Bill Walker

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

CB Community,

My friend just called Bill Walker a "punk" and I had no idea what he was referring to.

Allow me to backtrack though...

I am very annoyed that I was unable to watch the Houston game. I was further annoyed that I was unable to make it home to set a reminder on my DirecTV HDPVR.

What I'm MOST ANNOYED with though, is how I didn't read one thing on this site (which I read/frequent daily) about any of the scuffles involving Bill Walker and T-Mac.

Here's the video of what I'm talking about: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-Celts-rookie-Bill-Walker-ruffles-the-Rock?urn=nba,114483

My analysis:

1. T-Mac clearly clutches/grabs Billy after Billy makes his entry pass to Patty O'Bryant on the low-block

2. Billy retaliates poorly to T-Mac's clutch/grab by giving T-Mac a two (open) handed shove

3. T-Mac retaliates BACK and crosses the "line" by literally throwing his shoulder into Billy Walker (I believe hockey personnel/analysts would call this a body check) sending Billy off his feat and onto the ground.

4. Billy gets up off the ground and goes directly at T-Mac in an attempt to exchange words/pleasantries

5. Everyone on the court for the Rockets (and the refs for that matter) makes sure Billy can't get to T-Mac

6. Bad Blood is created

Did I miss anything?

Do you believe Bill Walker is a "punk"?

Keep in mind that when I say "punk" I am referring to the following 3 definitions of the slang word:

a.   something or someone worthless or unimportant
b.   a young ruffian; hoodlum
c.   an inexperienced youth

I would agree that he can be viewed as a "c", but haters view him as a "b", and clearly he's not an "a".

Thoughts?

[Redz]

Looks to me like Walker is trying his [dang]dest to establish that he's not going to be pushed around just because he's a rookie.

Is he taking that approach a little too far?  Maybe a bit, but I think it works well within the context of the team he's on.  If he was on a team full of youngsters it might be tougher for him to pull off.

If it becomes a nightly thing he may end up getting in trouble on reputation alone.

[CelticsWhat35]

It has been talked about here.  Nothing wrong with what Bill's been doing.  Opposing fans need to find something to complain about with the Celtics to deflect attention from the fact that they're the champs.

[dobbs]

It's a bad thing, in my opinion, to draw this much attention to yourself early for something other than your game.  Perk is STILL trying to shed the reputation of being a clumsy hack that can't stop fouling because that's who he was early on.  Expect Walker to get called for a lot of fouls for nothing other than clean physical play as a result of his preseason antics.  

[Finkelskyhook]

I'm more concerned about the useless screeches after dunks than the O'Grady episode.  Walker has to stand up there.  But this overt cockiness from a player who almost didn't get drafted is a lot much.  Walker is way beyond the fine line between exhuberance and cockiness.

Billy, let your teammates celebrate your dunk while you're sprinting back downcourt to find your man.  The only useful attention comes from the people deciding your minutes. All the other crap is going to get you a bunch of cheap foul calls and retaliation from a dirty player.

[Emperor Young]

if you were playing against someone like walker, you'd hate him. you play with walker, you love him. he seems to be a good kid of the court, so this kind of behavior doesn't bother me.. as long as he is doing it in celtics uniform.
You could say Al Horford is a punk for what he did to pierce in the playoff last year, but if you could have him on your team, you take him in a heartbeat.

[Eeyore III]

More context for the event is that the refs had just called a bunch of ticky-tack fouls on the Cs (Scola was about to foul out the whole line-up single-handedly, including with some colossal flops), and Pierce had been mugged by Thug Artest.  The game was spinning out of control as the result of poor officiating.  Medical Bill has to learn to keep his head regardless, but I can't blame him too much given what the refs were allowing to go on.

[Finkelskyhook]

if you were playing against someone like walker, you'd hate him. you play with walker, you love him. he seems to be a good kid of the court, so this kind of behavior doesn't bother me.. as long as he is doing it in celtics uniform.
You could say Al Horford is a punk for what he did to pierce in the playoff last year, but if you could have him on your team, you take him in a heartbeat.

It's more of a pecking order difference, Mr Emporer.

You're comparing  a 2-time NCAA champion, a lottery pick, someone who should have been rookie of the year, and the key to Atlanta's turnaround,  to a guy who almost wasn't drafted and hasn't played a meaningful minute yet.

Based on his draft position, Walker should be a lot more concerned about showcasing his talent to make an NBA roster than screeching after a pedestrian dunk to enhance his street cred.  To me, there's little difference between Ricky and  Walker right now except Ricky was a first round draft choice.  Ricky has wasted away an immense amount of talent into a pedestrian career.  Walker is less talented, but a lot like Paul gamewise.  He could have a long, prodictive career if he focuses on his game and not the fans and the spectacular.

