This is for Dorine (apologies to others)

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

Billups, not too fondly, recalls playing for Pitino
Steve Aschburner Star Tribune
Monday, January 15, 2001
http://www.startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi?template=wolves_a&slu
g=wolf0115

When Chauncey Billups was a rookie point guard with the Boston Celtics, he
played with one eye on his defender, one eye on the rest of the court as the
plays took shape and one eye on the sideline, sometimes over his shoulder,
to see what coach Rick Pitino was hollering and gesturing for him to do.

No wonder Billups, like so many others, found it impossible to play for
Pitino, much less succeed, in that partial 1997-98 season he spent in Boston
after being the No. 3 pick in the draft.

Billups, whose Timberwolves will face his former team, the Celtics, today at
Target Center, committed the unpardonable sin of not being Wake Forest
center Tim Duncan, the franchise player Pitino thought he had locked up in
the lottery when he signed on as Boston's president and head coach.

What Billups was, in fact, was a young player trying to find his position
and his game after arriving in the NBA after only two seasons in college at
Colorado. He was paired in the backcourt with another rookie, Ron Mercer
(the No. 6 pick), playing in a demanding basketball city for a coach who was
selling, and who was expected to work, miracles.


The Celtics had finished 15-67 the season before Pitino arrived. When he
walked away last week, leaving $27 million on the table (but with $23
million already in his pockets), the team was 12-22. In his three-plus
seasons, Boston compiled a 102-146 record.

Billups, to hear him tell it, could see it coming. With all three of his
eyes.

"I didn't like his coaching style," said Billups, who was traded to Toronto
shortly after the 1997 All-Star break. He averaged 11.1 points and 4.3
assists in 51 games for Boston.

"He was up on the court, screaming the whole game," Billups said of Pitino.
"Every time I'd take two dribbles, he'd be screaming and I'd have to look up
to see where we were going. It was too much.

"I knew I was going to make some mistakes. This really is like my third
year -- I didn't play much last year, and my second year was a 50-game
season. I don't have that much experience, so I'm going to make some
mistakes. Here, with Flip [Saunders] and the coaches, they allow me to do
that. But [Pitino] didn't allow me to."

Billups said that, a mere 35 games into his first season, he and his
teammates were worn out from Pitino's pressing, trapping style. By then, he
knew his days in Boston were numbered.

"When they did the trade, [he] told me there were pressures on him, telling
him to get it done," Billups said. "He said he wanted a more experienced
point guard like Kenny [Anderson]. That's cool -- I was happy, actually, to
get out of there."

It's not as if drafting Billups yet failing to develop him was Pitino's only
mistake. Here is a sampling of others, as cited last week by Boston
reporters:


Taking Red Auerbach's long-standing title as team president.


Renouncing nine free agents, including David Wesley and Rick Fox, in an
attempt to clear salary for a run at Scottie Pippen.


Signing forward/center Travis Knight to a $22 million free-agent contract.


Stocking the front office and basketball staff with people short on NBA
experience.


Trading Andrew DeClercq and a No. 1 pick that became Andre Miller for Vitaly
Potapenko.


Handing Potapenko a $33 million contract. Then giving Walter McCarty a
three-year, $8 million deal.


Destroying any chance for continuity by making a reported 102 player
transactions during his time in Boston.


Paying Antoine Walker $71 million over six years and making him a captain.


Leaving with the team about $16 million over the salary cap.

One of Pitino's most glaring miscalculations was handing the future over to
Walker, who had played for him at Kentucky. A multitalented 6-9 forward who
refuses to put the team ahead of his agenda, Walker likes to think of
himself as another Kevin Garnett.

During a loss to Golden State two weeks ago, assistant Jim O'Brien -- now
Pitino's interim replacement -- asked Walker why he was sulking and Walker
allegedly replied: "I'm not getting enough touches." This is the same guy
who, a few days later, said of the dreary resignation of the only pro and
college coach he's ever had: "It doesn't matter. It doesn't affect me
whether he's there or not."

Another Garnett? More like another Derrick Coleman.

"When I was there, Antoine was definitely the best player we had. Now, I
think Paul [Pierce] is the best player they have," Billups said. "Somewhere
in there, they might be bumping heads to see who's the go-to guy.

"There aren't a lot of guys who have the ability to do the things Antoine
can do. Sometimes he gets caught up in it."

Billups didn't hesitate to praise Pitino as a good strategist and, with a
new job at UNLV looming, a worthy hire. "He's a great college coach,"
Billups said, "because in college you only play two times a week. You can
practice and you can teach.

"You can scream and yell at guys, too, because they want to make it to the
NBA so bad, they're going to listen to you."