Pitino Agonistes

[Vinny Natale <vnatale@map.com>]

Sports: Pitino Agonistes

Coach’s fall is a metaphor for the state of the NBA
Rick Pitino, right, couldn't turn around the struggling Boston Celtics and 
resigned last week as coach and president of the storied franchise.


By Mark Starr
NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE

Jan. 9 —  When Rick Pitino arrived in Boston four years ago, he was on top 
of the world. He had just won an NCAA championship at the University of 
Kentucky and was poised to attain legend stature by restoring the NBA’s 
most storied basketball team, the Boston Celtics, to glory.















          IF THERE WAS A SMIDGEN of self-doubt in Pitino’s emotional 
repertoire, it wasn’t evident. Were you to look in the dictionary under 
“cocksure,” a glossy photo of Rick Pitino would have been staring right 
back at you.
        The Celtics ownership seemed every bit as assured of Pitino’s worth 
as he was. They lavished a $50 million contract on him and even allowed him 
to assume the title of president, needlessly displacing the greatest coach 
in NBA history, Red Auerbach, from his titular legacy. But what would one 
expect for a man who, it was repeated over and over, had been successful at 
every stop—college and pro—in his coaching odyssey.
  Were you to look in the dictionary under “cocksure,” a glossy photo of 
Rick Pitino would have been staring right back at you.

           So one could almost take a certain amount of glee in Pitino’s 
amazing fall from grace. His is a stark lesson in the limits of hubris. He 
didn’t just fail with Boston, but flopped in spectacular fashion. His 
winning percentage in three-and-a-half seasons was was barely above .400 
and the current Celtics edition, one that he fashioned with a barrage of 
trades and free-agent signings, is pitiful, arguably less promising than 
the basement-dwelling squad he inherited.

SKULKING AWAY
        And what an inglorious end with Pitino, at least metaphorically, 
skulking out of town under the cover of night. When the Celtics were routed 
for their fifth loss in a row this weekend in Miami, Pitino simply stayed 
on the bench. His resignation came in a brief written statement: “It has 
been a great privilege to coach the greatest basketball tradition in 
sports... I wish we could have accomplished more between the lines, but I 
am proud with the efforts of my staff and players.”
        But somehow it’s hard to find any cause for celebration in this 
comeuppance, even for those diehards whose Celtic resentments can be traced 
back generations to the dynasty years. Watching Pitino’s dream unravel was 
a stomach-churning experience that felt disturbingly voyeuristic. For weeks 
now, he has literally looked diseased, one step removed from the hospice 
for old coaches. Ashen-faced and obviously agonized, he continued to plead 
desperately with his team—privately and publicly—to make some kind of 
commitment to his game plan. All to no avail, as the Celtics continued to 
toss up brainless shots and regard defense as an optional component of the 
game.
         The reason that no basketball fan should enjoy this debacle is 
that while the bell this week tolled for Pitino, it is also sounding a dire 
warning knell for the entire NBA. Could it be only a decade ago when the 
“Dream Team” seemed the ultimate embodiment of sports excitement? Today the 
Celtics stand as far more representative of the league as a whole than that 
all-star lineup. The NBA is filled with lackluster and indifferent 
performers, compounded by what appears to be something of a talent drought. 
Not a single NBA rookie is making a significant impact this season, which 
leaves too many bad teams hopelessly mired in the league’s nether-reaches 
with no prospects for the future.
  Any way you look at it, a sorry day for Pitino and the Boston Celtics is 
a sad day for the NBA and an ominous note about its future.

           Even the illustrious can no longer entice us as they once did. 
Allen Iverson marches to his own rap beat and, despite his nonpareil 
skills, seems destined to drive his coach, Larry Brown, into retirement (or 
madness) before he delivers on his hardcourt promise. And Kobe Bryant 
apparently could stand to play a supporting role to Shaquille O’Neal for 
only one championship season. Now the youngster appears to be on a one-man 
crusade to win himself a scoring crown—championships be damned. Anyone who 
watched the NBA’s showcase Christmas game between arguably its two best 
teams, L.A. and Portland, saw a horror show down the stretch, as Kobe took 
the ball one-on-five every time up the court.

TV RATINGS DOWN
        This has not escaped the fans notice. While big network bucks keep 
the league flush, TV ratings have plunged. And while the corporate coffers 
may fill Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center in L.A., the empty 
seats in one-time basketball hotbeds like Boston, Charlotte and Houston 
make a pretty conspicuous TV backdrop. (Those yellow seats at Boston’s 
Fleet Center are a particular eyesore.) With Pitino barely out the door, 
there are already whispers of the next rescue plan for the Celtics, a 
rumored sale that would bring in a new management team headed by Celtics 
legend Larry Bird. But Bird was a magician on the court—not off it—no more 
than Magic was with the Lakers or Michael is proving to be with the 
Washington Wizards.   Newsweek.MSNBC.com



         Pitino was too arrogant by half, or maybe by ten-and-half. And he 
was blind to how much the players and product have changed since more than 
a decade ago. Yet he cared passionately about the game, and his vision of 
how it should be played was an appealing running-and-trapping game, not the 
constipated approach that passes for offense and defense throughout the 
league. Perhaps most important, he was a teacher in a league that 
desperately needs to impart fundamental skills to its young players. Any 
way you look at it, a sorry day for Pitino and the Boston Celtics is a sad 
day for the NBA and an ominous note about its future.