Re:

[opi@unesco.org]

Not that I'm wildly in favor of Walker being a 3-point bomber, but to some
extent he did base his shot selection on hitting .369 from that distance last
year with more than 1.5 treys per game including a game-winner against Miami.
Arguably the greatest 3-point shooter of all time (Larry Bird) averaged .379 for
his career from that distance. Walker doesn't even turn Bird's rookie age until
the end of August 2000. etc. etc. blah blah yada yada.

I guess journalists who cover celebrity gazillionaires feel this democratic
impulse (call it "jealousy") to twist quotes all around in order to put certain
targeted athletes in the worst possible light. No question Antoine-bashing has
finally reached a national level this year. When I mention to friends that I
personally favor the Boston Celtics, they inevitably raise the issue about what
a loser, stat-inflated jerk Antoine Walker is and how desperate Pitino
reportedly is to dump him but simply can't because of the base year situation.

As naturaly selected an NBA junkie fan as I am, to be perfectly honest I also go
by what I read in the national media when it comes to any of the 28 other teams.

If I were on another NBA e-mail list, I would no doubt be eagerly talking up
scenarios like "now's the time to take Antoine off their hands plus Fortson in
exchange for our 2008 lottery-protected first round draft pick, both our
McDonald's Happy Meal gift certificates from the Billups trade, the rights to
Leon Smith, my personal Michael Bolton CD collection..."

Joe

****

"Niles, Shawn" wrote:

> I got this off of ESPN. Sounds a little harsh to me. Maybe Peter May or
> Michael Holley wrote it.
>
> "It appears that Rick Pitino and Antoine Walker
> </nba/profiles/profile/3112.html> really like each other now. That's a
> beautiful thing. No trades in sight. And of course, probably no winning in
> sight either. Walker remains an up-and-down player capable of 40 one night
> and 10 the next. He's shooting .423 from the field and 26 percent from
> behind the arc, where he continues to try a shot that doesn't work for him.
> "He wants me to be happy," Walker said of Pitino. "Me and coach have a great
> relationship working right now. It's better than ever. We've got a better
> understanding of each other. We're both in the same boat."
> Yes, a sinking one. "