Pitino's comments on Battie and Pierce

[jmc@ptc.com]

Some folks have implied that Pitino was lying or exaggerating when saying 
Battie was "a weight room away from really being a major factor in our 
system".   Battie DOES have to put on muscle if he wants to be an NBA 
center, and he has talent and athleticism, and the Celtics need an athletic 
center to fit their system, so I DON'T think Pitino was exaggerating at all 
when he made the above statement.  Yes, Pitino does exaggerate alot, and 
he does try to use words to pump up the value of the players for trades, 
but I think he's also pumping up the players' belief in themselves with
his comments.  Yes, the DeClerq statement was an obvious exaggeration,
but I believe that Pitino realizes it's better to say that and have
people laugh at him than to say directly to DeClerq: "Andrew, we like
your defense and intensity, but we really need you to work on improving
your jump shot".  That statement would get Andrew focussed on his weakness,
whereas Pitino's actual exaggeration gets him focussed on his strengths and 
his potential for the future.  The statement about Battie is a positive
way for Pitino to push Battie to work out as much as possible in the
weight room, instead of nagging him all the time or saying "he's too weak". 

As soon as Battie beefs up (which may take until next year), Schintzius will
be expendable, and will only stay around if he really works hard and
impresses.

I was quite concerned with Pitino's raving about Paul Pierce.  It either
means that Pierce is indeed more than we hoped for, or he's pumping him up
in order to trade him.  The only thing that makes me hopeful that Pitino 
wasn't exaggerating much about Pierce is that Red Auerbach said he was a 
real steal at the #10 pick, and Red's not one to play word games; he
normally tells it like he sees it.  Another thing that lends some hope is
that the day before the lockout was over, on Wednesday, I went over to the
Brandeis gym (I'm an alum of Brandeis so I can get in) and watched some
of the scrimmage the players had organized, which they held out in the open 
instead of behind closed doors, and saw Pierce post up and score on Antoine 
on consecutive times up the floor.

Jon Mc