Boston Herald: Walker takes control

[opi@unesco.org]

Although Antoine has so far failed to put the whole package together,
he's demonstrated improvement in the one area many of us thought would
be his permanent flaw (shooting and free throw percentage). I don't know
if he's ever shot 16-25 (64%) over consecutive games in his life!! :-)
Remember he's still a few months younger than Bird was as a rookie (I
think Bird was 24), so there is still reason for a ton of hope.

He'll need to improve his rebounding if he wants to defend his place on
the All Star roster. There are far too many good young forwards at the
7-9 rebound level (Shareef out West for example).

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Walker takes control
by Mark Cofman (copyright Boston Herald)
Thursday, November 4, 1999

It wasn't anything like the standing ovation Bill Russell received
before the game. It didn't come close to the thunderous cheers Red
Auerbach heard during halftime ceremonies.

But the ovation Antoine Walker received from the FleetCenter crowd
before the Celtics' 112-101 home-opening victory over Washington last
night was a good start.

During pregame introductions last season, Walker heard his share of
boos.

 ``I think everybody was just tired of losing,'' Walker said after
collecting 19 points and seven rebounds in the Celtics' second  straight
win to open the season. ``We struggled here at home last year, and it
got to the point where we didn't really have a homecourt edge anymore.

``It's tough enough playing on the road in this league. It was important
for us to try to re-establish a homecourt edge this season.''

More performances like last night will help do the trick. The Celtics
played selflessly for the second straight game. Walker's performance, in
which he took just 12 shots, was symbolic of that play. For the second
straight game, he allowed the offense to come to him. He forced nothing.

 ``I'm very excited about the way Antoine is playing,'' said Celtics
coach Rick Pitino, who often found himself in the difficult position of
defending Walker's play last season. ``You can totally see it, that he's
thinking pass before shot.

``When he thinks pass before shot - and he has the ability to do it well
- at 6-foot-9 he'll get people shots that a (set) offense can't because
a (set) offense can be dissected and broken down. But a spontaneous play
where a great player gets a shot for someone else can't be scouted and
can't be stopped.''

Walker will be difficult to stop if he continues to play along these
lines. He was 9-for-13 in the season-opening victory at Toronto on
Tuesday night, finishing with 22 points, eight rebounds and three
assists. Again, his shot selection was impeccable.

``I have to keep playing like this and we have to keep playing like
this,'' said Walker. ``If we do that, this is going to be a very
enjoyable year for everybody here, including the fans.

``We need our fans. We believe in ourselves and what we can accomplish
this season, but we want to make believers out of them too. Hopefully,
this was a start.''