Re: The Orlando Sun-Sentinel

[Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@Dartmouth.EDU>]

At 11:49 AM 2/16/00 EST, you wrote:
>The other thing is that the media, and
>Pitino's critics on this list, use the fact that Pitino credits his
>staff with personnel moves to bash him when he gets it right. Remember
>when he said how he asked Lester Conner, I believe, if there was
>something wrong with Pierce when he slipped to 10? People were
>blasting him for that ("if it were up to Pitino, he probably would
>have passed on him too"). 

Let's get the facts straight here. In Pitino's own words, when Pierce was
slipping, Pitino was reluctant to take Paul because he figured there must
be a reason for it. It took pleading by Conner, who said that he had played
against Pierce in LA and he was a fine player, to convince Pitino to take
Pierce. We should give Rick credit for listening to his assistant, but,
IMO, it is far from a sure thing that he would've taken Paul without the
timely input from Conner.
We'll probably never find out, because by now Pitino himself likely
believes that he was going to take Pierce with that pick, Conner or no
Conner. Memory is kind that way. 
Insofar as bashing Pitino with his own statements, I believe it was in
response to Pitinoites' using that pick to argue that their idol was a fine
judge of talent, while most credit for the pick should have gone to Conner.