Over the top

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

	I don't know how to interpret Obie and Wallace's over-the-top praise for 
Anthrax Walker. In the Herald, Obie claims that Walker ``doesn't care about 
scoring." Geez.

	In the Globe, Chris Wallace says that Anthrax is already "team-oriented" 
thank-you very much, and actually challenges MJ's mild contention that he 
needs to work to make his teammates better.

	Wallace goes on to say "I don't think there's anybody out there in the 
league who wants to win more than he does."

	On the one hand, this further adds credibility to what Paul M. and Alex 
say about Walker playing more or less as management tells him to...20+ 
shots per game and all. It certainly fails completely to prove the 
continuing suspicion that he's a bad guy, loose canon and coach killer (the 
"even Rick Pitino couldn't rein him in" argument that Paul views to be false).

	On the other hand, I guess you could argue that this proves on the 
contrary that Wallace and Obie really are puppets for the players. They 
feel they won't get fired if Walker is happy enough to try hard. Maybe 
behind the scenes "Cancer Boy" is saying let me shoot the damn ball or else 
I can get both of you fired by Gaston. Again I find this argument implausible.

	Still, the lengths Wallace and Obie are going in defending Walker's past, 
present and future even makes ME want to blush. Seriously, its over the 
top. They clearly seem to think fans and media have no clue in criticizing 
Walker. Very strange.

-----

http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/basketball/mj11082001.htm
Boston Herald:

The Celtics coach clearly didn't want to talk about anything else.

``Antoine Walker was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant,'' said O'Brien, who 
was just getting warmed up.

``That was maybe as good a game that has been played in the NBA by an 
individual this year. I would challenge anybody to find out during the 
first week of the season whether there's been a better performance than the 
one Antoine gave us tonight.''

When O'Brien was asked to comment on Pierce's performance against Jordan, 
he decided against it. It was all Antoine, all the time.

``You can talk about Michael Jordan, who's a great player, but don't forget 
about our guy,'' said O'Brien. ``Don't even ask questions about other 
people on the floor because in my estimation the best player on the floor 
was Antoine Walker tonight.

``I had a national media person say to me before the game, `What is it with 
people who don't understand what the hell Antoine brings to the table every 
night?' I said, `I don't understand it. I don't understand what people are 
even thinking about.' A brilliant performance.''

When told his coach had devoted virtually all of his postgame remarks to 
him, Walker offered his own take on the proceedings.

``They were doing a tremendous job of double-teaming me the moment I had 
the ball in my hands,'' he said. ``I knew that it would be best if I stayed 
inside, because things were going to open up for us best that way.

``What loosened things up for me offensively was all the help I got from my 
teammates. With so many guys hitting shots and contributing, things just 
started to flow.''

Said O'Brien: ``He wanted the ball in his hands and he was willing to do 
whatever it took to win the game, whether it was scoring or passing. You 
could say, `Why did Antoine pass tonight and he did not pass on another 
night?' They trapped him every time he got the basketball, so he's going to 
do whatever's necessary for the best of the team.

``He doesn't care about scoring. He would like to get a triple-double every 
night.''


http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/312/sports/GM_has_different_opinion+.shtml
Boston Globe:

''Obviously, Michael Jordan is certainly someone who's very capable of 
judging those attributes in a player, as much as anyone is,'' Wallace said 
yesterday. ''We think Antoine is making progress in all those areas. I go 
back to last year, when he was so good in the month of March, when Paul was 
going on his scoring binges and was named NBA Player of the Month. Antoine 
had a tremendous amount to do with that.

''I think Antoine is team-oriented. I don't think there's anybody out there 
in the league who wants to win more than he does. What we have to do as a 
team is get more potent offensively away from Antoine and Paul. So there's 
less pressure on those guys, and also they feel more trust in the rest of 
the cast on the offensive end.''

''I think Antoine is team-oriented. I don't think there's anybody out there 
in the league who wants to win more than he does. What we have to do as a 
team is get more potent offensively away from Antoine and Paul. So there's 
less pressure on those guys, and also they feel more trust in the rest of 
the cast on the offensive end.''

''I thought it was a phenomenal performance,'' said Wallace. ''Find me 
another power forward in the league that can have nine assists and one 
turnover. That's playmaking at its best. He showed tonight that he's one of 
the most versatile players in the league.''