CBS Sportsline on Walker/Pitino

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

This is bullshit, and Sam Smith doesn't know anything we don't know,
but here it is.  I for one dont buy it.  If Gaston does let Antoine
go, he will pay for somebody more proven down the road. . . there is
more to paying Antoine than just the money.


The hottest rumor that's been making the rounds during the NBA lockout
is not the one about David Stern and Billy Hunter opening a
delicatessen together after this is over. 

That would be the hottest rumor if it were true. 

Because you know those guys would never make corned beef too lean. 

But what has many talking and what seems to have a lot of meat to it
is the belief once the restraints are taken off teams at the
conclusion of the lockout, Antoine will be walking. 

That's Boston Celtics star Antoine Walker, who is expected to be
traded to either the Miami Heat or Portland Trailblazers before the
season begins. 

But what is more significant is what such a deal portends -- likely
the beginning of the end in Boston for coach Rick Pitino, who figures
to be out, most likely of his own doing, as Celtics coach before the
end of next season. 

DEALING WALKER CERTAINLY WOULD be surprising to many. 

Walker, <Picture: Antoine Walker>Antoine Walker might be getting a
little tired of coach Rick Pitino. (Allsport) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
just a sophomore when he left Pitino's Kentucky program in 1996,
blossomed into an All Star last season, Pitino's first, as Pitino let
loose the reigns on the sometimes wild young talent. 

Walker, 22, averaged 22.4 points and 10.2 rebounds, one of just four
players along with Karl Malone, David Robinson and Tim Duncan to
average more than 20 points and 10 rebounds. Though playing power
forward, Walker also averaged more than three assists per game and
shot better than 30 percent on 3-pointers. 

A player, it would seem, to build a franchise around. 

So why trade him? 

For one, even though Pitino publicly embraced Walker and Walker denied
any friction, friends of Walker's said one of the reasons Walker left
Kentucky early was to get away from Pitino. 

THEN, AFTER LAST SEASON, Walker refused to attend a Celtics minicamp,
saying as an All Star it wasn't necessary for him. Pitino,
uncharacteristically, expressed public disappointment about Walker,
who had been named team captain. 

Plus, Walker had been a somewhat undisciplined person in high school
in Chicago and Celtic fears have been growing this might be just the
beginning of a streak of such behavior. 

On the court, Walker's penchant to shoot suggested a lack of team
play. Still, it's not like many young players today have exhibited
great maturity. 

How could any team give up on a talent like Walker? 

Because they might lose him and get nothing in return. 

Perhaps most outspoken about the explosion of players' salaries has
been Celtics' chairman Paul Gaston. Gaston made it clear he wasn't
paying any $100 million contracts. 

AND WALKER MADE IT equally clear that's what he felt he was worth. 

Of course, the new labor rules still being debated could prevent the
Celtics from paying Walker as much as Walker seeks. Which could always
change the team's thinking about a deal. 

But it's not likely to change Pitino's future. 

Pencil him in for about three seasons, which is the general shelf life
of a college coach in the NBA. 

It's been about the average for Larry Brown, a brilliant coach, and
one can look for New Jersey's John Calipari to fall victim on
approximately the same time schedule. 

But Rick Pitino? He's supposed to be different. 

After all, he got the seven-year deal with total control, virtually
ran Larry Bird out of the franchise, was billed as the savior. 

Other programs, of course, have heard this after Pitino came aboard. 

He is a wonderful coach, bright, personable, intelligent and charming.
He's just not a keeper. 

For one thing, Gaston's philosophy has to have made it clear to Pitino
the Celtics are not going to get into big bidding wars for players or
compete on an economic level. 

PERHAPS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN different if the Celtics, coming off a
league's worst record under M.L. Carr, had landed the first pick and
Duncan. Maybe Gaston would have said otherwise. 

But Pitino has to know now the Celtics are not going to buy him much
help. 

And Pitino has shown himself not astute enough a judge of talent to be
able to outsmart the opposition. 

His free-agent choices have been disastrous, leaving the team with
little salary-cap maneuverability for the upcoming years. 

Credit Pitino for getting rid of mistakes like Chris Mills, which is
his coaching expertise. Blame him for getting them in the first place. 

Which leads to the Celtics' fate: mediocrity. 

They made big strides last season, but that followed Carr's ride off
the cliff of respectability. 

The Celtics won 36 games last season. Can they add another five to 10
and make the playoffs? Maybe in two seasons, although the competition
in the Eastern Conference for the bottom playoff spots is the most
intense. 

The money is not going to be there, and even if it were, how many free
agents, especially veterans, are going to choose Pitino's pressing,
trapping, relentless system, especially when they've been able to see
the veterans systematically ignored and phased out under Pitino. 

You don't win in the NBA with 25-year-olds, which is what Pitino does
best. 

AFTER ALL, HIS SUCCESS HAS been in college, with three-year turnover,
and with a young Knicks team in the late 1980s that he quickly left as
they began to get accustomed to him. 

Oh, he'll be back, like Brown. That's why they can leave so many
contracts. They leave the big-money contract behind because they know
there'll be more up the road. Pitino is too shrewd and too smart not
to be hired again in the NBA if he wants. He promises a quick fix with
an engaging personality, which is too much for most NBA owners to
ignore. 

So look for Pitino to come back, just don't look for him to last much
longer in Boston. 
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