Re: Don't stop with Pitino

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Walker and Pierce are working hard to score their points, but they've been a
disaster defensively and in the team concept. Pierce especially. And let's
see, we've played 10 games, and Pierce has stunk in Cleveland, in Toronto,
in Washington and now against Philly (and for all but two minutes in
Philly). He's shown up a little more than half the time. And even when he's
scoring big, it's sometimes at the expense of the team. He's "unleashing the
dragon" by thinking shoot-first every time he touches the ball. I've
encouraged him to be more aggressive, but there are limits.

Am I being too hard on Walker? Maybe. He's improved his outside shot. He
still makes terrible decisions and his refusal to commit to either slimming
down to play SF or muscling up to play PF has handcuffed Pitino since he got
here.

Look, I'm willing to admit it's time for Pitino to go... and that's a big
change for me. I don't think a guy who has won as much as he has gets stupid
overnight. But he's made some terrible personnel decisions and he's
responsible for the team on the floor.

But let's say you're right and the team has decided Pitino's system doesn't
work... is that OK with you? When did they decide? When they were in the
playoff race during Pitino's first year? During the playoff race last year?
Did they decide before or after that 10-game losing streak? This year? 10
games in? And that's OK in your book? These guys are paid incredibly well to
come to work, work hard, and listen to the coach. That's it. It's not hard.
If they can't do that, find someplace else for them.

Mark