Walker Accepts Blame, Pitino Wants Him To Pass The Ball

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

As Bulpett says, Walker has been forcing his play down the
stretch and taking the C's out of their ball movement, actually
it's been more like an bowel movement...


                  Boston Herald
                                                    
                  For Walker, fault lies in the star          
                  by Steve Bulpett    
                     
                  Saturday, March 20, 1999

                  NEW YORK - You may call Antoine Walker immature. You may
                  say he often exercises poor judgment. But never compare
                  the Celtic captain to the NBA Generation X
                  I've-got-mine-and-I-don't-care guys.

                  Walker knows that he's messed up in the last quarter of
                  the Celts' last three road games and helped turn them into
                  losses.

                  He was 0-for-4 from the floor with turnovers against
                  Detroit, then suffered a critical blocked shot with the
                  C's down two with less than a minute to go in Indiana.
                  Thursday in Milwaukee, he was a non-factor in the crunch
                  with no points in the game's last 9:55.

                  In all cases, Walker has been forcing his play and, thus,
                  has taken the Celtics out of their ball-movement game. And
                  he's not happy.

                 ``It's all of us, but I accept most of the blame,'' Walker
                  said after yesterday's practice for today's tilt with the
                  Knicks (1 p.m., Ch. 68). ``It's my job to step up and
                  deliver in the fourth quarter and I haven't done it in the
                  last three games.

                  ``Some day I've got to understand, especially on the road,
                  stepping up and being the leader of this team. I have to
                  do the right things, and I haven't got the job done the
                  last three games, so I've got to look at myself in the
                  mirror.

                  ``You know, the team goes as I go. That's the way I feel.
                  And I feel like I haven't given us anything in the last
                  three games on the road, so until I start giving us
                  something and making my free throws (he was 3-for-8 in
                  Milwaukee), we're going to continue to struggle.''
                  Walker may be focusing too much on scoring. He is clearly
                  letting the rest of his talent sit idle while he tries to
                  simply bull past his man.

                  ``The best part about 'Toine's game is his passing, and he
                  doesn't utilize it enough,'' said Celtics coach Rick
                  Pitino. ``If you can draw the attention of the defense and
                  get your teammates good shots, that's how our team would
                  really benefit.''

                  Walker acknowledged that there's more to the equation than
                  just hitting hoops.

                  ``I've got to deliver somehow, whether it's making a big
                  defensive play, rebounding or scoring,'' he said. ``Right
                  now I'm just not happy with my consistency. I'm not being
                  consistent with helping this team win night in and night
                  out and that bothers me. That's just something personal.

                  ``I mean, I care about my game a lot. I know I can't do it
                  by myself, and I never tried to proclaim that I could do
                  it by myself. I try to always keep a level head and know
                  that it's a team game. I know every night is not going to
                  be a perfect night for me, but we have to win games.

                  ``You try to figure out what the problem is and you want
                  to erase it. I want to be a clutch player, and I look at
                  myself as being that. And I want my teammates to feel like
                  they can feel comfortable coming to me down the stretch.''