Re: first half

[opi@unesco.org]

CeltsSteve@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 12/26/99 2:12:01 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> Douglas342@aol.com writes:
>
> <<Bill Walton is very opinionated.  The Clippers are "annihilating" the
> Celtics.  The Celtics "won't win a game on this road trip."  And the topper:
> "Yesterday on NBC they listed the 10 greatest moments in NBA history.  I bet
> we're going to see another one today!"  Right, Bill, you betcha.  Shut up. >>
>
> Or how about his "Keith Closs is an emerging star in this league" comment?
> Or his "the Clippers are just toying with the Celtics" comment.  Or his "the
> only way Celtic fans get to see the playoffs this year is if Pitino buys them
> tickets" comment.

As a player, Walton (like Rick Barry) could also be extremely judgmental of bad
play, particularly bad guard play. You've got to remember that he grew up a
pointguard before his growth spurts, and in his prime he probably read the court
and controlled the tempo as naturally as Bird or Magic. Walton also once shot 21
for 22 in an NCAA championship game, then refused interviews afterwards, showing
his petulant and aloof side. I think Walton still bleeds green. Probably, he just
can't understand how a Celts team with many good athletes fails to see what he
sees out on the court...or at least demonstrates some sort of growth-curve toward
crisp, fundamental basketball like what he learned under John Wooden and Jack
Ramsey. You can boast about the versatility of a Pitino coached player (as
personified by Waltah) but these guys still lack good fundamentals even with so
much information and video crammed into their heads.

Going 1-10 on the road is a disgrace for a playoff-aspiring team. Here's a fun
fact: the NBA has just 7 teams with a losing home record and the Celtics have
already lost to three of them (Chicago, Houston, Clippers) and have yet to play
three others (Warriors, Grizzlies, Mavs). Geez, wait until we get to the meat of
our road schedule!

The Clippers game was a key for the Celts both to start a winning streak (2-game)
and break the 9-game road losing streak heading into defining matchups against
two of the top home teams in basketball (Sacramento is 10-2 and Denver is 11-3).
Instead, our players are carrying a ten-game monkey on our back with our monkey
outbreak brand of basketball.

Pitino is either guilty of information overload on his team or he is not
conveying in simple enough terms what he wants during the actual game ("defend
the perimeter, guys") and just complaining about it after the fact. Maybe Pitino
just needs a little more sleep. Most people I know are pretty useless at work if
they don't get 8 hours of Z's. Since coming to Boston, he looks like he's aged
three dog years instead of three human years.

Against the Kings, I agree we need Fortson to get serious garbage time minutes
even if he's still unfamiliar with the plays. He's the kind of guy who burns with
shame from a game like last night and will likely bounce back at least in time
for the season-series decisive game against Denver (which we BETTER not lose).

In theory, Kenny can at least play even with "white chocolate" (rare defense and
just a .366FG% but lots of flash). VP can also play even with Divac and
Pierce/Fortson could also statistically dominate at their positions to produce a
shocking win. As with the Lakers, the Sacramento team illustrates how important
one franchise 20-10 player (Chris Webber) can be. If you look at their team
roster and stats, they have a nice balance but by no means better basketball
players than our Celts or most any other NBA team.

Tuesday night, I'm hoping to see Pierce and Fort blend in better with our
full-strength squad and for Walker to challenge himself to match Webber rebound
for rebound. The timing is good for this particular showdown, because Antoine is
slowly developing back his game and confidence. Throw out the Spurs debacle (2-13
shooting) ten days ago, and AW is hitting .546 (53-97) from the field in his past
five games despite factoring in over four FG% killing  3-pointers per game
(.285). AW's also finally aggressively getting to the line (6.2 per game) and
knocking down his free throws (.774) like a solid pro. Overall, his numbers are
promising (27.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.8 apg, 3.0 to's) like a young Jamal Mashburn. :-)

I use the Jamal Mashburn analogy facetiously, because I basically totally
disagree with the list opinion that Antoine was just another stat-inflated scorer
on a lousy team two years ago. IMO there is a glaring qualitative difference
between all the flash-in-the-pan scorers on bad teams (Jim Jackson, Orlando
Woolridge, Ron Harper etc) and a guy who finished second in double-doubles in the
NBA (hence the 71 million contract). Low shot percentage scorers come and go
(while often contribute as much to losing than winning) but double-double players
who can also score are the rarest thing in the NBA. They are as rare as a
franchise center, in fact.

Conversely, you can't explain Antoine's supposedly justifiable 20+% drop in
rebounds-per-minute this season (despite playing fewer minutes) on the fact that
he now has teammates who are finally superior in talent on the boards (the 6-5
Griffen probably never averaged his current team-leading 7.8 rebounds even in the
CBA or IBL,  much less had a 20-10 season back when the Dream Teamers were still
in their prime). In fact, Antoine is playing THIS YEAR like a guy with
artificially inflated stats on a weak team (11-15). Two years ago, he was a
qualitiatively much better basketball player.

Ergo, I'll stand by my previous comment that being an "apologist" for Antoine's
play so far this year is akin to saying he was never more than an average NBA
forward talent to begin with (an average-to-below-average rebounds and FG%
percentage guy for his size and propensity to shoot a lot). Antoine could have
stepped up on the boards in Fortson's absence, but he didn't. The reason 95% of
rim-rocking 6-10+ players don't ever get to 10 rpg  is because rebounding
requires furious effort and heart (it requires a lot more wind to fight for balls
in the paint than it does to run around and shoot all day). So far this season at
least, Toine would just as soon let a 6-5 CBA rookie or whoever's starting at
shooting guard that night to do this kind of dirty work. He's got his 7-year
contract and his team-leading scoring stats.

The reason the Celtics are 11-15 is because the leading rebounder is averaging
just 7.8 per game. It's as simple as that. There's no head-scratching,
problem-solving skills involved. If you admire Antoine Walker, then you should
expect more from him, not just dwell on all the "little things" he's doing in the
process of contributing the fewest per minute steals, assists or rebounds and the
worst assist/turnover ratio he has ever had as a pro.

I'm always thinking in particular about Antoine before every game, always hoping
for him to play really well and not get the unjustified boos. I know he's going
to eventually put it all together and I hope we don't trade him even if it means
we have to keep Pitino too. :-)  But I'm NOT wasting my breath anymore making
excuses for Antoine, in case you all haven't noticed.

Larry Bird will coach the Celtics after the 2001 season and finally get his
championship. Walker and Pierce will make the 2004 Dream Team. Our Denver lottery
pick will evolve into a 60-win per season ROY point guard.

Happy holidays Celts list! For Christmas, my two-month old got plenty of Celts
toys (two outfits, a bib, a mug, a big framed photo of the opening tap of a
Celts-Lakers game from the 80's) from my sister Eko the professor, who taught
math last semester at Harvard but usually lives down south. They sell this really
great "Celtics Rookie Camp" tee-shirt for infants....too cute for words.

Go Celts!

Joe

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