Peter May: Anderson Awful; Walker The Other Problem

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                                NBA NOTES
                                This steal sets up big Laker score

                                Credit Hornets with another LA assist

                                By Peter May, Globe Staff, 03/14/99

                                <snip>

                          

                               
                                Good, but not enough

                                As for the Celtics, there really is no
                                downside to the Potapenko deal, other than
                                it gives Falk another client on the team
                                (joining Antoine Walker, Kenny Anderson ,
                                Walter McCarty , and, in brotherhood, Rick
                                Pitino). Unless you are worried about
                                losing the fourth, fifth, or sixth pick in
                                what now looks to be an irretrievably weak
                                draft, then it's a no-brainer. (Right now,
                                the first three picks could be Lamar Odom,
                                Elton Brand , and Steve Francis.)
                                Potapenko gives Pitino what he did not
                                have, a sturdy fellow in the post. The
                                Celtics did not have to part with one of
                                their three young guns to do the deal. The
                                cynic in all of us wonders why Cleveland
                                would do the deal with Ilgauskas's health
                                concerns, but the monetary issue was
                                paramount. However, after watching the
                                Celtics stumble around the conference this
                                past week, it's obvious there are bigger
                                concerns than just having a full slab in
                                the paint. Anderson has been awful;
                                there's no polite way to phrase it and he
                                is the first one to admit it. He isn't
                                getting the ball up the floor quickly
                                enough - that was always a problem with
                                Chauncey Billups, too - he's having
                                trouble in the halfcourt, and his shooting
                                has been abysmal. He is the engineer on
                                offense and he simply hasn't been getting
                                the train on the right track. We all
                                wondered whether Anderson could master the
                                Pitino system, and Pitino was confident
                                Anderson could, saying the system would
                                make Anderson one of the top point guards
                                in the league. Right now, Anderson is the
                                sixth-best point guard in the seven-team
                                Atlantic Division. One thing we thought we
                                wouldn't have to worry about was scoring.
                                Add that concern to an already suspect
                                defense, and you can understand why Pitino
                                has all but a stamp on this season ... The
                                other problem is Walker. Is he any better
                                now than he was last year? Or even two
                                years ago? In the last two games, he's
                                played 71 minutes, taken 41 shots, turned
                                it over nine times, and has one assist. He
                                is an undeniable talent, but he's also
                                doing many of the same, stupid things that
                                drive us crazy. Chuck Person may not be
                                the most reliable witness on the subject
                                of ''touches,'' but he was adamant about
                                Walker's too-dominating role in the
                                offense, at the expense of others. ''This
                                is a difficult, young team to coach,''
                                Pitino said. By now, however, we should be
                                seeing some progress, and it's hard to
                                find any other than the potential of
                                Pierce and Ron Mercer's occasional
                                outbursts. Yes, the Celtics could be
                                better next year because they'll have a
                                full training camp and be in better shape.
                                But so will everyone else. With the
                                trading of Andrew DeClercq, there is only
                                one Pitino-signed free agent ( Bruce
                                Bowen) still on the team. Gone are Chris
                                Mills, Tyus Edney , Tony Massenburg ,
                                Travis Knight , and now DeClercq, not to
                                mention Eric Williams, Billups, Roy
                                Rogers, and John Thomas... <snip>
                                This story ran on page E06 of the Boston
                                Globe on 03/14/99.
                                © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.