Re: Buddy Thomas: Celtics Should Trade Antoine

["DJB"<dajubo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This guy has no credibility if he is judging Stackhouse on that one game. I'll
take Pierce or Walker any day. After all, Stackhouse was sitting home,
watching Pierce and Walker in the Eastern COnference finals.

-David

On Fri, 10 Jan 2003 10:11:41 -0500 Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>
wrote:

> http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-03/01-09-03/b01sp083.htm
> 
> Thanks to Boston Sports Media Watch
> 
> Celtics could learn from this Stackhouse deal
> Buddy Thomas - New Bedford Standard Times
> 
>  This just in.
>  Jerry Stackhouse is pretty good.
>  Forget the fact the Wizards' swingman played
> second fiddle to Michael
> Jordan in the credit department following
> Washington's five-point
> victory over the Boston Celtics last Monday
> night. From my vantage point
> four rows behind the visitors' basket, the 6-6
> Stackhouse was, by far,
> the best player on the FleetCenter floor.
>  Better than Jordan.
>  Better than Paul Pierce.
>  And better than Antoine Walker and Vin Baker
> combined.
>  With the ball, Stackhouse was virtually
> unstoppable, pouring in a
> game-high 37 points while shooting better than
> 50 percent (11 for 21)
> from the floor. From behind the 3-point line,
> he was 4-of-8 including a
> desperation heave from the corner (that hit the
> rim) while trying to
> beat the shot clock.
>  From the foul line he was a perfect 11-for-11.
> And for all the time he
> handled the ball in his 43 minutes on the
> court, Stackhouse turned the
> ball over just twice.
>  He was there in crunch time, doing for his
> team everything Walker and
> Pierce didn't do for theirs. Offensively and
> defensively, Stackhouse
> delivered.
>  Kind of makes you wonder why this outstanding
> 28-year-old player has
> been with three different teams (Philadelphia,
> Detroit and Washington)
> in his seven-year NBA career. But, if you're a
> Celtics fan like me, that
> thought also gives you hope. If a bona-fide
> star like Stackhouse can be
> traded not once but twice, why can't a
> so-called bona-fide star like
> Antoine Walker be dealt at least once?
>  The 76ers and Pistons obviously felt they
> couldn't win an NBA title
> unless they got better, so both teams traded
> the talented Stackhouse in
> an effort to move in that direction. Neither
> may reach its ultimate
> destination but at least they made a move.
>  Hopefully, the new ownership will realize the
> Celtics aren't likely to
> win an NBA championship with Walker and will be
> willing to trade the 6-9
> swingman sooner rather than later. Walker may
> be an all-star-type
> scorer, but he's a mediocre shooter who plays
> out of control and
> disappears in most clutch situations. He also
> happens to be the one
> tradable commodity who could bring the Celtics
> the one essential
> ingredient necessary to make a championship run
> -- an inside presence.
>  As presently constructed, the Celtics have no
> shot at an NBA
> championship. The only way this team will even
> make the playoffs is by
> default. (The Knicks, Cavaliers, Raptors,
> Hawks, Heat and Bulls were all
> but eliminated in November leaving nine teams
> to battle for eight
> playoff positions in the East.)
>  To advance beyond the first round, the Celtics
> need a face lift -- one
> that would include a legitimate low-post scorer
> in the starting lineup.
>  A Celtics-Clippers trade would be the ideal
> way to go. A deal that
> would bring Elton Brand to Boston for Walker
> and a No. 1 pick.
>  Brand went into the week with 372 rebounds in
> 1,296 minutes of playing
> time. By contrast, the combination of McCarty,
> Baker and Tony Battie had
> a total of 417 rebounds in 2,075 minutes. Brand
> also was averaging 18.5
> points while the Boston trio was contributing
> an average of 6.1 points.
>  Like Stackhouse, Brand was a Top 3 draft
> selection (Brand went No. 1 to
> the Bulls; Stackhouse No. 3 to the 76ers) but
> both were traded because
> their teams wanted to try and get better.
> Hopefully, the Celtics will
> finally get the message.
> 
> Buddy Thomas' column appears on Thursday in The
> Standard-Times.