Official Bring Back Antoine Thread (No Joke)

[TitleMaster]

Antoine is clearly the most unpredictable point forward in the league.

That's his X-factor. Next, with KG around, and the Celts now a rebounding squad, 'Toine misfired, jacked up threes can be kept alive in a manner which will make it difficult for teams to adapt to the C's. Realize, opposing teams will be looking for him to pass it off to Ray Ray, KG, or Sam, half the time. In a sense, that's what a Tony Allen would do if a slash to the basket wasn't available for him. In Antoine's case, he'll heave a shot and perhaps, a third will go in; the other two thirds will be Celts offensive rebounds thus creating a second opportunity but now with, the opponents defenses eyeing 'Toine instead of let's say Sam. All and all, it works but in a limited fashion.

[CoachBo]

sigh....

and here i thought i would never ever have read another antoine thread on this board....foolish me.

ok, let's add gerald green to this thread (on this board... death, taxes, antoine, gg...) and just be done with it.

sigh.....

The Gerald-Toine comparison isn't fair at all.  For those that lived through the most prolonged dry spell in this franchise's history, 'Toine stands retrospectively as a symbol of both the lows and highs during that run.  Say what you will about a lot of the facets of his game, but this is a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve, gave everything he had every night and absolutely loved being a Celtic.

I've been musing about 'Toine lately and might put together some more extended thoughts on him over the next couple of days - but long story short is, it's a disservice to what 'Toine meant here as a player and co-captain to lump him in with GG's unrealized potential.  I understand the comparison you're drawing is about the "bring him back" threads, but the distinction still seems worth clarifying to me.

-sw

TP, Steve.

Toine, for the flaws in his game, brought scoring, good passing, some defense and enthusiasm to a franchise that was run into the ground by Rick Pitino.

In his prime, he was a quality NBA performer. Not a star, not really a contributor to a title team. But he was all the Celtics had for a LONG time, and the deprication of his game - including lumping him in with a brain-dead player who's accomplished little or nothing in the league - is FAR off base.

[guava_wrench]

How about we bring him in as a coach/player role like Sam Cassel. So we can keep him on our roster as a coach and then worry about things later.

Why would we cut a player to bring him in if he doesn't seem to have a role on the team?

And what makes you think toine has anything to offer as a coach?

[FanInTheSouth]

sigh....

and here i thought i would never ever have read another antoine thread on this board....foolish me.

ok, let's add gerald green to this thread (on this board... death, taxes, antoine, gg...) and just be done with it.

sigh.....

The Gerald-Toine comparison isn't fair at all.  For those that lived through the most prolonged dry spell in this franchise's history, 'Toine stands retrospectively as a symbol of both the lows and highs during that run.  Say what you will about a lot of the facets of his game, but this is a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve, gave everything he had every night and absolutely loved being a Celtic.

I've been musing about 'Toine lately and might put together some more extended thoughts on him over the next couple of days - but long story short is, it's a disservice to what 'Toine meant here as a player and co-captain to lump him in with GG's unrealized potential.  I understand the comparison you're drawing is about the "bring him back" threads, but the distinction still seems worth clarifying to me.

-sw

Very well said, TP.  I got into the Celtics just as they were ending their run of excellence, so most of my early memories are from the days of Bird lying on the floor when his back was killing him.  Toine and PP making playoff runs are actually some of the best memories I have of the C's (up until recently).

Toine always said he loved being in Boston, and I always loved his emotion (just picture him after he banked in a 3 to win the game).  That's why I would want him back for this year, even if it didn't actually make us a better team.  That being said, my brain still works enough to know that we'd be better off going in a different direction.

[nickagneta]

I'm surprised P2 hasn't jumped all over this thread yet!! JK P2.


I can't believe we as a collective community can't come to the conclusion that bringing in Antoine would be a major mistake for this club given what this team is all about and what Antoine's game has always been about and currently is about.

It's as much a square peg in a round hole as you are going to find on the basketball court.

[PSquared]

How about we bring him in as a coach/player role like Sam Cassel. So we can keep him on our roster as a coach and then worry about things later.

Why would we cut a player to bring him in if he doesn't seem to have a role on the team?

And what makes you think toine has anything to offer as a coach?

What makes you think Cassell has anything to offer as a Coach?  What has Sam-I-am-NOT have done? Just sit on the bench and joke with his teammates. TOINE COULD DO THAT! lol. 

[PSquared]

I'm surprised P2 hasn't jumped all over this thread yet!! JK P2.

I don't Jump...I STAND ON MY TIPPY-TOES!   

[Hoyo de Monterrey]

I'm surprised P2 hasn't jumped all over this thread yet!! JK P2.


I can't believe we as a collective community can't come to the conclusion that bringing in Antoine would be a major mistake for this club given what this team is all about and what Antoine's game has always been about and currently is about.

It's as much a square peg in a round hole as you are going to find on the basketball court.

I couldn't agree more nick... I'm reading and re-reading these posts and can't decide who's sarcastic and who really thinks 6'9, 245 (cough, cough) Antoine is a great idea.

Antoine was a good Celtic. I also liked Dana Barros. Also, I heard Jim Loscutoff was a great Celtic. Doesn't mean we should sign all three. If this makes it to a poll thread, we have some unresolved issues.

[BrickJames]

what could he provide? shooting=bad. free throw shooting=really bad. towel waiver? for who? ainge is a snake. he's not a snake. "the celtics wont win shi*." did i get that quote of his correct?

nope, i believe it was preceded by "if they get greg oden..."

it was pre KG and ray trades.

