Conference 7.286::boston_celtics

I can't see ol' Larry tolerating all the crap you have to in order to
coach in the NBA.

You got your prima donnas, who would win ever game if'n they were half as
good as they think they are.

And you got idiots for owners who don't know when to meddle and when to
butt out.

Who needs the headaches. And ask your buddy, Magic, how he liked it.

My guess is that the over/under on these moves is about 1/2. I don't see
either of em, Bird coaching the Pacers or Brown coaching the Celtics.

TTom

    The most frustrating part about the whole scenario, regardless of who
    ends up in or out, is the Celtic organizations (is that an oxymoron?)
    willingness to continue acting like idiots and letting the whole issue
    devolve into a circus.	
    
    What is the problem with these people?

>    acting like idiots 

Maybe they're not acting?

    I'd rather see the Celts go after Mike K. from Duke. I think he would
    bring more to the Celts than Larry Brown...after all one would think
    that next year's team would be one of the youngest in the league and 
    Coach K's experience with young players would be helpful.
    
    Also, great players don't necessarily make great coaches. I never
    thought Bill Russell was a good coach, or K.C. Jones either. When you 
    are surrounded by great players you tend to look good. 
    
    I think Bird may be better at judging talent than putting the talent to 
    work. For that reason I think Bird should stay out of the coaching
    ranks....maybe he's jealous of Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale.
    
    Maj

    
    	The local sportscaster Bob Lobel brought up Phil Jackson's name
    last night. Lobel claims that his sources have indicated that the C's
    have talked to Phil Jackson. Jackson's contract with Chicago expires
    after the playoffs. However Jackson's contract says he can negociate
    with any team at anytime and doesn't have to wait for the playoffs to
    end.
    	Now the dream factor, would be Jackson to become coach. Then have
    MJ's ego kick in. MJ out to prove he is the best BB player of all time.
    Takes a last place Celtics team to there 17th championship. :^)
        Its all a dream but a team of say Duncan, Radja, Williams, Walker,
    Jordan, Wesley, and Dallas #1 pick. Isn't a bad 7 player rotation.
    
    Ron

re: Coach K

I don't look for him, or Roy Williams for that matter, to get into pro
coaching, at least not anytime soon. K has perhaps his best recruiting
class ever up coming and not likely to bail out now.

I like the idea of Jackson coaching. That's prolly more likely than
Jordan wearing green, but what they hey. Smoke if you got em.

TTom

    Well....the sports section of the Globe today has two articles
    about the Celtics power struggle (my words).
    One article co-written by Peter May & Bob Ryan, apparently has 
    Red Auerbach having officially been quoted as saying that 
    there will be a change. When Gaston was told of what Red said,
    Gaston had no comment. Other un-named sources says that Rick
    Pitino is very much back in the picture, with one of the sources
    indicating that a proposal to Pitino included part ownership in
    the team. Another source said Bird mentioned that he would not be
    a part of the Celtics orgnaization next season, but when he spoke
    with the Globe he wouldn't go so far as to say that, but did say
    that he could envision himself somewhere else and wouldn't rule
    out the Indiana job.
    Auerbach was quoted further as saying that at the end of the season,
    except for David Wesley, Antoine Walker, and maybe Todd Day, they
    were a CBA team. Now if Red is going to leave other names out of
    that list of exceptions, and include Todd Day as a non-CBA'er, I 
    think it's high time that Red gracefully (but quickly) fade out
    of the picture. He clearly doesn't have a grasp of reality.
    I won't argue with the first two names he was quoted as excluding
    from his categirization of a CBA team, but the third name doesn't
    hold much water with me, especially if he leaves Fox, and Williams
    out. Neither Fox or Williams might be starters on any other NBA
    team, but I wouldn't categorize either as a CBA caliber player.
    I would categorize Day as a CBA player what with his horrendous
    shot selection abilities and total lack of discipline at either
    end of the court.
    
    Sounds to me like Bird is playing this out in the media and behind the
    scenes to get the best deal he can from the Celtics by innuendo of
    going somewhere else.
    
