Pitino deserves credit for the here and now - Boston Celtics' coach Rick Pitino may be impatient but he has made the Celtics a much better team in just his first year on the job - NBA Insider - Column

We have long stopped paying attention to what Rick Pitino says. If we took him at his word, Rick Fox and Marty Conlon would be Celtics, Travis Knight would be an All-Star and Chauncey Billups would not be in Toronto.

Instead, we judge him by what he does after what he says he's going to do. Sometimes, the two are distinctly different.

But no matter if he says one thing then turns around and does the opposite, there is one constant: The man wants to win, and he wants to win now.

Although his comments about success in Boston have ranged from "the future of the Boston Celtics is now" to "I've said all along that it's going to take three years," he is entirely consistent in wanting to pile up W's. If he can do it sooner than later, so much the better. He does, after all, own a well-documented reputation as a quick-fix guy.

The acquisition of Kenny Anderson is the latest of Pitino's moves to try and improve the present but it's possible a may prove too costly down the road. That the Celtics are much better at a crucial position--point guard--than they were before acquiring Anderson is undeniable. That's the way Pitino sees it. He also sees a 27-year-old player with six-plus seasons under his belt, an unbreakable long-term contract and a desire to resurrect a once-promising career and says, "Where's the downside?"

As Pitino put it "This was one of the easiest decisions I've had to make. It was obvious. A no-brainer." (Later, he noted how P.J. Carlesimo had convinced him to make the deal and that he might have had second thoughts had Carlesimo had any reservations about Anderson.)

He then said Anderson has, under his system a chance to be one of the top three point guards in the league.

The Celtics will be better in the short term, could be on the playoff bubble in the East and, because of Anderson's ability, should get more efficient production from wild-shooting Antoine Walker How much of that would have happened had Pitino not made the trade?

The downside is whether Anderson can play the demanding defense and offense that Pitino's system commands. He says he can, but Anderson never has had to do anything like it before.

It's also questionable whether Anderson will tolerate Pitino's incredibly intense practices. More than a few players, many of whom are former Celtics, had looked forward to playing for Pitino, intrigued and excited from what they had heard and seen. Now that they are gone, not one has said he wishes he could have stayed and several (Chris Mills, Roy Rogers, Tony Massenburg) have said privately they were elated to have been dealt. You can be sure Billups and Dee Brown were not shedding any tears, except, perhaps, for the fact they ended up in Toronto.

But all that is part of the Pitino package. Is he any more demanding than Carlesimo or John Calipari? Has not he delivered what he said he'd deliver, an exciting team that hustles for 48 minutes? Have not the Celtics exceeded just about everyone's expectations this season? Who would have thought, based on what we saw in October and the first week of November, that this team actually would be able to say the word "playoffs" without a laugh track?

So Pitino deserves credit for the here and now. He may have blown up one 30-win team (which the Celtics, when healthy, were) and built another 30-win team from scratch, but the new one shows promise. The real test will come when the big players start to have options to go elsewhere--and how the whole Boston situation is viewed not only from within, but from afar.

But that's down the road. And if we've learned one thing about Pitino, whether it's coveting Scottie Pippen or dealing the No. 3 pick in the draft just 50 games into the season, is that tomorrow is not just a day away. It's an eternity. All you have to do is ask him.

RELATED ARTICLE: Colossal Rhodes

The surprise of the first round? It has to be the Rockets' Rodrick Rhodes. Few thought held be in the NBA this season, let alone drafted. But Rick Pitino said he was prepared to draft Rhodes in the second round. Then, he gave a glowing report on his former college player to Houston, and the Rockets surprised just about everyone by taking Rhodes in the first round.

Including Rhodes. "It surprised me," he says. "I remember watching the draft that night and (Utah coach) Rick Majerus (on television) was killing me. Here I was, so happy, and he's ripping me apart. But I know it's a thin line. I could just as easily be overseas. Or in the CBA. I know coach Pitino did a lot of talking for me. And I'm grateful Houston took the chance."

Draft daze

If you work for Pat Riley, you can pretty much rule out having to worry about March Madness or the last week in June. The NBA draft has about as much relevance on the Heat calendar as Arbor Day.

Riley proved that again when he dealt last June's No. 1 pick, Charles Smith, to the Clippers to complete the Ike Austin-Brent Barry trade. That left the Heat without a single player drafted by the Miami organization. Last season, the team dealt its only Miami-drafted player, Martin Muursepp, to Dallas. (Muursepp technically was taken by Utah in the 1996 draft, but it was done at Riley's request, though we're not sure why. He was traded that night to Miami.) As one Heat observer put it, "with Pat, the draft simply is not a high priority."

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