Fitch Still Flush With Celtic Pride

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch gazed upward at the 16 NBA championship banners that hang from the rafters of Boston’s FleetCenter.

Fitch’s Irish eyes beamed as he pointed out the 1981 banner.

Fitch, who took over a team that won 29 games in 1978-79, was named coach of the year after winning 61 games in 1979-80 with a rookie named Larry Bird. He won the NBA title the next season.

Fitch, who spent four seasons in Boston, still wears the Celtic championship ring on his left ring finger.

“It’s the only one that fits,” Fitch said. “It’s something I wear with Celtic pride.

“When I came in we were down at the bottom,” Fitch said. “When we won 60 games, people saw the bottom and said that’s good, keep it up.”

Fitch held court with the Boston media before the game, recalling the glory days.

Although he’s been gone since 1983, he still has fond feelings for Boston.

“This building doesn’t give you the goose pimples that you’d have if you were back in the old Garden,” he said as he looked at the famed parquet floor.

Fitch, 64, who signed a two-year extension in May, said he hasn’t thought about retiring.

“You sign contracts and do the best you can,” Fitch said. “When I first started coaching it was day to day and it’s still day to day. You’ve just got to go out game to game and do the best you can.”

Former Celtic forward Cedric Maxwell, now a radio broadcaster, said Fitch could be difficult to play for.

“I think he was extremely demanding, especially for a young team and I loved it,” Maxwell said. “When you have a young team you have to have some discipline.”

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The Celtics activated guard Dee Brown and forward Roy Rogers Jr. before Sunday’s game and placed center Pervis Ellison and forward Dontae Jones on the injured list.

Brown was placed on the injured list Dec. 10 with flu, while Rogers has spent the entire season on the injured list with a knee injury.

Ellison has tendinitis in his left knee and Jones has a groin injury.