    The associated article or rather, editorial article, by Bob Ryan is
    his usual content free sob story about a media reporter/writer who is
    being kept out of the loop on the juicy stuff. What a crying shame. :-)
    
     2
    b

Well, this weekend is the Run for the Roses, the Kentucky Derby.

Somehow with all these machinations, there seems to be a parallel between
this continuing coach carosel and trying to pick winners in a horse race.

What it mostly seems to call for are odds. Let's make Larry Brown the
favorite at say 5-2. Put Bird down at 3-1. Rick Pitino goes off at 5-1.
Coach K is 100-1 longshot.

And we still haven't seen the rest of the field.

TTom

    BTW did anyone else see on the 6:00 news that Rick Pitino has
    marketed a line of pasta food? It would sell like hotcakes in Boston. :-)
    
     2
    b

    RE .8
    Hey TTOM,
    Isn't CELTIC Warrior the underdog of underdogs at 30-1?
    
    Mike

    Actually I like the idea of Bird going to another organization to pay
    his dues. It's like coaching youth sports...some people start coaching
    well before their kids are old enough to play so that mistakes are made
    with other kids and not their own. Then when their own kids are old
    enough to play the coach is well seasoned and is better prepared to
    coach his own.
    
    Same with Bird. Let him coach/GM somewhere else for a while. He still
    has good PR in Boston and it's best if he hones his gm/coaching skills
    somewhere else....then maybe he can return to Boston with some well
    earned experience.
    
    There aren't many Jerry Wests in the league who can step right in and
    do a decent job...then really shine a few years later.
    
    Good luck Birdman. Methinks the scenario is now leaning towards M.L as
    just GM and Brown as coach.
    
    I'm not too excited but at least the Celtics will have a real coach
    for a change.
    
    Maj

It's early, Mike.

The official odds on this derby haven't been officially announced. The
field is still very much open.

TTom

    Here are the unofficial early odds as to who will be the nexted head
    coach of the Celtics:
    
    	Rick Pitino	9-5
    	Larry Brown	4-1
    	Bob Hill	6-1
    	Dennis Johnson	10-1
    	Phil Jackson	12-1
    	Brian Hill	15-1
    	ML Carr		20-1
    	George Karl	30-1
        Mike Jarvis	50-1
    	Any other
    	college coach	25-1
    	Anyone else	20-1
    
    NAZZ

    
    
       I'll bet on DJ at 10-1.....
    
    
    Its the easy way out....

    Chappy
      No way its going to be DJ. 

>>    acting like idiots 
>
>Maybe they're not acting?

   8^) 

    >  Isn't CELTIC Warrior the underdog of underdogs at 30-1?
     
    There also was the m.l. carr entry of Deeds Not Words/Pulpit/Silver
    Charm.
    
    Interesting reading this a week later.  Pitino announcement as new
    Celtics everything later today, all agreed? 
    

	OK, according to all the late night Sunday TV talk shows
	in Boston (Bob Lobel with Ryan, Shaughnessy and Callahan;
	Lavanchy with Holley and Ordway) this is how it is going to 
	shake out this week:

	(1) Rick Pitino will be coming to Boston as head coach
	with some (or all) player personell decisions. The rumored
	deal in anywhere from $40 million for 5 years to $70 million
	for 10 years plus a small percentage of the ownership 
	(about 3%).

	ML will be "well taken care of" by the Celtics and will still 
	have some vp title ...

	(2) Larry Bird will be going to Indiana to coach, with the
	understanding that he will move into the front office as head
	of basketball operations once Donnie Walsh retires. The deal here
	is rumored to be upwards of $4 million per year.

	Indiana is anxious to make this deal since they are looking 
	for a new arena and Bird will really help them in the marketing,
	selling of the new place. An Indiana reporter was on Boston
	TV last night and he was saying this was the biggest news in
	Pacers history (sorry, but that is one sorry franchise if this
	is their biggest news).

