on Pitino. Some say they did, some say they
> didn't. I watched faithfully, and I'm convinced they did. I don't know if
> the close loss in Philly broke their spirit (they played harder and better
> than Philly, but lost due to poor officiating and execution down the
> stretch), but when Philly came to Boston less than a week later, it was a
> classic case of not even competing. They didn't put up a fight. It was all
> downhill from there, and, to me, it was easy to see. Remember,
> Pitino pulled
> his "play better or I'm quitting" fiasco right after that second Philly
> game. That was inexcusable on his part, and I knew then that he
> needed to go
> as well. But it didn't excuse the players' behavior.
>
> Anyway, as I watched this unfold, I grew more and more disgusted. Pitino
> took over this team and certainly made some boneheaded moves, but
> he worked
> harder at turning this thing around than any of his players. He cared more
> than any of them. He had more patience with Antoine and his
> conditioning/preparation than anyone could have asked. So I
> finally realized
> that not only did Pitino care more about whether the Celtics won or lost
> than the players did, but so did I.
>
> Now, Pitino is gone and the players are playing hard again. Why? To prove
> they were right and Pitino was wrong? What happens when they've
> proven their
> point? Will Jim O'Brien be next year's George Irvine (the players' choice,
> until things start to go bad)?
>
> Anyway, maybe they'll keep this up permanently and change my
> mind. I tend to
> think that won't happen because I think you find out a lot about
> a person's
> character by observing how they react under difficult conditions.
> It's easy
> to ride the wave, but staying strong when the current is going the other
> way, that's the true test. I think these guys folded when things
> got tough.
> Right now, they're riding the wave...
>
> So that's why I feel the way I feel. I said I wasn't going to post on the
> subject again, but you sort of asked, so...
>
> Mark
>
> P.S. Maybe I'm just falling victim to a bad sports cycle: Lakers win NBA
> title, Yankees win Subway Series, Reds underachieve after trading for
> Junior, Buckeyes lose to Michigan again, Bengals are the Bengals,
> Ravens win
> Super Bowl, Celtics floundering... sigh...
>