celts update

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

The Prodigal Son

Attention turned last week to Antoine Walker; actually, attention
had never left him.  Either as trade bait or as the team's presumptive
mvp, no conversation about the Celtics could begin or end with discussion
of our mercurial star's conditioning, maturity, decision-making, or
attitude.
All four of these issues came to light in Boston last week.  On the 25th,
Boston Globe writer Michael Holley submitted an aggressively pro-Walker
puff piece (see below) which enraged Celtic Nation.  Not only was Walker
not following the team's conditioning regimen, but he seemed to bristle at
even the thought of taking direction from his employer.  Nor was this all.
Employee number 8 is clearly looking out for number one.  Egged on by
the sycophantic Holley, Walker said that he was vexed by the team's 
discussing him in trade talks, and that he felt Pitino should call him to 
explain.  He would not call Pitino; the team's coach and president should
call
him.  (Douglas MacArthur expressed similar sentiments to President Truman
prior to their disastrous Wake Island summit.)  I read all this in the Globe
on
the web, which didn't have a picture; the printed Globe, apparently, was
even
more disturbing, showing a mugshot of a pudgy Antoine, who many readers
likened 
to Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Theo from TV's "The Cosby Show."

Good omen for our make or break season, no?

The Antoine controversy was compounded the next day when Wiggles
appeared on WEEI's "big show," and sounded off on a number of issues. 
Parsed any number of ways, Twon's remarks indicated that, whatever else
his virtues might be, he still had not grasped, even after all the boos and 
losses, the necessity of his working on his body and his game.  Even
Holley, who routinely plays Joe C. to Walker's Kid Rock, admitted that he
wasn't in game shape, and "looked like a guy who needs to go through 
training camp."  (this from a personal email.)

Naturally, the near-universal sentiment on the various listservs and
bulletin
boards, to say nothing of South Boston barbershops, was to trade Antoine
for a bag of Funyons as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, the Celtics have
always been hamstrung in that, unlike such disposable pieces as travis
knight, chris mills, or Danny Fortson, Walker is one of their two most
valuable
pieces of real estate.  They can't trade him without getting a prime time
scorer/ 
star in return, and BYC complications make that difficult.  (How many teams
have 
a player of Walker's caliber who is paid less than 7.5 million and also have

space for all ten million dollars of him?)

Personally, I don't know what to think.  On the one hand, Antoine requires a

double team at all times, and when he sets his mind to it can run a
devastating 
offense with his passing, scoring and rebounding.  On the other
hand, having watched him for four years, I don't think he is a go-to
first-option
scorer.  You never really feel confident that his shot will go in; if it
does, it is
often flipped a few mils beyond the reach of a defender's hand.  No one
likes
to take shots in the closing seconds of a ball game more than Antoine; but
it is hard to think of someone who has made less.  Even Antoine's finest 
moment in a celtic uniform, his defensive stand against tim
hardaway/offbalance
three vs. PJ Brown last year, was essentially a lucky shot.  Pierce may have

a more limited game than Twon, but he is the guy I want with the ball.
Therefore, 
I don't think it's necessary to look for a prime time scorer to replace
Antoine; 
even if you aren't getting value for him, it might make sense
to trade him for a lesser player who, as The Rock says, "knows his role."
Of course, next year, Twon will no longer be a BYC player and we can get
real value for him; but who wants to wait until then?  We could all be dead
by then; or in a position to draft Eddy Curry.  Time will tell with Twon; in
the 
meantime, time is moving by very, very, slowly.

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass