Re: Digital City Boston link from Josh Ozersky

["Jim Meninno" <Jim_Meninno@hotmail.com>]

----- Original Message ----- From: Berry, Mark S <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>

> I'm not saying this mess isn't Pitino's fault. Ultimately, it's his fault,
> and he made some terrible decisions. But I'm not willing to give the
players
> the full pardon most of you seem willing to give. They disgraced the
> tradition of the Boston Celtics with the way they behaved this season. I
can
> forgive losing, but not quitting. That's what they did, and it's
> inexcusable. "Sure, they quit, but they didn't like Pitino..." doesn't
work
> for me.

I, for one, don't think the team quit on Pitino.  I think they were broken.
Three plus years of working, trying, losing, getting yelled at and told that
they only had to try harder had taken its toll.  Plenty of people (not
including myself) predicted from day one that it would happen exactly that
way, and it did.  This was not some mutiny that just happened all of a
sudden.  It was a gradual eroding of enthusiasm and confidence that piled up
starting about half way through Pitino's first season and got worse and
worse with every loss and every poor personnel move the team made.  That's
how it feels from a fan's perspective and it's got to be even worse from the
players' and coaches' point of view.

Jim