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Peter May: Walker Voices Frustration
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
HAWKS 77, CELTICS 70
Celtics, fans turn ugly
Walker voices frustrations after grim loss
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 04/15/99
The captain has had enough. The
coach says the captain has had
enough. Antoine Walker and Rick Pitino
took turns last night wondering about the
so-called home-court advantage in the NBA,
something that is very much missing in the
FleetCenter these days.
With the smallest crowd in the Pitino Era
(15,364) looking on, and noisemakers
targeting a struggling Walker (3 of 12
from the floor) from the first quarter on,
the Celtics dropped a demoralizing 77-70
decision to the very undermanned Atlanta
Hawks. Afterward, Pitino and Walker each
addressed what has become a thorny issue:
the ongoing booing of Walker and the team,
a situation that prompted the coach at the
end of the game to turn to a disgruntled
fan and shout, ''Why don't you go home?''
In addition, Walker offered the somewhat
startling observation that he no longer
considers himself the main offensive
option on the team. He barely leads Ron
Mercer in field goal attempts, although he
has been the Celtics' leading scorer all
season. He also said he still is adjusting
to this situation, adding, ''I'm trying to
figure out what my role is on this team
... I don't know yet. I'm in the process
of trying to figure that out.''
Walker, who is making $2 million this
season but signed a six-year, $71 million
extension this past offseason, was an easy
target last night, turning in one of his
more dreadful games of the year. He had 6
points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist in 33
foul-plagued minutes. But the fans were on
him uncommonly early, starting with
Boston's hideous 12-point first quarter
and again at the end, when Atlanta went on
a 9-0 run over the final 3:39 to settle
things.
Pitino, who prefaced his remarks by noting
there have been times that the team and
Walker have deserved the boos,
nevertheless said he thought the fans went
a bit overboard.
''The kid [Walker] is not going to want to
do anything out there. He's going to be
afraid, tentative,'' Pitino said. ''Cut
him a break a little bit because he's
trying awfully hard out there.''
Addressing the crowd issue, Walker said,
''How would you feel if you were out
there, trying hard, and you're getting
booed every time you miss a shot? Put
yourself in my place. I enjoy basketball.
I love playing basketball. But it's
uncomfortable ... Maybe I'm not the type
of player Boston fans want. They have high
standards and I'm going to try and meet
them.''
He added, ''It's to the point, where, if I
have a bad game, boo me. I take a shot you
don't like, so you boo? That may be the
play that's called. It's ridiculous. If
you're going to come to the game and do
that ... we need the fans' support. We're
a young team. Last year, this was a very
difficult place to play [for opponents].
Unfortunately, it's not that way this
year.''
No, it isn't. The Celtics dropped to 8-10
at home. The Hawks were missing three
starters, including their top two scorers
and had played the night before. But one
of the Celtics' goals for the game was to
not get dominated on the boards, which is
what happened the last time the teams met
and is exactly what Atlanta did again last
night. The Hawks had a 51-40 rebounding
advantage and got some huge offensive
rebounds in the final two minutes,
allowing them to keep the ball and work
the clock.
The Celtics trailed most of the game, but
led, 70-68, after a free throw by Vitaly
Potapenko with 3:39 left. They didn't
score again, missing their last four
shots. Mookie Blaylock (5 of 17) hit a
layup to tie the score, then, after the
ultra-long Atlanta possession resulting
from three offensive rebounds, Grant Long
broke the final tie with two free throws
with 1:17 to play.
Paul Pierce (16 points, 8 rebounds) then
missed and Chris Crawford (a career-high
17 points) added a second-chance trey with
18.2 seconds left to make it 75-70. That
was it. Ed Gray added two inconsequential
free throws with 7.7 seconds left to
account for the final totals as Atlanta
ended a four-game losing streak.
Mercer led Boston with 19 points (on 22
shots), but it was a clearly agitated and
pained Walker who held court afterward. He
said the team had just won four of five,
so why were people booing so early? He
said it's not only affecting him, but the
team. He said the team gets rough
treatment on the road and doesn't need a
similar response at home.
And he talked about his changing role, one
which, he says, merely adds to the overall
state of confusion on this very young
team.
''We don't have roles on this team,'' he
said. ''Every night it's different. You
see veteran teams like Orlando and Miami
and they have the same guys doing the same
things every night. That's what we need.
''I enjoy being the number one option. I
like having that type of pressure on me.
But, like I said, unfortunately, it's not
that way this year. We've got other guys
who can score, so I have to figure out
what my role is going to be. It may be
best for me to be the number two option.
It can be a number of different things.''
Last night, he was a lot of things, but
not many were good. The same can be said
for his teammates. This was one they
logically should have won, given Atlanta's
hobbled state and their own recent
improved play. They didn't, which again
drives home how far they still have to go.
This story ran on page C01 of the Boston
Globe on 04/15/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.