Re: Holley is for real

["Jim Meninno" <jim_meninno@hotmail.com>]

>From: damekmo@teleport.com
>The truth is that up to this point the guy has failed. If you believe that 
>this team has more talent than their record indicates, I don't know who 
>else to blame. If you think he has overpayed
>for a bunch of stiffs sitting on the bench, I don't know who else to blame.

Well, the other alternative is to say he's done the best that anyone could 
do with a bad situation.  I'm not sure that's true, but it is an option.  
You can say he's got the best talent possible considering the poor luck in 
the draft, and the salary cap mess he inherited, and also that the resulting 
talent simply isn't good enough.  You can also say that the talent he has 
acquired is mostly young talent of a similar age which could get 
dramatically better as it matures together.  You could say that if his first 
personnel move, trading Dino Radja, hadn't blown up, this team would look so 
dramatically different you wouldn't recognize it.

Does any of that matter?  I guess not.  Pitino was hired to do a job.  To 
get this franchise to a point to at least contend for the title.  The 
players they have right now have shown that they are capable of playing very 
good ball on occaision.  If they can't do it on a consistent basis, the 
coaching staff have to take the heat.  It's their job to maximize the 
talent.  To develop a plan that the players can execute consistently.  The 
team certainly underachieved last year, and if they don't start playing 
better soon, you'd have to say the same about this year.

I'm not sure getting rid of Pitino or blowing up the team (again) gets you 
anywhere anytime soon, though.  As frustrating as it is, the quickest course 
to contention seems to be having patience with the players AND the coach.

Jim

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