From: Kim Malo <kimmalo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Celtics@xxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: is there...
Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 15:39:16 -0500
At 02:57 PM 11/8/2003, CeltsSteve@xxxxxxx wrote:
In a message dated 11/8/03 10:54:39 AM Pacific Standard Time,
shizzjr@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> As for Pierce and Walker being held to different standards, there''s a
reaso
> n for that. Pierce is 10 times the player Walker is. You don't hear
people
> comparing Walter McCarty to Tim Duncan and so we shouldn't hear anyone
compare
> Walker to Pierce.
Walker is gone. It's all on Paul these days, Shawn.
Hey, Brenda/Egg: The list is awaiting one of your classic, scripted
macros
on "flawed logic" re: Shawn's post. :-)
Oh come on Steve, have a heart. I'm still trying to choke down Walker is to
Pierce as McCarty is to Duncan.
Why is it that they seem to be so damned polarizing - to 'fans' of either,
any criticism, no matter how valid, of their favorite is bashing and any
praise, no matter how valid, of the other is blind worship.
The funniest thing about the above comparison is that it's actually
backward. Walker as a player is the one who should be compared to Duncan,
since the biggest virtue of both is the range of things they do very well,
vs being superb at one or two things. Not a knock on Duncan's skill level,
but it's the package that makes him the player he is vs any one skill.
While Walker has more offsetting faults, so the comparison might look
absurd to someone concentrating on those, but they're still a lot more
comparable in role than Pierce and Duncan. I'm not saying Walker's as good,
just that they are more comparable. Pierce is obviously a much much much
much better player than Walter but is closer to him, in that their best
value is in a more limited role focusing on the few things they do best.
Don't get me wrong, that's not intended as a put down of Pierce. Especially
in the light of anyone who knows my opinion of Walter as a player <g>
Pierce is obviously a very good scorer, an extremely underrated rebounder,
a good defender when he concentrates on it, but a mediocre to OK ball
handler for his position/game (that's actually an improvement - I see signs
of him working on it this past summer and give him credit for doing it),
and has also clearly seen his court vision, distribution skills, and the
sort of personal leadership that I think comes MUCH more naturally to
Walker (for good or evil) as things to work on. And again to his credit
clearly has worked on them. But that's part of the problem. Walker is at
his best the more things he does, because that range is his best asset and
it limits the degree his individual faults stand out or he concentrates on
the wrong thing. Pierce I think is trying to do too much, which emphasizes
some of the things he doesn't do as well vs concentrating on the things he
does better than almost anyone and increases his overall frustration level,
leading him to force things even more. It's growing pains, and I think it
will settle down as the rest of the team settles into their roles and he
feels more comfortable about not trying to be everything to everyone.
Kim