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

[Emmette Bryant]

No. He was worse.

Exactly.

ditto

no argument from me

[LarBrd33]

my impression always remained that he was a fantastic coach... horrible GM. 

He brought in the wrong guys.  They tuned him out.  We never had much talent during his run which is partially his fault for making garbage trades... but excuses him for some of the poor performance.

[dark_lord]

No. He was worse.

lol, tp.  exactly

[Eja117]

While we're at it....was Pete Carrol as bad as Pats fans say?  Yes. But he led the team to multiple playoff games. Yes. He was that bad.  But he drafted Robert Edwards who went for 1000 yards his rookie year. Yes. Pete Carrol was horrid.  But look at all the games he won while here. He had a winning record, so he can't be that bad right? He was really really that bad.

[Celtics4ever]

Pitino didn't have many winning records though.  His career winning percentage is .47%.  This is inflated by one good year with the Knicks.

[dysgenic]

I don't even think Pitino is a great college coach!
He is a great salesman, which means he is a great recruiter.

[Moranis]

Pitino didn't have many winning records though.  His career winning percentage is .47%.  This is inflated by one good year with the Knicks.

it is also deflated by taking over terrible teams.  I mean it isn't like the Knicks or Celtics were winning playoff series before he got there and then they all of a sudden weren't with him at the helm.  Both teams had much better records during his tenure then they did right before he got there.

[GreenFaith1819]

interesting thread...after reading through it all, I can honestly say that I remember VERY little about the Pitino years - and I've been a fan since 1981.

I guess I was numb to the losing by the late 90's?

I remember Mercer, Toine, McCarty, Potapenko...a few others.

I just think Pitino took over for a team that at the time was about 5 years removed from Bird and Co. I think we all wanted "Another Big Three" sooner than later. We all saw other teams getting great talent, and here was BOS - just languishing in loses.

That's enough to make most folks unhappy. And I found it odd that there was no references to his "Big Three aren't walking through that door" comment.

Even WITH that comment, he had some truth to it. I can't even remember exactly what season he said it, but it rang with some truth, to me, because as a fan base we CAN demand too much at times.

We CAN get spoiled.

I mean - I've seen our ENTIRE starting lineup traded by bloggers just over the last 2 years....

But looking back over the thread, I can agree with those that said that he was a bit impatient, but only to a certain extent. I agree with the Billups trade - Chauncey didn't really pan out until a few teams later.

I mean - in HIS situation - could BOS have brought in ANYONE to do a better job? Who was out there, draft-wise, that we could've picked? I saw the reference to McGrady, and I agree that was a miss....but even THEN was it really? Tracy, while a great player, was injured a lot.

Didn't we get Paul Pierce on his watch?

I can also agree with those who said he may have brushed off Red too much.

Unfortunately, in this business, we get judged by results. We all do, in whatever we do. I guess to that end I can see where most of our angst is coming from.

[Celtics4ever]

it is also deflated by taking over terrible teams.  I mean it isn't like the Knicks or Celtics were winning playoff series before he got there and then they all of a sudden weren't with him at the helm.  Both teams had much better records during his tenure then they did right before he got there.

He gambled all on getting Duncan.  That would have made us not a terrible team from the get go, however it did not pan out.  Of course, the record was better ML was blatantly tanking and taking a hit for the team.  As for a rebuild here it did not work.

I still find it amusing that so many defend .47% winning.   That is not great by any stretch.  He was horrible as a GM and impatient as best as a coach.

Would you want Alvin Gentry, Byron Scott or Vinnie Del Negro as our coach?   Because they all have the same winning percentage as Rick Pition.   Most would classify these as middle of the road coaches so why not Pitino? 

[2short]

I don't think too many are remembering how smug, condescending and egotistical he was.  Yes he was a bad coach & gm but he was simply tough to even watch or listen to for an interview.  But its the celtics power that be back then that gave him that much power (and why???)

someone has to post his last game when pierce came out and pitino was hugging paul or trying to, no love from paul at all
tp to person who can find it and post it!

[Potapenko Boxout]

the title to this thread made me want to kill someone. Rick Pitino set us back 10 years.

[Emmette Bryant]

I don't think too many are remembering how smug, condescending and egotistical he was.  Yes he was a bad coach & gm but he was simply tough to even watch or listen to for an interview.  But its the celtics power that be back then that gave him that much power (and why???)

someone has to post his last game when pierce came out and pitino was hugging paul or trying to, no love from paul at all
tp to person who can find it and post it!

Yeah remember his book?  Success is a Choice.

[Donoghus]

So if you fail to make the playoffs in any of your 3+ seasons (in a league where more than 50% of the teams make it), have a sub .500 coaching record, manage to get your team to tune you out, and you resign in the middle of the season....

How is that anything but a "bad" coaching job?

[Celtics4ever]

Not to mention trading Billups who became a legit star.

[colincb]

I saw him a lot when he was a HC at Providence College and he was a great coach for an under-talented team. really changed the game with his emphasis on the 3 point line and on defense.

His problem in the NBA was as a GM.  You can recruit in college and every year is an opportunity to make a big, positive change.  The NBA doesn't work that way and if players didn't work out early, he was flipping them as if the following year he could make up for it.