	It appears Larry really pissed off the Celtics front office
	with his "messed up" and need to "clean house" comments, lots
	of guys circled the wagons to protect their interests.

	Gaston was also upset with Red for his leaking of the ML Carr
	out as head coach news ... the Celtics wanted to make a joint
	announcement of ML out, new guy in ...

	So, if this all comes to pass, we got ourselves a new guy in charge,
	one I am happy to see!

	Now, come on ping pong balls!

	Vinny

    
    	Yeah, I guess Larry made it quite clear. That he wanted ML out,
    Jan Volk out, plus somebody else out. That if the C's wanted him to
    run the show. He wanted to be able to fire/hire anybody in the C's
    organization and not just the coach or players.
    	Most people don't know that Rick Pitino's son is attending Milton
    Academy. So being able to be closer to his son, is a big plus on the
    C's side. Plus, in reading comments from Rick. He believes in history
    and things like tradition and Celtics pride. He said that the same
    thing applies to Kentucky basketball.
    	Another tidbit is that Antoine Walker attended the Kentucky Derby
    over the weekend. Then went to Lexington to shoot some hoops and was
    there when Pitino talked to players. Antoine said that the Globe
    article was totally bogus.
    
    Ron

I din't catch the Globe article but the AP is reporting Walker as saying
he thought Pitino was coming to the Celtics.

Hopefully, someone will post it when something happens.

BTW, Larry Brown is goint to Philly. Should be fun to watch him and
Iverson.

TTom

    Ttom,
    	The Globe had reported Walker saying if Pitino comes then he'll
    leave.  Walker staunchly repudiated that yesterday.
    
    

    BOSTON -- Kentucky coach Rick Pitino is reportedly headed to the Boston
    Celtics. 
    
    WBZ-TV in Boston is reporting that Pitino has agreed to a 10-year
    contract to become coach and director of basketball operations of the
    Celtics. The official announcement is expected on Tuesday. 
    
    Pitino met with his players Sunday night and is scheduled to meet with
    Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton on Tuesday. 
    
    "We will get together on Tuesday," Newton told ESPN Radio. "I hope the
    matter will be resolved after that. I think the Celtics are the one
    team ... You have to understand, Rick is a basketball purist and
    traditionalist. It was one of the reasons we got him from the Knicks. 
    
    "I think the challenge appeals to him, just like this one did. He has a
    real career decision to make. It's probably the only job that piques
    his interest." 
    
    WHAS Radio in Louisville reported that Pitino had spoken with Celtics
    special assistant Larry Bird more than once about coaching the Celtics,
    who need a major overhaul. The Boston Globe reported that Bird made the
    call to Pitino during the season at the request of Celtics chairman
    Paul Gaston to see if he would have "interest in the (Celtics) job down
    the road." 
    
    Pitino declined a lucrative offer to return to the NBA as coach and
    director of operations of the New Jersey Nets after leading Kentucky to
    the national championship in 1996. The offer included part ownership of
    the franchise as well as control of player personnel. 
    
    Pitino has coached at Kentucky for the last eight years. He previously
    served as an NBA coach with the New York Knicks, where he had a 90-74
    record in two years. 
    
    New York finished 24-58 in 1986-87 and improved to 38-44 the following
    season in Pitino's first year. The Knicks went 52-30 under Pitino in
    1988-89. But philosophical differences with general manager Al Bianchi
    caused Pitino to leave the Knicks and he accepted the Kentucky job in
    1989. 

    Pitino and Riles certainly appear to be masters at working career
    decisions.

    
    
    There's a 3:30 press conference from Kentucky where Pitino
    will reportedly accept a 10 year/$70 million offer from the Celtics.
    
    CF

	... and the front office purge has begun ... reportedly
	the marketing guy, the travel guy, the trainer and Jan Volk
	have all been let go by the Celtics ...

	... ML has supposedly been removed from ALL basketball
	related decisions ... wow ...

	Gaston is making the moves necessary to turn the Celtic franchise
	around ... cleaning out the house, spending the BIG bucks
	to land the top coaching prospect ... this may even be enough
	to keep  Larry Bird from flying the coup ...

