a q on Heinsohn and an FYI - D'Alessandro on Walker

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

I don't mean this observation as an endorsement of the article (I think
that if one is going to assess blame then the lion's share has to go to the
top - it seems to me that D'Alessandro has the cart before the horse with
his "poor RP" schtick), but last night was NOT one of Twon's better efforts
recently. 

I don't know why - the all-star snub (Dale Davis??), the trade rumors - but
in watching last night's game I was sure I was watching the Twon of a year
ago, not the Twon of this year. He was a ball-hoggedy black hole on
offense, sometimes tossing up shots against double or triple teams,
particularly by the end of the game.  I thought he had at least 30 shot
attempts before I saw the stats. The numbers are revealing in this case: 27
shots - 1 asst; 11 for 27 (and that's including the 2-4 on 3pts); taking
nearly 1 out of every 3 shots available to the ENTIRE TEAM!

I'm NOT suggesting he lost us the game - being forced to play 5 on 8 is
what GAVE the Pacers the win - but again, it was not one of Twon's better
efforts.

OK, my question about Tommy Gun: for those of you were able to truly
appreciate the job he did coaching us to championships ( I was too young to
appreciate it in any way other than the simple "go-team" sentiments
appropriate to a pre-teen), did he play favorites with his players then the
way he does now? 

For example, Twon and Waltah can NEVER do wrong, but Pierce and Kenny are
lucky if a game passes and they are not branded selfish slackers (I still
can't forget earlier this year in reference to Pierce when Tommy said "he
has to do some soul-searching"?!? and "it better not all be about
stats"?!?). I can understand that he may want to counter-act some of the
truly mindless venom from the Peter Mays in the world, but he is only
succeeding in alienating people like myself (or my wife) who actually like
Twon but can't stand Heinsohn's and Smithers' transparently one-sided
favoritism. Would Heinsohn the coach have tolerated the ridiculous behavior
exhibited by Twon when Pitino tired to sub him out at the 8 min mark of the
4th with his 5th foul (he delayed the game by refusing to leave the floor
while spewing at the refs)? Did Heinsohn play favorites like this as a
coach, or is it a result of being an older/crankier announcer?


>>Antoine's antics take steam out of Celtics' engine 
By Dave D'Alessandro - The Sporting News 

We've seen the best of Antoine Walker and the worst of Antoine Walker. And
I suspect the canyon-sized variance between the two is the primary reason
the Celtics still are the little team that could. But won't. 
We've seen Walker go 5-for-21 against Tim Duncan one week and torch Karl
Malone for 36 points the next. We've seen Walker take apart Shawn Kemp for
32 one night and shoot 6-for-22 at New York two nights later, busting his
team's comeback with a technical foul. 
We've seen him in times when he shows all the gifts of a special player who
can finish with a flair and make plays in the post. We've also seen him
when he is the proverbial black hole, getting blocked four times in a
single possession against the Clippers. We've seen nights when he looks as
if he gets it and other nights when he has far greater interest in
trash-talking and ref-baiting than in making defensive transitions. 
Haven't we seen enough? It is my obligation to be critical, but it is hard
in this case because it is a chore for any critic to learn how to sleep
undetected at one of Walker's performances. They've become almost too
boring, too predictable in their unpredictability. He'll wow you one night,
break his team's heart the next. So I'll stop now and leave the rest to Tim
Hardaway. 
Yes, Tim Hardaway. He was asked by a group of reporters about Walker last
week, and he dropped all those bombs the writers themselves are tired of
dropping. Nothing perceptive, mind you -- just all the stuff that even
Walker's teammates always have thought but never got around to saying. 
"He's not mature yet," Hardaway says of his fellow Chicagoan. "He's a
great, great athlete. He has all the skills you can put in a player. But
his attitude is (messed) up. That's how some players are. 
"Someone asked me why he's the least-liked player in the NBA. It's because
he has a (messed)-up attitude. You've got to change your attitude to win
games, and he hasn't done that." 
Again, no great revelation. Everyone knows Walker is a selfish player, that
his stats are inflated because he's one of those star-in-his-own-mind types
whose entire self-esteem is based on big numbers and style points. The refs
hate him as much as they hate the IRS. He consternates his teammates with
his inconsistency. And management, long past its tolerance threshold, has
been trying to trade him for two years running. 
Yes, he is a great talent. But Hardaway explains why it is so hard to
reconcile the talent with the rest of the package, why it is hard to
separate the salesman from the product. 
"I like Antoine. He's not a bad guy," Hardaway says. "He's just an
(expletive). I know it, and he knows it. Once he gets over being an
(expletive), he'll be fine. Maybe hearing me say this will open his
eyeballs." 
After four years, it's not likely. Walker has never been one to actually
heed the advice of anyone else -- just watch him ignore Rick Pitino when
the coach tries to stop him from disputing a call -- and his impulsive
tendencies and self-indulgence are the biggest reasons the Celtics are
fading right now. 
Shame about that. There was a time, not long ago, when we all thought
Pitino was onto something -- a style that was such a dramatic departure
from what everyone else was doing, he would eventually turn the league on
its collective ear. No one else did what he did, except for Hubie Brown
during his Atlanta years, when he unleashed a wire-to-wire trapping style
for 48 minutes and gave his players a perpetual green light from downtown. 
Pitino had great success with this in New York, and he could have won a
title had he stuck it out there. He could have won it in his second year,
in fact, had the Knicks not run into the one player -- fella by the name of
Jordan -- who could get in the middle of their pressure and tear it apart
from within during the second round in 1988-89. (Folks tend to forget the
Knicks swept four games from the eventual-champion Pistons during the
season). 
Pitino moved on to Kentucky, but you know he had unfinished business on
this level. Now that he's in his third year, a large part of me wanted to
see the Celtics turn the corner, if only because I was tired of having
sounded so delusional when I had predicted he was onto something. 
It hasn't happened. It may never happen. One reason is, Pitino can't part
with Walker for a reasonable return -- he's a base-year comp player -- and
another reason is we have no idea what Pitino regards as the truth about
Mr. Walker anymore. One week, Pitino thinks he's the best forward in the
game. The next, Pitino sees him for what he is -- a player who cannot fuse
the mental commitment with the physical talent to be the star he should be.

I'm not saying the Celtics should have been an extension of their '60s
dynasty by now, or even a robust subsidiary of Russell & Co. They have been
hit as hard by injuries as anyone, with Danny Fortson (their best
rebounder) missing two months, Paul Pierce (their best player) missing one
and Adrian Griffin (their most versatile player) going into his third week
on the injured list. 
But they could have taken a significant step in a mediocre conference by
now, or at least shown some signs of maturity. We're still waiting. Make no
mistake, this is a very solid team at FleetCenter (though it's not
surprising) fans seem to hate Walker there. And perhaps he will never be
greeted with wild and untrammeled affection at Fleet, even if the Celtics
were 16-6 at home coming out of last weekend. 
That's because Boston fans are smarter than most, and they know this is an
unwatchable team (4-17) when it leaves town. They know the Celtics show
none of the mental toughness, none of the maturity and none of the
leadership they need to win on the road. They know their inconsistent power
forward, the one making $71 million, is a primary reason the team may never
break through. 
They've seen the best of Antoine Walker and the worst of Antoine Walker.
They've seen enough. 
When will the Celtics?<< 
http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/dave_dalessandro/20000201.html