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Post by mev17 on Jun 30, 2005 1:51:21 GMT -5
If we could sign-and-trade walker for a rebounder/shot-blocker like Brian Skinner I would be very pleased.
Frankly, I would rather go in a new direction than to bring Walker back. He is not a bad player, just not a good fit for this team and the style Danny is trying to install. He looked for his shot too much down the stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs. Despite repeatedly missing easy shots for most of the Pacers series, he kept looking to shoot rather than looking for teammates whe were shooting better than he. He has a poor grasp on when to shoot and when to pass.
Plus after the initial 11-1 streak, we settled back down to a 7-8 record the rest of the way (including a 4 game losing streak prior to his injury where he took 20 or more shots each game) and lost 4 out of the six games he played in against Indiana. So the boost was only a temporary one -- and he did not single handedly win those 11 games; after that we once again played sub-.500 ball with him in the lineup. I even read Ainge quoted in the Globe or Herald towards the end of the year that he felt Walker reverted to old habits.
Antoinne is a good guy off the court, but on the court he often whines to officials about calls and drawing technicals plus getting himself suspended for a key playoff game was not an example of the type of leadership we need for our young players. Dallas was no better for acquiring Walker, nor was Atlanta. They weren't worse for acquiring him, but did not improve either. Like I said, we had a quick boost, but had no sustained improvement as a team with Walker. And Walker said in the papers at the end of the season that he wanted to sign a contract for the rest of his career, not just a one or two year deal so I don't see signing Walker working out. I doubt he would be happy being AJ's back up two years from now, and even if he did I don't want to be paying him $7-9 million a year in two years so he can be a back up.
Bottom line, my feelings about Walker are similar to many posters' feelings about Gary Payton -- a decent veteran who gave us a good effort, but we are better off moving on in a new direction.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 30, 2005 2:08:54 GMT -5
Very well said, Mev. Gave you a karma pont for that one. Couldn't have said it better myself. Walker served his time here. Now its time to move on to a different era of basketball in Boston.
We need a veteran big man who shows professionalism off and on the court. He may be a big brother on and off the court, but not necessarily professional.
Skinner isn't my top choice, but he may fit the bill. I'm hoping there's a way to get PJ Brown.
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Post by mev17 on Jun 30, 2005 2:14:57 GMT -5
Very well said, Mev. Gave you a karma pont for that one. Couldn't have said it better myself. Walker served his time here. Now its time to move on to a different era of basketball in Boston. We need a veteran big man who shows professionalism off and on the court. He may be a big brother on and off the court, but not necessarily professional. Skinner isn't my top choice, but he may fit the bill. I'm hoping there's a way to get PJ Brown. I would love to get PJ Brown. Even though he is older (35 or 36 I believe) the past four years have been his four best rebounding years and he has played 80+ games per season in that stretch. He has good size at 6' 10" and is a relentless inside worker who does not need the ball in his hands a lot on offense. I also read some trade rumors regarding Maggliore, who wouldn't be shabby either. So here's a Karma point back. ;D |
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 30, 2005 3:58:49 GMT -5
Ouch, you hit me in the eye with that karma point!
Magloire right now is an upgrade over Perkins, so it'd be a smart move. If Perkins moves ahead of him in the future, we can move Magloire to the bench and have a strong backup big man. That'll work.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2005 11:10:08 GMT -5
I rather not sign walker so they can let the kids grow more with the expendable playing time.
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Post by meltinjohn on Jun 30, 2005 18:32:07 GMT -5
Walker for Magliore isnt enough for NO.
SKinner for Walker, you bet I'd want that!
Corliss or SKinner would be great. Any locker room presense who is a leader defensively is badly needed. SKinner, Corliss, PJ Brown, M, Rose all come to mind.
