Re: Walker

["Dan Forant" <dforant1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey, I've been on this band wagon for a long time. Trade the pain in the
ass. Build the team around Pierce and get a few bonifide players to support
him. This cast of characters will keep us in the lower bracket of playoffs
till Pierce is on Social Security.

DanF

----- Original Message -----
From: "Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 10:38 AM
Subject: Re: Walker


> Well, I agree with the first sentence. Walker needs to be traded.
>
> The rest of it just doesn't wash with me. Granted, the officials hate
> Antoine. He has brought that on himself through the years and he continues
> to do it. He constantly complains, bitches, stares at and tries to
> intimidate the officials. He leads the league in technical fouls by a wide
> margin this season. If he would change his behavior, maybe they'd change
> their opinion.
>
> Does it have an impact on what calls he gets or doesn't get? Probably. But
> not as much as you or many fans suggest. You point to the play near the
end
> of the third quarter, and I agree that was a great example. You say it
> clearly was a foul on Martin. But Antoine put his head down and charged
> blindly into Martin's chest. No one gets that call. Antoine was frustrated
> and he turned into a bull in a china shop. He probably should have been
> called for an offensive foul before Martin stripped him of the ball.
>
> Antoine either doesn't try or doesn't know how to draw fouls. I've posted
> about this before. I think it goes back to earlier in his career when he
was
> such a terrible free throw shooter (he's regressing to that form this
> season). He really was awful back then-Shaq kind of bad. He didn't want to
> go to the line. So he tried to get the shot off quickly without absorbing
> any contact. It created some bad habits, so that now, even when he does
> attack the basket, he still tends to rush the shot. He has gotten better,
> but he's still not great. Tommy used to harp on Antoine using a fake, but
> I'd contend that Antoine didn't want to use a fake back then because there
> was a good chance he'd get fouled-not the outcome he wanted.
>
> You couple this with the fact that Antoine more and more has become a
> perimeter player, and suddenly you realize why he scores the lowest
> percentage of points at the free throw line in the NBA (that's a true stat
> that I saw for the first time this week-Antoine scores only 10 percent of
> his points from the line).
>
> Yes, Antoine needs to be traded, but not because of some vast conspiracy
> against him on the part of the officials. He needs to be traded because he
> still has far too many games like last night (how many stars have as many
> truly terrible games as Antoine?). He needs to be traded because this line
> (9-for-23, 2-for-7 on threes, 2-for-3 FTs, 5 rebs., 2 assts, 5 TOs) has
> become the norm. I'm amazed at how many people still see games where
Antoine
> makes less than 40 percent of his shots and say "Antoine had a bad
shooting
> night." Wrong! Antoine had an average shooting night. Those aren't bad
games
> for him. They're typical.
>
> Anyway, expect Antoine to play damn near 48 minutes and do pretty much
> whatever the hell he pleases Saturday night in the wake of his flare-up
over
> his benching last night. He was 3-for-15, had four fouls, just one assist,
> and was getting abused on both ends by Martin, but he's pissed at Obie for
> benching him. Obie better be careful, the last guy who tried to coach
> Antoine is in Louisville now.
>
> As for last night, the "tired" excuse that Shira tried her best to give
the
> team doesn't wash. They were pretty well rested the night before, the trip
> to Jersey isn't tough and Jersey has been struggling. They just stunk.
This
> is a great example of one of those tests of mental toughness that last
> year's team would have handled. They might not have won the game, but they
> would have battled to the end. This year's team just doesn't have that
same
> commitment. It's a slight difference, but the Celts aren't good enough to
> win with anything but complete focus and toughness.
>
> Mark
>
> P.S. It'll never happen, but I've been playing around with some Antoine
> trades on RealGM, looking at teams that might have an interest and a
match.
> How about Chicago, with the Bulls sending Jamaal Crawford and Tyson
Chandler
> back as the keys to a package for Antoine. Chicago would get the "star"
they
> need, and a hometown guy who could replace Chandler at PF. They could
settle
> their PG problem by giving the job to Jay Williams. And with Williams,
> Walker, Rose and Eddy Curry, they'd be four-fifths of the way to a good
> starting five. Boston would get their long-term point guard in Crawford
and
> a long, athletic, high-upside PF in Chandler. They fill the two spots you
> have to fill with any Antoine trade. You'd have to build a little around
the
> edges (Eddie Robinson) to make the salary work, but doesn't this make
sense
> for everyone? I'm just dreaming, I know, but after nights like last night,
> it's all I have...