Pietrus wants out of GS

[fgrep15]

Golden State Warriors rookie forward Mickael Pietrus said he is desperate to quit, blasting teammates for what he considers a lack of team ethic. Pietrus revealed the depth of his disenchantment in an interview with the French sports newspaper L'Equipe.

"It would not displease me to get out of here," the Frenchman said. "The guys on my team have not understood that basketball is a team sport."


Pietrus, who plays less than nine minutes per game, said he defends "like a dog," only to see teammates "chewing the kebabs" he has prepared for them.

"I am at my wit's end on defense and they are shooting for baskets as if nothing had happened, as if it is not important to get back in the game," he added. "It annoys me. I've got to get out of this place."

Pietrus, 22, did not say where he sees his career going.

Pietrus Wants out

[magius]

san antonio should trade for pietrus and abdul-wahad just for fun so they can have a frenchy roster

[Vins15]

i'm sure Jerry West would want him..i read in a article once his contract is up Jerry West will do wutever he can to sigh him perhaps a trade in teh offseason?

[Andrew]

Even though I sympathise with him, this isn't the way to go about getting more playing time or respect on the team. Also, if he really wants out of Golden State he should probably avoid public outbursts.

[fgrep15]

Pietrus played 34 minutes today and scored 9 points (4-7 FG, 1-3 3PT), had 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He also commited 0 turnovers. Not bad for the amount of shots he got, he really buckled down on defense like he said I guess. Good game for the Warriors overall.

[alexboom]

Pietrus finally apologized, he may have been in a bad day when he did the interview for L'Equipe, the biggest daily newspaper in France

Golden State rookie Pietrus apologizes to team
Associated Press - 15th March, 2004 11:02 PM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Golden State rookie Mickael Pietrus apologized Monday for criticizing his teammates and saying he wants out of his contract with the Warriors.

"If that hurt some people, I just want to excuse myself and I would enjoy if I would stay here,'' Pietrus said before the Warriors played San Antonio. "At least I got a chance to play in the NBA. I had a chance to get drafted by the Warriors. Sometimes some players get upset by the way they lost. That was my case and I'm very sorry about that.''

[....]

In an interview with the French sports newspaper L'Equipe, Pietrus, a Frenchman, said: "It would not displease me to get out of here. The guys on my team have not understood that basketball is a team sport.''

He also said that he defends "like a dog,'' only to see teammates "chewing the kebabs.''

His comments came following the Warriors' 99-74 loss at San Antonio on Friday night.

Pietrus was in the starting lineup against the Spurs on Monday night because "he did a good job against (Tony) Parker last time,'' coach Eric Musselman said.

[Andrew]

Classy move to apologise. Public outbursts usually do more harm than good.

[J@3]

I think we should also note that this French newspaper is notorious for mis-quoting French professional athletes. It happens all the time in soccer, so I'd imagine it'd be the same in other sports. Usually the newspaper get the general idea right, but often tend to spice up the quotes

[alexboom]

hehe, you spotted right

but I think that on this case he really said he was enough of the selfishness of his teammate ... well, maybe he said that in the heat of action, not as if it was a calm interview ... and the newspaper immediately gets it bigger ... well anyway, we'll never know and above all he apologized : good thing :p

[GloveGuy]

This guy is good. I watched him yesterday and he was driving by all the Spurs and made some nice passes when the D collapsed on him. Also there was this one play where he fell behind on a pick, but still game up with a block on his man, Tony Parker. I liked what I saw from this guy.