Re: The Boston Celtics Mailing List Digest V10 #10

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

< I don't like Grant. He isn't worth a Walker type talent. Statistics 
can be decieving. > - Pete

Yikes, I surrender.  

Pete - I doubt very much that any such major trade will take place 
this season barring a complete collapse of our team.  And I do hear 
what both you and Kestas are saying - woe unto he who is stupid 
enough to trade one Mickey Mantle baseball card for five Trot Nixons.  
But then AW is no Mickey Mantle as his all-around skills seem to 
diminish with each passing day.

< Walker demands a Gary Payton, Steve Francis or Rasheed Wallace 
type of talent.. Not some hard working 10.1 ppg stiff. > - Pete

Try and demand a Payton, Francis, or Wallace straight up for Walker. 
Toine is NOT for every team.  He is a specialty item, a luxury who 
most intelligent teams would likely not choose to add to their mix.  
That is, unless like us they are willing to build their entire offense 
around his  "unique "  skill set, i.e. floor anarchy.  They would also 
have to be prepared to surround Walker with blue collars and non-ego 
types like Battie who are willing and able to cover his defensive 
deficiencies, anemic shot blocking, and undernourished rebounding. 
And any team who trades for AW also better damn well have a 
shooting guard like Pierce who is able to outrebound him, outscore 
him, out shot block him, out assist him, and draw three-man coverage 
allowing him the luxury of all those missed open shots.  

One reason Baker does not see more minutes is that when he and
Walker are in there together, our Harter D falls apart.  Yet stranger
than fiction, our team remains all about Walker.  I am tired of it 
simply because IT DOES NOT WORK.  And it would not have worked 
last season either had so many other superior teams not suffered 
injuries to key players. Despite Walker's dismal .388 FG%, .326 3P%,
 .662 FT%, reduced rebounds (7.50 per game) and assists (4.4 per 
game), Obie continues to place his favorite inmate in charge of the 
offensive asylum.  After stating he would attempt to play the 
Toine less minutes, when down by 30 in the 4th quarter against 
Dallas, who was still on the court desperately seeking to pad his 
4-14 shooting, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds night?
 
< For example you could make a case that Tony Battie is a better        
player then Walker. > - Pete

I can't, but wish I could.  Battie is actually my second favorite 
Celtic, the key to the Harter defense.  I feel that if Battie went 
down for the season it would be every bit as devastating to us as
losing Toine.  

< For whatever reason when things go bad there is some great 
push to trade our stars. >  -Pete

Pete, I do not feel mine is merely a simple Johnny-come-lately
knee-jerk reaction to things temporarily going bad.  I have been 
anticipating our ultimate demise since the Baker trade, the 
Rogers non-signing, and our failure to address our two biggest needs.  
As all but the BT realized, we remain D E S P E R A T E for a floor 
general and competitive rebounder.  When Bremer actually looked 
good to us last night, it should have sent a spine-tingling message 
concerning the PG skills of Delk and SWill.  As presently constructed, 
our parts DO NOT and WILL NOT WORK no matter how much we 
wish they would.  

Recent unproductive drafts, the unfathomable FA signings, 
and the ultimate  "piece OF resistance "  Baker trade have left 
us with few trading chips.  I do not know of any other way in 
which to bail out of this mess then to trade either Walker or 
Pierce.  And my instincts tell me that Pierce IS our team - 
miles more effective and productive at his position than Toine 
is at his.  Their season stats are so similar that one can only 
question which one is the PF and which one is the SG?  The mere 
classification of Walker as a PF alternately furrows my brow 
and causes uncontrollable giggles.
  
Trade Walker for a Gary Payton?  Then who would serve as our PF - 
career fifteenth man McCarty recently promoted to sixth man 
out of default?  More likely, we would have to trade AW for TWO 
players who would hopefully execute their individual specialties 
(rebounds and assists) more efficiently than jack-of-all-trades, 
master-of-none Walker.  

< Walker brings intangibles to the table a guy like Grant doesn't.  
Walker is a winner, Walker is competitive and Walker is a 
versatile player. Plus Walker likes being a Celtic. Grant has none          
of these qualities. > - Pete                        

Walker does have intangibles, and 25% of them are even positive.  
Meanwhile, I think you are underestimating your  "none of these 
qualities "  Brian Grant and overestimating "winner"  Walker. 

Of the players who we might have a chance of obtaining in a trade 
for AW, there is a lot to like about Grant beyond his currently     
being the 4th best rebounder in the NBA, his impressive .511 FG%,  
and his cool hair.  Bring him on and let us see how many ppg he 
might average if he were given the green light to take only half 
as many shots per game as Walker.  

Perhaps it is naive of me to consider character,  but it really adds 
a lot more fun and purity when I am able to actually respect the 
players on my favorite team.  Your dissed Grant may not have AW's 
swagger, versatility, mouth, perfectly sculptured little ears, and
sway with Obie, but he is certainly not the STIFF you and Kestas 
would paint him as being. He is a leader and a good citizen type.  Also,
to strengthen what you consider my sucky suggestion, did you find 
Joe Schaller's comments (Total Performance Ratings in Tammo's 
post) distasteful that he currently ranks Grant with an all-star 
performance at 105, and Walker only with 91?  Viva Schaller!

Still Grant's self-appointed PR agent on this sunny Monday morning, 
I hereby submit -

- Grant won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for the
1998-99 season in recognition of his outstanding community 
service and charitable work                          

- His Brian Grant Foundation provides dinners for families involved 
with Mothers Against Gang Violence in Northeast Portland

- His "Brian's Bash" golf tournament raised over $200,000 for 
the Ronald McDonald Houses

- Started a "Scholastic Attendance Program" in Portland to 
encourage students to attend class and rewarded their attendance 
with tickets to Blazers games

FINAL THOUGHT: As Kestas stated - 
 "stats don't transfer from one team to another, and especially, 
from one situation (role player) to another (star). "

I guess I am just a little bit confused as to who - Grant the 
 "role player "  or Walker  "the star "  is better able to add more 
to and subtract less from our team's overall well-being.  

Egg