Walker gone to the Dogs..err, Wolves

So Walker is a Timberwolf now, eh? I must say I'm surprised but that's not really all THAT surprising considering that Riley has had enough of my boy, toine.

So he trades him for TWO OF THE BIGGEST PRIMADONNA-MALCONTENTS-THIS-SIDE-OF-RASHEED-WALLACE-AND-RON-ARTEST in Davis and Blount.

Miami's championship window has officially closed with this trade, IMO. Not only 'cause Toine who always brought the Toine-effect(making teams better just by being there) but also 'cause the Cancers(Davis/Blount) will prove to be Miami's undoing when all's said and done.

Shaq is finished....ever since they started calling offensive fouls on him when he lowers his shoulder spinning toward the basket, he's been ordinary. Had they done that from the start of his career, I doubt he'd be a champion.....

Wade certainly sounded happy to have someone athletic who can help out with the scoring and that wasn't meant as a slap to Walker's face but it might as well be. After busting his ass in the finals with Shaq not doing much of anything, THIS is the thanks he gets from a fellow Chicagoan.....Thanks but no thanks, "POOKIE".


And let's not forget the REALGM fans/jerkoffs. They are the real reason why I want the Heat to now fail. They disrespect a man who without his help, there wouldn't be talk of a 2nd championship 'cause the 1st would not have occured. All those fans who bashed my boy can go fuck themselves even though they're all a bunch of pussyboy-fags....



okay...now that my rant on the Heat is over, it's time to move on to more interesting times :

Walker is a Minnesota Timberwolf. I wondered for a time upon his arrival whether a buyout was in the works(considering that he would probably go back and sign with Boston should that occur) and when it wasn't and he stated how he wanted to make it work, that's really not surprising to me. Walker has always been a man of true class(maybe not the level of a Joe Dumars but pretty close) and his willing to stay with a rebuilding team speaks of volumes of his Character.

Walker makes his debut tonight with the Wolves and yet all I read on the messageboards regarding the lineups do not include Walker in there.....Are they retarded? Do they actually believe that Walker won't get major minutes tonight(they play denver)?? THIS IS A REBUILDING YEAR, PEOPLE. ANYTHING GOES AND IF I WERE THE HEAD COACH OF THE TEAM, I'D BE MORE APT TO UTILIZE MY VETERANS BEFORE THROWING THE KIDS INTO THE FIRE.

*ahem*....where was I? oh yeah.....Walker will have an impressive debut....I can just feel it in my bones.

But it all depends on several things :

1.) The amount of Minutes played

2.) Shots taken

3.) overall FREEDOM with the Basketball


HE NEEDS 35 - 40+ MINUTES TO BE EFFECTIVE. HE ALSO NEEDS AROUND 15-23 SHOT ATTEMPTS AS WELL AS HAVING THE BALL IN HIS HANDS ALMOST EVERYTIME.

If Mr. Whittman treats Walker the way he SHOULD be treated, being the 3-time-allstar/NBA Champion he is, then the team should be fine and would win more games than it should lose.

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)

In other news, Wade kicks ass....AGAIN.

See Wade Dunk.


See Wade Shoot.


See Wade P@WN!





It's become so routine these days for Heat fans. Everytime one comes to a Heat game, it is practically guaranteed that the fan will bear witness to what true Greatness is all about. Is he MJ's Heir Apparent? Close but don't call him MJ's anything...He's Dwyane Wade, the one and the only.





As this season continues onward, things have been very trying on the Heat team as a whole. What with the injury to the Big Fella being the big problem thus changing the entire dynamic of the Team(perhaps for the better if recent game performances are of any indication), the failed attempt to acquire A.I. and the ongoing issues regarding JWill's Knee/GP's age/Walker's IQ, there has remained one constant throughout all of this : Dwyane Wade.


Look no further than the game against the Hornets recently. When the Heat needed a big 3pter, there was Wade driving into the paint, drawing defenders, and kicking it out for an open 3. When the Heat were trying to reverse-course after giving up a lead(which turned into a considerabe deficit), Wade was there in the 4th quarter to bring the team back. When they needed a basket to win it all, he went and did just that.



Say what you want about Shaq and his impact when in the lineup...It's Wade who is the glue to the Heat team.



It's Wade who keeps this Titanic-like ship from sinking faster than Carmelo Anthony's reputation.


It's Wade who gets knocked down 50 times, and gets up 51.


It's Wade who is and will be the face of the Heat Franchise for years to come.



But most importantly, it is Wade who will lead the Heat to back-to-back NBA Titles.











(just don't call him MJ)

Walker's Worn out his Welcome.....Again

It's become somewhat of a Tradition these days. Come see Team 'A' play B-Ball, Boo Antoine Walker(who plays on Team 'A'), Drink Beer and Eat 'something', Boo Walker some more...

