Re: Antoine and the Boobirds

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

> From: Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu (Kestutis Kveraga)
>
> Look, Pitino was a terrible NBA coach, and comparing the Obiewalker 
> method to
> Pitino's is like comparing a Chevy to a Yugo and saying you can't do any 
> better
> as far as cars go. There are other coaching/basketball philosophies other 
> than
> those two.

At least as many as there are people on this list, to be sure.  One thing 
to remember is that *this* method is the one that got us to 42-32.  Is 
that the only thing I'm looking for?  Just to make the playoffs?  Why, yes,
  this year it is.  I would have thought that after such a long drought, it 
would be the same for many, but I know better.

> Have Obiewalker
> done some good things for this team? Absolutely! Is there room for 
> improvement?
> Your answer seems to be 'no'.

And sometimes, Kestas, you are one of the few who will give Obiewalker 
*any* sort of credit.  If they win, it's luck, if they lose, it's someone'
s *fault*.  To some.

> Obie figured out that you needed the team's stars on your side to 
> accomplish
> anything as a coach in the NBA, and that you needed to play real NBA 
> defense to
> win. So he got on Toine's and Paul's good side and hired Harter. Nice job.
>  Now
> his challenge is to rein in Toine's worst tendencies without pissing him 
> off.

Is that it?  Is it all about Antoine Walker?  What about Paul Pierce?  
Rogersdelk?  The vaunted Eric Williams?  The Center Troika?  Criticism 
(both of the rational and irrational sorts) often seems to be curiously 
mixed as far as Antoine Walker's power and capabilities go: He's a "punk" 
who can bring down coaches with a single stretch of bad play, *and* no 
team will ever win anything of import while he's "the second 
option"/"chucking up threes"/"doing the wiggle"/"playing power forward"/on 
the team.  And even for Kestas, it seems the team's success is totally 
dependent on "reining in" his evil, goatee-wearing evil side.

Like lot's of one-dimensional thinking, the most extreme of these types of 
views are ludicrous.  As for the more reasonable kinds they have good 
points: Antoine Walker does make mistakes and does need to improve next 
year, building on what has already amounted to some really good 
improvement since he first came in to the league.  I am not convinced by 
those who say "Dick Harter is the only reason the team is good this 
year".  Yes, I'm sure his contribution was important, though his own ideas 
on the matter do not seem important to some, but he is not on the court 
executing his defense, is he?  In addition, I think Obie's contribution is 
probably more than just getting on Walkerpierce's good side and hiring 
Harter, blind squirrel that he is.

Nor do I think that Walker (or anybody) ought to be free of crticism.  Not 
the case.  However, those who think that this allows for license as far as 
not giving credit where credit are due are mistaken.  Criticism is not 
just ranting about all the "bad" things you see, but also about applauding 
the "good" things.  Around here, the latter is sometimes forgotten.

Bird