Walker's recent performance

["Meninno, James A." <JMENINNO@PARTNERS.ORG>]

First let me say that I am a big fan of Mr AW.  Now that that's
established...

I'm not really surprised by the fact that Antoine's performances have
been down since Kenny joined the C's.  It will be an adjustment for him
at first to have another guy out there who wants the ball and knows what
to do with it.  Before long, however, this will help Walker's game
greatly, if not his numbers.  Let's not confuse the two.  Up until now,
Walker's numbers have been inflated by the fact that they needed him to
score so much.  The lack of an experienced point guard has caused him to
take a lot of poor shots.  I expect his shots to drop, but his
percentage to increase, resulting in a small decrease in points per
game.  His rebounds will suffer if he ever get's his shooting percentage
up because currently he's putting back about three of his own misses a
game.  I can't believe the number of three foot shots this guy misses.
But he is relentless in following them until he get's them in the hole.

My biggest question about Antoine's game is, when was the last time
anyone saw Antoine make a move without the basketball?  I can't remember
him coming off a pick for a jumper, or making a back door cut for a
layup, or even executing a pick and roll.  No wonder he has so many
turnovers!  Every move he makes involves beating three guys off the
dribble.  Surely this can be improved witht he addition of Kenny
Anderson.

Do I think we should pay Antoine the money?  Absolutely.  But, does that
have to be over a hundred million dollars?  I don't think so.  For God's
sake 15 million a year for 5 years is "only" 75 million.  How can you
make a bigger commitment than that to any player?

Jim