re:Antoine

[opi@unesco.org]

Pitino says Antoinette needs to practice shooting. He's fallen to .422
for the season, .654 from the line. Pretty much a typical Antoine year,
minus any dedication for rebounding.

----
Missing in action: Walker finds seat, not range
Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett

Thursday, November 25, 1999

The issue with Antoine Walker has changed from bad shots to simply  bad
shooting. After watching him make just 5-of-21 shots (0-4 treys)  in
last night's loss to the Spurs, Rick Pitino suggested a heavier practice
regimen.

 ``Believe it or not, (Tim) Duncan made tougher shots than Antoine  had
- the bank shots with a hand up,'' Pitino said (Duncan made 12-of-17
shots on the way to 31 points). ``I mean, (Walker) had 10 wide open
shots. So the answer is go out and practice for three  hours until you
make those shots, or don't take them. It's one or the other. That's
what's got to come.

``If you're going to keep on taking them, go out and practice for 10
hours a day until your shot falls,'' Pitino continued. ``If not, be a
different part of it. I had no problem with his shots - at all. They're
just not going in.

 ``Like Bill Russell said, `He's not going to stop shooting.' And you
can't take your star and bench him, because you're not going to get
anything out of that either. There's only one answer. You've got to
practice, practice, practice. That's all you have to do. It's the only
answer I've ever known in my life. Repetition's the key to success.''

For the second straight game, Walker sat on the bench for the entire
fourth quarter (and the last 3:02 of the third period, as well).

Walker had 15 points in 25 minutes against the Spurs. In the last two
games, he's made 10-of-35 shots (29 percent).

 ``Shots didn't fall,'' he said of his latest performance. ``I got
great  looks at the basket. Hopefully I get those same looks every
night.

 ``That don't bother me,'' he added of the misses. ``That's  basketball.
It's a long season. That's what I live for. I'm going to take  shots. If
they don't fall, they don't fall. There's just days like that.  That
doesn't bother me.

 ``If I can get the same shots against Milwaukee and Atlanta, I'm going
to go to try to make them. I don't go to miss shots. I go to  make them
every night. If they're there, they're there.''