Silver Lining: Bill Walker

by Jeff Clark on Mar 12, 2009 10:10 AM EDT in Boston Celtics Articles

Last night's game was frustrating to watch because we were simply out of options. Doc had to keep playing Marbury despite his struggles from the field. Doc had to keep the bigs in despite foul trouble. Doc was compelled to keep Paul and Ray in for 40 minutes because we still had a shot to win the game at the end. But there was one silver lining for me. Doc also had to play Bill Walker.

For the most part the kid didn't disappoint. At the very least he filled up the box score. 8 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 4 fouls, and 1 turnover in just 14 minutes of play. He was (as usual) aggressive attacking the basket and made mostly smart decisions with the ball.

Oh yeah, and once again he found himself at the center of an altercation with another big name opponent. Jermaine O'Neal took exception to Walker aggressively boxing out and shoved the rookie to the ground, picking up a technical (updated). If there's one thing we've learned about Billy this year it is this: he backs down from nobody. Period. You could argue that he sometimes needs to reign it in a little so he doesn't hurt the team, but I have to say that I like a guy with no fear.

His ex-teammate Michael Beasley is obviously biased, but he has a lot of confidence in Walker's future. (Globe)

"It's been hard for him," Beasley said. "I talk to him. But he has to keep pushing. He's a great player. A great athlete. The sky is the limit for him. He's 6-5, 6-6, 240 pounds. But he moves like he's 215 and jumps like he's 190 pounds. There's a lot you don't know about Bill. Bill's a 3-point shooter. There's a lot to his game that the world hasn't seen yet and is yet to come. Once everyone sees what he can do, it's going to be something special."

Now, this isn't 2006 where we are forced to live on scraps of "upside potential" and "future prospects." If he's going to contribute to this team in the next couple of years, he's going to have to find a role and excel in that role. I think he could help as an aggressive slasher off the bench in limited minutes. It is a little late in the season to develop him for the post season. He might have to wait till next year to get consistent minutes. However, the team needs him for spot duty right now and for at least one game he's stepped up to the challenge.

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Wasted opportunity

Bill Walker should have been playing 10-15 minutes a night since the All-Star break.

by SalmonAndMashedPotatoes on Mar 12, 2009 8:23 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed.

Pierce looked gassed last night, even with Walker getting some minutes. Walker looked good last night and should be a staple in the rotation from now on.

by Bankshot on Mar 12, 2009 8:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Agreed, SaMP

-sw

Manuel Aristides Ramirez is the greatest hitter I've ever seen.

by Steve Weinman on Mar 12, 2009 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Great writeup. Couldn’t agree more. It’s great to see that Beasley has confidence in him. I really do hope he gets the chance to show what he’s made of.
I think we may be pleasantly surprised by his influence in the last games and into the playoffs. Wouldn’t it be great to chuck him in for 5-10 minutes a game if he could get a few baskets and hustle a few rebounds.
He’s an exciting prospect!

by jimmehx on Mar 12, 2009 8:29 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed

It is always fun to watch young guys with potential get a chance. I must admit to being falsely charmed by Gerald Greene but Bill Walker comes to play on the defensive end. I really liked his hustle put back of Leon’s miss. Hopefully it builds from here.

As far as Salmonand….‘s comment I would have to say Doc probably knows more than you do. Just a hunch. We all wondered why Pruitt wasn’t getting more minutes and he just hasn’t earned them when he’s gotten in there, proving the coaches’ point. I’m a fan too and I wanted to see O’Bryant get real minutes and I’d like to see Giddens. But O’Bryant has disappeared in Toronto and I trust Giddens is where he belongs.

by Wildblu1 on Mar 12, 2009 8:34 AM EDT reply actions

Whatever

TA’s the team’s only true backup 2/3…and he’s been out since before the All-Star Break. Regardless of what Doc may or may not know, it’s been clear FOR WEEKS that we needed someone else to spell Ray and Paul and yet it took the team being down to 10 bodies for Doc to finally give Walker a legitimate shot at playing time. And you know what? He had the best +/- last night and showed he can provide a nice spark off the bench in addition to spelling Ray and Paul from time to time. It’s too bad we had to unnecessarily overplay Ray and Paul for 3 weeks before we found this out.

by SalmonAndMashedPotatoes on Mar 12, 2009 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Guys its ALWAAAYS been this way with Doc. Its always inburies that force him to suddenly find a guy who is more than a warm body

arggh! Its just sucks, frankly. Look at the guys he has mishandled, imho: Al, Powe, Gomes, West, Rajon, and now almost surely Walker. Its not a terrible top 6 guys if that was athe team you had.. And heck we were trying to maximiize the trade value of these guys too! He still didn’t play them!

by wahz on Mar 12, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Again, before I get hammered here, Doc has done a great job with many things including that all those guys

I just mentioned play hard. But I just think he is so awful with rotations. We all noticed a couple years ago that even with a lot of stuiffs, he did a good job drawing up out of bounds plays and its even better now. But he seems to have one real weakness and its managing who to have in the game, and in correlation with that, managing minutes.

by wahz on Mar 12, 2009 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

"even with a lot of stiffs"

by wahz on Mar 12, 2009 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Walker didn't pick up a technical last night...

