RE: Keep the team intact! (And stop bashing Antoine)

["John Lyell" <Jlyell@concentric.net>]

I have to disagree with the majority on this one. We have been saying this
"Good young nucleus" for the last 3 years with Williams, AW, & Mercer,
Knight, Battie,  & Williams again. I do like the fact that Pitino is not
afraid to pull the trigger to at least try to improve.

As long as Tim Duncan is around and we have Antoine, it ain't going to
happen. It is true don't break it up except for a proven commodity, but at
least make a attempt at a Steve Smith or Grant Hill. Hill is definitely a
Celtic type player,and he is better suited for the 3 than AW and has much
better character, and a proven commodity. He and Pierce would be an awesome
tandem.
Battie and VP can't seem to play consistently either.

I agree with Jim, AW has been in the league for 3 years, and makes what $9M
a year ?  Quit babying him. He gets paid to perform every night not one out
of three.  How old is Kevin Garnett and look how dominant he has become.

San Antonio, Minnesota, L.A. and Portland are the young teams we will need
to be able to match up with.

I agree we do not want to give anyone away for nothing, but teams like the
Lakers & Portland with much better records than the C's, don't sit around
saying , well we were almost there, and " we have a good young nucleus" . If
you do not try to make the moves to build a better team, we will be settling
for mediocrity. Tonight against San Antonio was a good example. We play good
against Indiana, then the next  are significantly outplayed in all areas by
the Spurs.









-----Original Message-----
From: owner-celtics@igtc.com [mailto:owner-celtics@igtc.com]On Behalf Of
Jim McMaster
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 1999 8:59 AM
To: Celtics Email List
Subject: Re: Keep the team intact! (And stop bashing Antoine)


In message <199911230615.WAA29902@harrier.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, "David"
said
:
> I keep reading about possible trades or trades that certain
> members would like to see; however, I believe that this team has a
> very good nucleus. Barring a  trade for a bona-fide all star, Pitino
> should leave the nucleus intact.
>
I agree completely.  I rarely get to see the Celtics play (just against
Chicago, so far), but they seem to have a good nucleus on which to build.
Trades at this point would be counter-productive.  People complain about
Pitino's constant roster turnover, then propose trading seven of the twelve
players after ten games.  This would be insane.

> I know that there's a lot of 'Toine bashing going on, but just
> remember that he is only 23 years old. Of course he makes
> mistakes, but he has shown a willingness to adapt to what Pitino
> wants him to do. His ego is large enough for him to assert himself
> (a quality shared by all stars), but not too large to prevent him from
> sharing the spotlight with others. To me, he is playing better than
> when he made the all star team. Like I said, he will make
> mistakes, but just think how good he is going to be in a couple of
> years!
>
I have watched Walker in a half-dozen games, so my sample size is
inadequate,
but I have *never* seen him play a good game.  I am willing to accept the
reports of his "awesome" talents from members of the list, but have yet to
see them in action.  All I ever see are dumb shots and an attitude.

Yes, Walker is "only 23", but he has also played in the NBA for three full
seasons now.  At some point, he has to actually grow up and start learning
to
play the game properly.  If he does not, the Celtics are doomed.  I believe
his becoming a "veteran all-star" was the worst thing that could have
happened to Walker's career.  It convinced him scoring is the way to
succeed,
and has actually killed his desire to rebound and pass the ball.

Given that, there is no way to trade him for anywhere near equal talent.  If
he can harness his game and learn to play more like Bird than like Marbury,
the Celtics should win a championship or two.  If he does not, they are
capped out for a very long time and will not succeed.
--
Jim McMaster
mailto:mcmaster@sweng.stortek.com
Go Celtics!