Funny but within reason article from SportsGuy

[kevin lok <kevin.lok@lycosmail.com>]

WWW.BOSTONSPORTSGUY.COM -- FIRST POSTING, 3:45pm, 2/2
OFF THE BENCH
With the NBA trading deadline looming, it looks like Rick Pitino is
putting on his "Coach Pinocchio" costume once again
Near the end of July last summer, I received a giddy phone call from my
father, who was vacationing in Nantucket at the time: "Did you see the
Globe today?" Dad asked. "Did you see how Pitino had those nice quotes
about Popeye Jones? Pack your bags, Popeye! You know he's dealing him
now."
Sure enough, two days later, Popeye was thrown into the Mercer/Fortson
trade. Amazing.
Of course, the phone rang again in Sports Guy Mansion on the day of the
trade: "Didn't I tell you! I told you! Pitino gave him the kiss of
death! Jesus, you can't trust this guy as far as you can throw him."
That's been the Rick Pitino Era in a nutshell. In the past two years, he
tried to trade both picks in the '97 draft for Scottie Pippen, then he
used those picks on Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer and called them his
"Backcourt of the next ten years" before trading them within 24 months;
he signed Chris Mills and traded him two months later; he told Rick Fox
he wanted to re-sign him and then renounced his rights; he lured Travis
Knight from the Lakers and dealt him back within 15 months; he traded
the "indispensable" Andrew DeClerq, as well as beloved swingman Bruce
Bowen, who Pitino once envisioned being a Celtic "for the next ten
years"; he lauded Dee Brown and sent him to Toronto; he signed Popeye to
a three-year deal and sent him packing within six months; he signed
Walker to the NBA maximum and then tried to move him for an entire
summer; he even gave away Eric Williams and then traded back for him two
years later.
(Phew! Deep breath!)
In other words, Pitino's a liar. He's a mover and a shaker. He's
dishonest. As Dad says, you can't trust him as far as you can throw him.
That's why we spent the second half of last Friday's Suns-Celts games
making up things Pitino will say if/when he deals Danny Fortson before
next week's trading deadline. Like most of the players Pitino has
acquired over the past three years, the Fort just doesn't "fit into the
system." Go figure. Anyway, Dad and I were killing each other in Section
One:
"We hated to give Danny up, but we couldn't pass up the chance to get
Cuttino Mobley. I think the fans are really gonna like him -- he's an
exciting, exciting player. I think we really improved our team."
"I like Danny Fortson a great deal, but when you have the chance to get
Derek Strong AND a number-one pick from Orlando, you have to do it. This
gives us five first-rounders over the next three years. Again, we hated
to give Danny up..."
(And so on. It's not as fun without hearing me do my Pitino impression,
but you get the drift.)
I'm not knocking Pitino here; who cares if a coach deceives the press
and the fans, especially if he's trying to inflate the trade value of
his players to other GM's in the league? In fact, he SHOULD do that; it
bothered me when he didn't take the time to refute the Fortson trade
rumors last week.
For instance, yesterday -- after weeks of trade rumors swirling around
Antoine Walker -- Pitino finally snapped and told reporters that he had
no intention of trading his star forward, not even on his son's Sony
PlayStation in the "NBA Live 2000" game. Of course, nobody believes him
-- if there was ever a time to trade Walker, it's right now, when he's
playing the best basketball of his career. And we KNOW this. And Pitino
KNOWS this. And he knows that WE know this.
But that's the beauty of Coach P: He honestly seems like he believes the
crap dripping from his mouth. He's almost in a state of denial about
himself. Personally, I'm fascinated by him -0 can you imagine having him
as your father? Son, I know I promised you would get the family jeep
when you turned 16, but the lease ran out and the Lexus dealership gave
me an offer I couldn't refuse. I hated to give it up. You can drive the
stationwagon for now..."
So what happens if and when Pitino finally deals Walker, whether it
happens this season or this summer? You can bet he'll stand in front of
the cameras and say, "We hated to give Antoine up, but we couldn't turn
down the chance to get (fill in the player)... this deal gives us salary
cap flexibility down the road... plus, with (fill in the team's future
#1 pick), we now have five picks in the next three years. I wish Antoine
the best... he was one of the best players I ever coached... I have full
confidence that he can be a perennial All-Star... this trade was no
reflection on him... again, we hated to give him up..."
We hated to give him up. When they write the definitive book on the
Pitino Era in Boston some day, that will inevitably be the working
title.
And if I'm Antoine Walker right now, I wouldn't be putting a payment
down on my new house outside of Boston. Not just yet.