RP show - Jan 30

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

Finally caught the Rick Pitino show after having missed it for several
weeks. The most interesting part was at the end where he talks about
his desire to eventually upgrade the team's size and athleticism at
the 4 or 5 spots.

- Pitino talked about how Danny Fortson has been hurt by the new
rules because he is used to banging. He was allowed to do it in college
and in his first two years in the pros but is now being whistled for
quick fouls. His adjustment has been difficult because of his injury,
meaning that he missed most of the exhibition season as well as the
first few months of the season. 

- He talked a bit about his work schedule (because he was asked about
his recent illness). Evidently he (and the other coaches, I think) 
watches about 6 hours of tape for each game, as well as other games
to keep up with what is happening around the league. 

- He talked in length about Walker. Pitino asks neutral outsiders
whose basketball opinion he respects to tell him what they think is
wrong with the team and what they can improve. Rod Thorn told him that
he thinks Antoine is "hops away" from being a great player, and Pitino
agreed. Right now he doesn't have the athleticism to finish strong
around the basket. He says they'll eventually work on it through
weight training, but other than that Antoine is doing fantastic. In
particular he described how Antoine sincerely puts the team, and
winning, first, unlike some other players where it's just rhetoric. 
He hates to lose and gets really down about it regardless of individual
performance, and Pitino likes that. 

I really don't think Walker is going anywhere. Some people think that
Pitino praises a player in order to trade him but I really haven't see
that happen on the RP show. I mean, does anyone really believe that
any GMs are watching the show to gauge the value of Celtics' players?
He criticized Mercer several times on the show before trading him, for
both his shot selection and lack of Celtic pride. He even tipped his
hand a bit by talking about moving Paul to the 2. I really don't think
he'd be pumping up Antoine as much as he is, to the fans, if he was
really trying to trade him.

- They had an interview with Walker which wasn't particularly
insightful.  He usually says all the right things. One weird tidbit
was his take on why the Celtics were so successful at home: because
the fans weren't that enthusiastic, which makes the players try harder
to impress them.  So the fans should play "hard to get?"

- They re-played the scene from a previous show where Pitino talks to
the players in the locker room about being nice to the refs. Pitino
doesn't like trash-talking in general and ripping the refs in particular.
He's trying to crack down on it more.

- He talked about defense in terms of field goal percentage allowed,
the category where the Celtics are at the bottom of the league. He
listed the top eight teams (mostly strong teams) and the bottom eight
teams (mostly weak teams). The common denominator, in his opinion, was
that the top eight teams had size and athleticism (i.e. shotblocking)
at the 4 and 5 spots. The Celtics, and all the other teams he listed,
were basically unathletic or small at the 4 and 5, though they were
fine at the 1, 2 and 3. I think he considers Fortson and Potapenko to
be unathletic, and Battie to be athletic but not big enough. He talked
about how Walker was a great player but unathletic, and they needed to
develop his defense. He was hoping for Walker and Pierce, his two
offensive players, to also be premier defensive players. He said that
this was true on top teams, that their best offensive players were
also their best defensive players - Kidd, Payton, Duncan, Shaq.

The most interesting thing he said, in my opinion, was that his
ultimate goal, in the pursuit of a championship, was to add to the
roster and get more athletic at the 4/5 spots. I hope that doesn't set
off too many Walker trade rumors because Pitino's talked a lot about
how great Walker is doing and that he wants to develop Walker's
athleticism. But at the very least, it shows that Pitino's definitely
looking to upgrade over the Potapenko/Battie/Fortson rotation at
center, probably to acquire a defense-oriented center with both size
and shotblocking ability.

Alex