Re: Walker All-Star

[Matt Healy <mhealy@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu>]

>God, I have no idea what Larry is going to do with Walker
>When he says Antoine needs to think about his shot-selection,
>I got a little scared. Maybe just paranoid. When I played ball,
>it scared me when people would talk about shot-selection.
>It gives me a feeling like that you're really not the ballplayer
>you can be. You're playing kinda like not smart. But Larry
>probably loves players with a more total package. Just like him
>self. I think Antione can do more of the little things than Webber
>can. (I'm not saying Webber isn't any good). But just looking
>at Walker, a 20-10 player in his second year, the improved
>Celtics with him as a leader, and all the little stuff he has done.
>Please Larry, get Antoine that All-Star jersey. He proved he
>can handle All-Star like caliber, just like in the rookie game
>last year!
>
>Who agrees with me?

I agree that Walker deserves to make the all-star team.  He is one of only
a select few "20-10" guys, and also does pretty well, particularly at his
position, in assists and steals, I think.  I don't know if smarts is the
right word for it, but I do think that with more seasoning, Walker can
become a greater player, not so much by adding to his game, but taking away
from it.  The turnover number has got to come down, he's hurting the team
too often.  And of course, the much ballyhoo-ed shot selection.   I don't
watch enough games to know about this for myself, but I trust those on the
list who watch a lot of the games, not to mention the opinion of Larry
Bird, and of course, the box scores suggest either poor shot selection, or
just horrible shooting ability.  Take last night's game for example.  Just
going on the stats I recall being posted to this list, he had 16 points on
6-12 shooting.  A more typical night for him is to take 12 more shots and
get 5-6 more points.  Last night's game is clearly better.  I'd still like
to see our star getting more than 12 shot opportunities, but maybe this is
the first step in his learning to take better shots.

Oh, and I don't buy into Peter Vescey's theory on all-star reserve
selection, that if your team is below .500, you shouldn't be in the game.
Basketball is a team sport, and you win and lose as a team.  Sure a great
player can push his team over the top, but only so much.  Somebody can be
having an all-star season (Rod Strickland, Walker) and still not be on a
good team.

Matt