Re: Antoine for President!!!

["Greg Odegaard" <gmodegaa@longvred.rmc.com>]

Jeremy,

Excellent commentary.  Of course I am biased because you agree with my
point that AW maybe should have made a couple of the missed FT's.  I don't
agree that you should just accept his shortcomings because of his overall
great game.  I noted yesterday it was a breakout or coming of age event for
AW and the Celtics, which could benefit us for the future in the area of
Respect.  Numerous great players have struggled at the line, Shaq and Wilt
being the best examples, but both of the players helped their team win many
games with their overall superiority, and also lose some very critical
games with missed FT's.  It is now and always has been a very critical
factor in the bottom line success of a team, to make them.  

The key here is that we all might agree that AW is THE MAN in the crunch,
but watching him possibly miss a make or break FT in the future will put
grey hairs on my head for sure, and maybe the greasy head of RP too.  The
problem is that if he is the man, and he is weak in FT shooting, then we
have a potential Catch-22 that may bite us in the ass now, when each game
might have little real significance, but he must improve to be able to be
successful for that event in the future when a playoff game is on the line.
 Consider the scenario where we are down by 2, AW drives and the opposing
team decides to purposely foul, knowing he might not make both, with his
current skills and the game on the line.  I certainly hope this opportunity
at least presents itself in the next few years.

It is curious that AW came to the team more or less through disposing of
Monstoss, who along with Dudley is one of the worst FT shooters in recent
league history.  

Can any recent team analyst note the times where AW or any Celtic has made
or missed a buzzer beater/game winner, either as a pro or in college.  Like
the David Wesley face job in Portland a couple of days ago.  He has become
the MAN in Charlotte.

Did anyone else see Kemp eating his fair share of humble pie after last
nights beating at the hands of tonights opponent the Sonics.  Again tonight
is a determing event in the development of these our Boston Celtics.  All I
hope for is a close game, which we could win by the slowing of the tired
Sonics.

Later,
Greg

----------
> From: Jeremy Warren <jeremy.warren@alphatech.com>
> To: Celtics@igtc.COM; me <jwarren@eecs.tufts.edu>
> Subject: Antoine for President!!!
> Date: Thursday, January 08, 1998 11:42 AM
> 
>                       Antoine for President!!!                     1/8/98
> 
> Warwick, what a thorough analysis!!! You should mail it to Rick Pitino. 
He
> might make you the Celtic's top Australian scout.
> 
> Moving onto last night's game.  It reminded me of the Bulls in the
mid-80's
> when Jordan would torch other teams but they would still lose.  Walker
was
> unstoppable, but you can still see room for improvement.  He missed 5
free
> throws, which could have changed the outcome of the game.  And he should
have
> looked for an opponent teammate when he was triple teamed on the play
where he
> fouled out.  He probably would have gotten the ball back.  Those are the
two
> problems that have been plaguing him all season.  When he fixes them,
he'll be
> an MVP contender.
> 
> People shouldn't be surprised that he's only seventh in the all-star
balloting
> among forwards.  Most people vote on how players did last year or
throughout
> there career.  I'm sure Walker will get put on the team as a backup
(since
> that is up to the coaches or the all-star coach- I forget).  If Walker
> maintains his level of play throughout the rest of the season (ie 22
points,
> 10 rebounds, and 2 steals), he'll be voted in as a starter next year or
at
> least be in the top 3 forwards.
> 
> As far him signing with Chicago is concerned, I doubt it.  It looks like
> Jackson won't be back for another year and thus Jordan will retire giving
the
> Bulls tons of cap room.  They'll probably use all of it up with long term
> contracts to McDyess/Stoudamire/Penny.  Or whoever they want this summer.

> Walker won't be a free agent until next summer.  
> 
> If Jordan plays one more year, maybe they'll wait until the summer of '99
for
> Walker.  But for him and Jordan to play together, Jordan has to play two
more
> seasons and has to sign a very small contract before they can sign
Walker. 
> You have to give Jerry Reinsdorf credit for being intelligent enough to
sign
> Jordan and Rodman to one year deals.  If either of them have a career
ending
> injury this year, it's no big deal cap-wise.  But look at the Knicks. 
After
> this season, Ewing still has three years left on his four year $60M
contract.
> 
> Lastly to Celtics033, whoever you are.  If you're going to use vulgar
language
> to criticize Cheryl Miller, at least be man enough to sign your name.  A
good
> rule of thumb is, if you're too ashamed to put your name on an email then
you
> shouldn't be sending it.
> 
> Jeremy