Pitino, ML Carr, and All of Celticdom on Pins and Needles as Draft Lottery Looms

May 17, 1997

M.L. Carr said he is not nervous or superstitious about representing the Celtics at the NBA draft lottery tomorrow. "What happens in out of my hands. It is all done in the back room before you've ever seen the results on television. They do the actual drawing backstage, put the results in the envelopes, and then take them out of the envelopes on TV.


Myself and the guys from the other teams sitting up there on TV won't know what happened until they open the envelopes. The only thing I can do is pray that we get the No. 1 pick, and I'll be doing plenty of that." . . . BU hockey coach Jack Parker on when he watched Pitino coach the Terrier basketball team years ago: "I used to go watch his practices. Over the years I've watched our basketball teams practice from time to time just to see how the different coaches work, to see if there is anything they do, that can help me as a coach. Pitino always impressed me with the way the practices were organized and the intensity of the way he coached and ran those practices. Every player on those teams knew he was putting as much into every practice as they were."

Rick Pitino not only set new standards for what an NBA head coach is paid, but assistant coaches will benefit as well. Word has it that his top assistant, Jim O'Brien, will be paid in the $ 450,000 range, which was more than some Celtic head coaches were making just a few years back. His namesake supposedly is also upping the price tag for assistants in the college ranks. Word has it that former Boston College coach Jim O'Brien got big deals for his assistants when he brought them with him to Ohio State.