Sports Guy's finally ready to give up on Antoine Walker, which
puts him in the majority, not the minority. Here's why it might be time for the
C's to trade Employee #8.I can't remember struggling with more mixed emotions
about a Boston athlete than the way Antoine Walker has made me feel lately.
Quite simply, he's a handful. And I'm getting tired of him.
And I'm
starting to wish he played somewhere else.
Yeah, I know, I know... I'm
the guy who tried to start "Project Antoine" just six weeks ago. Let's just say
that "Project Antoine" was right up there with the Sports Guy Newsletter, the
infamous National Anthem column, "Red Sox Monday" and "Cyber Porn Tuesday" as
one of the biggest disasters in the history of the BSG site. It's just
IMPOSSIBLE to root for this guy.
Take the last two home games for example
(both wins over Miami and Denver, which I watched in person at the Fleet
Center):
THE MIAMI GAME
Cyber Twan didn't have much of
an impact in this win (3-for-14 from the field with the game in doubt) and
displayed his usual aversion to rebounding (this is a guy who averaged over ten
boards a game two seasons ago and has only grabbed ten in a game twice this
year... go figure). But that didn't even bother me as much as the way the
Celtics captain acted at the end of the game:
With the Celts cruising by
12 in the final three minutes, Antoine drove into the lane and made a sweet
jumper -- his first basket of the fourth quarter -- and inexplicably strutted
back to the defensive end of the court while trash-talking every Miami player he
could find. After Heat coach Pat Riley finally pulled his starting five,
conceding defeat, Walker followed Alonzo Mourning to the bench, talking smack
like an extra from the first scene of "White Men Can't Jump." When the Miami
bench started bitching at him, Cyber Twan basically clotheslined Kenny Anderson
for the ball in the final minute so he could shoot an in-your-face three-pointer
in front of the visiting bench... which he promptly clanged before getting
yanked.
Three comments here:
1. It makes more sense to trash-talk
another team when you're actually playing well. Walker wasn't just a non-factor
last Friday, he flat-out sucked.
2. Why give Miami more motivation for
the next go-around? Makes no sense. Take the win, shut up, walk off the court,
take a shower and head on down the street to Cosmopolitan, where hundreds of
ovulating groupies are waiting to dance with you.
3. If Antoine wonders
why the home fans hate him so much -- and they really, REALLY do -- he should
watch a tape of himself some time. Everybody who left the Fleet Center that
night came away thinking, "That guy's a punk... I can't believe I have to
actually root for him."
THE DENVER GAME
Walker played
better in this one (a 30-point blowout that was decided before the second half),
but he started acting up in the third quarter -- bitching at referees, looking
for his own shot, jogging back on defense and basically playing like the Y2K
Sydney Wicks. When the home fans started yelling at him, he took exception and
leaned over the press table to tell a fan menacingly, "You got a problem with
me? I didn't think so."
Ironically, Walker singled out the wrong fan --
his antagonist was actually sitting three rows up in Section One (in my row), so
when Antoine said, "You got a problem with me?" this guy started holding up his
hand and screaming "I do! I do! I do!" High comedy. Now Walker was really
enraged and glared at our row every time he ran by us at midcourt. Things
finally came to a head when the outraged fan screamed "Get back on defense you
bum!" while Antoine argued with the refs after another no-call; Walker responded
by jogging by us saying "Bite me" three times while our section looked on in
disbelief. (Note: He didn't say "Make me" like the Globe and Herald reported, he
said "Bite me.")
Of course, it STILL wasn't over. Why? Because Antoine
wouldn't let it go. After leaving the game in the fourth quarter, he was
bitching animatedly to trainer Ed Lacerte and pointing angrily at our section,
like a second-grader tattling on a classmate. Keep in mind, the game was still
going on. He glared at our row for the next few minutes; finally, he stuffed a
towel into his pants (to make himself look like Dirk Diggler). During the next
timeout, he stepped back from the huddle, looked at his nemesis and grabbed the
towel in his pants, as if he were clutching a mammoth set of genitals. And it
wasn't just for a split-second... he did it for the whole timeout. I'm not
making this up.
(Ladies and gentleman... the captain of the Celtics...
#8... ANTOINE WALKER!)
Near the end of the game, the fan made his way
over to a seat in front of the Celtics bench and made peace with Walker, who
commented after the game that "We settled our differences." Whatever. Everyone
who left that game last night came away thinking that Antoine Walker was a
childish bum. Myself included.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
So what should we do with
this guy?
