Pitino Knocks Toine, And Wasn't He Suppose To Be Recruiting Free Agents?

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

I wonder how much Evil Duce got paid for this appearance?

Pitino speaks at Five-Star camp

Friday, July 21, 2000

By Paul Zeise, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports_headlines/20000720camp7.asp

Rick Pitino addressed a crowd of more than 500 teenagers and dozens of
coaches yesterday at Robert Morris College's Sewall Center as part of
the week-long Five-Star boys' basketball camp.

Pitino, coach and president of the Boston Celtics, spoke for nearly 90
minutes on the importance of fundamentals, sacrifice and hard work and
directed several campers through drills which will help them improve
their skills.

"I have a guy on my team by the name of Antoine Walker who has the
ability to be one of the five best players in the NBA," Pitino said to
the crowd. "But he isn't because he has never developed his skill level.
He plays basketball 24 hours a day and will run full-court games every
chance he gets, but it doesn't help him improve because he has no
routine. You have to develop a routine and work hard on improving your
skill level. I'm not saying not to run full-court games, but realize,
that's for fun. If you want to be a great one, you have to develop a
routine to work on improving your skill level."

Pitino used Tiger Woods as an example of an talented athlete who
dominates his sport because he is willing to work "until his hands fall
off" on the same drills day after day after day.

After his lecture, Pitino talked about his involvement with Five-Star
and said he enjoys having the opportunity to address groups of young
basketball players because there is such a void of fundamentals in
today's players.

"If nothing else, I just hope these kids listen to some of the things I
said about developing their skills," Pitino said. "I only do a few of
these camps anymore because of my schedule in the summer, but I really
enjoy being around the kids and having the opportunity to help them
learn something which will in turn help them reach their goals."

Five-Star is among the top basketball camps in the country, annually
attracting the top prep players. This week's camp at Robert Morris,
according to camp director Howard Garfinkel, who founded the Five-Star
camps in 1966, has drawn a record of 520 campers from all 50 states and
30 countries.

Pitino's speech fit the camp's mission, which is to teach the
fundamentals of basketball, along with teamwork and perseverance, to
high school stars. Pitino is one of many big names who will speak at one
of Five-Star's 10 camps this summer. Others over the next few weeks
include CBS analyst Billy Packer and Portland Trail Blazers Coach Mike
Dunleavy.

Next week, however, is the summer's showcase camp, culminating Friday
with a lecture by Michael Jordan. The Jordan lecture, however, is not
open to the public.