Great column by D'Alessandro on Antoine

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

I love the anonymous coach's quote about the "pact with the devil." Bingo!
Of course, for the single best look at Antoine I've seen in quite a while,
we have to go to a New Jersey newspaper.

Mark


D'Alessandro: Walker's erratic shot selection leaves you scratching your
head 

Wednesday, May 07, 2003

BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO 
Star-Ledger Staff 

You look at Jim O'Brien and you wonder how he does it. How he tolerates it.
How he can ever coach the guy without the need of a daily Thorazine drip.
Jim O'Brien looks back at you as if you're the crazy one, and by the way,
stop your stupid line of questioning. 

But the 3s, Jim, the 3s, you remind him. You're the purist -- most coaches
have to be -- and to see how Antoine Walker abuses the privilege must drive
you absolutely mental. The ones out of his range. The pull-ups in
transition. The quick releases with 18 on the shot clock. 

"We can be here until 6 o'clock tonight," O'Brien stonewalled, "and I'll
give you the same answer." 

Which is no answer. Not one that provides any elucidation, anyway. 

"We have a philosophy on our team that goes for everybody: They have a green
light to shoot the 3. We like quality 3s, inside-outside (off) penetration,
or stand-still open 3s," the Celtics coach explained. 

"The other day, I was asked by the TNT crew, 'Because you're going to play
the Nets, are you going to change your 3-point philosophy?' I find that to
be an absurd question. Why would we upset Indiana by getting quality looks
at the 3, and then change our philosophy in midstream?" 

Okay, then try this tack. If the selection was less than, uh, agreeable,
would you admit it? 

"To you? No," O'Brien said. "I don't make it a habit of critiquing my
players publicly. But our guys are held accountable for every phase of the
game, and they know that." 

If that's the case, Walker would seem to have a lot of bad karma to burn
off. Some of it is a result of Game 1 against the Nets, when he shot
6-for-20 overall and 1-for-7 from international waters. But it goes beyond
Monday night, as you know, because Walker's mindless shot selection has been
a career-long pattern. You also know he is one of the game's most enigmatic
players, a uniquely gifted athlete who is a triple-double threat every time
he takes the court. 

The problem is his infatuation with 3-pointers. He once said he took so many
3s "because there aren't any fours." Actually, the reason, most scouting
reports say, is that he doesn't like contact. Go figure: He has the
hip-and-butt power to create space on the blocks, box against anyone, and
his efficiency down there is devastating. 

But as Michael Jordan put it recently, "There's so much defiance. I've tried
to talk to him about (the absurdity of) a 6-foot-9 guy shooting 3-pointers,
how that's going to leave you one-dimensional. Antoine is capable of doing
more. I've seen it." 

Then you see him Monday night, and you know that the defiance is here to
stay. He scored one point in the last 20 minutes. He had shots blocked by
Kenyon Martin and Jason Collins when he tried to get to the rim, so he gave
up. He went back to launching 3s, because that's who Walker is. That's what
the Celtics are. 

Et tu, Antoine? 

"I thought it was great," he said of the shot selection. "We got good looks,
unbelievable looks. Just couldn't knock them down. It was uncharacteristic
of us." 

That's a new one on us. Boston was the league's third-worst shooting team
this year, and it ranked 21st in 3-point percentage. The Indiana series,
when four Celtics shot 40-percent or better from the arc, was more of an
aberration than an omen. 

Regardless, they let the 3s fly. Walker took more than anyone in the league
this season (582). Everyone else in the top eight hit 37 percent or better.
Walker hit only 32 percent. O'Brien lets this happen, and one coach we know
characterizes this as OB's "pact with the devil." Make no mistake, O'Brien
is among the best at what he does, this coach says, "but sometimes, you
wouldn't believe the concessions you make with some players. And don't
forget, in that conference, Antoine can win 41 games against all the bad
teams just by playing the way he does." 

There are no bad teams left, however. Not in this round. 

"It's a long series," Walker said. "I don't worry what people think." 

The series just got one game shorter. Time to start worrying.