Walker Trades o' Plenty

Well it's that time of year again where rumors of Toine being traded for a bag of potato chips are as frequent as REALGM Posters putting up bad jokes. So let's see the type of trades that I(personally) have read/heard about :

1.) Walker for Dunleavy(jr.)/Murphy

2.) Walker(in a package) for Artest

3.) Walker for Ricky Davis

4.) Walker for Juwan Howard

5.) Walker for Etan Thomas/JCN

6.) Buyout Walker's contract


Well I believe at this point that it's safe to say that none of those deals will happen. Really no surprise there since no one wants Walker except Miami fans and that is they want Walker....to leave.

But let's look at other things going on here...

Kapono as we all know is history and is now drinking some molson ice up in Canada, ey? I wish him all the best but I still think he'll regret his choice when he sees just how big a difference Canadian girls are to Miami's smoking ones. heheh....

We've lost out on a bunch of FA whom we coveted, some 'cause of a failure to act quickly and others like Steve Francis and Mo Williams who used the Heat as leverage to get a better deal. As a result of all that, who do we end up with in the end? A Man Named Smush and for some reason I think of that G.Cracker poster and his pictures of feces whenever I see that name(smush). Excuse me but Smush is supposed to be Posey's replacement? He's supposed to be JWill's backup? oh heaven help us.

I do hope Pat Riley has another deal up his sleeve 'cause the Heat cannot go into next season with just one minor move like this. And No...I hope that rumored JWill-for-Pietrus/Jasekivicus(sp?) deal isn't real either(that's just dumb 'cause then we'd be left with Parker running the point with the Heat once again having no backup whatsover).

Moving on, I have to make some comments regarding the horrific incident that Walker went through with those thieves. First off, I'm very relieved that he escaped unharmed(though a bit shaken) and also glad he decided to get the hell out of that dump and move elsewhere(bet a week's salary he doesn't tell ANYONE where he's moving). I have heard plenty of rumors as to the motive behind this crime and I tend to agree that it was most likely close family members or very close so-called friends who took advantage of the situation considering they knew at what time Walker was alone and was definitely not expecting this.

Hearing about this is bad enough but going on the internet and reading the messageboards.....AND SEEING PEOPLE MOCK HIS SITUATION is....well.....just plain sad and represents how callous and heartless (not to mention BRAINLESS) fans can be. It's come to a point where Fans either can't or don't want to separate The Game from REALITY 'cause they just want another reason to trash a player just 'cause he hasn't lived up to their unrealistic expectations. I'm sure that if it happened to them and they went online and saw their situation being mocked, they wouldn't be too jovial about it either. But as it always is, if it doesn't happen to you, it's okay to joke about it. That's "their" rationale.


Now....going back to the trade-walker situation, I can't believe the garbage I've been reading from fans. They trash him 'cause of the lousy season he had last year(nevermind that the stupid "new ball" messed him up during that time) and ignore that he was the only one to really show up for the '07 Playoffs aside from Shaq/Wade. But yet I read that he didn't do much of anything and they bring up the pointless stats showing his low-scoring average(whoopty-fuking-do) during the postseason...nevermind that that is more points he scored than his so-called Teammates last postseason(Wade/Shaq notwithstanding) and that he played his ass off in trying desperately to help the team win a game(at least) and not get swept which, unfortunately, happened.

And the bashing didn't stop there either...The so-called internet peanut-gallery called into question his contributions in the '06 championship run which is the most idiotic thing to do considering that he did his part that year and if it weren't for him, it would've been the nets, pistons, or the Mavericks with a title...but no....let's forget about that 'cause some fans say Walker sucks. Stats NEVER tell the whole story and I'm surprised(or maybe not) that those fans forgot about that. He might not be the 20/8/6 player he was in beantown but he did little things that go unnoticed since Fans focus on the big plays and such. He scored a little but scored at critical junctures("it's not how much you score, it's *when* you score") and had some big rebounds....yet, no one gives him credit. Why? 'Cause his name is Antoine Walker and fans think that's enough reason to discredit his efforts.

Another example of the neverending diatribe toward #8 is after it was reported that he "allegedly" went and talked to Pat Riley about him starting next season. I found nothing wrong with that considering that Haslem wasn't as effective offensively and since Walker did start when we won it all in '06, it made sense to at least inquire about the possibility. And what happened when news of this got out? The entire heat community went up in arms on the whole thing as if Walker committed murder or something....Their rationale was that since Walker had a crappy REGULAR Season last year, he shouldn't be asking about starting; to which I say BULLSHIT 'cause first of all, Last Year was LAST YEAR and he had demonstrated that when given more minutes, he produces more(one of his odd eccentricities as a player). If it were my choice, I'd start him at the SF position and tell anyone who whines, bitches, and moans about his lack of defense to take a freakin' hike. He won a title starting at SF. Since he stopped starting, his production went down and that ain't no coincidence. START HIM!



Nowadays, I'm hearing some unsubstantiated rumors(although where there's smoke, there's usually a blazing inferno somewhere) that Walker is "unhappy" in Miami and wants to get out and return to beantown. Frankly, I think that is HALF-True, IMO. With the amount of dislike he's getting from fans and radio announcers alike, I wouldn't be surprised if some of that "rumor" held any truth to it. In fact, I wouldn't blame him in the least if he wanted to truly get the hell out of Miami. The only issue is that I doubt Pat would buy him out and therefore the only way he leaves is via trade and I don't see that happening until perhaps next season....

Bottom Line : If this truly is Walker's last full season with Miami, then It would be fitting for it to end with yet one more title. Cause like him or Hate him, he's a member of the Miami Heat and should and WILL be supported as such.


And one more thing....Looking at the James Posey situation where he was caught in a compromising(somewhat) position on camera, I don't see much outrage at that. In fact, there were some Heat fans that wanted Posey back for THAT reason. And at that point, all I could think of is if that was Walker instead of Posey, he would've gotten crucified big-time. Double-Standards. Gotta love 'em......NOT.


RANT OVER. (and Go Heat)