Great Antoine story from The Sporting News

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

Really good piece. Not just the kneejerk analysis. I think Antoine fans and
detractors alike can agree this is a pretty fair assessment.

Mark


There was a time when Antoine Walker <javascript:op(3112)>  was known as the
least-liked player in the NBA. It's an unfair moniker -- how do you measure
something like that, anyway? -- but, make no mistake, no player was more
successful in alienating whole groups around the league than Walker. 
His teammates disliked his selfish play. His coaches criticized his
attitude, shot selection and conditioning. Other coaches cringed at the
thought of dealing with players like him. Opponents riled at his trash
talking and immaturity. Referees spited him for his nonstop lip-flapping and
lack of decorum. In the Boston media, he was called a "punk," a "jerk" and
"brain dead." 
Remember, if you will, all those gems from The Antoine Chronicles. Remember
the time that Walker, during a game in which he scored just eight points,
screamed at teammate Kenny Anderson <javascript:op(393)> , "Throw me the
(expletive) ball." 
Remember how former Celtics coach Rick Pitino tried and failed to get Walker
to lose 20 pounds, and how he said of Walker's shot selection, "If you're
going to keep on taking them, go out and practice for three hours until you
make those shots. Or don't take them." 
Remember when Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich derisively referred to Walker
as, "the typical new-age player," and when Tim Hardaway said of Walker,
"he's just an ass. I know it, and he knows it." 
Remember that Walker told The Boston Globe, after two seasons in the league,
that he was a "veteran All-Star," and should not have to report to summer
minicamps. Remember also his 30 technical fouls in his first two seasons. 
And remember that fans -- the ones at the FleetCenter in Boston, mind you --
hated Walker. Hated him. Booed him relentlessly, like the time in April 1999
when Walker began to hear the jeers on his first shot. Then he heard more
booing, louder and louder throughout the game. He finished that outing -- a
loss -- 3-for-12 from the field, with the abuse so bad that he nearly cried
in the locker room. 
This was the captain of the Celtics, a distinction held by the likes of Bob
Cousy, Bill Russell and Larry Bird. Yet there he was, nearly brought to
tears by the derision of the home crowd. 
That was Antoine Walker. This should be the part where we tell you how much
Walker has redeemed the sins of his past. This is where we ought to give you
an overview of how he has given up his brashness and selfishness, won over
the hearts of the fans and now is gallantly leading the Celtics to a
stunning renewal of their past glory. 
Forget it. One out of three will have to do. 
Walker still is brash. He still shows up opponents with his belly-shaking,
fist-flailing "Walker Wiggle," though the wiggles come less frequently now.
He chatters at opponents nonstop. Walker still is selfish, too. 
As Hornets forward P.J. Brown says, "He thinks he is Chuck Connors out
there, always shooting, no matter what. He's the Rifleman." Walker is
shooting just 39 percent from the field, and he leads the league in
field-goal attempts and is on pace to break the NBA's single-season record
for 3-point attempts. 
It's difficult to embrace a player like that, and Walker still hears boos in
Boston when he is having a bad game. FleetCenter fans have taken a stronger
shine to Paul Pierce <javascript:op(3253)> , Walker's more athletic, more
reserved and more palatable co-captain. 
But it is Walker who is leading the team to some semblance of its past
greatness, or at least, to the playoffs. Despite Pierce's performance -- he
is second in the league in scoring and undoubtedly an All-Star -- it is
Walker who drives this Celtics team, which entered the week with a 20-12
record, second best in the East. Walker has been driving this team since he
arrived in Boston in 1996, and as much as he can be blamed for the team's
erratic showings over the first part of his career, he should receive credit
for the Celtics' success this year. 
Walker has not done this through some radical inner transformation that made
him more lovable and changed his attitude toward his team and his
responsibilities. Walker still is not particularly lovable. But his team has
changed its attitude toward him and what it asked of him, and his team is
reaping the benefits. 
It was a messy night for the Celtics in Philadelphia on Dec. 17. They
trailed by 22 just after the half. But a brief run in the third quarter
trimmed the deficit to 13, and that's when it started. First Walker, then
Pierce. Talking, talking, talking, despite what eventually was a 16-point
Celtics loss. 
Walker shot a miserable 6-for-23 from the field, including 0-for-11 from the
3-point line -- the worst 3-point performance in league history. After the
game, there was a hint as to why opponents don't like Walker much. "As soon
as they came back a little, all you heard was Antoine talking," said Allen
Iverson. 
Two days later, when asked about the 0-for-11 nightmare, Walker gave a
bigger hint as to why Celtics fans don't like him much. "If I go 0-for-50,"
Walker said, "I'll still put it up." 
What gets lost in the surface arrogance of such declarations is that Walker
is supposed to keep putting it up. He very well could go 0-for-50 from the
3-point line, and he would be encouraged to keep shooting. 
When Pitino was coaching, that was different. Pitino often called Walker,
"the most important person in the organization," but he wanted Walker to be
more selective with his shots and less selfish. That Pitino could not get
Walker to fit that image of how Walker should play was part of Pitino's
undoing in Boston. 
One of the first things coach Jim O'Brien did when he took over a year ago
was to indulge in Walker's selfishness and make it part of the game plan.
Walker and Pierce always have the green light to shoot, and with a roster
lacking in scorers, that makes sense. 
"Antoine is a very intelligent basketball player," O'Brien says. "If he is
shooting and missing, and people want to complain, that is fine. He has the
approval of his coach. He knows what he is doing, and he knows that what he
is doing is helping us win. He has a great understanding of the game, and I
trust him with that." 
At the heart of Walker's basketball intelligence is a simple notion: putting
defenders into uncomfortable positions. Walker may not be a great 3-point
shooter, but he is a threat from the arc and obviously is not afraid to
shoot. 
He also is a 6-9 power forward with a good package of inside moves and some
of the best rebounding instincts in Celtics history. And he's among the
game's best post passers. He is averaging 23.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.9
assists. That's what most chafes Celtics fans: Walker could be getting more
high-percentage shots and setting up teammates better, if he would only stay
in the post. 
But Walker shifts his style based on his defender. Take a recent game
against the Jazz, for example. When Walker was guarded by Karl Malone, he
drifted out to the 3-point line, taking Malone with him. That disrupted the
way the Jazz prefers to play defense and disrupted Malone's rebounding and
his ability to help his teammates. 
When the Jazz stuck lanky rookies Jarron Collins and Andrei Kirilenko on
Walker, Walker slid into the post. When asked where he would prefer to have
Walker, Utah coach Jerry Sloan said, "Well, I would prefer him on our team."

