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Forward Walter McCarty is perfect fit for Pitino's Celtics
Hungry to Make an Impact
BOSTON, NOV. 11 --
Walter McCarty is hungry to make his mark in the NBA. Now Rick Pitino would like the lean second-year forward to extend that hunger to the weight room and the dinner table.
Walter McCarty
"Walter is a 6-10 runner, and he's going to be a terrific player before he is through," Pitino said. "He has lost about 10 to 15 pounds from college to now, and we've got to find a way to get at least some of that weight back on him. Walter's got to get after the weights."
Pitino would like to see McCarty (8.8 ppg), who is listed at 230 pounds but is much closer to 215, gain weight and strength to help him bang up against the muscular, sculpted bodies who play the power forward position in the NBA. An unselfish player who rebounds (5.7 rpg) and passes (3.0 apg) well, McCarty has become a starter in Boston after experiencing the equivalent of a redshirt year in his rookie NBA campaign with the New York Knicks, playing just 192 minutes.
"The biggest thing I learned in New York was patience," said the affable McCarty, who sang the national anthem at a Knicks game last year and received favorable reviews. "On this team, since we are all young, there is not one person that we depend on. We have to depend on each other."
McCarty's great quickness and long arms are a perfect fit for Pitino's fullcourt pressing and trapping style. In the halfcourt game, McCarty is more comfortable defending on the perimeter against small forwards and shooting guards.
"In our defense, anybody could be guarding anybody," McCarty said. "It's just about reading the ball. If you can get there, then go get the steal."
McCarty knows Boston will experience some bumps in the road this season, particularly since not one player in the Celtics' current starting five has more than one year of NBA experience. But Boston's opening-night victory over the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls was enough to give him hope.
"That game lets us know that when we do play well, when we do the things that Coach Pitino wants us to do, we can be very effective and beat some of the top teams," McCarty said. "We just have to remember to come out and do those things every night."
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