You may not believe it, but this might be the only time in the
history of the BSG site where I don't have a definitive opinion either way. So
let's get it all out in one felt swoop -- all the plusses and minuses of keeping
Cyber Twan in Boston.
PLUS: He's only 23 years old and just
nearing his prime.
MINUS: He's 23 years old going on
12.
PLUS: He's a former All-Star who once averaged over 20 points
and ten rebounds in the same season.
MINUS: He put up those stats
on a lousy team that let him shoot 20-25 times a game because they didn't have
anybody else.
PLUS: His ballhandling gives this team flexibility
that no other NBA team possesses other than Detroit (with Grant Hill); I don't
know if you realize this, but the Celtics run their set offense through Antoine
on the high post.
MINUS: Unfortunately, he's had trouble
adjusting to the perimeter, the main reason why his numbers are down (the other
reason being, of course, that he's not working hard on the boards
anymore).
PLUS: Since the Celtics are obviously revolving this
team around Paul Pierce, Antoine would make the ideal second banana -- on paper,
anyway.
MINUS: Antoine still believes that he's the best player
on the team and carries himself that way. He's sadly mistaken. If you think
Antoine's the man on the Celtics, then you also think "Beverly Hills Cop" was a
Judge Reinhold movie.
PLUS: On paper, he gives this team an
enormous amount of flexibility because he can play small forward AND BIG
forward.
MINUS: In reality, he's much better off at small forward
because he doesn't rebound anymore and because he isn't big enough to guard
bigger power forwards (like Antonio McDyesss last night). In fact, with Tony
Battie's emergence and Danny Fortson's much-needed physical presence on the
horizon, Antoine might find himself riding the pine in the fourth quarter for
the first time in his career. And boy... won't THAT be
interesting?
PLUS: His shot selection has been much better this
season, especially with the way he's taking the ball to the basket instead of
settling for lazy jumpers. (Translation: He's still missing shots, but at least
they're good shots).
MINUS: For whatever reason, he's lost some of
his scoring touch around the basket, mainly because he's playing below the rim
and trying tough layups and high-arching shots (go to the damned rim, Twan!).
He's just not as good of a scorer as he was two years ago. Again, it's
inexplicable. He shot 43% his rookie season and he's shooting 40% this
season.
PLUS: The Man (aka Larry Bird) tried to trade for Antoine
this summer, which should tell you something.
PLUS: The Guru (aka
my Dad) gave up on Antoine last season and can't stand watching him to the point
that he schedules his frequent bathroom breaks at the Fleet Center around times
when Walker's on the court. Nobody sees through frauds in sports faster than my
Dad, which scares me. He's the same guy who gave up on the Chauncey Billups Era
after the second home game in '97 ("He's not a point guard... he'll NEVER be a
point guard") and he's the first person I know who went on the record against
Pete Carroll ("Look at that guy! How is that guy our new head coach?"). When Dad
has a gut feeling, it's usually dead-on. And he can't stand Employee
#8.
PLUS: Antoine has handled the press much better this season,
saying all the right things and seeming like the ultimate team
player.
MINUS: Unfortunately, he hasn't acted that way on the
court. If Pitino sits him down for too long during home games, he starts sulking
and glaring at his boys in Section One with that "Can you believe this a**hole
won't put me back in?" look. Again, it should be a barrel of laughs when Danny
Fortson comes back.
PLUS: When Antoine is on, he is ON. Even when
he's not playing well, he'll make a play that will bring you out of your seat --
like his coast-to-coast rush in the Miami game that ended with him arching a
full-speed, going-right-to-left, falling out-of-bounds layup over Alonzo
Mourning that had everyone reeling (no other power forward in the league could
make that play from beginning to end).
MINUS: Antoine's not ON
that much anymore. Here's a guy who scored 49 points in a game two years ago and
grabbed more than 15 rebounds in a game many times over his first two seasons...
and he hasn't cracked the 30-point barrier or the 11-rebound barrier this
season, despite the fact that he's 4th in the league in shots-per-minute and
he's playing 35 minutes a game at the 4-spot. Again, go figure.
Look at
his career averages... where's the improvement, dammit???
