RE: My case against Obie and Chris Wallace

[Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
He can definitely score against nearly any 4; it's the double teams
that kill him, since he can't finish above the rim.  But he's very good
at recognizing and passing out of double teams down low, and has 
done this often and well over the last thirty games or so.  It's not as
if he spends the whole game on the three point line....I'm so sick of 
defending Antoine against these assaults.  We're lucky to have him,
and I wouldn't trade him for another player unless they were a bona-fide
young superstar, and I'm talking McGrady, Webber, Duncan.   Antoine's
a 20-10 guy, period, wherever he plays; it's just a question of using him 
right.
--- end of quote ---

Josh, 
I'm not saying he's not a good player - he is. But he seems to prefer the small
forward game when given a choice and he enjoys more advantages there over
opposition than he does as a PF. While he can play some PF, he is at a
disadvantage against most PFs, because he's really 6-8 and can't jump that
well. He's way overmatched "length" -wise against most every PF, except the
likes of Larry Johnson. So he has good rebounding instincts, and can score
against certain PFs because of his quickness and tricky spin moves, but so
what? He's been doing it with smoke and mirrors - he can't overpower or shoot
over a real PF. He's one of the (if not THE ) most stuffed players in the
league for that very reason. 
Saying that he can score down low, but struggles against double teams is
equivalent to saying he'll struggle to score in the low post, because nobody
will let him go one-on-one, especially with the soon-legal zone defenses. The
bottom line is, if he remains our best low post option, we're in deep trouble,
because he's not good enough there and he doesn't want to do it consistently. 
I'm tired of hoping he'll be remade, or remake himself, as a true-blue PF. He
won't. He's been in the league 5 years, and he is what he is. 
Kestas