	Things are looking up ... now onto May 18!

	Vinny

    About time!

	From the news conference in Kentucky ...

	Rick Pitino is officially in as Celtics head coach ...
	and he is bringing along his assistant coaches
	Jim O'Brien and Winston Bennett as well as his 
	trainer ...

	Meanwhile, back in Boston ...

	KC Jones, Dennis Johnson and John Keuster are out as 
	assistant coaches ... Jan Volk is out as general manager ...
	the public relations guy, the trainer and other front
	office personell are also all gone ...

	ML is going to be taken care of by the organization, but he
	is out of the basketball decision process ... (good) ...

	Larry Bird has been offered a spot in the front office, the
	decision is now in his court, does he want to coach (Indiana)
	for $4+ million a year or does he want to work in to work in 
	the Celtics front office (for considerably less pay, but remember,
	he makes millions each year doing endorsements and speaking 
	engagements - some of which he would have to give up to become
	a coach, so the money difference may not be as great as it seems)

	A news conference in Boston on Thursday to announce Rick Pitino ...

	Things are looking up ... and if the ping pong balls bounce the
	right way on May 18, things could turn around in a hurry!

	Vinny

    I think something which Larry may or may not have given thought to
    is the wear & tear that the road travel as a coach may put on
    his already fragile back. Whereas with more of a desk job, his
    back would likely be saved a huge amount of unnecessary stress.
    I have a hunch that when Rick P. gets done with talking to Larry
    today, that Larry will make decision to stay with the Celtics.
    As for Gaston, I'll be cutting the guy some slack, and will no 
    longer refer to him as "Thanks Dad". 
    Based on what he has chosen to do by making the commitment to go
    after Pitino, and to clean house, he deserves to be called Paul
    Gaston. Now if Larry stays with the team, the Celtics with the
    signing of Pitino, will have gained a huge amount of credibility.
    This should make an impact on the teams ability to sign quality 
    free agents who may not have otherwise considered signing with the
    team.
    
     2
    b

              
    
        With the signing on of Rick Pitino the Clouds are finally starting
    to clear over this franchise. And I say its about time. 
    
    
         Yesterday Jan Volk as well as DJ and KC were let go. So it's out
    with the old and in with the new. Larry Bird may be the next GM of the
    Celtics. Pitino will take over as Coach and Head of Basketball
    operations. Larry has got to decide if he wants to experience the every
    day grind as a Coach with Indiana or take the cushy job in the Celtic's
    front office.
    
    
        Ml Carr is expected to be named Head of PR and a couple other
    benign titles. I know he took alot of flak but I applaud ML and the job
    he did here, he made a few mistakes. Nique,Barros,Minor but he also got
    us Antoine Walker and Eric Williams. He took all the crap from the
    media and the fans so this team could get bad enough to get good. I
    commend him for this. Of course he isn't a coach, or really a good GM
    but he did his job and followed the "plan".
    
         IF Pitino can teach Dino how to play Defense this sure looks like
    the start of something good, especially if the Ping Pong balls fall
    right.
    
    C Duncan/Hamer
    PF Walker/
    SF Dino/Williams
    SG Williams/Barros
    PG Wesley/ Brevan Knight??? :-)
    
         Maybe even Dee can change his Tude now that a real coach is at the
    helm.
    
    
    Chap

    One of the things that annoyed me last night when I was
    watching the Ch 68 sports talk show at 10:00 where Chuck-
    -whats-his-name had Tommy Heinsohn on by phone, and they
    were taking calls to discuss the Pitino signing.
    Heinsohn was babbling on about turning Dana Barros into a
    point guard, and keeping Dee Brown. Now there's a couple
    of scary moves. I don't think Barros has the ability to be
    a point, and I think I would have sen some inkling of potential
    if there was any in his style of play to this point. I haven't
    seen it. Dee may be willing to turn over a new leaf and start
    fresh with a new coach, but his salary is certainly a liability
    for the Celtics, and in fact Barros's salary isn't exactly a
    non-liability either. In any case, I'm at least comfortable with
    the knowledge that Heinsohn isn't involved with the decision-making
    process of the team. :-) Methinks he is off the mark on some of his 
    analysis. He also was muttering about keeping Conlon and made some
    other seemingly off-the-wall analysis. He did however bring up the
    thought of getting Dino to put some strong emphasis on improving
    his defensive part of his game.
    Oh well... can't wait for thos ping-pong balls to start bouncing! :-)
    
