Antoine (was Sportsline)

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

I actually think Antoine is playing very well this
season.  I hate statistics and I think they are almost
always misleading.  Kenny Anderson is averaging
something like 4 assists a game.  Does that mean he
isn't playing well?  I agree that Antoine could be
bring down a few more rebounds, but I prefer him
playing the way he is now then going out and getting a
20-10 every night and being a head case.  It's not
like we are getting killed on the boards anyway.  and
remember, a lot of Antoine's rebounds in the past came
from him grabbing his own misses.

--- opi@unesco.org wrote:
> > > I don't buy that Sportsline guy's article about
> Saturday's game being proof
> > > that the Miami Heat and the Celtics being worlds
> apart.  Yes, Miami is more
> > > poised and experienced, and will do better than
> the Celtics this season, and
> > > might even win a championship, while the Celtics
> are not ready for a
> > > championship this year.  But they're not worlds
> apart, either, and the
> > > Celtics record is no fluke.
> > [cut]
> 
>     I do agree it is largely a matter of team
> experience, certainly not that Zo,
> Tim, PJ and Mash are forever better or even smarter
> basketball players than the
> guys we are building with. Mashburn is the only one
> of those four under 29 years
> old, and most importantly they've been together
> generally twice as long as a unit
> compared to the individual Celtics players.
> 
>     This is an example of a writer who starts his
> analysis with a stubborn
> conclusion (which goes: "Walker is the definition of
> selfishness, hey even the
> Boston writers say so") and forces it into the
> picture as evidence of why the
> Celts lost the game, even if it doesn't match the
> particular circumstances.
> 
>     I don't think Walker lost us the Miami game
> (nor, bless his heart, do I think
> he believes for a second that we could lose the next
> rematch), but I do think this
> year is shaping up as his worst as a pro. As I've
> been saying like a broken
> record, "Antoinette" is now fourth on his team in
> rebounding (6.8) and seems like
> he couldn't care less. He's also fourth in assists
> at a career low 2.5, yet first
> in turnovers at 3.0. His field goal shooting is at
> what I regard to be the
> "Mendoza line" for a big forward (45%). And while
> Potapenko has thus far
> maintained his free throw form (.739%), Walker has
> slipped dramatically (.659)
> after a good start and really needs to climb back up
> again.
> 
>     I might add, though, that the "old school"
> Griffin and Pierce are actually the
> team's worst (.657) and third worst (.729) free
> throw shooters respectively, on
> what amounts to a pretty good free throw shooting
> team for a bunch of youngsters
> (ranked #10 in the NBA) thanks I suppose to the shot
> doctor, Andy Enfield.
> 
>     Also, I do think it's theoretically possible
> that Walker is not THAT far from
> putting together the two thus far incongruent pieces
> of the puzzle (playing under
> control while playing hyper-productively at the same
> time). This might still take
> a few years, and so obviously I'm glad he only just
> turned 23 this August. In
> fact, he's actually younger than '97 draftees
> Battie, Fortson or Mercer. I can't
> help believing that Walker will be a much better
> playoff force than Sacramento's
> Chris Webber, because of his heart and the wide
> range of skills he has
> demonstrated. But there isn't a single aspect of
> Walker's game that you can really
> point to as a finished product.
> 
> Joe
> 
> ****
> 
> 
> 

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