Re: Celtics Past: 1994

[Dan Parker <danp@town.ipswich.ma.us>]

On Fri, 3 Sep 1999 j.hironaka@unesco.org wrote:

> That's something I thought only warped people like me were capable of. :-)

At several points, with blurry eyes and the knowledge of hindsight and
what the repercussions of the Celtics moves that summer would be, I
thought to myself, "My God!  Who else would subject themselves to
reading all of this?"

Slight pause.

"Maybe Joe."  I mean that as a compliment.  ;)

Antoine Walker
==============

Okay, I've got to respond here.  Joe, I've always appreciated your
messages about Antoine, as they've constantly made me question my position
towards him.  If it wasn't for you I'm sure I would have written him off
as a corrupt, selfish player with no hope of redemption.

Nevertheless, I have to disagree with a few things you brought up.


> Of course, people are welcome to continue debating whether our expectations of
> how acceptable black athletes are superficially supposed to behave in Boston
> (ideally "modest" and "humble" like Ron Mercer) don't ultimately affect fan
> impressions about their actual value to a team (Ron Mercer naturally "didn't
> need to be in the spotlight" even while leading the team in shot attempts and
> missed shots after the winning February without him).

Well, okay, first I'll agree with this completely.  Perhaps the uproar
over the trading of Mercer, and the general consensus that the Celtics got
the worst end of this deal is largely because of the "modest" and "humble"
demeanor of Mercer, along with his flashy talents.  I mean, from a talent
perspective, what does Mercer offer that J.R. Rider doesn't?  And wouldn't
a Rider-for-Fortson deal be praised, especally if the team getting Fortson
was in dire need of rebounding?


> no-one showed up for Mercer's last second entreaties). And if Antoine were
> accused of participating in any kind of gang rape incident, he would not get
> off as easily as Ron Mercer has in the eyes of his fans. You'd hear some "I
> told you so's" and "I knew there was something (criminal) about him" and "They
> need to set an example by following through and prosecuting him to the full
> extent of the law".

Hmm, gotta agree with this too.  There has been surprisingly little about
the whole Mercer/rape incident (wasn't there another player too?), which
is probably as it should be -- innocent until proven guilty, and all that.
You're dead on though in saying the fans and sportswriters  would not have
been so apathetic about it had it been Antoine.  Thank goodness he had
nothing to do with it -- he would have been crucified.


> what he actually says and the sound of his voice (soft, serious, answers
> questions with specifics, rarely throws out sports clichés). Then maybe ask
> yourself how patently "selfish" it is to cut your shot selection to 15.6 per
> game after February, rebuild your freethrow technique from scratch even if it
> leads to disastrous results at first (for Potapenko and half the roster as
> well), make turnovers off the dribble a rare occurance, stop getting technical
> fouls even if you feel the white refs continue to let you get clobbered, rush
> back from injury just to play in a few more meaningless games, or lead your
> team by far in rebounding every season.

The signs are there that he's not Benoit Benjamin:

* Improved free throw shooting

* Better relations with referees

* Coming back from ankle injury to play, despite games meaning nothing

On the other hand, he's shot himself in the foot a number of times:

* Despite his wide array of talents, he suffered through *way* too may
4-16 type nights.  Seems completely incapable of laying off the shooting
and concentrating on his other talents.

* The "veteran All-Star" reference.

* Okay, my memory is fuzzy here, but I think it was a game against
Washington (maybe Miami).  In a previous game against the team, the man
Antoine was guarding repeatedly beating him up the floor for baskets and
said so after the game.  In the next matchup, Antoine scored something
like 40, the Celtics lost, yet he seemed to think that was supposed to
silence his critics (he said something after the game about it, along the
lines of, "Still think he's better?")

* Terrible, terrible decisions on the fast break, turning three-on-ones
into a mad drive to the hoop where if he was lucky he drew a foul.  Then
he'd point to someone who was on the wing and smile ("I saw you, man!").
Repeat ad nauseum.

* The wiggle.  Most fans hate it.  (I remember an early game in 'Toine's
rookie season, where he made a basket, was fouled and unleashed a wiggle
right into the camera.  Mike Gorman quickly said, "You can lose that,
son."  Summed it up perfectly, I thought.)  Now, I'm not saying he
shouldn't do it -- if he insists that's just the way he plays, well, fine.
But be prepared to accept the consequences.  I can't sit in my office at
work and curse people out and expect them to like me because "that's just
the way I am."

I'm not even going to count the "out of shape" accusations, since that
seemed to snowball after the Celtics started losing.  Nobody was
complaining about it at the beginning of the lockout-shortened season, but
now it's generally accepted he was (15, 20, 30, take your pick) pounds
overweight.


> streak (Fort and Battleship). My point is that Antoine is a freak. He can
> actually eventually average 6 assists and 10+ rebounds over 82 games,
> something only one NBA forward, guard or center per every decade or so (a
> championship player, in other words) has the innate talent to do.

At what point do you decide that's never going to happen?  How many
coaches thought they could coax a better performance out of Benoit
Benjamin?  In my mind, this is the year.  I wish him the very best.  But
if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to be upset if the C's look for
offers.


> Basically, it's hard not to conclude that
> Boston fans tend to feel uncomfortable around (or rooting for) "those kinds of
> black people". We should get whatever we deserve.

Close.  I'm uncomfortable rooting for "those kinds of people".  No color
is necessary.  Try and picture Larry Bird getting the ball in the post,
showing a head fake, getting the defender in the air, drawing the foul,
making the shot, then turning to his posse in section 8 and grinding his
hips towards them (the Bird Boogie?).  My entire body recoils in horror at
the thought of it.

Why does Celtics Nation despise Jon Barry?  Because the uppity little punk
wouldn't sign with the Celtics after being drafted.

No?

Dan