Re: The Boston Celtics Mailing List Digest V9 #113

[Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
nd one last thing... I don't expect these guys to be perfect, but if
they're making $9 million a year, I expect them to work hard. I don't think
that's too much to ask. I have a hard time mustering a lot of sympathy for
their plight. These guys have worked hard this year, but that hasn't always
been the case.
--- end of quote ---

Mark, it's not about how they deserve be treated, or what they should be
expected to do, given that they make so much money. It's about the reality of
coaching in the NBA. It doesn't matter if some of these players are spoiled
rich brats - if they perceive themselves as very rich, very talented MEN, they
better be treated as such, whether they deserve it or not. As you know, today's
pro game is all about RESPECT. The money is secondary. As a fan, you can say
that you're disgusted by young punks getting millions to play basketball and
not even working very hard for all that money, and refuse to be an NBA fan. As
an NBA coach, you take that view at your own peril. It's just human nature that
you get more out of them with a carrot than with a stick. That includes
treating them as something they should be - responsible adults worthy of
respect - rather than what they sometimes are, and having them grow to meet
your expectations.  

Pitino never figured this out. I'm not talking about being demanding  - players
say Obie is demanding, but I'm sure he goes about it in a different way.
Stories abound about Pitino's treating Celtics players like teenagers. He
ranted after games, he chastised his players publicly, on the court, he imposed
curfews. You can get away with it in college, where the players don't have any
power. Pro players just don't take too well to it, and they'll get you fired or
make you resign. That's the reality in today's NBA, and Obie realizes it. His
player relation skills are nothing short of masterful. I don't think he's made
a single wrong move in that area. 

Fratello actually made a comment last night about how Obie saw that you can't
fight Antoine and chose to take the bad with the good, rather than piss him off
and get what Pitino got. It made me even more convinced that the whole "I tell
him to take all these threes, talk to ME about it if you don't like it" spiel
is just the cost of doing business as far as Jim O'Brien, MBA, is concerned. 
Kestas