Sporting News - Walker next scoring champ?

["Geoff Carr" <boston@eolas-net.ne.jp>]

Could Walker be
           next scoring
           champ?
           JANUARY 28, 1999 

           WALTHAM, Mass. -- Now that
           Michael Jordan is gone, somebody
           has to lead the NBA in scoring. 

           Why not Antoine Walker? 

           "Me?" he said. "I don't know. It's
           hard to say because you never know
           what your role's going to be on this
           team. We've got a lot of guys who can
           score." 

           None of the other Boston Celtics has
           done it as well as Walker. 

           He was 31st in the NBA in scoring
           with a 17.5 point average as a rookie,
           then jumped to fifth last season at
           22.4. Jordan won the scoring title in
           the last 10 years he played in the
           NBA, interrupted only by a stint in
           minorleague baseball. 

           His retirement leaves the race wide
           open. In addition to Jordan, only
           Shaquille O'Neal, Karl Malone and
           Mitch Richmond outscored Walker
           last season. And now the Celtics have
           added shooting coach Andy Enfield
           to help Walker, a 64 percent
           free-throw shooter, and his
           teammates. 

           "I want to get better at free throws if I
           plan on having the ball late in the
           game when you get fouled," Walker
           said. "That's not something that I'm
           overly concerned about because I
           know I'm capable of doing that with a
           little concentration, a little work." 

           Last season, the 6-foot-9 Walker
           averaged 20.8 shots per game but hit
           only 42.3 percent of them. Still, he
           led the team in scoring in 55 games.
           Rookie Ron Mercer was second,
           leading 14 times. 

           But Mercer should improve on his
           15.3-point average, and rookie Paul
           Pierce provides added offensive
           punch. And point guard Kenny
           Anderson, limited by injury to 16
           games last season with Boston after
           being traded by Toronto, is adept at
           distributing the ball to the open man. 

           "He's trying to get everyone
           involved," guard Dana Barros said of
           Anderson. "I think if Antoine was on
           a team that didn't have as much
           scoring and wasn't playing the type of
           style that we were, maybe he could
           lead the league. But I don't think he
           will now." 

           Pierce, the highly-touted rookie from
           Kansas, already is impressed with
           Walker. 

           "He can lead this league in almost
           every offensive category," Pierce
           said. "He's that good a talent." 

           Walker tied for seventh in the NBA
           last season with 10.2 rebounds per
           game. For the Celtics, he was first in
           steals and second in assists and
           blocks. 

           The Celtics prefer a running style that
           should improve now that they have
           Anderson for a full season. That
           means they're not likely to call a lot
           of plays for Walker or isolate him on
           a defender. 

           It's fine with general manager Chris
           Wallace if Walker doesn't replace
           Jordan as the NBA's leading scorer,
           but he wouldn't mind if Walker
           emulated other parts of Jordan's
           game. 

           "He has that capability" to be the top
           scorer, Wallace said. "I think we
           would prefer to have an Antoine
           Walker that's ranked very high in a
           number of statistical categories . . .
           and we're winning. We're more
           concerned about that than leading the
           league in scoring." 

           That philosophy has worked for the
           Celtics throughout their glorious
           history. No team has won more than
           their 16 NBA titles. Yet they've never
           had a league scoring leader. Not Bob
           Cousy. Not Bill Russell. Not John
           Havlicek. Not Larry Bird. 

           And maybe not Walker even if Jordan
           no longer has a lock on the title. 

           "I hate to prejudge my statistics right
           now," Walker said. "If the
           opportunity is there for me to score, I
           think I can score with the best of
           them. But I think my job this year and
           from now on with the Celtics is to fit
           in wherever I can."