RE: Antoine's moves

[OzerskyJA <OzerskyJA@cmog.org>]

See, now this is what we need more of.  This (see below) is or should be a
model post for this group. I'm not trying to be a wiseguy, or put anybody
down.  But Alex is so reasonable and moderate in his opinions, and backs
them up with such cogent examples, that it makes any thread a pleasure --
even one as frayed as this one.

Josh Ozersky	
Marketing Communications Specialist 
Corning Museum of Glass

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Alexander Wang [SMTP:awang@MIT.EDU]
> Sent:	Monday, January 29, 2001 11:26 AM
> To:	celtics@igtc.com
> Subject:	RE: Antoine's moves
> 
> At 08:37 AM 1/29/01 -0500, OzerskyJA wrote:
> >well, obviously, you can't "develop" athleticism -- if you could,
> >Vitaly Potapenko would be an all-star, etc.  
> 
> I don't believe this is true. Different people have different levels of
> potential. While Vitaly may be a hopeless case in terms of his jumping,
> that doesn't necessarily translate to Antoine. There are definitely
> examples of athletes who have gotten into great shape and improved their
> athleticism and all-around game. I think that this is certainly more
> possible with Antoine, who I don't think has worked hard on his body yet
> shows good quickness, as opposed to Vitaly who evidently tears up the
> weight room.
> 
> >But I still think Alex
> >underrates Antoine's work down low.  I still say there are very few
> >single defenders that can handle him down there.  I saw him score
> >on KG on multiple possessions on the box when the wolves were in
> >town, and we've all seen him to the same to Malone, Oakley, Horace
> >Grant, and other strong defenders.  There are a few guys he's no match
> >for, mostly center types like Duncan and Ratliff, but that's no knock
> >against him. 
> 
> I understand what Josh is talking about. He sometimes has very good games
> against very good defenders. But he's very inconsistent. When he can bring
> it just about every night, at a high percentage, like Malone or Webber,
> then he'll be a great low post player. And he'll be a truly fearsome
> overall offensive player.
> 
> >It would be nice to see him wheel around and dunk on
> >two guys, like I saw Jermaine O'Neal do yesterday -- but I think you'll
> >see that Jermaine won't be able to shut Twon down when we play the
> >Pacers monday.  He might block twon two or three times, but he'll also
> >foul him, and get scored on too.  That's my bet.
> 
> Well, I would settle for him dunking on one guy. Just a little bit of lift
> would improve his percentage quite a bit, I would think. When you see
> Webber get the ball close to the basket, you know that it's pretty much
> over because at some point he can just tomahawk it. With Antoine, you're
> never quite sure until it goes into the basket.
> 
> My opinion is that Antoine shoots too low of a 2-pt percentage, and
> doesn't
> go to the line enough, to be considered a great low post player. He's good
> enough to have a good day against just about everyone but on average
> doesn't produce well enough. Part of that is poor decision making but part
> of it is just physical limitations. He's at a level below the elite power
> forwards -- Malone, Webber, Garnett, Wallace -- but it's not a bad place
> to
> be.
> 
> Alex