Re: PITINO

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

I don't mean to imply that Antoine is the only reason Pitino failed. Pitino
failed because of Pitino. He made all the decisions-mostly bad ones-and he's
responsible. No one else.

But I'll say it again... he asked Antoine to bulk up to play power forward,
and Antoine came in out of shape. He asked him to slim down to play small
forward, and Antoine came in out of shape. Did Pitino consider trading
Antoine? Sure, and he wouldn't have been doing his job if he didn't consider
it and see what was out there. But Pitino didn't trade Antoine. He kept him
and gave him a max contract before he really had proven anything. And
Antoine (and others, including Pierce) responded by quitting on Pitino to
run him out of town. Pitino walked away, but the players quit first. When I
say Antoine stabbed Pitino in the back, that's what I mean. Was it the
reason Pitino failed? No, but it didn't help him succeed either.

Mark