Challenge accepted Mike.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
The Shimmy
"Can ESPN start a dedicated page, much like the Heat Index, that just tracks the triumphant return of Antoine Walker?" - Commenter "Mike" in the DDL chat on ESPN.
Challenge accepted Mike.
Challenge accepted Mike.
Wednesday was my Christmas
This was supposed to come out on the same night Antoine played his first D-League game, but exams kicked the shit out of me for a bit so this site had to go on the backburner.
A quick introduction for a man who needs none:
A three-time all-star in Boston, Antoine bounced around the league after being traded to the Mavs in '03 before landing in Miami as a piece of the largest trade in NBA history. In 2006, he won a ring with the Heat as their third-leading playoff scorer. Since then he was traded to Minnesota and then Memphis, where he sat on the bench for a month, before falling off the NBA map.
Over the past couple of years, Walker has resurfaced intermittently to claim headlines. First, there was news of his bankruptcy and then, his failed stint in the Puerto Rican league. After that, we heard that he was getting "serious", training with Tim Grover in Chicago and was hoping for an invitation to Bobcats training camp from "friend" and team owner Michael Jordan. He didn't get one.
Still, all hope wasn't lost and, October 29, Scott Schroeder of FanHouse reported that 'Toine planned to sign a D-league contract in a last-ditch attempt to make it back into the NBA. Waiting with baited breath for confirmation, we heard nothing for five days, until December 4, when Kurt Helin reported that Employee #8 would, in fact, be employed once again, having passed the D-League's background check. Walker was snapped up off of waivers by the then 0-7 Idaho Stampede, and played his first game on Wednesday.
Walker was unspectacular in his D-League debut, his shooting touch was way off, but he made some smart plays, and impressively, he showed a willingness to be a good teammate. Going out of his way to dole out high-fives and encouragement.
Since then he's played four more games and currently boasts (wc?) a 16.8 ppg scoring average along with 6.2 rpg and 3.4 apg, but is shooting .458 from the field and .500 from the line.
His latest game was probably the most Walkerian of the small D-league sample to date:
Plenty of points, assists, and rebounds, alongside a loss, with far too-many turnovers, three-pointers and missed shots. Still, Antoine convinced a number of GM's to keep him employed for 12 years posting lines like this, so who's to say it won't earn him a call-up eventually?
A quick introduction for a man who needs none:
A three-time all-star in Boston, Antoine bounced around the league after being traded to the Mavs in '03 before landing in Miami as a piece of the largest trade in NBA history. In 2006, he won a ring with the Heat as their third-leading playoff scorer. Since then he was traded to Minnesota and then Memphis, where he sat on the bench for a month, before falling off the NBA map.
Over the past couple of years, Walker has resurfaced intermittently to claim headlines. First, there was news of his bankruptcy and then, his failed stint in the Puerto Rican league. After that, we heard that he was getting "serious", training with Tim Grover in Chicago and was hoping for an invitation to Bobcats training camp from "friend" and team owner Michael Jordan. He didn't get one.
Still, all hope wasn't lost and, October 29, Scott Schroeder of FanHouse reported that 'Toine planned to sign a D-league contract in a last-ditch attempt to make it back into the NBA. Waiting with baited breath for confirmation, we heard nothing for five days, until December 4, when Kurt Helin reported that Employee #8 would, in fact, be employed once again, having passed the D-League's background check. Walker was snapped up off of waivers by the then 0-7 Idaho Stampede, and played his first game on Wednesday.
Walker was unspectacular in his D-League debut, his shooting touch was way off, but he made some smart plays, and impressively, he showed a willingness to be a good teammate. Going out of his way to dole out high-fives and encouragement.
Since then he's played four more games and currently boasts (wc?) a 16.8 ppg scoring average along with 6.2 rpg and 3.4 apg, but is shooting .458 from the field and .500 from the line.
His latest game was probably the most Walkerian of the small D-league sample to date:
| Date | Opponent | Result | min | fgm-a | 3pm-a | ftm-a | off | def | reb | ast | stl | blk | to | pf | pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 18 | @ SPG | L 102 - 109 | 46 | 10-22 | 6-12 | 1-2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 27 |
Plenty of points, assists, and rebounds, alongside a loss, with far too-many turnovers, three-pointers and missed shots. Still, Antoine convinced a number of GM's to keep him employed for 12 years posting lines like this, so who's to say it won't earn him a call-up eventually?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)