Re: Walker at PF?

["Jaime Castillo, Jr." <jaims@info.com.ph>]

I used to get into the mix on bashing Walker re: his out of position playing
and role inside the court.  He's around 6'10 and has bulk(not much muscles
though) to be a PF...but instead he chose to shoot long jumpers and now has
fallen in love with the 3pt shot.

Now, I just sit back and let him do his stuff because i guess he's really
more comfortable doin it.  And more effective at that, instead of getting
blocked all the time inside the paint.

I just don't get the importance of debating or arguing if he should be a PF
or a SF...  Why should we really care what position he should be in, when HE
DOES EVERYTHING for the team.  He top scores, he tops in rebounding, he tops
in assists(please correct me if i'm wrong)....so what's the problem???
Maybe i just really can't get the point of the discussion and I'm sorry for
that, but in my opinion, Walker despite some deficiencies he's our top man!
Pierce is also great but only because Walker also does the rebounding and
assisting.

For now, why don't we just let these guys play with their talent and
abilities and just evaluate in the off season what the team needs...a shot
blocking and rebounding force in the middle, a defensive point guard, a 3rd
scorer (2 guard).  Whatever they may be, Walker, IMO, has really no true
position because he's proven he can do most things effectively.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>
To: "Celtic list" <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 1:53 AM
Subject: Walker at PF?


> 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!)
>
>