Celtics a Sinking Ship?

March 30, 1983

Fitch Presiding Over Sinking Ship?

Bill Fitch is starting to sound like Ralph Houk. The worse the Celtics play, the calmer he gets.



Fitch is not about to panic, and after last night's 130-101 humiliation at Market Square Arena, he chose to boost the Pacers rather than blast his team.

"Indiana played one hell of a game tonight," Fitch said. "We compounded it, though, with our bad defense and errors. Instead of losing by five or 10, we added to the situation and lost by 20-some."

Twenty-nine points, to be exact. Previously, the Celtics' worst loss was by 17 - vs. Detroit and Philadelphia.

The Celtics have lost two straight (to juggernauts from Chicago and Indiana), seven of 11 and 13 of 24.

When last night's debacle was over, the Celtics were much harder on themselves than Fitch was.

"Until we start playing, we're not going to beat nobody," said Larry Bird. "We got too much talent on this team to be losing games like this. There's no way they should beat us."

"Hell, yeah, it's embarrassing," added Rick Robey. "People are dunking on us and picking us. We're going to keep getting beat like this as long as we let 'em do it."

"It's embarrassing to think that we're not better than that," said Kevin McHale. "All the stuff that used to work we're not doing. We're clutching."-

For the third straight day, Strike Central in New York produced optimism. Representatives for players and owners had another lengthy negotiating session yesterday. Good news is expected to be announced after the NBA's Board of Governors meets tomorrow at the Waldorf Astoria.

"The people we talked to in the league office seemed much more encouraged," Pacer coach Jack McKinney said before last night's game.

"There's definitely a note of optimism," said Celtics' player rep Quinn Buckner. "I talked to Larry (Fleisher) yesterday and called all the guys so they'd be apprised of what's going on." Fleisher is the players' general counsel.-

McKinney insists his team is out to win the rest of its games and that's the way the Pacers played last night. Indiana could gain half a shot at Ralph Sampson by finishing behind Cleveland (it moved a game ahead of Cleveland last night), but McKinney won't hear any talk of tanking.

He says the Pacers haven't decided who they'll select if they have the second or third pick. However, if the salary cap proposal under discussion is implemented for 1984-85, folks like Patrick Ewing and Akeem Abdul Olajuwon may be forced to go hardship and make this a bonanza draft year.

What would a strike do to the Pacers? "It's a scary thought," said McKinney. "The troubled franchises would be the ones most in jeopardy. It could mean losing franchises."

Tiny Archibald still has an injured left hand and did not play . . . The Pacers and Celtics meet at Boston Garden tonight (7:30). The Celtics host the Bucks Friday.