Re: Celts Pull Away II: Boston121- Golden State 104

[opi@unesco.org]

Bill Cooper wrote:

> Players:
> Walker: Another triumph for Antoine.  He had 25 points on 10-15
> shooting, 6 assists, 5 boards, 2 steals and 4 turnovers in 30 minutes.
> He kept the team in the game in the first half, and pushed them over
> the top at the start of the third.  It's hard to describe the
> difference in Toine's shots these days.  If you remember the frail,
> rickety shots he put up when he first joined the team, that looked
> like they could be knocked away from the basket by an errant breeze,
> you would be astonished to see his ball go up at the basket like it
> has a purpose (to go through the hoop).  He no longer puts up
> knucklers and hopes they drop in.  I've thought for a long time, that
> 44-45% would be the best FG percentage he would ever manage, but I'm
> beginning to think/hope that he could do better than that.

I hope so too. Antoine is only at .429 at the moment, which is in the same
ballpark as Kenny (.433) and Griffin (.435) but well behind in FG%
compared to the type of young players we hope to compare him with (Webber,
McDyess, Garnett, Shareef).

Antoine is still hoisting 3.5 trey attempts per game for the season, which
has been a stat killer this year. His overall FG%, FT% and rebounds are
pretty much identical to those of the rookie Lamar Odom. Odom delivers a
solid 4.1 assists per game, whereas Antoine averages around 4 more points
per game. Both players have a long way to go and a whole lot of talent.

-----

As for last night's game, it's nice to see leadership and team
spiritedness from both of the young franchise players. Pierce had a lot of
nice things to say about Antoine in the Boston Herald today.

Surprisingly,  4 Celtics bench players were in double figures last night.
Five relatively easy Celts wins in the past six games. The Celts are just
two games behind in the loss column to the precarious 8th seeded Orlando.
The team hasn't quit yet and no true fan should either. I'm really happy,
but I know so much is at stake on this road series (9 of the next 12
games). All I ask is that we stay in the hunt leading into that final
homestretch.

****