Bulpett: Pitino Says He's Not Upset With Walker

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

                  Boston Herald
                  Pitino shops around: Coach buys some time
                  by Steve Bulpett

                  Saturday, January 16, 1999

                  Interviews are often conducted by strange means in this
                  electronic age, but it was very good news when Rick Pitino
                  broke new ground last night by fielding questions on a
                  cellular phone while he was shopping.

                 ``I'm just picking up some groceries,'' he said.
                  Good news? Of course. Didn't this area lose a coach
                  because he couldn't shop for his own groceries?

                  Anyway, there were more serious issues to discuss than the
                  price of bananas. Like while the eye of Celtic nation has
                  grown lonely turning to Brandeis for the arrival of
                  Antoine Walker, there is debate over whether his coach
                  could have been there at the Thursday scrimmage. Hot
                  stuff, eh?
                  When it was suggested to Pitino that the rule preventing
                  coaching presence at the voluntary sessions had been
                  altered, he disagreed.

                  ``We asked that question,'' he said. ``It's not true.''

                  However, a league official confirmed later that coaches
                  may watch from a safe distance but have no contact.

                  ``If there's an office near the court, they have to be on
                  the other side of the window,'' the spokesman said. ``If
                  there's a balcony around the gym, they have to be up on
                  the balcony.''

                  The matter came into question when Dallas coach Don Nelson
                  took the initial rule to mean that he could stand on the
                  sideline and watch as long as he didn't talk to the
                  players.
 
                  ``He's not standing there anymore,'' said the league
                  official.
    
                  But the rule was changed so the coaches could get a line
                  on their players' progress - especially that of the
                  younger players.

                  ``We were told that you could be in your office if the
                  office overlooked the court, but you couldn't go there
                  with the intent of watching,'' Pitino said.

                  ``It doesn't matter. I wouldn't go anyway. We've got other
                  work to do.''

                  On a far more relevant note, Pitino reiterated the stance
                  of general manager Chris Wallace that he has been in
                  contact with Walker and is not upset that the captain has
                  yet to make it in to work out with his teammates.

                  ``He called me three times to tell me, and I told him it
                  didn't matter,'' Pitino said. ``As long as he's playing,
                  he can do that in Chicago and take care of the business he
                  has to there.

                  ``I told him, `Antoine, just be ready to come in when it's
                  time. Just work out and stay in shape and don't worry
                  about anything else.''

                  The coach is pleased with the turnout for strength and
                  conditioning guru Shaun Brown's workouts, but he's not a
                  stickler for the light scrimmaging that's been taking
                  place after the personal work.

                  ``The only thing I'm concerned about right now is the guys
                  getting in good shape,'' Pitino said. ``I'm not a big
                  believer in the guys playing games without the coach
                  there.

                  ``I know Antoine's working out. Now, if he was sitting on
                  his ass doing nothing, it would be a different story. But
                  it's not like if Antoine were here he'd be putting guys
                  through drills. He'd be taking bad shots and screwing
                  around like everyone else.''

                  There was a light turnout at Brandeis yesterday, with
                  Walter McCarty, Greg Minor, Andrew DeClercq and Bruce
                  Bowen making it in through the weather.

                  ``If he could be here, I would hope that he would be
                  here,'' McCarty said of Walker. ``But Antoine has his own
                  thing going on.

                  ``I don't know what the situation is, so I can't really
                  comment. Hopefully he'll be here next week in time for
                  training camp and we'll move on from there.''