Was Pitino really as bad as most of Celtic Nation claims?

[Moranis]

I say no.  I posted this in a different thread, but felt it might be an interesting discussion to have in its own thread.

Here is the entirety of the moves he made http://prosportstransactions.com/basketball/Search/SearchResults.php?Player=&Team=celtics&BeginDate=1997-05-06&EndDate=2001-01-08&PlayerMovementChkBx=yes&submit=Search.

Here is the roster from the 96-97 team that won a whoppling 15 games the year before he took over - http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1997.html

Here is the 2000-2001 team that he left midseason to go to Louisville http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2001.html

Some notable moves (both good and bad)

Free Agent Signings
Travis knight
Andrew Declerq
Bruce Bowen
Chris Mills
Adrian Griffin

Trades
E. Williams for 2 seconds
Mills & 2 seconds for McCarty, Jones, Thomas, Brooks
Billups, Brown, Thomas, Rogers for Anderson, Popeye, Tabak
Declerq, 1999 first (Andre Miller) for Potapenko
Knight for Battie
Mercer, Popeye, Schintzius for Fortson, E. Williams, E. Washington, 2001-2004 Celtics Choice 1st round pick (which could have been Melo, Wade or Bosh, but Wallace used it in 2001 for Kedrick Brown)
Fortson, Barros for Pack, Hot Rod, 2001 1st (was the Forte pick)

Draft Picks
Billups
Mercer
B. Pepper
Pierce
Moiso


All in all, Pitino left the team in much better shape then when he took over.  He drafted Pierce, he brought in Battie, Anderson, kept Walker, traded and then brought back Williams, etc. (who would all be key members of the early 2000 playoff runs).  He also had the Denver pick with the Celtics choice, he had what would be the 21st pick in 2001, and every single first going forward for the Celtics.

And frankly a lot of the bad moves he made, he was able to correct, i.e. trading Knight for Battie, getting the extra draft picks to help with the loss of the one he gave up for Potapenko, etc.  Even the Billups trade wasn't that bad when you look at the entirety of the circumstances (Billups took a long time to develop and Anderson was pretty darn good for the Celtics for a few years).  He certainly missed on Moiso, but that was a pretty weak draft overall.  If Wallace, who Pitino brought in unfortunately, wasn't a complete and utter idiot (I mean seriously taking the Denver pick in 2001 which was 11 when you already had 10 and 21 - terrible, and Forte was just an awful pick), than I think people would look a bit differently at the Pitino era.

Also, I believe that because Pitino was coaching and serving as the G.M. simultaneously that he made moves and did things he might not have done if he was only in one role.  Like the trade of Billups, I think he made that trade because he felt immense pressure to win now and Billups was clearly going to take awhile to develop.  I'm not giving him a pass, nor does it really have much to do with my initial premise, but I think the dual roles adversely affected his ability to do either job to the best of his ability (and even with that, I don't think he was nearly as bad as has been made out on this board).

[Fafnir]

Yes he was that bad, tons of shortsighted moves and overall a poor job maximizing the talent that the losing and picks did bring in.

He demanded the dual role to take the job, and failed at both. Pierce falling to the 10th pick is the only reason his tenure wasn't a complete failure.

[2short]

Oh he was worse, most of us have blacked out the entire memory of him and refuse to speak on it as it will cause hysteria, depression, internal bleeding you name it

The kicker is he was given the keys to the city so to speak.  Pretty much total control for an ego maniac (perfect)

[StartOrien]

[Who]

Pitino was a train wreck. He gave up on young talent far too quickly and failed to develop the club properly on a path to one-day becoming a title contender. Far too much short-termism in his personnel moves. No patience. No vision. No plan.

[nickagneta]

Horrid. Terrible. Awful.

He didn't re-sign David Wesley or Rick Fox. He did this to sign Travis Knight.

He let Antoine Walker do whatever he wanted and gave him no discipline or didn't develop in any further as a basketball player.

He traded away Chauncey Billups.

He drafted Moiso.

His system never worked in the pros.

His players never respected him.

[hardlyyardley]

A complete train wreck....never mind who he drafted....how long did any of them stay before he gave up on them?

[Finkelskyhook]

His players never respected him.

That's also why Calipari will never come back to the NBA....

Well...Let me rephrase that.  We have a GM who used the MLE on a guy who tanked for most of his previous contract.

Anybody could have a brainfart.

[Eja117]

Way worse. If Pitino's Celtics years were a general he'd be Maurice Gamlin. But Gamlin wasn't as insulting.

[clover]

Yes.

Epically so.

[Mr October]

I thought his coaching was OK. Players played hard and they showed improvement.

As a president, he was horrible and impatient. There were many bad trades, as noted above. Also, bad drafting of Mercer, when he knew what Mercer had as his coach for a year.

Yet as a coach, i thought he was at least average.

[mcshane41]

Yes he was. /thread.

[dlpin]

With very minor changes in personnel the celtics went from the lottery to the conference finals by simply replacing Pitino. So I'd say yes, he was that bad.

[feckless]

He disrespected Red Auerbach! 

[Redz]

http://www.wavsource.com/snds_2012-04-01_8767191804462005/tv/letterman/yes_marv.wav