Kind of like a broken record that plays over and over and over and over again with no end in sight(or at least no one to come by and cut off the power, anyway)....

You almost have to feel for the guy whose only crime was not fulfilling the "potential" and "unrealistic expectations" that boston fans(and fans in general) demanded. He really is a solid player but these days, just being a "solid player" with the skills that he has is just NOT ENOUGH.

Of course, that's not to say that the criticism, vitriol, and booing from Heat Fans isn't well-deserved....But let's look at it from different angles.

On the one hand, he has had an AWFUL SEASON thus far, Period. It is perhaps the worst start to a season in his entire career which is saying something considering that he has a career 41% FG percentage. Aside from the starting 5-10 games where he's played "alright" ball, the rest of the way looked like something out of a horror film without the Blood and Gore(though there was plenty of vomit by Heat fans alike when Watching him impersonate a B-Ball player). It always seemed that no matter what he did - whether it was attempting a shot and/or passing the ball - it always ended up being the WRONG PLAY at the WRONG TIME. Even the previous night at home against Memphis when he had 2 point-blank Layups...He missed them both in going 2-8 from the floor and the crowd letting him have it, obviously fed up with his "struggles" this season. In fact, there have been rumors of him being shopped(Maggete, Watson, A.I., etc), though nothing of note has been definite as of yet. All In all, it hasn't been good to be Employee #8 thus far this year.


HOWEVER, on the other hand, other factors do appear to have come into play as far as Walker's struggles go. Let's start with the first and perhaps main factor :

1.) Shaq's absence. Make No mistake about it. Walker performs very well playing off of Shaq. Sure you can say that for most of the players but for Walker it's become absolutely essential to have Shaq in the lineup for him to truly be effective. Shaq opens up lanes for Walker to drive and prevents opposing defenders from closing in on him, thus making it easier to get to the rim and score(or dump it off to Shaq for a dunk). Not coincidentally, Walker's downward spiral began when Shaq went down and had knee surgery. He got so used to Shaq being there that he wasn't truly prepared to have to deal with all the double-teams and extra-attention once again. Add the fact that he never was a great leaper to begin with(major understatement) and you understand just how imperative having Shaq in there is for Antoine. Plus, with Shaq in there, Walker doesn't have the pressure on him to be the 2nd option(a pressure that has plagued him these days).

2.) New so-called basketball. SHAQ said the ball was garbage...He was right. But also, It is very possible that the B-ball has done more to hurt Walker's game than just about any player in the League today(well there is Ray Allen whose 3pt% is down to 31% from last years 41% but I digress). From someone who has followed Walker's career from his days in Beantown to now, let me tell you that while he's been "mediocre" for the most part throughout his career, he's NEVER EVER been *this* bad and I should know. From the complaints I've heard of how the ball bounces the wrong way, slips out of a players hands too quickly upon shooting, and so forth, it becomes extremely probable that most of Walker's recent issues performance-wise are directly linked to that "Basketball".

3.) Lack of Shot-attempts/Playing Time. Walker said it himself once that he is a "Volume-Shooter" so he needs at least 12-15 shots per game to get into the flow. However, with his struggles, Dorell Wright's emergence, and Riley playing him just a shade over 10 minutes per as of late, he will never get a legit shot at doing this. Now some say this is good but I don't really think it is, actually....'cause now you'd have an expensive bench-warmer just sitting there when he could be out there playing 35 to 40 minutes per and getting you 15-18(maybe 20 if it's a good night) instead. Pat Riley would need to go and Start Antoine at the 4 again full-time if Toine is ever going to get it going once again 'cause as it is right now, there will be no end in sight for those 2-8 nights...

4.) Fans constant booing and heckling. There is no such thing as having a "thick skin". When you're out there trying to do the best job that you can in helping your team and then get booed for your trouble when you "stumble", it's NOT a good feeling at all. And I have no doubt that it affects Antoine. He's the type of player who feeds off the Crowd's electricity but when that Crowd turns against him, and he has no confidence, it makes it even more difficult to get back any "mojo" he has lost. I mean...It's sad, really. Fans have already forgotten how he played a critical role last year in helping the Heat win the title; how his performance against the Nets spelled the difference between advancing to the ECF and Going Home; how his Game 6 Performance(particularly in the 3rd quarter) helped keep the Mavericks at bay in their OWN BUILDING on the way to helping Miami claim its(and his) first Title. It's just not right...but anyway...

Bottom Line : Whether Antoine is traded this year(doubtful) or not, one thing is for certain. He has done what Riley brought him here to do. He has proven that he CAN be part of a Championship team and win the big one when everyone said he couldn't. So wherever he ends up in the future(whether that's still here in South Beach or in Seattle/Philly/wherever-else), he'll always be able to look himself in the mirror when he wakes up and say "Good Morning, Champ". 'Cause after all, that's what he is.