Re: More On Pitino Interview

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

Josh Ozersky wrote:

> See, this is why I love Pitino.  What other coach/gm
> would say all this stuff on the radio?  It all sounds
> true to me -- what reason would he have to lie about
> stuff like this?  I'm really interested in what he
> said about Kenny, though.  Did he mention the uptempo
> game he wants Kenny to play?  Any other nanobytes of
> information we can squeeze out of you, Ray?
>
> gratefully yours
> Josh

It sure sounds to me like Pitino gave away all his cards to the
interviewer, arguably to the detriment of the team. I can't figure out
why he needs to tell a radio interviewer (on WEEI of all venues)  that
the Celts are working toward a big trade involving a major player
(either Walker or Mercer) only to point out that Walker is untradeable
for fair value because of his base year contract, while Mercer is
lacking both in "Celtics Pride" and "Kentucky Pride".  No matter how dim
his view of talk radio listeners, he can't possibly imagine they would
fail to grasp his hint, hint (read: "hasta la vista, Ronaldo").

Either he got carried away and lost a grip on himself and his
professional responsibilities, or he feels compelled for whatever
freaking reason to already spin doctor Boston fans so they will stop
adoring Mercer so damn much. One could also conclude that Pitino is
being unfair to Mercer in questioning his pride, or has developed a
resentment toward Mercer, Master P, or both.

This already raises the question of Pierce and Walker adopting to the
"Jordan" and "Pippen" role next year. Pierce will face the greater
challenge IMO, because he plays defensively like he's used to being
quicker and more clever than his opponent (an advantage that will
disappear if he moves to the 2). Offensively, I think he will be a holy
terror.

As for Walker I have never doubted his ability to cover perimeter
players, and look forward to seeing it next year in no small part
because it is far easier for casual fans like myself to evaluate a
defensive effort (or lack thereof) on the perimeter than inside. We'll
see if he is as lazy and unmotivated on defense as some people on this
list claim.

The big issue involves the following tradeoff,  IMO.  Is Antoine's by
far team leading rebounding and thus far "irreplaceable" low post
scoring ability (which at present is barely above average by NBA power
forward standards) more valuable to the Celtics than his by far team
leading ability to run the club as a point forward (which would
ultimately define the team's personality entirely by the degree to which
he can restrain his still spazzy tendencies)?

For good or bad, the success of the Celtics is still all about Antoine
Walker and his ability to get any kind of handle on his combination of
rebounding, shot-creating and passing skills. Walker is both our best
inside player and our best triple threat perimeter and fast break
player, and has occasionally has helped the team enormously in either
role (whether dropping 47 points on Chris Webber or bombing clutch
threes on Miami and overwhelming Tim Hardaway in crunch time). It's a
shame Walker is still so shamelessly raw and undependable, because he is
a Lamar Odom talent but with far greater courage and competitiveness. If
you've watched this league long enough, you will recognize the danger of
building a mediocre team's hopes around players with one dimension, like
Ron Mercer or Ron Harper. If only Popeye hadn't played like Olive Oil
last year, we could easily afford to keep a finesse guy like Ron Mercer
instead of trading him for an ugly but effective inside
bruiser/defender. This is one of those trades that could make a huge
impact on the team's performance next season, but I'm not ready to
venture a guess whether it would be positive or negative.