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Post by freshnthehouse on Jul 1, 2005 19:41:01 GMT -5
I'm on Board with Celtic17 on this one. The farther away from Boston the better. This guy isn't going to change. Hes approaching his 10th year in the league and nothing changed yet. I don't want him around any of our young guys, period. Take a good look at Antione's Ft % to see how much he works on his game. Disgusting. And I don't buy this,"now that we have a good coach, theyll be able to demand that he change." Sure. Ask Pitino what happens when you demand things from Walker. Things go south in a hurry. Mark my words, as long as he is in Boston, his pride won't let him be anything but a top 2 option on this team. He will not just all of a sudden decide to be a role player. Frankly, he is very talented to settle for a role player position. But mark my words, any team that has AW as one of its cornerstones will never succeed. Let him go somewhere else.
And I agree with Derren on PJ Brown. Id love to see the Celtics pick him up somehow. He's the kind of influence the youngns need. PJ has basically made a career on nothing but hard work. Was he even drafted? If PJs not available, id like to see DA make a run at Dale Davis.
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Post by Celtic17 on Jul 1, 2005 20:15:29 GMT -5
I hope our boat isn't sinking FreshN... I don't think AW has T&S value. If DA signs him at MLE, G-forbid, we won't get that back in a trade unless we give up one of our young guys. Let AW walk with GP...  |
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Post by freshnthehouse on Jul 1, 2005 20:18:50 GMT -5
No doubt. I fthere is a sign and trade to be made, great, but I hope that DA doesn't hesitate to show AW the door. he'll take a lot of heat from the fair-weather fans, but what's their opinion worth?
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Post by Celtic17 on Jul 1, 2005 20:30:12 GMT -5
Toine?  |
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Post by freshnthehouse on Jul 1, 2005 20:41:06 GMT -5
Too bad Obrein got canned in Philadelphia. He would be any easy mark to take antione in a sign-n-trade. Poss get Mark Jackson out of them? Not that they need another forward, but the Obster was never much logic when 3-point shooting PFs were concerned.
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Post by Celtic17 on Jul 1, 2005 20:58:36 GMT -5
Are you trying to get us in trouble w/ the AW fans, FreshN? I tend to be a Boston Celtic fan, myself. I see that in you too.   |
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Post by meltinjohn on Jul 2, 2005 0:54:24 GMT -5
Walker will never change his game. That you can count on. This puts him in the same category as Sprewell. Wanting good salary plus never wanting to be on the bench. Walker and Sprewell are 2 rejects no team wants right now but maybe 1 or 2. Walker is on NYs wish list and possibly Sacramento. Sprewells value is maybe 1 team. Cleveland if they don't sign another younger sg to go with LBJ.
Between those 2, they have to be the biggest rejects in the league for #2 options.
Get him out of here! Sure if a s&t can be worked out, take it. If not, then let Antoine walk. Hes just not worth any more headaches. Off the court now, I'm sure Antoine is a great guy. Probably so much different than how you see him acting on the court. So is Artest.
You can be all that but what matters most is how you conduct yourself on the court.It didn't matter that Bird was a deadbeat dad, he conducted himself professionally on the court. That matters more.
When Pitino had Walker as a cornerstone even as a young talent, it was sh|tty. Never won until they actually got deep in talent. Walker was always meant to be a player who was supposed to do less and still help the team. I viewed him as a little oversized coming into the league. I never imagined a player of his caliber and frame to do what hes been doing like ball handling and 1000 3 point attempts per year. He was put into the wrong situations forever.
I blame Pitino for 100% of it. Even in this new system, Walker won't obey. Old habits are old habits especially in the nba. Thats all I got to say about that.
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Post by freshnthehouse on Jul 2, 2005 1:10:07 GMT -5
I'll be the first person to say that Antione has many wonderful traits. He never misses games, he'll take big shots, he passes and dribbles well for a big man, and he is a decent def. rebounder. But his negatives just aren't worth having around.
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Post by freshnthehouse on Jul 2, 2005 1:12:20 GMT -5
If walker had been in any other situation than the one he was in, he never wouldve put up these numbers over the years. We were so devoid of talent at that time that Walker was put on way too high of a pedestal. He should a rich man's Walt Williams right now.
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