It is no secret on the BDB site that I have a great deal of respect for Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino, an NCAA basketball legend in my book. However, it’s important to know that I am not from Boston and am in no way a Celtics fan. If I were, perhaps I would be completely on board with this interview that happened last week on a Boston radio station. SB Nation reports on the five-second interview described as a Boston Celtics dream interview with the Hall of Fame coach that only allowed Pitino to get two words in before the host slammed his efforts with the Celts and abruptly hung up.
Rick Pitino: NCAA Pros and NBA Woes
Pitino’s record in the college basketball world is without a doubt solid and his name appears on a lot of short lists of amazing accomplishments, my favorite may be that he has led three different teams to a Final Four in his tenure (Providence, Kentucky and Louisville). But again, those are his NCAA basketball accomplishments and as we all know, that does not necessarily translate to the NBA. And that showed in Pitino’s stint with the Boston Celtics. Under his tutelage the Celtics had a less-than-stellar record of 102-146 from 1997-2001.
Sure, that is awful and others have been fired for less, but let’s be honest, it’s 2013. What is the statute of limitations on angering the fans of Boston? Especially when the Celtics recovered quite nicely some years later after acquiring some of the then-best players in the game with Doc Rivers getting much praise. (Hello, 2008?) Are the fans still really this upset? Apparently so.
Just makes you wonder what new Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens will have to look forward to in this inaugural season. If you remember, Stevens left his NCAA basketball career where he took Butler to back-to-back Final Fours in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Brad Stevens / Screenshot YouTube/Wane “Brad Stevens Leaves Butler to Coach Boston Celtics with Bob Collier Comment”
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Was the Boston radio station interview fair? Would you still be upset?