[Atzar]

I don't have a problem with how he reacted to Tracy McGrady.  I don't even really have a problem with the yells after dunks.  I did, however, have a problem with a couple of things.

After his putback dunk against Cleveland in the first game, he gave LeBron a shove for what seemed like no reason at all on TV.  I thought that was unsportsmanlike, not to mention stupid - LeBron is more than capable of embarrassing Bill Walker on the court.  I expect Bron to dunk on Billy's head at least once during the regular season if they face each other.  As a side note, it'll be interesting to see how Walker responds to that.

After the bout with McGrady, he promptly bricked both of his technical free throws.  It's possible that they were honest misses, but it's also possible that he has trouble dealing with his emotions at times.

I really hope Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett slow him down and teach him how to channel his emotions, and show him what is acceptable and what isn't on the court.  His attitude could be a huge advantage for him, but it could also be a huge disadvantage.

[gustusias]

No way is Billy a punk. Now, Antoine Walker? Yeah, he is definitely a punk.

[cordobes]

I don't have a problem with how he reacted to Tracy McGrady.  I don't even really have a problem with the yells after dunks.  I did, however, have a problem with a couple of things.

After his putback dunk against Cleveland in the first game, he gave LeBron a shove for what seemed like no reason at all on TV.  I thought that was unsportsmanlike, not to mention stupid - LeBron is more than capable of embarrassing Bill Walker on the court.  I expect Bron to dunk on Billy's head at least once during the regular season if they face each other.  As a side note, it'll be interesting to see how Walker responds to that.

After the bout with McGrady, he promptly bricked both of his technical free throws.  It's possible that they were honest misses, but it's also possible that he has trouble dealing with his emotions at times.

I really hope Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett slow him down and teach him how to channel his emotions, and show him what is acceptable and what isn't on the court.  His attitude could be a huge advantage for him, but it could also be a huge disadvantage.

Agreed. I'll add the way he reacted after Yao set a hard pick on him, that was unacceptable. And this is not a rookie trying to show he won't be bullied or a result of bad officiating; he had exactly the same problem while in college.

[steelbos]

Perkins didn't even get this much attention when he first came in the league, and Perk makes Walker look like an angel. People make too much out of things because he had run ins with two stars. With James it was more of a bump, which you see on a dailey basis, and McGrady was just physical play that McGrady thought he was just too big a star to take that from a rookie. Lets not put all the blame on Walker when Tracy drew a tech and his run into James is more magnified than it should be with fans creating a biigger deal than it was, which promps the media to play it up.

[cordialb]

Are you kidding?  Not yell when he dunks?  Did you see the way the whole team went nuts when he dunked over ratliff.  If the young guy can bring that kind of energy, demoralize opponents, while inspiring his team, then DO IT SKYWALKER!!!

If he gets under the other team's skin, then even better.  If they are worried bout bill, then they arent worried bout beating the world champs.  He brings the same toughness and under the skin attitude that other veteran players show by not allowing after foul layups.

As for cocky, cocky is good, cocky is great, as long as he keeps a level head and stays within the team.  He brings some swagger to our second unit, and swagger is where we will be missing BGJ the most.  For a rookie to contribute the way i think he will by years end, he would have to be overconfident and bordering on very cocky.

[Chris]

Looks to me like Walker is trying his [dang]dest to establish that he's not going to be pushed around just because he's a rookie.

Is he taking that approach a little too far?  Maybe a bit, but I think it works well within the context of the team he's on.  If he was on a team full of youngsters it might be tougher for him to pull off.

If it becomes a nightly thing he may end up getting in trouble on reputation alone.

I think this might be part of it, but I also think that really is his personality.  He is just immensely competitive, and has not learned to control his emotions when he is on the court.  This is something he is going to have to learn (luckily he has someone like KG who can give him firsthand knowledge of how to control your emotions and use them to your advantage).

I have a feeling Walker will be picking up quite a few technicals this year though.  But I am OK with that...

[ManUp]

I think Walker has been getting a bit of a pass from you guys. There's a difference between showing your not intimidated and getting in people's faces. Walker has been getting in people's faces. It's nothing I'm worried about, but I could understand why other teams would consider him a hot head. He's going a little too out of his way to show he's not intimidated.

If you think McGrady was in the wrong on that play your wearing some heavily tinted green shades. Veteran's shouldn't take any crap from rookies. McGrady was just sticking to the script.