Walker at PF?

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

CALLING Walker a SF will do nothing just as calling him a PF when in reality
he performs most of the duties of a PG does nothing - particularly against
the other teams PFs. What is needed is another big body up front because
whether by design or default Walker isn't giving us the things you need from
a PF (which is not to say he isn't giving us things we do need).

Let's examine the quote raised by Mishra "There is a very memorable quote
from Don Nelson when he was coaching the Warriors: Webber in his rookie year
didn't want to play center and so he requested that he be moved to PF.
Nellie told him, I don't care whether you call yourself PF, SF or PG but
somebody needs to guard the opposing center."

You'll note that the quote addresses who the player will guard. Well, who
DOES Walker guard? If the other team has a tough PF (say Karl Malone) he
'guards' the center (Ostertag) and vice versa. Unfortunately he doesn't
succeed very well in either instance - this is a large part of the reason
there are calls for him to 'guard' someone else. After all, we have to
remember that by not playing Walker at PF we are not benching Walker, we are
instead redistributing playing time from SF/PGs to C/PFs. Given the
production we've received from SG/PG I'd say that this could be a valuable
move given our difficulties rebounding and defending opposing big men -
particularly since Twon performs most of the duties of a SG/PG already.

Now, regarding the attempt to prove - through the aid of statistics - beyond
a doubt that Walker and Cliff Robinson are not one and the same person I
have to say "congratulations!". Gee, that was tough to figure out. Another
strawman bites the dust! Just for sake of clarity: when I said that I Twon
reminds me of Cliff I wasn't saying Twon WAS Cliff or that they were twins
separated at birth or that their stats would be identical. These
'interpretations' betray a lack of communicative imagination that is
typically fatal for any understanding. Now let's discuss what I did try to
say.

Others have compared Twon to Webber or Coleman. These comparisons have been
criticized (rightly in my opinion) because Webber's problems were always
off-court (very different from Twon) whereas Coleman's problems relate to
his cancerous lack of heart (again, thankfully, very different from Twon).
In any case both Webber and Coleman seem to play a style much more
compatible with traditional views of a PF. In my view Twon's game reminds me
of Cliff because they both have a style of play that makes them 'play' a lot
smaller on the court than an objective measurement of their size would
indicate, kind of the opposite of a player like Adrian Dantley. This is not
meant as a criticism, merely an observation. I do think that Twon is more
talented, but I think the initial comparison remains valid. (Comparisons are
often used to indicate similarity and difference - NOT identity.)

(BTW the simple-minded use of stats to 'prove' that Cliff is the inferior -
and antithesis - of Twon is flawed for the simple reason that Cliff has
always played with a superior cast of teammates. How many assists do you
think Twon would rack up if he played with Jason Kidd? How many minutes do
you think a 'young Twon' would have logged if he played with Clyde Drexler's
Trailblazers? Is it a coincidence that Donyell Marshall is having a career
year in Utah DESPITE the fact that his stats have dropped in virtually every
major category? The lack of nuance in the employment of stats rivals the
shallowness and lack of perception that Anonymous brings to each of his
trolling ventures. But then what else would you expect from someone who
responded to Cecil's mild attempt at sarcasm with a vitriolic outburst that
betrayed an utter lack of comprehension of one of the simplest forms of
verbal play. Heaven forgive us if we decide to use a metaphor!)