Re: Time to get rid of Pitino

[jmc@ptc.com]

"David" <dajubo@earthlink.net> said:
> There are more indications this morning that the Celtics are trying
> to trade Walker. Its time to let Pitino go, before he completely
> destroys the team's future. I know they're not a good team now, but
> Walker is only 23 years old. In my opinion, Walker is showing
> progress. He's taking less bad shots and appears to be willing to
> do those things that Pitino is asking of him. Next thing you know,
> there will be reports of trying to trade Pierce.

Do you really believe that when reporters start saying that Pitino's 
shopping a certain player, that it's really true?  Half the time the 
reporters are wrong, or you've just heard a rumor that isn't true.  
Also, the Celtics constantly are proposing one-sided trades in their 
favor just as a way to see what reaction they'll get and "test the waters", 
so just because the Celtics might have mentioned Antione's name in talks 
with another team doesn't mean they're serious about trying to trade him. 

I personally don't believe Pitino has any desire to trade Walker,
unless he can get a Tim Duncan for him, which just ain't gonna happen.
Pitino sees Walker as a leader type of player who has loads of talent for
scoring, rebounding, and passing, is developing his defense nicely, and
is our only proven low-post scoring threat, and has a strong desire to 
win.  Pitino likes that kind of multidimensional, driven, young player. 
That's why he loves Pierce and Griffin, and why he traded Mercer. 
Pierce & Griffin do it all while Mercer is one-dimensional. 

> I know that it became fashionable to bash Mercer after he was
> traded, but again, this was an example of Pitino giving up on a
> future star. Also, Chauncey Billups was a player that we should
> have held onto. A team of Pierce, Walker, Billups and Mercer could
> have been AWESOME in a couple of years.

Provided that you could afford to sign them all and still have something 
left to pay the rest of the time, and provided that they didn't get all 
unhappy that they weren't getting enough shots.  All 4 of those guys like
to get a lot of shots, and it would be hard to keep them happy in the 
same lineup.  Having Anderson and Griffin over Billups and Mercer makes 
the team more balanced and harmonious. 

Jon Mc