Rocky Mountain News On The Pitino/Mercer Relationship

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

      Continental divide 
      The partnership between Mercer, Pitino at end, and apparently, none too 
      soon 
      By Clay Latimer
      Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
      August 8, 1999


      Rick Pitino had heard all the unusual praise of Ron Mercer through the 
      years, even from coaches normally unfazed by shooting stars.
      So when the Kentucky coach finally turned a discerning eye on the 
      Tennessee teen-ager, he was prepared to see major hero material. 
      But nothing had prepared him for Mercer.
      "Got to sign him," Pitino said. 
      Pitino signed him and kept him -- for two landmark seasons at Kentucky and 
      two more seasons with the Boston Celtics -- before shipping him to the 
      Denver Nuggets last week in a six-player trade.
      For the first time since high school, Mercer will play in a system that 
      doesn't require baseline-to-baseline offense and defense; and for a coach 
      who doesn't wear $1,000 suits, write self-help tomes and deliver 
      motivational speeches for $10,000 a pop.
      Apart from their Italian ancestry, Pitino and Nuggets coach Mike D'Antoni 
      have little in common, which is reason enough for Mercer to savor the 
      trade, according to a teammate.
      "It was time for Ron and coach Pitino to part ways," said ex-Celtics power 
      forward Ron "Popeye" Jones, who will join the 23-year-old guard/forward in 
      Denver. "It was a bad year all around in Boston. You could see it in Ron 
      at the end of the year that maybe, emotionally, he needed a change.
      "The guy's been in the same offense and defense from the college to the 
      pros -- even the same half-court game. You could see maybe he wasn't for 
      that system anymore because he's been in it for so long. It's time for him 
      to broaden his game."
      The Nuggets hope Mercer can lift them from their prolonged funk and into 
      the NBA playoffs.
      If the past four years are an indication, Mercer will not settle for 
      anything less, a lesson he learned from his mentor. 
      "Ron still has a lot of respect for Pitino, and Pitino still has a lot of 
      respect for Ron," Jones said.
      At first, Pitino figured he would have to coach against Mercer, who 
      planned to play for Tennessee.
      "We put all our eggs into that basket," Pitino said after luring him to 
      Lexington, Ky. "We felt it was over. We lost him."
      But Pitino made one last trip to Nashville to make a final pitch.
      "Is there anything I'm saying you don't believe?" Pitino finally asked. 
      "No." 
      "If you're telling me your dream is to win a national championship and 
      turn pro, let's shake hands," Pitino said. "I've got myself a future great 
      player." 
      An unassuming one, too.
      "He doesn't say too much," Nuggets point guard Nick Van Exel said. 
      At first, Mercer's bashfulness extended to the court, where he scored in 
      double figures in only five of his first 19 games. Many times he didn't 
      look to shoot. 
      "I'd always catch it and pass it," he said during his freshman season. "I 
      didn't want to mess up. I wasn't really comfortable. 
      But with Pitino's patient prodding, Mercer came into his own in the 1996 
      NCAA title game, scoring 20 points during a 76-67 win over Syracuse. A 
      famous Kentucky alumnus marveled at Mercer's game that night.
      "Ron can get up and down the court," Nuggets general manager Dan Issel 
      said.
      The morning after the championship win, Pitino challenged his assistant 
      coaches to improve their drive and commitment. Then he turned his 
      attention to his players.
      "You always must be raising the bar," he wrote in Success is a Choice. 
      "This is what separates the good and the great."
      Mercer moved into select company the next season, scoring 275 points in 
      league play to lead the Southeastern Conference in scoring (18.1 points a 
      game). But at first, he shrank from the spotlight, content to be the 
      junior partner in the Wildcats' "Air Pair." But when Derek Anderson 
      suffered a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 18, 1997, Mercer was "Air 
      One."
      The art of being a good coach consists, to a large extent, of knowing 
