Antoine

I am starting to feel somewhat guilty at the diatribes about Antoine lately. I posted some unflattering numbers a few days ago and many have responded.

Toine is a young player who has much to learn and will make many mistakes along the way. We can only hope that he will reduce his turnovers and additional errors in judgement. Someone previously posted that he has a terrible tendency to take foolish shots at the most inopportune time, like late in a close ballgame, with lots of time on the shot clock, when he is facing a double or triple team. His youthful exuberance to defeat the defense is honorable, but his decision to take it to them at these times is just plain foolhardy, regardless of how offensively inept it may appear his mates could be. Nobody should be criticized for stating that fact.

I believe he'll improve as he matures and with Mercer and Anderson alongside, he should increase all his numbers. But that is where I have my biggest concern. If his play is predicated on his individual numbers, we need to consider our options. If Toine could care less about his average as long as we win, I say, sign him to a long term deal and give him more help.