Re: sorry about that.

[Dan Forant <dforant1@nycap.rr.com>]

C'mon how can Walker getting paid megabucks, come in to camp not in shape,
shoot 40% from the field, average 6 rebounds, 3 turnovers per game, bitch
and complain and make a nuisance of himself with the refs and not get
crucified? Seems like this list is divided (maybe not percentage wise) by
those who see reality in some team failings and those that just want to
gloss over inadequacies and make excuses. Obviously, put me in the minority. 
At 09:50 AM 12/7/99 PST, you wrote:
>>From: opi@unesco.org
>
>>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.
>
>Joe,
>
>Have you been able to see any of the games yet this year?  I only ask 
>because your observations are often very objective and based on impressions 
>gleaned from analyzing game tapes (e.g. the way Antoine pounds the ball into 
>the floor on his dribble), whereas this season they have tended to be almost 
>exclusively subjective ones based on statistical analysis. I certainly don't 
>mean to suggest that people who can't watch the games have nothing to 
>contribute to the list, but I think there's a danger that one can fall into 
>assumptions if all there is to look at is a box score.
>
>Now, I do think that Antoine is off to a slow start this year.  I don't, 
>however, think that he's doing as badly as a lot of people are making out.  
>After all, he's still a big part of the team, and they are winning half 
>their games, and looking like they are close to being a lot better than 
>that.  If you ask me, Antoine has been told to do a lot more things that are 
>not going to show up in his stats.  Everyone has been praising this team 
>because it is playing so much more like a team, but they don't seem to 
>appreciate that the biggest change in that department is that Antoine is now 
>required to do the little things that everyone else does, instead of just 
>saving his energy to "create his own offense".  He must rotate on defense, 
>just like everyone else, set picks, box out, all that.  Do I feel sorry for 
>him, or think that he should be exempt from such things?  Of course not, but 
>the truth is that in previous years, he was given free reign to do whatever 
>needed to be done so that he would be able to put some points on the board 
>(hey, someone needed to).  Now the points are coming from a more balanced 
>offense, where individual moves are frowned on, and that's his thing.  
>Antoine is finding out he's not the kind of shooter that you run plays to 
>get 18 footers for.  If you can't get him a layup, the next best thing is a 
>three pointer.  Does any of this explain why he's rebounding less?  Not 
>exactly, although I think all his stats are affected by the fact that he's 
>doing what he's told to do whether it shows up in stats or not.  He's not 
>resting on defense, to use his energy on offense.  He's not leaving his man 
>unguarded to head to the boards early.  He's playing fewer minutes and 
>taking fewer shots (which means fewer offensive rebounds for him), and not 
>complaining about it.  In short, he's doing what the coach asks, ignoring 
>his personal statistics, and getting crucified for it.
>
>Jim
>
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