It was a personal and technical foul on O’Neal. Walker was just trying to box out, and like the punk O’Neal is, he threw him to the ground. And Walker did the mature thing and got up and walked to the free throw line.

by CelticsWhat35 on Mar 12, 2009 8:42 AM EDT reply actions

thanks

I must have missed that

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V

by Jeff Clark on Mar 12, 2009 8:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Yep, I had absolutely no problem with Walker's role in that

And he knocked down his freebies.

-sw

Manuel Aristides Ramirez is the greatest hitter I've ever seen.

by Steve Weinman on Mar 12, 2009 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Doc has handled the rookies poorly this season. There was always a need for a second wing behind TA, and at least one of Walker/Giddens should have had a legitimate opportunity long before now.

Instead, the playoffs are around the corner, the rookies have no experience and we have no idea if they’re capable of doing the job.

by Who on Mar 12, 2009 8:43 AM EDT reply actions

In his time here, imho, Doc has hitting about 400 on rookies. mishandling every rookie except for Baby, Giddens,Green and Tony Allen

Id take issue with the playing time or utilization of Al, Delonte, Gomes, Rajon, Powe and Walker. Neutral on Perk

by wahz on Mar 12, 2009 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions

I forgot about Gabe. Gabe probably was used about right as a rookie. W/out looking I don't know if forgot anyone else

by wahz on Mar 12, 2009 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions

allan ray?

:-D

-sw

Manuel Aristides Ramirez is the greatest hitter I've ever seen.

by Steve Weinman on Mar 12, 2009 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

He'd have screwed up and played Allan but he was worried about his eye popping out so he looks good on that one:>(

by wahz on Mar 12, 2009 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

From a C’s fan perspective, sure last night’s loss stinks — a winnable game that just drifted out of reach because of the above cited lack of options — but it was a fun game to watch notetheless. It was very good to see Walker get, and captialize upon, some good quality minutes. It was great to see Leon remind us why we love him so much. It was great to see Mr. Shuttlesworth calmly keep that assassin’s shot.

Above all, it was great to watch our extremely undermanned team make a real game of it last night. After the buzzer, my thoughts were less of the “we should have won this” and more of the “man, we almost won this — imagine what this team will look like when they are healthy AND the backups have gotten some burn!” variety. I think Walker fits into that equation nicely, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pick up a few minutes during the playoffs if he can show this kind of quality with consistency over the next few games.

Losses are never good, but this one had a lot of silver linings.

by Hal Jordan on Mar 12, 2009 8:51 AM EDT reply actions

my feeling exactly

last night’s game made me excited of the prospect of having this team healthy again, with a deep bench.

Leon’s play has just been great to see, he was so bad the first few months of the season, I forgot we had a legit scoring big man off hte bench who doesn’t need touches. good stuff.

this can do nothing but good for mikki and steph

by WillyBeamin on Mar 12, 2009 9:29 AM EDT up reply actions

That chip on Walker’s shoulder reminds me a little bit of the one young Perk brought with him into the League. And while that might lead to a few technicals, I confess that I don’t mind that at all. That passion has helped Perk make himself into a valuable member of the team and it’s my hope that this same fire will help Walker reach his potential.

by Thruthelookingglass on Mar 12, 2009 9:07 AM EDT reply actions

The better Young Walker plays...

…the worse Doc looks for not having been feeding him more minutes sooner. But that’s okay, even coaches aren’t perfect and Doc’s been plenty good enough.

by clover on Mar 12, 2009 9:25 AM EDT reply actions

I like the way that assessment sounds all around

Nicely put, clover.

-sw

Manuel Aristides Ramirez is the greatest hitter I've ever seen.

by Steve Weinman on Mar 12, 2009 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions

my favorite bill walker moment…. hip checking d wade to the ground after wade interrupted eddie houses lazy ally oop pass.
billy gets the loose ball, passes out the the wing and then flattens wade w/o a whistle.

love it

by arctic 3.0 on Mar 12, 2009 9:31 AM EDT reply actions

walker also deflected a few passes. better late than never, but come on doc, stop hating the rooks.

by nazzbo on Mar 12, 2009 9:32 AM EDT reply actions

this place bothers me sometimes

two months ago this blog never mentioned Walker PO-tential except for me and I think maybe one or two others …now as usual in here the experts come out of the woodwork to shout praises and wonder why he wasn’t playing time (duh……remember Ryan Gomes)

I guess everyone was too excited about maybe getting Mighty Mouse Marbury.

blah………………………….

