Re: Paul M and Pitino

[Sherry & Hart <hartleyo@ix.netcom.com>]

Noah P. Evans wrote:
> 
> >  Another thing to remember is that Pitino prefers to use 10 players. If
> >  we start to see his 3 or 4 best players getting over 40 minutes on a
> >  consistent basis, I would start to worry. The most severe problem that
> >  Pitino has right now is to be able to go to the bench with enough
> >  confidence in his top 10 players.
> 
> An astute(and true) observation.
> 
> > The rest McCarty, Pervis,
> > Dontae,Travis and Minor) are just there to take bench space.
> 
> I disagree here. Pitino puts far more faith in McCarty than most of us
> realize. McCarty is the uberbench player for Pitino's system. He's tall,
> athletic, has marathon runner endurance and has a marshon frame(marshon
> syndrome is a type of genetic disorder causing elongation of bones and
> connective tissue, it's also known as Abe Lincoln's disorder). He's weakness
> are lack of physical strength, a poor shooting and finishing, and lack of
> confidence. From Pitino's comments in practice he assumes that Walter should
> develop into a decent scorer(when he becomes more confident in his outside
> shot) and post defender(when McCarty was in college is was ~230 now he's
> around 216, Pitino expects him to put on weight).
>         Travis, too, could contribute if he becomes more confident(although this
> may be doubtful, the rift in Travis's relationship with Pitino may be
> irrepairable). Travis was competant until he was injured. He was useless
> after that though. His confidence was shot.
> 
> Noah
Hi Noah,
I bow to your knowledge about McCarty's (marshon)frame. I certainly hope
you are right about his game improvement, but what concerned me last
year with his game was that it didn't seem to improve as the season went
on. Possibly he just grew tired from all his increased minutes from the
previous year. I will give him the benefit of doubt, since I really like
his heart and attitude toward the game etc.
Travis I am afraid may just not be that good and what we saw is what
we'll get.
Regards, 
Hart