Re: Trade Walker?

["Dan Forant" <dforant1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Walker is no Kobe or Iverson. So a coach of better standards may be willing
to deal with it.

DanF
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kestutis Kveraga" <Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: Trade Walker?


> --- You wrote:
> Take this for what it is worth.  It came to me from a fourth cousin whose
> landlord's third cousin works with someone whose niece babysits for a
> neighbor of one of the new owners.
>
> - WALLACE is gone (and has privately been told so).
>
> - OBIE is teetering on the edge, but likely gone (the owners are reluctant
> to make such a wave prior to the end of the season).
>
> - WALKER is going to be shopped.
>
> - COWENS may be brought in as Head Scout, but not as Head Coach or GM.
> --- end of quote ---
>
> While I SO want to believe this, the source - the way you describe it -
does
> not exactly inspire confidence. The only thing that gives me hope is that
one
> or more of the owners are at nearly every Celtics game and I hope they see
what
> I'm seeing. Then again, Walrus apparently can talk with the best of them,
and
> has seduced at least Thanksdad and many sportswriters and fans who've had
the
> opportunity to talk to him  - including some on this list. If nothing
else,
> he's a good BSer. So, who knows, maybe the new owners are Walrus-whipped
(Ww)
> too. And without Walrus being gone, we can't do anything, because that
idiot
> will screw up everything he touches. Getting rid of him is priority #1,
then
> Obie, then Walker.
>
> --- You wrote:
> I guess I see Obie and Walker as sort of being attached at the hip.
> As Sean G. suggested, it is certainly possible that under a ''real coach
> and a real system'' we might see a new Walker.  But how probable is that?
> --- end of quote ---
>
> Even the best coaches, such as Jackson and Brown, can't  really control
their
> superstars  - Kobe and Iverson, respectively. They pretty much do what
they
> like. So why would even a "real coach" - provided we could get someone
like
> Brown or Jackson - be able to control Toine? The way I see it, with the
> superstars in the NBA, either they play the game the right way and are
> coachable (e.g. Duncan or even Shaq), or they don't/aren't. You can't
really
> control them, because they control whether you're going to have a job as a
> coach with their play on the court (and sometimes off the court as well).
>
> Toine is, by all accounts, in the Kobe/Iverson group in terms of
coachability
> (but not talent). Six years, three different coaches with three different
> approaches (hands off, dictatorial, and friendly/supportive for ML, Pitino
and
> Obie, respectively) haven't changed him much. Sure, he's not as much of a
punk
> as he used to be, but along with that softening around the edges his game
has
> become softer and softer and he still has appalling shot selection. If you
> don't figure it out in 6 years, by the time you're 26, when do you figure
it
> out? If you listen to broadcasters other than Tommy and Mike, and read
what
> other coaches and columnists have to say, it's clear that he's viewed as
little
> more than a talented clown around the league. Sure, he has enough talent
to get
> him on the All-Star team in the East, but so what?
>
> The bottom line is, he won't play the PF position the way we need him to,
but
> he won't give it up, either. As I've written before, he wants to
cherry-pick
> the tastiest parts of PG, SG, and PF positions, mostly the former two. As
> others have pointed out, this skews the team badly towards softness at the
> power positions and makes us last or near-last in rebounding/shot
blocking. If
> he were willing to play just the PG (and do ALL that it entails AND
improve his
> shot selection), I could see holding on to him, since we don't have a real
PG
> either, and he CAN pass and dribble. But we need a real PF, too - or a
real C,
> if Tony shifted to PF. And how can you get a decent big man without
trading
> Antoine or Pierce? We've had our multiple chances in the lottery in the
last 6
> years and Pitino/Walrus blew nearly all of them. Now we're out of the
lottery
> and in the lux tax territory with nothing to show for it, with the fine
job the
> BDT has done.
>
> --- You wrote:
> It is also possible that without Walker, Obie would switch to an entirely
> different offense.  But that too, does not seem probable as I still
> have visions of Wallace and Obie smugly anticipating how their 7' 2''
> find, Sundov, was going to launch a zillion 3's over the heads of all
> those helpless little perimeter defenders.
> --- end of quote ---
>
> And he would be, if not for that unfortunate injury that landed him on the
IL.
> In shootarounds with ballboys defending him, I meant.
> Kestas