Re: Antoine's season; Was Antoine vs. Kings

["Cecil Wright" <cecil@hfx.eastlink.ca>]

Certainly deserves more than you give him.  But it may be better to just
continue on your merry little sarcastic path.

Cecil



----- Original Message -----
From: <kai_brunnen_g@ix.netcom.com>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 1:47 PM
Subject: RE: Antoine's season; Was Antoine vs. Kings


>
> Toine's doing a great job of leading the Celtics to the playoffs once
again.
> Five years he's been here, five playoff appearances. Can't get any better
than that.
>
> I think he's got a good chance of being named MVP this season. He's been
> pretty unstoppable in this, his breakthrough season.
>
> What leadership qualities he possesses. Do you see the way he's taken
> Jeroem Moiso aside and has been teaching him the fundamentals
> of the game.
>
> And did you notice that Toine was one of the few Celtic players who
> didn't quit on Pitino.
>
> I think you can make a case that Toine has had bigger effect on the
> Celtics franchise that Bill Russell.
>
> Antoine Walker is truly a great man.
>
> His greatness requires we accord him a high degree of respect.
>
> Ray
>
> > ** Original Subject: RE: Antoine's season; Was Antoine vs. Kings
> > ** Original Sender: "Jim Meninno" <Jim_Meninno@hotmail.com>
> > ** Original Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 13:02:28 -0800
>
> > ** Original Message follows...
>
> >
> > Personally, I think this has been Antoine's best year as a Celtic, so
far.
> > I'll point to some stats (both good and bad) that back up the
impressions
> > I've reached from watching the games.
> >
> > First the good.  His scoring is about the same as in his second year,
when
> > he was named to the all-star team.  More importantly, this is the first
year
> > since then that his rebounding has been close to that level, which was
the
> > stat that probably got him named to the team, AND his assists are at the
> > highest level of his career.  The assists are largely due to the
increased
> > role he has assumed in running the offense of the Celtics, and his
turnovers
> > have also increased as a result.  He's also, finally, started hitting
his
> > free throws at an acceptable rate, with plenty of room for future
> > improvement.  I still find it compelling that he is capable of putting
up
> > the kind of balanced offensive stats that few others can game after
game.
> >
> > Now the bad.  He's shooting worse than he ever has from the field.  His
> > percentage currently stands at .412, which is what he averaged in the
> > lockout year, but he's hitting a lot more three's than he was then.
He's
> > also getting to the line a lot less than he has in the past.  Add these
> > facts together, realizing that his scoring is as high as it's ever been,
and
> > you can see that his offense has actually moved significantly away from
the
> > basket this year.  From my observations, I would guess that if you
charted
> > his shots, you'd find that he's having much greater success with his mid
> > range shooting and much less with his low post scoring.  That is not
what
> > most people want to see from him.  The amazing part is that he seems to
be
> > getting his shot blocked more than ever, if that's possible.  His actual
> > "shooting" appears to be much better, although there are no numbers you
can
> > find to prove this.
> >
> > All in all, I'd say that Antoine has continued to show that he is one of
the
> > most versatile players in the league.  The league seems to be catching
up
> > with his low post moves, by collapsing on him with double and triple
teams,
> > which he tries to beat himself far too often.  He has worked on areas of
his
> > game which needed it, primarily jump shooting and free throw shooting,
with
> > perceptible results.  He's added even more "point forward" duties than
he's
> > had in the past, and shown that he's capable of doing it while
maintaining
> > excellent rebounding numbers.  He has seemed to be in good shape since
the
> > start of the season.  The only controversy around him this year has been
a
> > quote he supposedly made to Jim O'Brien about getting "touches" in the
dying
> > moments of the Pitino Empire, although it's completely unclear exactly
who
> > is supposed to have heard him say it.  At first it was supposed to have
come
> > from a player, and later it was credited to Pitino, himself.  I guess
I'd be
> > a lot more inclined to believe he was "selfish" if he wasn't leading the
> > team in assists and rebounds.
> >
> > Of course, even if you agree with me that this is as well as Antoine's
> > played for half a season, it doesn't mean that you think he's the player
> > that will lead the Celtics to their next championships.  There's plenty
of
> > good debate to be had over the next few months about that kind of thing,
as
> > the front office situation plays itself out.  Myself, I'm in the camp
that
> > believes this team isn't bad because of Antoine Walker, but because they
> > don't have enough players with his level of talent.
> >
> > Jim
>
>
> >** --------- End Original Message ----------- **
>
> >
>
>