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MICHAEL HOLLEY INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE: Actually Rick Pitino - Where Pitino Confesses His Love For Toine And Doesn't Plan On Trading Him
But Il Duce has spent the lockout thinking about possible trades....
Pitino has lots of time to kill
By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 12/13/98
One phrase is rarely heard around the Pitino
household these days. The father doesn't stand up
and announce to the family, ''I'm sorry, but I just don't
have time to spend with you all.'' If he were to say
that, the father would immediately be declared a ''case''
by the people who love him.
Rick Pitino has lots of time. He is Father Time. Time is
an infinite treadmill and Pitino is the lead runner on
it, jogging in place until NBA basketballs officially
bounce again. The Celtics coach just finished a
1,100-page book on Harry Truman. ''Very well-written,''
he said. Now he is writing his own book on leadership. No
annoying editor has to tell him to find time to write
more pages because, hey, with the NBA's labor dispute
charging toward its sixth month, Pitino definitely knows
where to find time.
The other day he watched his son, Richard, play
basketball. Pitino misses the game that he coaches so
frenetically, but not enough to grab a St. Sebastian's
High clipboard and chart some plays. ''No, no,'' he said,
''I just sit there and smile.'' He and his family spent
Thanksgiving in Florida. He has been to Las Vegas. He has
watched horses run. He has received an invitation to
return to Florida and watch Kentucky and Penn State play
in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day. If he goes to
Tampa for that game, he'll see quarterback Tim Couch,
whom he helped recruit. ''He wanted to know if he could
play two sports,'' Pitino recalled. ''I told him I'd make
him captain of the basketball team.'' The coach laughed.
He has watched Mo leave and Drew break his finger. He has
watched Duke's Elton Brand and likes what he sees. He has
watched film of pro basketball games, college games, high
school games, and ambitious players who think they have
game.
''Mostly, though,'' he said, ''I'm bored.''
So what does he do, basketballwise, to see through the
haze of that boredom?
''Oh, I think about trades a lot,'' he said.
Wait. Stop right there. You may be thinking what many
people have thought in the past several months: Does that
mean Pitino has traded or plans to trade Antoine Walker?
We all know that Pitino definitely isn't shy about
picking up the phone and making a deal. And that's when
he's busy. Give a guy like this time and an NBA roster
and you'll have yourself a makeover. Well, maybe.
Remember: Pitino said he is bored; he did not say he has
lost his mind. Pitino is not going to trade his best
player simply because Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit aren't
as engaging as they used to be. And although time can
sometimes lead people to reflection and a new way of
looking at life, time hasn't changed the way Pitino feels
about Walker. Which is to say that, you know, he digs
him.
''I have a lot of respect for Antoine on the court,''
Pitino said. ''But, don't take this the wrong way, I have
never paid attention to anything he says off the court.
What I mean by that is this: He is 22 years old. I would
never respond to something that any 22-year-old player
says in the newspaper. It's irrelevant.''
Walker turned off many Boston fans last summer when he
called himself a veteran All-Star and said he didn't see
the point in attending Pitino's voluntary camps. Many
predicted that Walker had seen his last days in Boston.
He was the first player in a long time to go on the
record and criticize Pitino. The league does not permit
the coach to speak about labor issues nor to his players,
but he can speak generally about his players.
''Look, this is the way I am,'' Pitino began to explain.
''All of my players are like children to me, especially
the Kentucky kids. I am loyal to all of them. If my kids
don't come home on time, do I stop being their father? Of
course not. I don't turn on my players. My job is to be
extremely loyal to them. If I don't like something
Antoine said, he is still my college basketball player
and I love him dearly. He's going to get a lot of love
from me and he's going to get a lot of discipline from
me, too. I say this about all my players: They'll
appreciate me more when their careers are over. But I'm
not going to let them - and I'm not going to let Antoine
- do everything they want.''
Not everything. But when Pitino daydreams about his young
team, he can see the rhythmic Walker breaking into the
Walker Wiggle. Pitino doesn't want that to stop. Go to
Chicago, Walker's hometown, and you'll understand that
it's full of dancers, people who frown if you go to a
club simply to lean against the walls. The coach has no
problem with that.
''I'm not going to stop the wiggle,'' he said. ''Now, if
he doesn't get into his defensive stance, he'll wiggle
right out of the game and to the bench. But I don't think
coaches should try to discipline a player's individual
expression. What I do want to see is Antoine develop a
better relationship with the referees, because if he
doesn't it will hurt us.''
Pitino and Walker do not always get along, but the coach
does not dislike him. He has a rule that every player
should be 15 minutes early for every bus and plane.
''Know how many times Antoine didn't make it last year?''
the coach asked. ''Once. He plays hard. He practices
hard. He never misses games ...''
But will he be traded? There's certainly time to work out
a deal. Part of me believes that Walker stays if the
owners win the lockout. But while I certainly believe
Pitino when he says that he loves Kentucky players,
that's also why I wonder if the rumored trade with Miami
- which includes former Kentucky player Jamal Mashburn -
is true.
''We have never been close to trading Antoine,'' Pitino
said.
What about a deal with Portland for Brian Grant?
''Not true,'' the coach said. ''Never close.''
There were also whispers of deals with Golden State,
Denver and the Clippers. Now it seems that, when
basketball begins again, Walker will be spending money
from a Celtics paycheck. And Pitino will be spending time
and watching Walker in green.
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on
12/13/98.
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Globe Newspaper
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