Re: D'Alessandro

[opi@unesco.org]

I also regard the D'Alessandro article to be a zero research cut&paste job,
with only one quotable source (Hardaway) backing up his assumptions. It's a
shame we couldn't get away with that stuff on high school and college papers.
In fairness, D'Alessandro is a big Pitino fan who went out on a limb saying
he'd succeed so he's just trying to stay consistent rather than flip flop and
bash a fellow Italo-American.

Ergo the Celts' league worst defense in terms of FG% allowed is not a
contributing reason for our team being 5-games under .500. Rather, it is
principally because we are saddled with a selfish, stats-inflated player whom
we are desperate to unload because he'll never contribute to a winning
program.

D'Alessandro's timing is way off in making the "Antoine is an uncoachable
jerk" assumption a nationally publicized concern. If he looked at Antoine's
last six weeks of play, he'd see a very different player from the guy  he
chooses to scapegoat based on how he disappointed us in the Spurs game eons
ago (over 4 assists, finally over 8 rebounds again, and frankly a
surprisingly consistent minimum 8 field goals or so from game to game).

In the end, articles of this sort are a net positive for the Celtics, to the
degree that they help make Antoine even MORE prematurely untradable until the
day he hopefully develops into a solid play-making power forward or great
rebounding point forward (take your pick). On the other hand, this article
really helps firm up the resolve of people who go to games to boo Walker and
cheer for Jason Williams. Boston fans love to be told how intelligent they
are.

*****

Alex Wang wrote:

> Dave D'Alessandro's article strikes me as something he wrote without
> actually talking to anyone. Then he writes about what other people are
> supposedly thinking in a factual manner that would only be possible if
> he was an accomplished psychic.
>
> For instance, he writes: "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." Does anyone believe that Pitino is calling him from
> week to week and telling him this? What Pitino has actually said is that
> Walker has the POTENTIAL to be one of the best forwards in the game,
> IF he gets disciplined, and he has been absolutely consistent about that.
> Big difference from flip-flopping from week to week.
>
> Under the link to the article, it claims that Antoine's "sideshow" is
> wearing thin with teammates. Where did that come from?! In the actual
> article, he writes, "He consternates his teammates with his
> inconsistency." He somehow "knows" that how all of Walker's teammates
> think the same things that Tim Hardaway do, that Antoine is an
> (expletive). Now if someone from the Celtics had actually said something
> to him, no doubt he would have gleefully written, "An unnamed Celtic
> criticized Antoine..." because it would further his point and actually
> be true. But as it is, you know that he's just fabricating it to
> further his argument. He somehow knows it's true, even if his teammates
> have never said anything of the sort. They just "never got around to
> saying" it.
>
> I think that sportswriters have a weaker standard for reporting truth
> than tabloid writers. Tabloids at least get sued sometimes when they
> make stuff up about people. What particularly bothers me is that
> D'Alessandro could easily make an argument about Antoine's immaturity
> based on actual quotes of Pitino and Walker, say, without making up
> BS about how Pitino is thinking or what his teammates think. No question,
> Walker has a ways to go in terms of maturity. Though I don't agree
> with the conclusion that he draws, that the smart, knowledgable Boston
> fans are "right" about the Celtics never winning with Antoine.
>
> Overall it's just a disgusting piece of "journalism".
>
> Alex