04/25/24
March 09, 2004
'Toine goes off in the Locker Room: after a night of only 18 minutes and six points. What do you do when a star like Walker goes through a rough period and you need to win (or, well, you know, try at least) some big games? I gotta go with Don Nelson's (prodigious) gut instinct here.
posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 04:09 PM - 6 comments
I love the phrase "unfuck things". 'tione's been cold for a long while now (with a couple of exceptions, but those are always one-offs). Finley's been hot! hot! hot! lately. I think the biggest problem with Walker is that he just doesn't look like he's trying very hard, and this is on a team where it's pretty understood that unless you're one of the big three, you've got to bust your ass to get minutes, like Scott Williams and Josh Howard have done. I just hope it doesn't cause a big rift in things as we're fighting for playoff position.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:37 PM on March 09, 2004
One of the things I've noticed by playing fantasy basketball this season is how different coaches approach their rotation. Don Nelson and Larry Brown seem to be the two most willing to vary the minutes of their players, often on a nightly basis. I think it adds a sense of accountability for the vets and a sense of opportunity for the scrubs. Toine obviously doesn't agree: "...but going back and forth with the coaches, I'm way beyond that in my career..." Oh well, play better and you won't have to!
posted by dusted at 10:28 AM on March 10, 2004
Yeah, Nelson is notorious for tweaking the starting line-ups/minutes on pretty much a nightly basis. That's what happens when you've got a lot of good players and a lot of key role-players, ntm a couple of injuries and no solid center. And it's funny to see the differences between Antoine and Antawn. When Jamison hit a slippery patch a few months ago, he took his reduced minutes and reduced shots and got over it. Same way he had no problem becoming the #6 man instead of the #1 man. I've said it before, but barring a championship and a paycut, Walker isn't going to be a Mav next year.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:37 AM on March 10, 2004
he just doesn't look like he's trying very hard Exactly. Like Bledsoe-Brady, one of the great rifts among Boston sports fans is loving or hating Walker. There were plenty of people who never got past the look of his game. I would hope some of those people woke up this year when they saw how much trouble Paul Pierce has getting open without Antoine. None of which excuses bitching about playing time when you're cold.
posted by yerfatma at 10:42 AM on March 10, 2004
I don't think Walker is handling the situation badly. From my read of the piece, he's never had to play his way off the bench in his career, and it's beating him down. The Mavs, though, aren't going anywhere in the playoffs with an 11-19 road record.
posted by rcade at 11:29 AM on March 10, 2004
I feel bad for 'Toine as a Celts fan, but this isn't the shitty Celtics he plays for now and when he hits a bad streak he's not going to be left out there for 40 minutes a night. There are plenty of other guys on that team who can fill the basket. He had weeks, maybe even months where his shot selection/ shooting percentage sucked and he looked bad. Dallas doesn't have time to let him unfuck things.