Re: Globe/Herald: Walker Not Yet Ready For Small Forward; C's Still Like Cheaney; Battie Injured

[opi@unesco.org]

It was probably just a psyche job, like Parcells does once in awhile as
a con. As far as I could gather, the Herald made no mention of the
curtailed/cancelled practice.

If there is a problem with Walker not being ready at the "3", I assume
it is on the defensive end stopping Eric Williams/McCarty in practice or
his general free-lancing problems of concentration. Facing the basket
from 20 feet out, Toine would seem far better suited than all our other
small forwards(esp McCarty and Williams) simply because he's a better
passer and rebounder.

The troubling thing about Walker is that he sometimes seems like the
kind of player who performs the most explosively and intuitively (and
erratically) whenever he flips the "off" switch on his brain and plays
with reckless abandon. Last February, he blamed his slow start on
thinking too much and trying not to make mistakes. Whether or not this
was a valid excuse (as opposed to poor conditioning) is impossible to
know.

I'd like to think Toine will eventually turn into a smarter version of
himself, with the same still awesome tools. I'd also like to think his
shot percentage/selection problems are correctable. To put it another
way, he merely has to eliminate one ill-advised shot per game (we all
have our own favorite bad Antoine shots) to become an instant 45%
shooter.

I know with total confidence that Walker is a far smarter kid than he
might seem on the court (he seems knowledgeable in his interviews for
one thing). But Toine does have some Jekyl & Hyde in him. He's
mild-mannered Clark Kent off the court, but when he's playing in his
zone he gets a glazed look in his eyes like he's lost in his own world
out there throwing his wiggles and mad tantrums involuntarily. His keen
ability to block things out (including fear of failure or even a general
hint of self-consciousness) might be what makes him such a confident and
thus far almost spectacularly successful clutch performer, not to
mention an ideal (if less successful) pupil in the face of Pitino's
steady harangues and nagging (of which he is not spared).

Take Toine away from his single-minded aggression (and mistakes) and
maybe he's just another player. In other words, maybe we'll never
successfully break in this 24-year-old "mustang" and see him blossom
into an unbeatable thoroughbred. Maybe we'll just end up stuck with a
jackass in our corral. :-)  Still I have invested a ton of hope in
Antoine. If the goal is to actually win championships, then I think any
realistic fan knows how important a potentially mature Antoine is
compared to any single player we could possibly get by trading him. Of
all Toine's young and presently superior rivals (McDyess, Webber,
Shareef etc.), none of them can thread a pass or go downtown on you
enough to look like a "black Larry Bird". And none of them can rebound
as consistently as he did during the last full NBA season on record (#2
overall in double-doubles).

Joe

***
Josh Ozersky wrote:

> So I guess this answers the question about where the
> team plans on playing Antoine.  They want to put him
> in at 3, but he's not ready YET.  I wonder why not?
> Maybe they feel he needs to be more in shape?  Also,
> does anybody wonder about why Pitino was pissed off at
> yesterday's practice?  (see below).  I wonder if he
> was mad at Kenny for not advancing the ball, or
> Antoine for shooting too much.  I would really love to
> see a really good game from either of these guys
> tonight.  I wonder why Twon is doing so much posting
> up?  Even as a 4, he should still be doing a lot of
> his perimeter/penetration stuff, particularly his
> spin/teardrop move from last year.   I hate those
> little weak hooks he takes.  I never even liked them
> when Kevin took them, although they usually went in.
> The refs might give him a break now and again when he
> takes it inside, too.