When he arrived in Boston, he was hailed as a genius. By the time he left, nobody wanted him around. And eight months later, the memory of Rick Pitino still remains in the players he chose for the famed-turned-irrelevant Boston Celtics. Hey, new coach Jim O'Brien did a nice job, but it takes time to overhaul a team like this. But maybe this won't be an overhaul at all.

	Paul Pierce has the Celtics on the move.

So as we continue our 2001 Summer Spotlight Series, here's the deal with the Celtics.

The good: Two of the starters aren't merely good players, they are deserving of All-Star status if their team could just win a few games. Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker combined for a noteworthy 49 points per game, which is great until you look at the garbage around them and see why the team doesn't win. Even now, with thoughts of postseason for the first time in seven years dancing in their green heads, can the Celtics actually make the playoffs with Mark Blount at center and Kenny Anderson at the point? OK, stop making a face as if you just ran over a skunk.

Walker, after years of trade talks, played much better when O'Brien took over in January. A power forward by nature, Walker fancies himself as a multi-positional player. He should do more work down low. He jacks up threes whenever he likes -- he attempted an amazing 603 threes, 86 more than anyone else, and the leaderboard is full of guards. Walker rebounds and passes, too, though it would be nice to see him have someone to pass to other than Pierce. The trade talks, by the way, are over.

Pierce showed virtually no effects of last summer's stabbing, and he ended up scoring 25.3 points a game and pulling in more than six boards. In March he averaged 30 points. While Kobe and Shaq scored more and ended up with another title, the C's big duo combined for 48.7 points, 15.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 3.38 steals. Can't blame these guys for the losing.

	THE FACTS
	2000-01 record: 36-46, 5th in Atlantic, 9th in East Playoffs: none Team leaders: Pierce 25.3 ppg; Walker 8.9 rpg, 5.5 apg Team stats (NBA rank): Points, 94.6 (16th); Rebs, 39.8 (26th); FG %, .428 (25th) Current rotation: Blount C; Walker PF; Johnson SF; Pierce SG; Anderson PG; Palacio 6th man Spot in Summer Power Rankings: No. 21

The bad: So who do Celtics fans blame for Eric Williams, Vitaly Potapenko, Kenny Anderson, Randy Brown, Tony Battie -- we could go on, and frankly we have to because this is the rest of the Celtics rotation. Nice work, Pitino. Trading the draft pick that was Andre Miller for Potapenko has worked out great, eh? Moving rebounding machine Danny Fortson for next to nothing after dealing Ron Mercer to get him? And what about the draft history: Jerome Moiso? Chauncey Billups? Well, at least Pierce worked out.

The Celtics are miserable after the big duo and this year's trio of rookies are all expected to contribute right away in varying degrees (Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown and Joseph Forte). Of course they will play right away. What, you thought Walter McCarty was going to block them?

Sarcasm aside for just a second, the Celtics lack two major components that playoff teams generally have: a center and a point guard. Blount "earns" the starting center job because Potapenko, though durable, is woefully average. Vitaly is consistent, though, as he never topped 8.2 points or 6.8 rebounds in any month last year, and wasn't below 6.9 and 5.1 either. Blount and Battie can at least block a shot or two.

Anderson, who might be best known for whining about having to sell one of his fleet of cars due to lost money in the lockout, was arguably the worst starting point in the league. He managed to suit up for 33 games and shot .388 with 4.1 assists. Don't even ask what he makes a year (more than $7 mil per). There's a reason Milt Palacio wanted to return to Boston: He knew he'd get playing time.

But Beantowners are hoping that Anderson will be rejuvenated now that he is reunited with assistant coach Dick Harter, who helped Kenny have a good year in Portland not too long ago (1996-97). And while it's easy to rip Kenny, he's only a year removed from 14 points a game on .440 shooting.

Johnson, the hot rookie from Arkansas who went 10th in the draft, could get 30 minutes a night right away. It's obvious that with this personnel, O'Brien plans to open things up and run, and that should suit Johnson. At 6-8, he probably will play small forward and push Pierce to guard, but it doesn't matter much, especially on defense where this team will struggle no matter how it plays. As for Brown, he has an NBA body and can jump and take his game outside, but he has no experience at all. He's at least a year away.

The ugly: After Pierce and Walker, the now-departed Bryant Stith was the only Celtic to approach double digits in scoring. He's in Cleveland now. Anderson and Potapenko produce like reserves. Eric Williams, who once upon a time could score, no longer does. Battie can't stay healthy, maybe because he has the build of Marcus Camby. And the little guys to choose from here after Anderson opens games are Palacio and injured Randy Brown. Chris Herren is off to Europe.

Roshown McLeod, a young swingman who neither the Hawks nor 76ers could find room for, is here, as is McCarty. Look for Pierce and Walker to again log in the 40-minute range.

Fact is that O'Brien can't remake this roster fast enough, but with the salary cap and impending luxury tax, there's not much he and GM Chris Wallace can do right away.

The future: Talk about a tale of two Celtics franchises. They won more than half of all NBA titles the first 30 years there was an NBA; they've been an afterthought the last decade. So what will the next few years bring?

There's no championship on the horizon, that's clear, but the Celtics should be contenders for a playoff spot based on the way they finished up last year, their dynamic duo, the new attitude and the average East. Walker should be an All-Star but needs to spend more time in the paint rather than hoisting threes. Pierce is All-Star quality as well -- and both these guys are signed for a while.

Of course, they're not the only ones signed. Potapenko is signed until 2005. For Battie it's '06. And Anderson becomes a free agent in 2003. So, Mr. O'Brien, here is the mess you inherited. Good luck.

The future does look brighter because O'Brien is here. Let's give Pitino some credit: although he didn't show it in Boston, he probably knows something about hoops. Problem is it wasn't pro hoops, it's college. O'Brien deals with players in a different (more professional) manner. Players don't find things out through the media now. Trade talk isn't openly discussed, players aren't ripped while the coach is talking to kids. Walker and Pierce were invited to the draft warroom to give their opinions. Think Pitino did that? Plus, when you thought of the team under Pitino, he was who you thought of, not any players. That changes now as well. Hopefully for Celtics fans it's a change for the better.

So we asked you this question about the Celtics: What needs to happen for this group to make the playoffs?

Check the file to the right for selected responses.

Eric Karabell is ESPN.com's NBA editor.