Boston Celtics '97-98

First of all, it causes problems for other NBA coaches. I don't think there is any doubt that Pitino is an excellent coach, winning without talent, winning with talent, and winning with a game plan that no one else has had as much success with. When Pitino first entered the NBA in '87, other NBA teams said that he could not successfully carry out the pressing defense and three-point gunning that are his trademark. Pitino proved them wrong, improving the Knicks by 14 wins each year he stayed with them....

...Which brings us to the second group of people that Pitino is going to be trouble for: His own team. The Boston Celtics locked up Pitino with a fat contract, err, they signed him to a contract, but no one honors them anymore. Pitino being "upwardly mobile", as the NBA calls him, will undoubtedly be surrounded by questions of whether he is staying at one point in his contract tenure. Like most good coaches, Pitino is a control-freak who bargained for that control in his 10 year contract. Whether the control he's been given will be enough to satisfy his goal -- winning his way or no way -- is in some question. Ten years with one team is a very long time in this MTV era. Pitino has never done it. Ten years ago was three teams ago for him....

...And only one title. The hype surrounding the Pitino system is valid because it wins a lot of games, but it doesn't necessarily win the big one. The Celtics' fans will probably experience this as well. Pitino's first Knick team surprisingly made the playoffs, even winning a game from heavily favored Boston. Pitino's second Knick team won their division, summarily dispatched the Campbell Camels, err, the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, then got upset by the Chicago Bulls in the second round. So Pitino quit. In Kentucky, Pitino put together more NCAA Tournament favorites than anyone in that span, but won just one. There is actually a very good reason that Pitino struggles to win the championships, something I have spelled out before.

Finally, Pitino's return to the NBA causes problems for me. I typically analyze basketball by splitting up the offense and the defense. Michael Jordan is a great offensive player and a great defensive player. Scottie Pippen is a great defensive player and an OK offensive player. Dikembe Mutombo is a great defender, but a goon offensively. Glen Rice can make an offense go, but ain't much defensively. With Pitino at the helm in Boston, this gets a bit more difficult. The Pitino defense feeds the offense. The Pitino offense, when bad, prevents the defense from working. As I like to say, the Pitino offense and defense are coupled. Teamwise, I understand this: The Celtics are going to be much better this year, winning between 30 and 40 games. Individually, however, I don't know how to assign credit. Already people are making Antoine Walker out to be a star, but his numbers were absolutely pitiful last year, nothing like I have seen from any player who turned into a star. Rookie Chauncey Billups looked like one of the generic point guards who shoots far too many three-pointers (Van Exel, Stoudamire, Marbury, Cassell, and the guy you want me to say, but I won't), but getting into the Pitino system makes that a valuable quality. I have said it before and I'll say it again: there has not been a single player that Pitino has coached who has played as well outside his system as they did in it.

When Pitino makes the Celtics and their fans happy this year, too much credit is going to go to a few ordinary players and too little credit to his system.

Home Is Where I Make It

With all the moving of professional franchises, perhaps a league should form where teams do not associate itself with specific locations. Rather, teams associate themselves with individuals. The fanbase is already spread out and those fans only care about a few individuals.

A few examples:

• The Pitino Trappers
• The Jordan and Jackson Bullies
• The Payton Gloves
• The Little Penny Puppets
• The Life of Riley
• The Grant Hill Good-Guys
• The Iversons (There is an I in this team)
• The Rodman Penal Colony