A L-O-N-G bye-bye to the punk.

[damekmo@teleport.com]

Now this:

www.boston.com/dailyglobe/globehtml/200/Walker_s_true_colors_have_been_reve.htm

was an article! Ryan does have an unmistakable voice when he
gets....wound-up. So...it's finally come to, "Walker's a punk?" Just a
couple thoughts. This is long, and I swear to God, I'll not repeat this
stuff again. This is day two of this diatribe. But the "punk" comment
really set me on edge.

Let me start out by saying I don't have any major disagreements with Ryan's
evaluation of Walker's game. There are holes in his game. His criticisms
are valid. My point concerning Walker is and has always been: you don't
ever give up on young talent like his. The fact that he's immature at 22 is
less surprising to me than his collection and range of talents at that age.
When you draft a 20 year-old, don't be surprised there are no certainties
about his maturity or game at age 22 or 23. You role the dice with any
decision you make, so.....I think you always bet on talent. I'll get right
into Ryan's article, but first, let me address yesterday's post by DJessen
where he says:

>Blind loyalty can cause people to abandon logic and believe a fairytale.....
>People, if Walker was just demanding 10
>million a year, you know the Celtics would be beating his door down to sign
>him. You know earlier in the year he was saying he deserves to get paid
>Garnett type money. That is the conflict. Everything else is of no
>consequence. To talk of perceived slights or anything else just spin to cover
>to what's really going on....

If Walker / Falk were beginning negotiations at $10 mil./ year they'd be
idiots. If the $105 mil./6 years numbers are true, that's almost exactly
half-way between Garnett and Wallace. And through "negotiations" I see no
reason not to assume that they'd finish closer to "Wallace money." You
speak of some of us believing fairy-tales? Here's one: Walker and Falk give
their opening proposal to management during the year. Management leaks the
figure to the press, repeats the "no contracts over $100 mil." line, don't
say another word to either Walker or Falk about the contract, and trade
talks with other teams begin. An unlikely scenario? An obvious fairy-tale?
Why not a fairy tale just as believable as the one where Walker wants
$105...end of story...he's greedy? Not as believable because it doesn't fit
the image of Walker as a greedy a-hole? What came first, the image or the
fairy-tale? Does the image cause you to believe one fairy-tale over the
other?
Now....Bob Ryan on the summer work-outs issue. Quoting Walker, he writes:

><P>3. <i> Maybe if he [Rick Pitino] said me being there would have made
>everybody else come, then maybe I would have made that sacrifice. </i><P>
>
><P>He's already failed the preliminary test of leadership. When you know
>you're the best player on the team, you shouldn't have to be told that
>your presence would be a positive influence, and you shouldn't have to be
>begged to do anything that's good for the team. <P>

Why shouldn't you be told that your presence would be a positive influence?
Here: "Antoine, I have a shooting coach coming in. I'd like to get this
done before the lockout. It's the summer, these sessions aren't mandatory,
but if you came, it would go a long way to getting everyone to come. I
really need you there." This is begging? Sounds pretty civil to me. It
assumes somebody might actually have the right to say no, might actually
have a right to make other plans which might be important to them, and
might actually deserve an explaination before they agree to the request.
But, I guess it's begging if you're stooping to the level of actually
talking to...."a punk." Wouldn't want to imply the punk deserves to be
treated with civility. The Celtics work incredibly hard, preseason and
during the season. Remember Billups' post-trade comments? Walker's worked
this way for how long? Is it unthinkable that a player needs time away from
that grueling regime, especially if he intends to play in it for a long
time? How many players in the league not only have to endure Pitino's game
plan and practices, but also have to hear him screaming for 48 mins./82
games a year? Walker's drawn a line which is his right, the work-outs are
not mandatory. He's told Pitino how that line can be crossed. The
exceptions are team oriented and he'd like to hear his coach explain.
Unreasonable? (I wonder how many other players in the league would think it
unreasonable?) I guess it is if you're "a punk." Punks just do what they're
told.

Concerning the draft, and Pierce incident:

>Pierce is a good player<b>... He's a guy who can come off the bench and
>give scoring to our second unit ... But I know our team needs. We need big
>people. </i></b><P>
>
><P><i><b>   </i></b>So he's a GM, too? He wanted Rick Pitino to draft
>Kentucky buddy Nazr Mohammed, who was such a valued prospect he went 29th
>in the draft. <P>

"So he's GM too!" Antoine Walker is the team's captain. Does the captain of
the team not have a right to voice an opinion about the future direction of
the team? Does the team's captain not have a right to voice an opinion
about a starting job? Is he "a punk" if that opinion is to give the benefit
of the doubt to a veteran? "So he's a GM, too?" Does voicing an opinion
mean that he's out of line? Does it mean that he, how should I put this,
doesn't know his place?  No Bob, he wouldn't think of getting ahead of
himself like that. Just an opinion. Not a threat to anyone's position. But
you can't trust those punks. They've always got something devious up their
sleeves.

Walker talks about wanting to win. According to Ryan:

>Oh, please. He's not yet 22 and he's played a scant two years. He's trying
>to come off sounding like a worthy 10-year veteran who has paid true dues,
>rather than a snotty punk who has no idea what it takes to win a
>championship at this level.

Bob....His coach does? The owner does? How many people in the front office
know what it takes to win a championship at this level? How many have done
it? How many have done it in the past decade? Gaston is committed to Pitino
for how much money over how many years? Anybody know what the buy-out
clause might be if the Celtics feel that Pitino was a big mistake? I'm sure
Gaston would love to be paying Pitino and his replacement at the same time.
In any case, Rick Pitino talked about winning championships at this level
with a "proven" system, wanted and got more money than Pat Riley, and
nobody thought that was funny!?! Talk about a huge leap of faith! But...a
young NBA All-Star loaded with talent talks about wanting to win, and he's
a "snotty punk." He didn't say he knew more about winning championships
than a ten year veteran, or the coach who's won so many championships at
this level. Maybe the "snotty punk" just said that he'd love to go to a
team with an acutal chance of winning, and would be willing to take less
money than the "Championship Driven" (LOL) franchise is going to offer. I
could think of a few teams that have a better chance. Maybe he could too.
But, he expressed an ambition. So he's "a SNOTTY punk." He actually said he
wants to win! Imagine?!?

Look, I'll cut this off now. I think Walker is gone. He has opinions about
what his "betters" do, and he's a punk. He expresses ambitions, and he's a
snotty punk. We know what the Celtics wont pay Walker, so it naturally
follows that he's a greedy punk. Some advice for Paul Pierce. Don't ever
express any ideas, desires, ambitions or opinions. Some of those fans and
writers in Boston might actually suspect you're trying to be, human. Just
like them. That automatically makes you....a punk.

Paul M.