RE: BSG Says Walker Out Of Control

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Come on, Joe, if only it were that simple. Finley and Nash are only there
because the Mavs traded Kidd for them. And if these guys had matured
together in Dallas like you assume, they never would have been in position
to draft Nowitzki. Maybe the Celts can make a Jason Kidd-type deal and land
two eventual starters/borderline all-stars like the Mavs did with Finley and
Nash.

I haven't been advocating a Toine trade in recent weeks because of
selfishness, bad attitude or anything other than my feelings about the best
interests of the basketball team. My argument is, and will remain, that the
team can't win consistently with Toine at power forward. If they shift him
to small forward, great, but I've seen no inclination by anyone to do so.

As for blaming Toine for the lack of production of the other starters... I
freely admit the supporting cast around Walker and Pierce is awful, but that
doesn't mean it's good basketball for the two stars to stop trying to get
those guys better opportunities. On a good night, Walker and Pierce will get
this team 50-60 points. You still need another 30-40 to win, so the more
they try to help the other players on the floor, the better the chance to
win. If you don't think it's possible, look at the T-Wolves. Check out the
cast around Garnett. Brandon is a good player, and Szczerbiak has his
moments, but other than that, are they that much better than the Celts? They
certainly don't have a Pierce/Walker level second option, but Garnett is
better than anyone in the NBA right now at making players better than they
really are. You don't measure it by assists (Walker gets plenty passing to
Pierce, who probably would score if he took the ball across mid-court and
never gave it up). It's something neither Walker nor Pierce understand yet.
Will they? Maybe, but they haven't gotten it yet.

Anyway, there are just as many examples over the years of teams making
exactly the right trade at the right time as there are of Chris Webber-like
deals. The bottom line is you evaluate as best you can. In Toine's case, we
keep talking about how young he is, but we're nearing the end of his fifth
season. I've seen all I need to see of Toine as a power forward. I'll say it
one more time... put him at small forward, and I think he could flourish and
I'd love to see it. But I've been waiting five years for that to happen.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Hironaka [mailto:j.hironaka@unesco.org]
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 10:25 AM
To: I am. . . Anonymous
Cc: Berry, Mark S; 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject: Re: BSG Says Walker Out Of Control


"I am. . . Anonymous" wrote:

> Remember when Chris Webber was a Washington Bullet?
> Well, those morons traded the young stud player that
> was carrying their team (unsuccessfully due to lack of
> supporting talent) for a "proven veteran" and look at
> what happenned to them.  We aren't going to get Bibby
> and Swift for a Walker or a Pierce.  Sorry.

    Analogy number two. Dallas, led by Nowitzki and Finley, would
probably be shooting for 70 wins if they hadn't earlier dumped their
three earlier gimmie-my-touches, immature-beyond-redemption players like
Jamal Mashburn, Jason Kidd and Jim Jackson. Picture that lineup.

    Players grow up. They mature (especially when they pass into their
mid-twenties). That's when you start reaping the benefits of their
presence on your ballclub. That's what good teams do and bad teams don't
(e.g. the Clippers). A lot of these young guys do want to compete and
win, not just score points. Sure they'll score but it is because their
team sucks, not vice-versa.

    I'll bet there has never been a game in NBA history where three
starters failed to score a single point. Last night wasn't some fluke
whereby they all had injuries in the opening minutes. Or that the Celts
bench (outscored 40-28) showed up big that night. Three Celtics starters
produced 0 points for the team in over 50 minutes, plain and simple. I
know, I know, that was Antoine's fault.

    Walker (and Pierce) all year have been as intelligent and thoughtful
in their roles as co-captains as we have any right to expect. I'm
convinced Walker's approaching the verge of demonstrating Iverson level
scoring talent, and that he (like Pierce) would willingly make a lot of
sacrifices in exchange for playing for a winner.

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