interesting feature...

["Jaims" <jaims@info.com.ph>]

Pitino has been admairing from afar

He's not going to stalk the premises, like some famous ghost of literature,
haunting the building where he once ruled. He's not going to go Duquette on
us, sitting innocently in the second row while his former team succeeds
without him. No, Rick Pitino says he won't even show up if the Celtics make it
to the NBA Finals.

''[Former St. John's coach] Lou Carnesecca gave me some advice about that,''
Pitino said, when reached this week in Kentucky by telephone. ''He said for
one year you should leave it alone. That's what I try to do. This is Jim
O'Brien's stage. So now even when I speak to Jim, and we speak often, I try
not to even speak about the Celtics.''

Pitino admits O'Brien has done what he could not do. This is no small
admission from the man player personnel director Leo Papile calls ''our former
leader.''

''To be perfectly honest, I don't think I could have gotten them to do what
they are doing now,'' said Pitino. ''Jim O'Brien is the perfect fit for that
basketball team. I think he understands the mistakes I made and he is the
perfect coach for them.''

Pitino says he's going to watch tomorrow's game with three of his sons from
Hawaii.

''I stand in front of the TV with my children and we root as loud as we can,''
he said. ''We go ballistic during every game.''

Sounds nifty. But there's got to be some pain with this. Who among us is big
enough not to feel jealousy toward those who succeed where we have failed?

''It was tough to fail,'' Pitino admitted. ''But if you failed and your
brother took over and the team started winning, your pride level is off the
charts, and that's the way I feel. Jim's closer to me than my two brothers and
he was with me for nine or 10 years. He's as loyal a person as I ever had in
my life. His son and my son are best friends and both go to Georgetown. I
couldn't be much happier seeing him do this, not even if I were doing it
myself.''

Pitino walked away from the Celtics 16 months ago. His late-season bailout
proved fortuitous. Inadvertently, he probably saved the jobs of most of the
people who are in charge now. Certainly O'Brien and most of his staff would
not have gotten the same consideration had they not finished the 2000-01
season in such strong fashion.

''My only concern about leaving was not that I failed, it was about what would
happen to the people when I left,'' said Pitino. ''If I had waited, no one
there would have a job. Leaving when I did afforded Jim the opportunity to
succeed, which he did. So all my prayers are being answered. It's sort of like
a dream come true.''

This has been a tough year for Pitino. He lost his closest friend, his
brother-in-law Billy, when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. During the
Louisville basketball campaign he started losing his voice and was feeling
run-down.

''I had the most difficult year of my life, emotionally and physically,''
Pitino said. ''I'm going to be 50 in September and I went through all kinds of
tests during the season to make sure everything checked out OK.''

He's got a clean bill of health and says he'll never be tempted to return to
the NBA.

''I wanted to make Boston my last coaching job,'' he said. ''I feel the
college game is much easier on me. I don't think I could ever coach a pro
season again. It was a fight just to stay in it this year.''

He didn't get to watch many Celtics games during the NCAA season, but saw
portions of Game 3 against the Pistons and all of the clincher in Detroit.

''It's been great to watch their defense during the playoffs,'' he said.
''It's been absolutely outstanding. I think the work ethic is something we put
forth, but the actual technique, with all the rule changes, they are taking
advantage of as much as any team. From a technique standpoint, that's all
them. The only carryover is that we worked hard at it.''

Ask him what went wrong in Boston and he points to the 1997 draft lottery when
the Celtics wound up with Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer instead of Tim
Duncan.

''I was unlucky with the draft,'' Pitino said. ''Instead of Duncan, we got
[picks] 3 and 6. Then there was the tragic [stabbing] accident with Paul
Pierce. He was going to have his breakout year.''

A lot of other stuff went wrong in between, but Pitino defends some of the
personnel moves that have worked out.

''If I feel good about anything, it's the people I brought in to do the job.
Even a guy like Tony Battie,'' he said. ''We gave him a seven-year contract
that everybody thought was crazy, but today it's a great contract. And Kenny
Anderson. Kenny's having a great year.''

But Pitino knows the stars are producing for O'Brien in a way they never did
for him.

''The way Jim has gotten Antoine [Walker] and Paul to work with each other is
really special,'' Pitino said. ''It's something Phil Jackson had to do with
Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Jim's got Paul and Antoine going as well as
any tandem in basketball. He's pushing every right button.

''I always told Antoine he could be one of top three players in basketball. I
think he's just scratching the surface of how good he could become. He's
rooting his teammates on. I think he's come full circle.

''Pierce, I always knew he was remarkable. In the fourth quarter of a game,
there's no one I'd want more with the ball.

''I feel very confident for them. The series I was worried about was
Philadelphia. They are capable of beating New Jersey. Unfortunately, I think
the Lakers are the best team in basketball, but the Celtics have already gone
way beyond where anyone thought they would be. Jim O'Brien should have been
coach of the year, hands down.''

There. Words from ''our former leader'' as the Celtics head into the
conference finals for the first time in 14 years.