     2
    b

    Re: Bird's fragile back
    
    Will the wear & tear from daily coaching and traveling be any worse
    than the wear & tear from golfing?

    Re Brown and Barros.
    Unless they can find a taker for them these 2 could help them more then
    Dino. At least they both are athletic enough to play the fast break
    offense that Pitino will put in. With Fox going the free agent route
    they will need someone to pick him up. 
    What are they going to do with Dino especially if they do get Duncan?
    
    Mike

    I think one of Pitino's biggest challenge is to introduce Radja to the
    concept of defense.
    
    Maj

I'm confused.  Does the Pitino signing indicate the Celtics are moving
to Division 1 ?  If so, they could become the first team to win both
NBA and NCAA titles !!   :^)


>    About time!

Now that's an understatement.  Don't you Celtics fans give Gaston any
credit yet.  The depth to which he let this franchise plummet is
criminal (and people criticize Steinbrenner ???).  My 8-yr old son
could have picked Pitino to coach a hurtin' team.  So let's see what
else happens.

By the way, a banner ain't guaranteed.  Remember that when Pitino was
in NY his critics said his style couldn't work in the NBA.  He had
poor Patrick at the head of his fullcourt press.  Too many games in
the regular season, and the playoffs can add another 20+.  And he's
never proven he knows what to do with a real center (like Nelson)...
which may not be a problem, since the C's don't have one.

	The signing of Rick Pitino to coach/run the basketball
	operation for the Boston Celtics is similar to the
	signing of Bill Parcells by the New England Patriots ...

	It gives them instant credibility, it gives the fans HOPE,
	and it gives them a PRESENCE. The Celtics have been missing 
	all of these elements since the end of the Big Three Era ...

	Rick will not be able to turn this franchise around over night,
	the previous administrations saddled him with too many
	over paid players with limited talents ... Pervis Ellison,
	Dee Brown, Dino Radja, Dana Barros, and Greg Minor all
	have at least three years left on contracts that are paying
	them way too much money ... and all these players have question
	marks surrounding them (injury at least) ... and, no matter
	how well he can coach, the NBA is a players league, you don't win
	unless you have the players ...

	Fortunately, there is hope, the Celtics have a couple players
	(Walker & Williams) and they have two high draft picks to pick
	up a couple more players ... now, if the new general manager
	could just swing a trade or two too unload some of the "extra"
	players, the salary cap relief could be put to good use ...

	Vinny - May 18: 11 days away

    Joe has a valid point: can Pitino adjust his style to his roster?

    re 250.35
    
    Didn't Pitino also turn that Knicks club around from something short of
    excellent to a playoff participant and Atlantic division champs in his
    2 years with them (dispite the grousing of the players and the NY
    media).
    
    
    Anyhow, regardless of that, I don't think anyone see's Pitino as the
    cure all for the celts, but he's certainly seen as a major step
    towards the fans and the rest of the league regarding the celts as a legit
    entity with some kind of plan.
    
    Who plays for Pitino next year is of little or no consequence. It's the
    system that they play under that's important.
    
    That's why you dump who you can dump (Wesley, Fox, Day, Conlon etc) and
    fill with players with either potential, or CBA hustle.
    
    I've heard the arguements about keeping Wesley but IMHO the idea that you 
    need a proven point guard at THIS time for THIS team is silly....akin
    to the Celts should have kept Montross to have a semi-legit center last 
    year.
    
