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@@@ SAM SMITH: WALKER AND PITINO GONE FROM THE CELTICS@@@
It's the end of the world as I know it and I don't feel fine.
Walker, Pitino might be on the outs in Boston
By Sam Smith
CBS SportsLine Regional Columnist
Nov. 5, 1998
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, 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.
Sam Smith is the author of "The Jordan Rules" and a
columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
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