Antoine on WEEI today...

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Antoine Walker came in studio with Ordway and the Big Show on WEEI this 
afternoon. Antoine weighed in on many things and answered tough 
questions in his straightforward, refreshing style. He was asked about 
the weak starts they had in the NJ series. He said the Celtics settled 
alot in the first while NJ was aggressive and out and running. The 
Celtics would walk it up, take a careful shot, usually miss it in those 
games and then NJ would be gone down the other end. He said that the 
Celtics needed to be more aggressive and take it to the hoop more, which 
is what they did whenever they went on a run.


He also made the startling comment that he thought that the Celtics had 
a lack of respect for the Nets because they had handled them rather 
easily in the regular season. This was unlike the Philadelphia series 
and the Detroit series. They felt like they "knew they could beat" NJ. 
He said they let the Nets build confidence in that first game of the 
series. He talked about what he and his teammates learned during these 
playoffs. He mentioned the importance of every possession, the intensity 
of the crowds, the adjustments that need to be made, and the importance 
of momentum. He said they were taught a lesson. He said the Celtics 
thought NJ would fold after the game three loss, which was a mistake. He 
learned the importance of home court advantage, and that that might be 
the most important lesson. Next year they can't lose to the Bulls or 
Grizzlies, they need maximum effort every game in order to secure the # 
1 seed. He wants a dominating season with 55 plus wins to get that all 
important home court. He felt that definitely there is more pressure in 
the playoffs, and they felt it at times, you need heart to play deep and 
they need more contributions from others to go further. They need to 
resign Rogers, Strickland and he'd like to see "Walt" come back. He 
mentioned he'd like to add a free agent who can score as well.


Antoine and Paul Pierce are close; they hang out off the court, much 
more the last two years than they did before, and have the same goals. 
They have a comfort level to the point that Antoine can do what he did 
at the start of the fourth quarter of game three, which was to get on 
Paul and tell him he needed to step it up. He said this whole year he's 
taken more of a leadership role because he knew the team was good and 
wanted it to go as far as it could.


Phrases used to describe Jim O'Brien: "Perfect Gentleman....People 
Person...honest...respectful" doesn't take things public. He simplified 
things. Suggestions are taken seriously, not "blown out the other end". 
Antoine said Pitino was great for him in college, he helped him, he 
taught him the game, it was different in the pros. Walker isn't sure if 
it was the money, the pressure, or what, but Pitino started making 
excuses, pointing fingers, ruined the relationship.


Kenny Anderson had a "tough luck" year last season with the broken jaw 
and badly sprained ankle, never got into the flow. This year he worked 
hard, played defense, he's the best at getting good looks on the pick 
and roll and makes great decisions in transition.


Now that they've had a taste of the playoffs, he expects all to work 
hard all summer, come into camp and be dominant right from the beginning 
of the season in order to go after the number one seed in the east.


--
Boston Sports Media Watch

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