    These players buy you nothing in the overall scheme of things and any
    team willing to sign Fox or Wesley can have them and any team willing
    to fork over 1/2 of the salary of one of the other longtermers should
    be courted.
    
    It's 3 or 4 years from now we need to worry about ( or 2 in the case of
    Walker, the only neccesary ingredient I think would be needed from this
    current team for a legit title run down the road)

Supposedly, Larry Bird has agreed to be the nexted head coach of the
Pacers.

So claims a_article at WWW.NANDO.NET

TTom

Now for something a bit unexpected.

Sportszone is reporting that Red Auerbach is out as Celtic's president.

The Globe confirms it. Red is out. Here's the list:

   Who's out
   
   FIRED
   
   Dennis Johnson
   Assistant coach, fired after four years
   
   K.C. Jones
   Assistant coach, fired after two years assisting Carr
   
   John Kuester
   Assistant coach, fired after seven years with team
   
   Jon Jennings
   Director of basketball development, fired after 11 years with team
   
   Rick Weitzman
   Head scout, fired after 13 years with team
   
   REASSIGNED
   
   Red Auerbach
   No longer president, he will be given new title
   
   M.L. Carr
   After two years as coach and director of basketball operations, he
   will move to a corporate role
   
   RESIGNED
   
   Jan Volk
   General manager, he resigned after 26 years with Celtics
   
   OTHERS FIRED
   
   Non-basketball personnel fired this week include David Zuccaro in the
   publicity department, Amy Murray and Jo O'Connor in the marketing
   department, and Carolyn Hughes, Jan Volk's executive assistant.
   



TTom

    
    	Yup,
    
    		Paul Gaston made a decision to get rid of everybody and
    bring in Pitino. Gaston has already offered Larry Bird a position, if
    Larry wants to stay. If you look strickly at the facts, this team has
    done nothing in the 90's. When was the last championship? (89-90)
    season? I can't remember its been a while. You have to go back a long
    time. To find a 10 year period where the C's weren't in a championship
    game, or won a championship. The last thing this team did talent wise
    that really panned out. Was getting Bird, Mchale, and Parish in a 2
    year stretch.
    
    Ron

    Red is going to be Vice Chairman which may mean he oversees Gaston's
    Video store empire should he acquire one.  Perhaps that'll be part of
    M.L.'s Corporate Development project.
    
    The Wildcat Pitino brings in maybe Derek Anderson which I would
    anticipate being part of a swapping down.  Perhaps a swap down on draft
    picks could be part of a hazardous waste deal involving Barros,Dee,Dino
    or Pervis.