Year G FG% FT% 3P% RB AST STL TO PTS
96-97 82 .425 .631 .327 9.0 3.2 1.3 2.8 17.5
97-98 82 .423 .645 .312 10.2 3.3 1.7 3.6 22.4
98-99 42 .412 .559 .369 8.5 3.1 1.5 2.8 18.7
99-00 17 .408 .693 .295 6.6 2.4 1.2 2.8 18.2
TOTALS -- .421 .628 .328 9.2 3.2 1.5 3.1 19.6
PLUS: Antoine
gives this team its swagger -- he sticks up for his teammates, he trash-talks
opponents, he's not afraid of anybody, and when he's playing well, you can
almost see the team rallying around him. Pierce and Walker provide "the balls"
for this team. It's a fact.
MINUS: Sometimes Walker goes a little
too far, as we described in the Miami game. There's a difference between being
emotional and being classless.
PLUS: Antoine's played fairly well
at home this season despite the fact that Celtics fans bitch every time he
misses a shot, even when the team is winning by 30 points.
MINUS (and
this is the biggest one of all): As a whole, the Boston fans will NEVER like
Antoine Walker. People just can't stand this guy. I go to all the games, I
listen to the people in the crowd, I read all your e-mails... nobody
likes this guy. It's gotten to the point where fans enjoy bitching about him
when he stinks more than they enjoy supporting him when he's playing well. And
if you think I'm over-exaggerating... attend a game some time and listen to the
grumblings in the crowd that accompany every missed shot. The fans were so
vicious last night that I thought Michael Holley was going to start
crying.
Now throw this into the mix: Antoine just wants to be
loved.
I really believe that. He might be the most sensitive Celtics
player we've ever had. He hears every catcall. He always plays better when the
crowd is fired up and urging the boys on. He takes every slight personally. He
honestly believes that NBA referees conspire against him. When he's playing
well, he gets so excited that he just can't help himself, so he starts prancing
around and acting like a jerk. And that stuff doesn't work here. Remember, the
most popular guy in town right now is Nomar Garciaparra.
And in many
respects, Antoine Walker is like the anti-Nomar. Sad but true.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
So what do we
do?
Nobody wanted to give up on Antoine less than me, but the Celtics
might have to deal him before the Fleet Center crowd ruins his confidence for
good. Trust me... it's getting BAD at the Fleet for Employee #8.
Fortunately for us, the Celtics are in an enviable position, for three
reasons:
1. Tony Battie is finally putting it all together, much like
Marcus Camby did in the playoffs last spring. The Battman has been absoluty
terrorizing opponents for the past few games -- he finally figured out
how to use his athleticism and speed to his advantage and he's developing into a
legitimate "10-point, 11-rebound, 3-blocks per game" guy. Quite simply, we've
never had anyone like him before; he's everything we ever wanted Ed Pinckney to
be.
2. With Griffin, Fortson and Eric Williams, the Celts possess a
surprising amount of depth at the 3/4 spots. Once Fortson rounds into shape next
month, Antoine could sprain an ankle and miss three weeks and I'm not sure this
team would even miss a beat. Seriously. You want to talk about the Patrick Ewing
Theory... just watch what happens if Antoine gets hurt in February or
March.
3. Paul Pierce isn't just good, he's damned good. This is
his team. Period.
So if you're scoring at home, the Celtics might be
better off trading Walker for a more reliable forward who can provide defense
and outside shooting at the 3/4 spot. I don't know about you, but I can almost
hear Pitino saying "We hated to give him, but..."
Whatever. I say trade
him. Now. Before it's too late. Get Toni Kukoc, get Mo Taylor, get Theo Ratliff,
get Chicago's #1... just get SOMETHING before this thing spirals out of control.
The Y2K Celts should revolve around Pierce, Battie, Griffin, Fortson, Anderson,
Potapenko, and Player X -- a player who ideally should be able to make outside
jumpers, handle the ball and even rebound a little bit.
You know, kinda
like what Antoine does. Only he wouldn't be Antoine.
And if Employee #8
comes back to haunt us some day... well, so be it.
Of course, a week
from now, I might feel completely different about this entire subject. That's
the power of Antoine: Love him or hate him, at least he's interesting... whether
he's going coast-to-coast for a gorgeous three-point play or telling a fan in
Section One, "Bite me."
Maybe in time, I'd even miss him.
(Okay, I
doubt it... but it made for a good ending, didn't it?)