Re: Re: Inefficient Scoring and Toine

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Kim, I'm not so sure the opposite isn't true. I think the perception of
Antoine changed for some because the realization gradually set in, over
time, that he wasn't going to change. The arguments always were, "He's a
rookie..." "He's just in his second season... " "He's only 22 years old... "
"He's only 23 years old... " Eventually, those arguments wear out and you're
left with what he is. He teases us, but is he that much different than he
was in 1996? He's more mature, but he still leads the league in technicals
(Rasheed Wallace has seven this season; Antoine has 19). The inevitability
of Antoine has dulled everyone to all of his shortcomings. It's happening
for some with Baker. They know he's going to be here, there's nothing to do
about it, so they seem blind to his obvious problems.

Anyway, Antoine can be great. The game Kestas is referring to against the
Wizards last season was the single best game of his career and should be a
blueprint for him. He took one 3-pointer in that game, made a living in the
post, shot a great percentage, got to the free throw line, scored 30 points
(on something like 15 FGA), grabbed a bunch of rebounds and absolutely
controlled the game. And it lasted one game. That's Antoine. I haven't
"slotted him." Antoine slotted himself.

Mark 

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Kim wrote:

I'm actually at a lot of the games. I don't think he plays that much
differently for national boadcasts, and is actually enough of a natural
play-to-the-crowd ham that he'd be apt to go the other way.

I think the disconnect is that some people slotted him permanently during
his early years when he might tempt us with very brief stretches of more in
control play, and they see him through that perception or concentrate on how
he's not their idea of a perfect player vs seeing what's how he really looks
today. Toine's always going to do things you wish he wouldn't, but he
actually is a lot more mature and in control, even with things like how he
treats the refs.