    Last championships: 81, 84, 86
    
1947  Philadelphia 4   Chicago       1
1948  Baltimore    4   Philadelphia  2
1949  Minneapolis  4   Washington    2     first Laker-Auerbach final
1950  Minnesota    4   Syracuse      2
1951  Rochester    4   New York      3
1952  Minneapolis  4   New York      3     the Mikan years....
1953  Minneapolis  4   New York      1
1954  Minneapolis  4   Syracuse      3     Kundla #5, 3 in a row
1955  Syracuse     4   Fort Wayne    3
1956  Philadelphia 4   Fort Wayne    1
1957  Boston       4   St. Louis     3     Russell #1, Auerbach #1
1958  St. Louis    4   Boston        2     Alex Hannum #1
1959  Boston       4   Minneapolis   0     Kundla denied #6
1960  Boston       4   St. Louis     3     two
1961  Boston       4   St. Louis     1     three
1962  Boston       4   Los Angeles   3     four
1963  Boston       4   Los Angeles   2     five
1964  Boston       4   San Francisco 1     six
1965  Boston       4   Los Angeles   1     seven 
1966  Boston       4   Los Angeles   3     EIGHT in a row, Balloons stay up
1967  Philadelphia 4   San Francisco 2     Chamberlain #1, Alex Hannum #2
1968  Boston       4   Los Angeles   2     Russell coach #1, player #10
1969  Boston       4   Los Angeles   3     Russell #11, backback from here...
1970  New York     4   Los Angeles   3     Willis Reed
1971  Milwaukee    4   Baltimore     0     Kareem #1
1972  Los Angeles  4   New York      1     Wilt #2, 33 consec reg.sea. W's 
1973  New York     4   Los Angeles   1     Walt Frazier
1974  Boston       4   Milwaukee     3     Havlicek adjusts shot over Kareem
1975  Golden State 4   Washington    0     KC Jones still doesn't know why
1976  Boston       4   Phoenix       2     game 6 triple overtime, Westphal!
1977  Portland     4   Philadelphia  2     Walton #1, Lucas
1978  Washington   4   Seattle       3     Wes,aint over til the fat lady sings
1979  Seattle      4   Washington    1     Wilkins,Sikma,DJ,Gus,Downtown,JJ
1980  Los Angeles  4   Philadelphia  2     rookie Magic #1, Kareem #2 
1981  Boston       4   Houston       2     Bird #1, Maxwell's back is strong
1982  Los Angeles  4   Philadelphia  2     Boston chants "beat LA" to no avail
1983  Philadelphia 4   Los Angeles   2     Dr.J, fo'fo'fo', 12-1 playoff record
1984  Boston       4   Los Angeles   3     Bird finally beats Magic
1985  Los Angeles  4   Boston        2     the End of the Balloons
1986  Boston       4   Houston       2     Bird #3,twin tower mistake,Walton #2
1987  Los Angeles  4   Boston        2     Magic #4, Kareem #5
1988  Los Angeles  4   Detroit       3     EJ#5,KA#6,1st backback since russell
1989  Detroit      4   Los Angeles   0     the badboys
1990  Detroit      4   Portland      1     the badboys again
1991  Chicago      4   Los Angeles   1     Jordan #1
1992  Chicago      4   Portland      2     Jordan #2...
1993  Chicago	   4   Phoenix	     2	   Jordan #3; only one home victory
1994  Houston      4   New York      3     Hakeem's Rockets' Red Glare
1995  Houston	   4   Orlando       ?	   Rockets Repeat
1996  Chicago	   4   Seattle       2	   Mikey's back; best regular season

	Larry Bird will be leaving the Celtics organization to
	accept the position of head coach of the Indiana Pacers ...

	Best of luck (accept when you are playing Boston) Larry!

	If it were anyplace else, I might hold some hard feelings against
	Larry for leaving the Celtics organization, especially since the
	Celtics did everything he asked (hired Rick Pitino, cleaned out
	the organization) but he is going home, much like Kevin did to 
	Minnesota, so I wish Larry nothing but the best ...

	So, now we have Danny Ainge coaching Phoenix, Dave Cowens coaching
	Charlotte, Larry Bird coaching Indiana, Kevin McHale gm in
	Minnesota and Don Nelson gm in Dallas ... did I miss any?

	Vinny - wondering who Rick will bring in to help him as general manager

My guess is that DJ will join Larry in Indiana.  ESPN mentioned Quinn Buckner
as another possible assistant.  

Dan

    I think Larry is making a mistake and I hope he doesn't embarass
    himself.  Magic is such a competitor and perfectionist that he couldn't
    relate to today's kids while coaching the Lakers.  I don't see Larry being 
    any different.  Hopefully I'm wrong, but I have big doubts.
    
    Mike

    RE: Others kicking around?
    
    Chris Ford is still w/ Milwaukee, no?

    According to the radio this A.M. that the C's are going to hire the
    Miami scouting director as the new GM. It's supposed to be announced
    today. 4 weeks and a day to the draft and all is quiet.
    
    Mike

    Chris Wallace is coming over and for compensation the Celtics will give
    Miami their second round pick.
    
