Re: sorry about that.

[opi@unesco.org]

ishbak wrote:

> Look at how well the
> ego's of this team have been subsumed into the team concept. Has Walker
> complained once this year about not being the focal point of the offense
> anymore? Has he responded negatively to any criticism? Aside from his play on
> the floor, Antoine's responses have been mature and well-mannered, especially
> considering the obnoxiousness of many other NBA players of his caliber
> especially when their slumping.

That's all true but not new, necessarily. Walker has never in the past utterred any
hint of complaint during a season in progress, which is one of his distinguishing
traits as a young player. Many of us assume he is a loose canon sure to explode any
second about Pierce's greater stardom or Mercer's shot selection, until this
assumption reaches a level of credibility that we take as fact. I think Toine has
been a buffoon on the court in the past and doesn't always put on his thinking cap
out there, but once the game ends he comes across as intelligent and sincere, not to
mention demonstrating an uncommon level of tolerance toward slimy, fast talking
local writers who are out to get him and make him trip on his words.

He did say the "veteran All Star" comment and it was clearly stupid and has
obviously become symbolic in people's minds for many reasons. But in context Antoine
was reacting to the facts that 1) Pitino didn't require him to attend any of the
summer voluntary sessions the previous year, 2) mailed out what amounts to a form
letter, by the sound of it not even signed by Ricky, requesting everyone's presence
in Boston to meet the new shooting instructor, but not contacting anyone personally
to stress that he actually meant it this time, 3) then reading directly from the
press that Pitino was "disappointed" that Antoine didn't show up, after his coach
had preached for three years that dirty laundry should never be aired publically,
either coming via the big mouths of a player or a coach. As far as I'm concerned,
this was a media fabricated controversy from start to finish. Ryan and May and
McDonough could count on the lockout rules to prevent Pitino from contacting Antoine
for months, which would have cleared up the misunderstanding. Antoine has clearly
had a bum rap in Boston, and like most thinking people I can't stand seeing
unfairness and so naturally I felt like sticking up for him (in retrospect maybe
stupid of me).

> The same holds true for virtually everyone. Has
> anyone broken ranks this year and complained about minutes? Has anyone asked to
> be traded? We seem to be in a rather unique position in the NBA right now in
> that we have *no* malcontents. That's a miracle by NBA standards.

This is totally true. It is the "grass is greener" thing. Even the guys near
Antoine's age who are held up as model superstars are often selfish, shallow and
show poor judgement, with the seemingly remarkable exception of Kevin Garnett.

> Given this team's attitude we have to give them a chance. Once Fortson comes back
> we'll have a unselfish team that can rebound with anyone. With a little growing
> up this team should be fine ... if everyone stays healthy. They just need to
> build chemistry and realize their roles one the floor. I for one think Antoine
> will be fine once Antoine gets completely used to his new role. He's shown
> flashes(the end of the Miami game, and a few other times) of being a type of
> unselfish player like Griffen. Let's give him a chance to find his place on the
> team.

I think it's good that Griffen and Antoine play off of each other early in the
season, learning from each others example of level-headed play (Griffen) and total
scoring confidence and intensity (Antoine). But upon Fortson's return, it makes
sense to split up our two gifted point forwards in order to strengthen the bench
chemistry/scoring one way or the other, as well as to get Antoine out of his strange
funk and make a more impactful non-scoring contribution out there.

Lately I know I may have sounded like president of the Internet fellowship of the
miserables in my rants about Toine, but the reason is that I took it as a matter of
faith that Antoine would get 9+ rebounds per game no matter where he lined up on the
basketball court (and that this underappreciated ability is what easily made up for
his many lapses in judgement etc). But I was very gravely mistaken.

I guess Antoine is having a slightly better year than Vin Baker did last year,
simply because he's probably a better rounded player. But Vin Baker had years of
20-10 stats culminating in making the Dream Team before last year's debacle. Antoine
right now is just another player with a flawed resumé. He was blessed with one All
Star statistical season on his contract renewal year, but presently ranks somewhere
in the bottom half of starting NBA power forwards or small forwards.

Coming into this season, Antoine has averaged 9.4 rebounds per game as a hybrid
perimeter/post-up forward. In order to maintain par, he'll need to average just over
10.1 per game for the rest of this still young season. I don't know about you all,
but I think it would be stupid to even bet any money that he'll have a 10 rebound
game this month against the Lakers and Spurs (we desperately need it with Fortson
out), much less maintain that average over the course of the full season. In fact,
Antoinette has now gone 10 straight games without a double double, and truly it
seems like he couldn't care less. It's like: "hey I'm letting the 6-5 rookie carry
the load, I'm not breaking my back any more to do that grunt work".

In past years it hardly bothered me one bit if Antoine complained  to the refs
during games, but nowadays I picture him in the locker room also complaining
incessantly about hang nails and bad hair days etc. Antoine needs to wake up.

I totally refuse to buy the argument that there are fewer rebounds to go around on
this, more talented, team. Sharing the crowded paint with Parish, Maxwell and McHale
didn't stop Larry Bird from getting 10 a night.

If Toine is not also capable of nearly that level of board work, then IMO his flaws
will outweigh his strengths even if his shooting improves a fair amount. I feel dumb
for having stuck up for Toine all these years, even while sensing that more fans
this year will warm to Toine simply because their definition of progress and
maturity is measured by the steadily lower "wpg" (wiggle per game) stat and other
superficial signs that "he finally gets it". But tomorrow against Denver, the fans
will give a hearty round of applause to Ron Mercer and wish he, not Toine, were in a
Celtics uniform.

Ron will probably make it a point to go for 30 points on his return to the lineup,
hopefully causing his team to lose some of its new found and impressive chemistry
(they beat the Knicks and then DESTROYED Philly both on the road, coming into
Wednesday's game). Chauncey will be pumped up also (he's back from injury), so it
should be a good game to watch. Denver arguably may have a better frontline than
Cleveland (with Kemp) or Charlotte (with Mason). LaFrentz is averaging 14.6 points
8.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. He's about the same height and weight as Tony
Battie, but much more consistent and polished offensively. Keon Clark is finally
putting up Tony Battie type numbers (5.4 rebounds in less than 18 mpg). Clark
probably would be wearing a Celts uniform if Pierce had not fallen to the tenth
pick.

Joe

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