Walker Ready To Run

by Jeff Clark on Sep 7, 2008 8:36 AM EDT in Boston Celtics News & Links

Nice piece by Frank Dell'Apa on Billy Walker today. Here's some quotes from Ainge:

"We were thinking maybe of sending him overseas for a year," said general manager Danny Ainge. "But the more we saw him working out, the more we saw him here, it was 'let's keep him here.'
"He has had some knee injuries, but it certainly hasn't limited his athleticism. There are some maintenance issues, yes, but I think he's going to be fine to play. He has a chance to be part of our long-term future as well as short-term.
"He has been a special player for a long time. Most young players come into the league and find out how hard it is and how good the players are they are playing against. But I do believe he's very confident and I also believe he is very humble, just by how he works that knee injury.
"Things have not turned out as he probably envisioned them. Being a great high school player, he was probably expecting to be a top 10 pick in the NBA by now, but he's had some setbacks with his health, and we're the beneficiaries of that."

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Interesting…the more I read about Billy Walker, the more I think he will be contributing for us immediately, especially if Darius Miles is not up to scratch. And Sky Walker wouldn’t just be a fill in because we don’t have a better player IMO, but he can actually help this team.

by kw10 on Sep 7, 2008 8:49 AM EDT reply actions

It would be too good for both Walker and Giddens to pan out but Danny is to be admired for getting us two shots at one good role player. Fun to think of both of them helping but not probable. Same with O’Bryant…low cost, high potential, takes spot previously held by Kandiman and Pollard, ie can’t do any worse.

by Wildblu1 on Sep 7, 2008 8:58 AM EDT reply actions

I think this season is going to be just as magical as last season, just a different cast of role players. I cant WAIT for the season to start!

by mainevent on Sep 7, 2008 9:13 AM EDT reply actions

a while ago, i think it was on a simmons or dammeshek podcast, i heard an interview with a baseball stats guy who thought that the next revolution in baseball would not be the discovery of a magic stat like OPS to get a more accurate measure of a player’s true production and thus better determine if a player was over or under valued, but rather the ability of a team as a whole to keep their players healthy and producing on the field. I think Danny really trusts his medical staff, and with advances in sports medicine, it may be that injury concerns are overrated which has contributed to recent bargains for the C’s. Powe was clearly first round material before injuries; last year he produced like a starter in his opportunities and appears fully explosive. Could the same be true for Walker? Consensus top-ten talent, falls because of injuries…if he returns to full health, that’s a major steal.

by Fan from VT on Sep 7, 2008 9:22 AM EDT reply actions

We always seem to have only very brief discussions about how our players are preparing for the upcoming season. While we do have a general knowledge of last year’s players we know very little about our new additions. Most of the commentary about the new guys dealt with college performance or disappointing NBA performance. Yet we’re asked to believe that these “hidden” prospective" NBA talents will not disappoint.

Which leads us to the Walker discussion and the dearth of current information about his recovery from knee surgery and his local workouts which have so impressed the Celtic brass. All we know is that they were impressed and that he’s making strides in his recovery from knee surgery…that he’s training seriously etc.

Conspicuous by its’ absence are the “specific” tell-tale signs of how/why Walker impressed. Were his handles better? Was his shooting better? In what way was he impressive? It has to mean MORE than he does not seem to be athletically impaired by his past knee problems. That comment alone does not justify optimism about Walker’s potential contribution this year nor for the future! It takes more that athleticism to make the grade.

While Giddens has been working out privately and only recently arrived on site, not much is being said about his progress. Ditto for Darius and Patrick. It appears as though the Celtics have taken a page from the Patriot’s book as regards “guarded” secrecy about players where curiosity seems most intense.

Because so much is unknown about how the new guys will fit in and what we should expect to see, perhaps the greatest interest in the preseason games will be to make our own assumptions on short and long term performance potential. It would have been instructive to hear something more concrete from the professional staff instead of trusting so much to us novices!

by moskqq on Sep 7, 2008 10:11 AM EDT reply actions

A little quick for him to contribute. Reading between the lines, Danny might not want to get his young players too comfortable with Euro players, fans, and execs. This might just be protecting his investment from foreign speculation, nothing more.

by Hondo to Rondo on Sep 7, 2008 1:17 PM EDT reply actions

not sure if this is really new news. aside from the “possible top 10 pick” i think it was out there already.

though if walker’s knees can hold up, he might be a real steal by ainge. i hope he can begin to help the celtics this season, and not have to wait for 3-4 years down the line.

by hwangjini_1 on Sep 7, 2008 5:22 PM EDT reply actions

from what i read, walker sounds like a good guy— doing his own contract, working out without a contract,rehabbing the knees. we don’t need him now and like tony last year, we don’t have to push him. i hope he makes it, tho. a good gamble.

by nazzbo on Sep 7, 2008 6:46 PM EDT reply actions

The young man seems to be pretty mature for a 20 year old. Smart
enough to not let some agent take his percentage for making a deal for slotted money. If he is that smart on the court to go
with his athleticsm the Cs could have something. The wing version of Leon Powe wouldn’t be too bad.

by Greg37 on Sep 7, 2008 7:25 PM EDT reply actions