Is it Soup Yet?

by Master Po on Mar 12, 2009 9:35 AM EDT reply actions

really? there were only 2 people talking about Bill Walker?

you’ve got to be kidding me. there are thousands of bloggers on this site and only master po talked about bill walker. HA

by WillyBeamin on Mar 12, 2009 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't read the forums but on the front page I don't recall any play Billy Walker chants

Is it Soup Yet?

by Master Po on Mar 12, 2009 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions

probaby a reflection of my articles

I didn’t bring him up much because honestly I don’t have a big problem with how Doc has used him (for the most part)

go ahead and throw stones at me – I can take it ;)

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V

by Jeff Clark on Mar 12, 2009 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Practise not evil against thy friend, when he hath confidence in thee. - Proverbs

….my evil throwing stones are put away (but not far away).

Is it Soup Yet?

by Master Po on Mar 12, 2009 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions

nice

that must be in the New PO Standard translation I’ve been hearing about

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V

by Jeff Clark on Mar 12, 2009 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions

seriously?

for evidence to the contrary, see the 1492 posts (including mine) about what a shame it is we didn’t draft someone who can play basketball at the 30th pick like chalmers or the french kid on the bucks, knowing only after the fact that we ended up with billy.

by ssspence on Mar 12, 2009 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree that Walker played well last night, but I disagree with the ‘Doc had to’ mantra. Maybe it was tongue-in-cheek when writing Jeff, but I don’t understand how Doc had to play Marbury as much as he did. Yes, the guy definitely needs the time, and I’m all for that, but we were +5 with Gabe in there. Doc didn’t have to leave Mikki in there with three fouls. Doc should not have felt compelled to play Ray and Paul for as long as he did. For as great a first half as Ray had, he had three points in the second half. I’m not sure it’s fatigue for Paul and Ray, and maybe it’s just that we’re playing a bunch of guys together that haven’t had much time together. Shaking things up isn’t always a bad thing.

I’m not upset by the loss. Who couldn’t have seen that coming? But I don’t think on the court that Doc has done a good job at all since the end of January. He’s a great motivator, but I think his biases get in the way sometimes when it comes to who should and should not play, as well as the style of play with the players on the floor.

by amenhotep04 on Mar 12, 2009 10:05 AM EDT reply actions

It’s too late for Giddens this year but I agree Walker should have been playing 15min/game since the allstar break.

by moiso on Mar 12, 2009 10:37 AM EDT reply actions

I like Walker and agree DOc should have played him more this year than he as. As for Giddens I can only conclude that he sucks. When Doc doesn’t play a guy it’s because he’s not doing it in practice. That was the case with POB and I have to believe it’s the case with Giddens. It’s too bad because we wasted a number one on hte guy AND we really could use some help off the bench. As for Gabe I just think there’s no future for him here. He’s had multiple opportunities to establish himself in the rotation this year and every time he gets out there he commits a stupid turnover. It’s too bad because he has some talent but I haven’t seent eh growth in his game that I expected this year. So in summary I think both giddens and pruitt are gone after this year and we will be looking for a guard in the off season

by Red2 on Mar 12, 2009 10:59 AM EDT reply actions

You are WAY ahead of yourself...

…neither rookie has played and 2nd year Pruitt not much PT either – the team plays its more senior players – if Walker is ahead of Giddens that doesn’t mean Giddens sucks, but that Walker can play — I can completely understand Doc not throwing more inexperienced players into the mix, he’s dealing with enough…

by BillfromBoston on Mar 12, 2009 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah, Gabe has some great tools but seems to have little court sense.

by moiso on Mar 12, 2009 11:02 AM EDT reply actions

He did

Look good. And I think that once Doc gets a chance to catch his breath, he will realize that Walker has earned himself some more minutes. Pruitt hasn’t been able to get into these games that well. The Ms were disappointing. I think they should play better though. Marbury should be able to get a basket or two and all his plays seem to involve dribbling 5 feet out from the top of the key and doing this low bouncing pass 20 feet over to Pierce or Allen. I’m not expecting Rondo, but a little penetration and dish would go a long way toward opening up our offense.

by GreenBalls on Mar 12, 2009 11:10 AM EDT reply actions

Good thoughts, Jeff

I enjoyed watching Bill last night as well. More of him would be nice.

-sw

Manuel Aristides Ramirez is the greatest hitter I've ever seen.

by Steve Weinman on Mar 12, 2009 12:09 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, I’ve always liked Walker. With some work on his handle and a more consistent jumper, he could be a poor man’s Caron Butler.

by Brickowski on Mar 12, 2009 12:27 PM EDT reply actions

Bench

Everyone will be back soon. We are 3 games behind Cleveland keep playing most of the bench because it will take time for everyone to get back in playing shape. Maybe start Pruitt he knows the offense and defense and then bring in Marbury and House , House and Marbury work well together. Play Powe 40 minutes a game until KG and Baby are back.

by CelticsWin on Mar 12, 2009 12:58 PM EDT reply actions