May on Antoine

[opi@unesco.org]

I never thought I'd see Peter May jumping on the Antoine Walker
bandwagon this noisily. It's amazing if you put it alongside May's
previous anti-Toine comments as recently as the All Star break. It is
nice to see AW playing almost like a future MVP. According to May,
Antoine's Larry Legend imitation over the past eight games has produced
averages of 24.5 points, 10 rebounds, and 5.8 assists with 53.7 percent
shooting from the field and 78.8 percent from the line. And lest I
forget, seven wins too!

Go Y2K Celts!

Joe

****

Celtics' Walker in running for honor
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 3/20/2000

 PHOENIX - It's been almost eight years since a member of the Celtics
was honored as the NBA's Player of the Week. If there's any justice in
the hoop world, that streak will come to an end soon.

 What Antoine Walker has done in the last two weeks has been remarkable.
What he's done in the  last week has been sensational. The NBA will
announce its Player of the Week today or tomorrow, and Walker has to be
a strong candidate to be the first Celtic honoree since Reggie Lewis
(April 13, 1992).

 Nearing the end of his fourth NBA season, Walker is starting to show,
on a consistent basis, what the fuss has been all about.

 ''I knew he always had it in him because, at times, he would bring it
out,'' said Eric Williams, who was with Walker during Walker's first
year in Boston and then rejoined him this year. ''But he knows what's at
stake. He's always wanted to win. Now he knows how. He's doing the
things to win.''

 He sure is. Entering tonight's game with the Suns, the Celtics have won
seven of their last eight games, including back-to-back roadies, and are
very much in the playoff race. Over those last eight games, Walker has
done very little wrong. There have been no 5-for-17 shooting games.
There have been no five-turnover games. There have been no technicals.

 What we're seeing instead is the composed, complete package, almost as
if Walker has morphed into the all-around, versatile, make-others-better
player most knew he could be. In the last eight games, Walker is
averaging 24.5 points, 10 rebounds, and 5.8 assists while shooting 53.7
percent from the field and 78.8 percent from the line. In the last three
games, it's even better: 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists while
shooting 67 percent, including 8 of 13 from international waters.

 His latest torch job: a 29-point, 10-rebound, 6-assist gem against
Dallas Saturday. Watching admiringly, and knowingly, from the Dallas
bench was former teammate Damon Jones, who played briefly last year in
Boston.

 ''Antoine always has had the talent,'' Jones said. ''That's why they
made the investment in him and gave him all that money. He just needed
to grow up a little more.''

 Coach Rick Pitino continually points to Walker's passing. At the
beginning of the season, Pitino said he wanted Walker to average six
assists a game. Walker had six or more assists five times in the first
55 games. In the last 11, he's had six or more six times.

 ''The key is his passing,'' Pitino said. ''He's doing a terrific job of
passing. It's very, very important he passes it like that. He's doing
everything at a high-percentage level. He's coming down on the break
like a point guard. He's looking to find somebody else. When you have a
6-9 guy who handles like that, looking to find somebody else, that's a
tremendous weapon to have.''

 Walker insists he's ''just playing'' and it's simply a matter of
growing more comfortable with his teammates. He said this weekend the
best thing that happened to the Celtics this season was that Pitino
didn't make any midseason deals (actually, he did, but it was
rescinded).

 ''I'm just letting the game come to me,'' Walker said. ''It's an
82-game season. Y'all are the ones who judge after 20 games, 30 games. I
play a whole season. It doesn't matter when it comes, as long as it
comes. We're together more as a team, and that comes from playing with
each other.''

 But Walker's game on the court is only part of his transformation. In
the past couple of weeks, he also has become a visible, vocal leader. He
will bring the team out for a huddle before the start of the second
half. He will keep the players after practice for more words and
encouragement.

 ''It started a couple weeks ago,'' Pitino said. ''There's no question
he's become more of a leader. It's wonderful to see.''

 Williams said Walker ''says the stuff we need to hear.'' Walker said he
believes he's been around long enough and seen enough to make it a
no-brainer.

 ''I'm trying to [lead]. I think I know the game pretty well. My
teammates have a lot of confidence in me,'' he said. ''I understand what
we went through earlier in the season, and I tell the guys to try and
not make the same mistakes. I think I try to lead by example. But you
also have to step up and just say something in a positive light to
remind them what we went through earlier in the season.''

 That's ancient history as far as Walker is concerned. He is consumed
now with improving - which he's doing - and with getting the Celtics
into the playoffs for the first time in five years. That remains the
goal, and given the way Walker and his teammates are playing, it no
longer is far-fetched.

 This story ran on page D4 of the Boston Globe on 3/20/2000.
 © Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.