Re: @@@ SAM SMITH: WALKER AND PITINO GONE FROM THE CELTICS@@@

[damekmo@teleport.com]

>Anything's possible. As I've pointed out before, Gaston has publicly
>postured on money issues beforet -the Wall St Journal lawsuit that never
>was. And while we may not agree with him all the time, he's not a stupid
>man. Makes no business sense to lay out the bucks for RP and not give him
>the talent. Bringing in RP isn't enough to keep the punters buying tickets.

He may be a smart business guy, but his basketball IQ? Maybe he's convinced
that Pitino's the guy to take mediocre/cheap talent and reach the promised
land on Pitino-ball and intangibles. Maybe Pitino's also convinced. In any
case, Gaston's not a stupid man yet the franchise he owns is a joke. He
bears no responsibility for that? If he's not a stupid man, maybe he's just
incompetent. I love Donald Ster...I mean, Paul Gaston.

>At the same time, Smith's take on doubts about AW's ultimate maturity could
>have validity and Gaston/RP might simply not believe it's worth the risk to
>pay AW what he wants. No one with sense denies his talent, but do you really
>think that, with a guaranteed $100MM+ contract showing that 'he's the man',
>the guy who was pretty self righteous about what being an allstar (even
>though not actually voted in) meant to what he should be asked to do and
>where his development stood, is really going to believe he has room for
>improvement?

Kobe was voted in...that meant more than getting picked by coaches?
Walker's said over and over again that he knows he has to get better. Maybe
there's more to the "Hell no, I wont go," midsummer's mutiny than just his
inflated image of himself. Maybe things between him and Pitino are pretty
bad at this point. It could be that Walker has to go because of
irreconcilable differences. In which case...the very mature, never self
righteous, "Ricky the Demure" takes a bit of the responsibilty for the
problem, along with the 22 year-old cancer. But to answer your question,
"Do I really think that with a $100M contract showing that he's the
man.....(Antoine) is really going to believe he has room for improvement?"
Perhaps he wouldn't be demanding that much cash if things between him and
Pitino were better. Perhaps he's not demanding that much money or perhaps
it's just an opening proposal which hasn't gotten a response. In any case,
yes I do believe he realises he has room for development. Is there a summer
camp where Pitino can go work on his talent evaluation skills?

Paul M.