Espn on "Money" Penny

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

Hi:

I'm pasting the ESPN.COM article about Penny.  It seems to me that he is
the wrong kind of leader for a young team. We already know Pierce is
prone to getting moody and mopey, and Walker is self-absorbed. The last
thing they need IMO is a "role model" like Penny. The only conceivable
reason Celts fans might still want to get Penny is 1) to drive Pitino
nuts and into early NBA retirement, 2) miraculously move Kenny's 30
million contract in return for value (a dream teamer), 3) get us into
the first round of the playoffs.

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(Copyright ESPN)
Penny Hardaway complained at times about not being able to get enough
shots at point guard, then bickered with Nick Anderson in the final
month of the season about who should play off-guard.

Hardaway grumbled again after taking just 12 shots in Game 3 of
Orlando's first-round playoff series against Philadelphia, saying if the
team was going to beat the 76ers he needed to be more involved in the
offense. Philadelphia won the best-of-5 series in four games. Hardaway
missed his first nine shots on the way to a 3-for-17 performance in the
final game, but did average 19 points during the series.

He said fans and the media should have been more respectful of what he
accomplished after missing so much time because of injuries.

"If I'm a so-called superstar, I had an option of playing point guard or
two-guard," Hardaway said. "Then people go: `Well, you shouldn't play
two-guard, you should play the point,' like I shouldn't be able to play
wherever I want to play. ... I think it's really childish the things I
have to go through here."

Asked if he still intends to exercise the option to test his worth as a
free agent, Hardaway said: "Oh yeah, no doubt."

"It seems like I've lost a lot of value here. I get so sick and tired of
people wondering what's happened to my game and not looking at the whole
thing overall," he added. "I think I still have a lot of basketball left
in me. I think I'm still an all-star player, and I think I can still be
a first-team all-NBA player if I'm able to be Penny Hardaway and not be
the way people want me to be."