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Budy Thomas: Celtics Reflect Stench Of Pitino System
New Bedford Standard Times
4/8/99
Something is rotten in Celts' system
Buddy Thomas
senior sports editor/columnist
It's all falling apart.
Like a two-year-old cheap suit, the Rick
Pitino era in Boston is beginning to unravel,
exposing the naked truth about the Celtics.
They stink.
Not that any Celtics' fan expected a
quick return to the Glory Days when Pitino
assumed the coaching reins prior to the start of
the 1997-98 season. After all, the Celtics hadn't
had a winning record since the 1992-93 season.
But the hiring of Pitino at least gave us hope
they were headed in the right direction.
[Image] Last year, Pitino guided the Celtics to
36 wins in 82 games. That's still 5 games under
.500, but it was the most wins by a Celtics' team
in five seasons. And when Pitino drafted Paul
Pierce out of Kansas hope continued to spring
eternal.
But thanks to a string of questionable
acquisitions and some recent in-fighting, the
smooth ride back to respectability has hit a
series of potholes and, sadly, the Celtics under
Rick Pitino are looking very similar to the
Celtics under M.L. Carr.
This is a team with no leader, no big
man, no point guard and no hope. Defensively,
they are as effective as a submarine with a
screened-in hatch and sinking just as fast. It's
a team out of control — out of Pitino's control
anyway — and one has to wonder how or even if he
can ever regain it.
The latest example is Kenny Anderson, the
veteran point guard who was acquired in a
seven-player deal with the Toronto Raptors during
the 1997-98 season.
Getting a seven-year veteran to run the
show looked like a good deal at first glance. But
who knew it would turn out to be a sideshow?
Didn't Pitino know Anderson was troubled
by injury? And didn't the coach question why
Anderson had been traded three times in the last
four seasons? Didn't Pitino even look into why
Anderson refused to report to Toronto after being
dealt to the Raptors prior to bringing him to
Boston? And why would Pitino include a rookie
(Chauncey Billups) he had labeled the Celtics'
point guard of the future in such a deal?
If the coach didn't have any questions
then, he certainly should have a few now.
It took Pitino less than half a condensed
season to realize Anderson is not the answer at
point guard. And after vocal outbursts with
teammate Antoine Walker and Pitino himself,
Anderson was told to stay home during Boston's
trip to Orlando earlier this week.
Think Pitino is having second thoughts
about that trade? Then again, he's probably
having second thoughts about a lot of the moves
he's made. Like the most recent one that sent
hard-working, mildly-talented Andrew DeClercq and
a provisional No. 1 pick to Cleveland for a
hard-working wide-body named Vitaly Potapenko.
There's nothing wrong with the latter if
you're looking for a complement to a legitimate
center. But those guys can be had for a lot less
than a No. 1 draft pick. And has anybody noticed
how well DeClercq is playing in another system?
And what about cutting David Wesley
loose? Remember him? He's probably the best point
guard Pitino ever had in Boston. At least he's
one of the few who was trained to think pass
before shoot.
This is Pitino's fourth year as an NBA
coach (two with the Knicks and two with the
Celtics). When it's over, he'll own his third
losing record and second straight in Boston.
Certainly it's going to take time to
remold this team from pretender to contender, but
patience has never been a Pitino virtue and for
that reason Celtics' fans are starting to become
impatient with him.
Pitino is determined to find players who
will buy into his system and, apparently, is
willing to trade anyone to find them.
Published reports had him dangling
multi-talented Ron Mercer at the recent trading
deadline, the same day he reportedly offered
Bruce Bowen and Tony Battie to the Clippers for
Rodney Rogers, an overweight 6-7 forward who
probably runs harder to the dinner table than he
does on the court.
Hey, Rick, the Celtics stink but only
because they reflect the stench of your system,
which clearly doesn't work in the NBA.
Buddy Thomas' column appears on Thursday
in The Standard-Times.
Copyright © 1999 The Standard-Times.All rights reserved.