[nickagneta]

How about we bring him in as a coach/player role like Sam Cassel. So we can keep him on our roster as a coach and then worry about things later.

Why would we cut a player to bring him in if he doesn't seem to have a role on the team?

And what makes you think toine has anything to offer as a coach?

What makes you think Cassell has anything to offer as a Coach?  What has Sam-I-am-NOT have done? Just sit on the bench and joke with his teammates. TOINE COULD DO THAT! lol. 

Sam has been considered a natural as a head coach in this league for years now and having sat close to the players once this year, I can assure you Sam is coaching his butt off almost every game.

Personally, I think a bit of Rondo's success should probably go to Doc and Sam for their teaching of Rondo in the intricacies of the pro game. I don't think it is just a coincidence that Rondo is blossoming like he is and that Sam just happens to be talking to him just about every second Rondo is on the bench.

Rondo's take charge attitude is pretty similar to Cassell's as an early player in Houston when Cassell was being groomed by Kenny Smith. Cassell has repeatedly professed that Smith is the reason he wants to coach so much because his tutelage was responsible for Sam having the career he did and Sam feels he should pass that down to young pros now.

[PSquared]

How about we bring him in as a coach/player role like Sam Cassel. So we can keep him on our roster as a coach and then worry about things later.

Why would we cut a player to bring him in if he doesn't seem to have a role on the team?

And what makes you think toine has anything to offer as a coach?

What makes you think Cassell has anything to offer as a Coach?  What has Sam-I-am-NOT have done? Just sit on the bench and joke with his teammates. TOINE COULD DO THAT! lol. 

Sam has been considered a natural as a head coach in this league for years now and having sat close to the players once this year, I can assure you Sam is coaching his butt off almost every game.

Personally, I think a bit of Rondo's success should probably go to Doc and Sam for their teaching of Rondo in the intricacies of the pro game. I don't think it is just a coincidence that Rondo is blossoming like he is and that Sam just happens to be talking to him just about every second Rondo is on the bench.

Rondo's take charge attitude is pretty similar to Cassell's as an early player in Houston when Cassell was being groomed by Kenny Smith. Cassell has repeatedly professed that Smith is the reason he wants to coach so much because his tutelage was responsible for Sam having the career he did and Sam feels he should pass that down to young pros now.

Okay...Fair enough.    But why automatically say that Toine wouldn't make a Good Coach if he's not even given a chance?  Sure, Sam is coaching his butt off, as you say...And I'm sure that Toine would be doing the same if given the opportunity.   

[nickagneta]

How about we bring him in as a coach/player role like Sam Cassel. So we can keep him on our roster as a coach and then worry about things later.

Why would we cut a player to bring him in if he doesn't seem to have a role on the team?

And what makes you think toine has anything to offer as a coach?

What makes you think Cassell has anything to offer as a Coach?  What has Sam-I-am-NOT have done? Just sit on the bench and joke with his teammates. TOINE COULD DO THAT! lol. 

Sam has been considered a natural as a head coach in this league for years now and having sat close to the players once this year, I can assure you Sam is coaching his butt off almost every game.

Personally, I think a bit of Rondo's success should probably go to Doc and Sam for their teaching of Rondo in the intricacies of the pro game. I don't think it is just a coincidence that Rondo is blossoming like he is and that Sam just happens to be talking to him just about every second Rondo is on the bench.

Rondo's take charge attitude is pretty similar to Cassell's as an early player in Houston when Cassell was being groomed by Kenny Smith. Cassell has repeatedly professed that Smith is the reason he wants to coach so much because his tutelage was responsible for Sam having the career he did and Sam feels he should pass that down to young pros now.

Okay...Fair enough.    But why automatically say that Toine wouldn't make a Good Coach if he's not even given a chance?  Sure, Sam is coaching his butt off, as you say...And I'm sure that Toine would be doing the same if given the opportunity.   

True enough. Antoine can communicate real well and it's not like he's not intelligent. If he wanted to put his time into it I don't see any reason why Toine couldn't become a real good coach. But then again, I don't know the guy personally and some people just aren't fit to being a good coach because they aren't patient enough or organized enough or dedicated enough or the like.

[QuinielaBox]

We need more low post scoring so we ought to bring back Vin Baker while we are at it.

[guava_wrench]

How about we bring him in as a coach/player role like Sam Cassel. So we can keep him on our roster as a coach and then worry about things later.

Why would we cut a player to bring him in if he doesn't seem to have a role on the team?

And what makes you think toine has anything to offer as a coach?

What makes you think Cassell has anything to offer as a Coach?  What has Sam-I-am-NOT have done? Just sit on the bench and joke with his teammates. TOINE COULD DO THAT! lol. 

I see the smiley face, but this comment is really out of touch with common knowledge.

Cassell has long been considered by people in the NBA as coaching material. Who has ever said that about Toine?

How would you know anything about how Cassell contributes? Are you at practices? Are you in the huddles?

Considering Walker has long been considered one of the most fundamentally flawed players in the league, I don't get where anyone could get the idea the Celts or anyone would want to prepare him to join their staff.

I liked Toine. I also respect his contributions in his first run with us. But coaching sounds very far-fetched.

[phaze]

Has anyone seen him lately?  If he's in anything close to basketball shape - or could get into it, I could see Antoine being a useful member of the 2nd unit.

I certainly think this situation would be highly motivational.

I suppose he'd take Scal's slot.