Re: Pitino's comments

[Matt Healy <mhealy@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu>]

>I know that, to those of you who never question authority, what I just
>wrote is pure heresy. I'll be flamed for daring to question King Rick I,
>for being impatient etc. ad nauseam. However, I'm not impatient with a
>slow progress, I'm concerned about the absence of it. I also think more
>should be demanded of Pitino than was of M.L. Carr.

You should always be skeptical and question authority.  But you should also
be willing to accept answers to that criticism.   You may say you are being
patient, but getting upset about lack of progress over 4 games is not
patient.  This was a bad, bad team last year, and we are in the very
beginning of a complete overhaul, and it is currently not a real good NBA
team now.  It takes time, and by that, I don't mean one week, or one month.
I would certainly expect to see progress over the course of a month or two,
but it may well be incremental steps, and the end result may still be
losing.  Expecting to turn around a team with 15 wins into a playoff team
is just completely unrealistic.  Judging a team's progress on such a
turnaround after 4 games is unfair, and particularly when those games are
against conference title contenders.   Sure the 95-97 team was bad, but
able to win more games than this team.  But they had NO chance of improving
to a playoff team.  The only way to get to the point of being a playoff
contender from that team was to go through the stage we are in right now.
That team was a losing team, and had veterans who were not going to improve
enough to take the team any further.  This team is a losing team, with
young guys, inexpensive short contracts.  That in itself is progress.

Don't take this as a flame.  I really don't care what you want to think, I
just think this might help you and all of us feel a little more comfortable
with this poor team.  I understand your desire to see the Celts return to
prominence, and fast.  And I understand the frustration of seeing them
blown out every night, especially after tasting a sweet victory early.  But
when Pitino and others are asking for patience, they aren't talking about
one week.

Matt