After his poor outing in Philadelphia, the Cavaliers started with 6-2 point
guard Andre Miller on Walker. Walker stayed in the post almost exclusively,
shooting 12-for-18 and taking only three 3-point attempts. 
"I don't worry that much about 3's," Walker says. "I worry about the
matchup. I am going to do what I have to do to help the team win. It's part
of our strategy, having their big guys step out so I can get open looks. But
if you start a point guard on me, I am not going to take 3's. I am going
into the post. I am not that dumb." 
The result, often, is a frustrating night for the defender charged with
checking Walker, whether he is a guard, forward or center. 
"He really takes away from my game, as a player who hangs around the basket
a lot," Brown says. "He pulls you away. I hate playing against him because
he takes me away from my rebounding. I also like trying to be a help-side
defender, but if he is pulling you out by the 3-point line, you can't get
over to the help side. If you try to, you leave him with an open 3-pointer.
That's dangerous. 
"He is very unorthodox that way. He just floats around the 3-point line. If
you are an interior defender, you'd like to keep an eye on Pierce's
penetration, too, but you can't. I am glad I only have to see him four times
a year because he kills my rebounding numbers." 
Walker was back home in Chicago a few days after last season ended. He was
planning on doing what he usually does during the summer -- relaxing and
playing pickup games with other NBA players from the area, guys like Nazr
Mohammed, Michael Finley and Juwan Howard. 
But he was invited to join Michael Jordan and trainer Tim Grover at a
Chicago gym, to be part of a group of players who would help Jordan with his
comeback. Once there, Walker not only worked on his game with Jordan, but
did the first serious work on his body he has done in his professional
career. He showed up for Celtics camp in good shape, more athletic and agile
than ever. 
The physical change is not too significant, but it is part of the learning
process that, so far, has taken Walker more than five frustrating years. Now
25, he was just 19 when the Celtics drafted him after his sophomore season
at Kentucky. He was named captain when he was 21, at a time when he was
proclaiming himself a "veteran All-Star," a time when the juiciest chapters
of the Antoine Chronicles were being written. 
"What happened with Antoine is that you could see how gifted a player he
was," says Celtics great and team broadcaster Tom Heinsohn. "But what
transpired was that they threw leadership on him on top of that, and he was
not ready to be a leader. But when he was a rookie, there were no veteran
leaders to kind of say, 'Hey, kid, don't act that way.' 
"He was 20, 21 years old. In Boston, they expected him to become Larry Bird
right away. He was not ready for that. And if you look at it, now, after 5
1/2 years on the pro scene, he is only two years older than Bird was as a
rookie. He is becoming the same kind of leader." 
There is room for improvement. Walker is so skilled, Heinsohn says, "His
main problem is trying to figure out which skill to use at which time." 
Sometimes he gets so bogged down in being a 3-point shooter that he neglects
his passing. Sometimes he passes too much when he could be working the post
more aggressively. 
Walker should take some advice from a guy who once had a similar problem.
"You have to put the education of the game in your learning to where those
skills supersede anyone you play against," Jordan says. "The thing he is
missing is the education of how to play with those athletic skills and make
other players better. . . . He's got a hard head, and he has his own vision.
Someday he'll learn." 
His head still is hard. It has taken Walker almost six years to get to this
point, and further improvement could take a while, if it comes at all. If
Jordan is right, and Walker does learn to be comfortable with his skill, if
he does learn to make his teammates better, then like him or not, the
Celtics will reap even greater benefits from their faith in Walker. Like him
or not, he could be the guy who leads the Celtics back to their
once-traditional perch atop the East. 
"Antoine is a leader in every sense of the word," O'Brien says. "He is going
to lead this team for a long, long time."