Re: Celtics Barely Win: Celtics 100-Rockets 96

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

Dan F. wrote about Antoine:

> C'mon, triple double tools? Did he ever have one? 

Walker has had several triple doubles in his career.

> Walker may have pulled
> off *one* of the biggest capers in NBA history, financially speaking,
> concerning worth. I say may have because he isn't near where he should or
> could be. I believe it's laziness, especially in the off season where he
> could have honed some of his glaring weaknesses. 

He's not playing like a $71M player this year so far. On the other
hand, there are still more than five and a half years left on his six
year contract extension. Isn't it a bit early to call his contract one
of the biggest financial capers in NBA history?

> The boo birds have always
> been in Boston like any other town. NY is a good example. They just didn't
> boo when Bird and Company were in town because they produced. And when they
> started to falter they left them alone because of respect. Respect is
> something is you earn, it isn't bestowed upon one. The bomb here is, too
> black for Boston, unless I don't understand the context, it's an absurdity.

The booing of Antoine is ridiculous; if you've been to the FleetCenter
you probably understand what I mean. The instant he misses a shot, no
matter how open he is, the crowd murmurs in displeasure. If he misses
a few in a row, the booing starts. No other player gets this treatment
no matter how bad their shot is. It makes Antoine tentative and
basically wrecks his game.

> My question is did we trade the wrong man??

It's not like we were faced with a choice of "either trade Antoine or
trade Mercer". And would you rather have spent $50M or whatever Mercer
wanted to keep him, not get the lottery pick and Danny Fortson, and 
find out that minimum-wage Adrian Griffin is better for our team than
him? I think the Denver trade was a good one.

We did have the opportunity to pursue trades involving Antoine (and
Mercer together in a package) during the summer and it's worth
discussing whether we should have pursued any of those in
hindsight. For instance the list laughed at the idea of acquiring Dale
Davis and Jalen Rose; Davis is evidently having a fantastic year. 12.4
ppg (56% fg), 10.7 rpg, 1.5 bpg in only 30 minutes per game, to go
along with his solid defense at the big-man positions. Larry Bird
says, "Right now, if they had an All-Star Game, Dale would have to be
in it. He'd have to be. They can't overlook what he's done for our
team. If it wasn't for Dale, we'd be in trouble." 

Jalen Rose isn't doing too bad either. 15.3 ppg (50% fg), 4.4 rpg, 
3.8 apg, 46% 3pt, 86% ft in 32.8 mpg.

Alex