Re: RP show

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

> Alex...Did Pitino actually say:
> 
> >>so that Antoine can play at 3 and Pierce can play at 2.

Well, he may have phrased it, "can play more at 3" or something to that
effect. Can someone else who watched the show confirm?

> If so, and I'm Ron Mercer....I'm packing my bags now. Also, do you really
> think anybody who wants to trade with Pitino actually listens to what he
> says about a player? If I had to guess, people watch the films, and in
> Mercer's case, they assume that his coach is the reason the kid's having a
> disappointing year. 

My guess is that come trade time, they make their own evaluation but may
hold Pitino's (negative) words against him if they can during negotiations.
I'm just speculating because I have no idea how these things work. But he's
certainly been willing to criticize Pierce and Walker but not Mercer, even
though he criticized Mercer last year. Actually, that may be because Mercer
is approaching contract time. Pitino was quite hesitant to criticize Walker's
game last year.

Besides the team needs, another reason that Mercer is less desirable is
because he is in the last class of those messed-up rookie contracts from
the last CBA. I would guess that he looks at Ray Allen's contract as a 
benchmark and asks for the max. At the very least, given the size of
contracts given to Potapenko, Kittles, Sura, etc., he'll want $50M+. 
That's a lot of money for someone that many have suggested should come
off the bench.

> Two players away from being a contender? Wait 'til
> 2000? If this team goes into  next season with the exact same players they
> don't come anywhere near the playoffs...and I'm just not convinced Pitino
> can make the right moves to get this team out of the first round even if
> they ever get there. 

Pitino has been guaranteeing playoffs and if he believes that "young=bad"
mantra that he's been giving us, this team is going to get significantly
older over the offseason.

> Rodney Rogers? He's got to be kidding! <cut>

My interpretation of this trade is that Pitino doesn't want to extend 
Battie's contract. He was willing to trade for Rogers, look at him over
the last half of the season, and decide whether to make an offer based
on that, similar to the Popeye Jones situation. 
 
> Paul M.
> 
>