      exactly when to stop pushing a player, and going a bit further. Pitino 
      prodded Mercer even harder to aggressively expand his game. During one 
      seven-game stretch, Mercer recorded 39 rebounds, 30 assists and 17 steals, 
      which impressed Pitino more than his soaring jams and floating jumpers. 
      "We got on Ron so much," he recalled during the NCAA Tournament that 
      season. "He said to himself, 'Look, I should be creating assists, 
      rebounds, steals.' It wasn't Derek's absence as much as Mercer's 
      concentrated effort to become a total basketball player, ready for the 
      NBA."
      Mercer led Kentucky to the title game for the second consecutive year. 
      Although the Cats of Kentucky lost to the Cats of Arizona, Pitino couldn't 
      conceal his pride for his prodigy. 
      "He just keeps getting better and better and better, Pitino said. "He's 
      been a humble, hard-working player since the day I met him."
      Maybe the Pitino-Mercer partnership should have ended there, above the 
      rim; instead, it entered Phase Two.
      Pitino soon signed a $7 million-a-year contract, highest ever for an NBA 
      coach, to take on another salvage operation: the Boston Celtics.
      As the 1997 NBA draft neared, Pitino refused to discuss Mercer, suggesting 
      that he knew something troublesome that others didn't.
      But after selecting Chauncey Billups with the third overall pick and 
      Mercer with the sixth, Pitino pronounced the pair "a dream backcourt."
      "In the back of my mind, I figured this was coach playing one of his mind 
      games," Mercer said on draft night. "Of course, he made me sweat for a 
      couple days."
      The mind games were only beginning. 
      The youngest NBA team ever assembled was unprepared for Pitino's harsh 
      practices and molten criticism. Shortly before the trading deadline, Dee 
      Brown and Pitino became involved in a shouting match. A few weeks later, 
      Pitino shipped Billups, Brown, Roy Rogers and John Thomas from Boston; 
      Brown learned about it from reporters.
      "To turn around the team, fear has to be one of his motivating factors," 
      NBA analyst Steve Jones said. 
      Nevertheless, the trade sent shock waves throughout the NBA.
      "That definitely had to be a blow to Chauncey Billups," Popeye Jones said. 
      "To be a lottery pick, and then be traded before your rookie season is 
      even over ..."
      "You hardly ever see that."
      Mercer survived the midseason purge with his reputation intact, but not 
      his optimism. 
      "I remember the draft day we were so hyped up about how we were going to 
      play for Pitino and Boston," Billups said. "And two months into the 
      season, we were both saying, 'We've got to get out of here."'
      Mercer persevered, as is his nature, averaging 15.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 
      2.2 assists and 1.6 steals a game. He was chosen for the NBA's All-Rookie 
      team.
      In the off-season, Mercer made his acting debut in a movie starring Master 
      P. It turned out to be his easiest role; he couldn't even act happy at the 
      end of his second NBA season.
      Because Mercer and Dana Barros were the only players in peak shape when 
      the NBA lockout ended, Pitino could do little but watch as his team was 
      dominated by stronger, more experienced teams. Sparks flared between Kenny 
      Anderson and Pitino, and Antoine Walker regressed to the point where 
      Celtics fans routinely booed him. 
      Walker had signed a $71 million contract extension; Mercer earned $2.3 
      million annually. After Pitino shot down Mercer's request for a comparable 
      salary, then traded him to Denver, their partnership hit bottom. 
      "His word is not good," said Tvester Scott, Mercer's agent. "You could 
      believe Rick Pitino for as long as it took me to walk to the other end of 
      the court."
      Nevertheless, the Mercer-Pitino partnership is destined to survive in NBA 
      lore. 
      "To go from your sophomore year -- with the coach you won an NCAA 
      championship with -- immediately into the NBA with the same coach -- well, 
      that's very rare," Steve Jones said. "I was kind of surprised Rick gave up 
      on him."
      Others aren't. 
      "Enjoy the moment," Pitino declared in Success is a Choice, "then move 
      on."
   


         
         
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