    Maj

  Celtics name Wallace as GM

   BOSTON - The Boston Celtics Tuesday named Chris Wallace general
   manager, making him the No. 2 man in the organization under new coach
   and president Rick Pitino. Wallace had been director of player
   personnel for the Miami Heat for the last four years. In order to lure
   him away from Miami, the Celtics swapped second-round picks with the
   Heat, giving up the number 30 selection and getting back the 55th pick
   in next month's NBA draft. Wallace originally worked as the publisher
   of a magazine used by college recruiters to evaluate high school
   basketball players. He will be in charge of player evaluation, salary
   cap and other issues, Pitino said. Wallace replaces longtime general
   manager Jan Volk, who was fired earlier this month as part of the
   organizational shakeup that occurred when the Celtics hired Pitino.

    I predict the Celtics take Tunji Awojobi with the 55th pick in the
    draft.
    
    NAZZ

Even if'n another local, Danya Abrams, is available?

The guy I like rated around 55-60 is Thaddeous Delaney from the College
of Charleston. Some serious raw talent from what I've seen.

TTom

    I would bet Delaney goes mid-second round.  Abrams won't be drafted.
    
    NAZZ

    I think Abrams can play in the NBA but he'd have to really dedicate
    himself to a physical regimen.  With all the guys today with no
    basketball sense I'd think he'd find a niche.

	Couldn't find a note dedicated to Greg Minor, so I figured
	I would stick this entry here ...

	Anyone else read the article in the 'Boston Globe' regarding
	Greg?

	The article is non-basketball related, it discusses Greg's
	relationship with his on-again/off-again girl freind and
	their three children ... the basic gist of the article is
	that Greg is NOT supporting his children (or his ex-girlfreind)
	financially and has allowed them to be evicted from their
	home and forced to move in to a two bedroom place with
	her mother ...

	This type of story really bugs me, and even if only half of it
	is true, I will still have a hard time cheering for Greg Minor,
	either as a Celtic or as a player in general ...
	
	Heres hoping that Greg straightens out and does the right thing.

	Vinny

    Pretty one-sided article.  Minor came off looking like a real jerk. 
    Too bad Peter May didn't get to include some comments from Minor.
    There's always two sides to every story, but only one was presented.
    However, Minor will have to really go a ways to refute this story.
    
    NAZZ

    Unless there not his kids then I'd say there's no excuse he could give
    me... I know sometimes they don't want to give ex's money as they may
    spend it on themselve's instead of the kids but according to the
    article he agreed to purchase that home (Where they were evicted from).
    No reason he couldn't have kept it in his name....
    
    Oh well, just another low life profesional athlete... There's plenty
    of them, I'm sure most of these type's of stories get squashed,
    wouldn't want your reporter's being sidetracked from the locker rooms
    
    								MaB

    Well, I too read the story, and as Nazz said, I was a bit dissapointed
    that there wasn't any attempt (visible), to get the other side of
    the story. If Minor stays on the Celtics squad, I'd look to Peter
    having an eggshell-type difficulty in getting stories when he walks
    into the C's locker room next year. :-)
    
    Minor's problem may even be worse if his low-life agent (most of them
    are considered as such), has had some influence on Minor's decision
    in this matter. *If* Minor is doing this on his own, and the facts as
    stated in the article are correct, he has a lot of soul searching to
    do. *If* he has allowed an agent to influence him in personal affairs
    like these, he has some horrible judgement flaws in whom he trusts
    to help him manage his life. In either case, he should seek out
    professional help in getting his head screwed back on properly.
    
     2
    b

	As a side note ... Greg Minor doesn't currently have an agent,
	the agent Greg had that got him his big contract is no longer
	an agent, and Greg hasn't officially hired a new agent to 
	replace him ...

	Not sure how much of an effort Peter May put into getting Greg's 
	side of the story, but I got the feeling Greg wasn't too anxious
	to talk to a reporter about this subject ...

	He can balk all he wants about paying child support to a girl freind
	he no longer has a relationship with, but the bottom line is that
	this guy is a MILLIONAIRE and he doesn't take care of his kids,
	there is no excuse for that ...

	And, on the flip side, you have Nick Anderson paying for the
	funeral of a little kid who was hit by a car in Orlando, just
	because he thought it was the right thing to do ...

	Two different people, one I would like to cheer for, the other
	I wouldn't ...

	Vinny