Will Bill Walker Be Different?

by Jeff Clark on Apr 12, 2009 9:02 PM EDT in Boston Celtics News & Links

As a nice little diversion from today's "game," I'd like to point people to Red's Army's post on Bill Walker:

He’s an athletic 3 with ridiculous jumping skills, enough promise to make you think the future of the franchise will be safe in his hands.

In 2001, that was what Celtics fans thought of Kedrick Brown.

After a few seasons of that not working out, Gerald Green came along and assumed that role.

Now Gerald is out, and Bill Walker is in.

So, is Bill Walker the next big thing or the next big tease?

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Yes. he will be different.

As the founding member of the Bil Walker Hype Club, I can say with complete certainty he will be different. The kid is humble, feisty, and used to overcoming hardship which you can clearly see from his knee injuries and consequential plummeting draft stock. He doesn’t feel like the NBA owes him anything (which Mean Mean Gerald Green obviously did)

Reporter: About a year ago I asked about the Celtics-Lakers thing and you said you'd really only seen it on TV. Now you've been through it, can you talk about playing the Boston Celtics for the NBA championship?
Kobe: It Sucks.

by Tom Bellinger on Apr 12, 2009 9:11 PM EDT reply actions

Also I just read the article at red’s army and its really good. Well worth the 5 mins. Thanks for the heads up

by Tom Bellinger on Apr 12, 2009 9:16 PM EDT reply actions

The difference

He seems to have the mental and physical toughness that Brown and Green lack, and more importantly the basketball IQ. The few times I’ve seen him play, though, the basketball IQ hasn’t seemed to translate. I think you could easily chalk that up to being a rookie and trying too hard to make an impression. With Brown, you saw very little. With Green, you saw a lot of flash and very little IQ. (And even less D.)
I don’t know if that will translate to a consistent contributor, but he seems to have more realistic NBA potential than the other two. (I use the word realistic cuz with Green you really could see all-world athleticism, WITH the ball in his hands.)
We’ll see. I really like watching Walker try. If he makes the kind of progress that, say, Big Baby or Leon Powe makes, it’ll be awesome. But I doubt he will. I think he’ll take longer to develop. Hope not too long.

by Big_Easy on Apr 12, 2009 9:45 PM EDT reply actions

Very Big Difference

He gets much more positive support from the veterans than Greene did, and they know. Can’t remember with Kedrick Brown. Neither of them were hard nosed and that’s what a young guy needs to show. i still think Greene will have a nice NBA career but don’t mind that it will be somewhere else.
PLUS, Walker gets it that his offense is a bonus. His minutes are coming and will come via his defense. Both Brown and Greene didn’t get that.

by Wildblu1 on Apr 12, 2009 9:49 PM EDT reply actions

Bill has a chance

he needs to focus on being Paul Pierce. We just haven’t seen enough of him to know, but he has shown much more toughness that the folks you mentioned

by wahz on Apr 12, 2009 9:53 PM EDT reply actions

focus on being paul pierce? huh?

by TheAncientRivalry on Apr 12, 2009 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions

wha huh?

Its not hard to understand. He needs to take on as many PP characteristics as possible. He is lost on d, has no pull up j, has no sense of when to pass, has no three, and can’t switch on a screen. But its early. He can drive to the hoop aggressively, and thats a decent start.

Happy easter

by wahz on Apr 13, 2009 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions

Too early

I like Bill and have a positive impression of him. However, would Kedrick and Gerald have looked this good if they had played with Rondo and the Big Three? Probably.

Too early to tell, though.

by Jon on Apr 12, 2009 10:14 PM EDT reply actions

Hey! Kedrick Brown scored 30 points and had 11 rebounds against the Flash the other night…

That being said. I think Walker is going to be a very good player. He has a work ethic that neither of the other two had.

Perk and Powe... the Next Big Thing

by FLCeltsFan on Apr 12, 2009 10:20 PM EDT reply actions

The Difference is the Expectation

Beyond being tougher and smarter, which others have addressed sufficiently, a major difference is what people expect out of Walker, and consequently what he expects out of himself. Gerald was drafted onto a young team that (even with Pierce) sorely needed to find additional star players to help win games. Thus, Danny’s intention in drafting Green was clearly to find the “next big thing”. He was trying to hit a home run. Although the Celtics attempted to preach patience by giving Gerald a year in the D-League, Gerald still had it in his head (and rightfully so) that he was supposed to become a star, and become one sooner rather than later. This big picture pressure took away from his focus on the little things – the basic skills that a player must acquire to become merely an average rotation player.

Bill Walker’s Boston Celtics are obviously much different from Gerald Green’s. The current Celtics team has all the stars it needs to win. Production from a guy like Walker is now a bonus rather than a necessity. Walker feels no pressure to become a star. He knows that he needs only to be a role player. Most importantly, the only way Walker gets minutes is if he does the little things well. What better way is there to teach a player to do the little things than tell to him, “Your only hope of getting in the game is if you hustle and play good defense. And if you don’t, we’ll be just fine without you. We’re the defending champs”? And of course, he has a whole team of veterans to show him how to do these things, which Green did not have.

by Toine43 on Apr 12, 2009 11:18 PM EDT reply actions

No comparison

Brown & Green were punks straight out of high school. Walker went to Kansas St., and is much more mature.

by Title 18 on Apr 12, 2009 11:59 PM EDT reply actions

Bill will be an all-star one day

If he can get it all together, I really do believe he can be great.

Yes, he has the athleticism. But he has the mindset, the tenaciousness. He won’t ever back down. He has so much room to grow as a defender. He can already finish around the rim. His jump shot is a work in progress, but again, has the potential to grow. Same with his ball handling.

Still, the potential is sky high with Walker. There was a reason he was once regarded a top 5 pick (but I do ask myself what it is about him that dropped him to 47).

If I were to say who he reminds me of a little with his strength, hops, and style, and probably be hammered he, so I’ll refrain.

I’m not saying Billy will ever be a superstar, but I really really really believe the potential is there.

by Greg on Apr 13, 2009 12:16 AM EDT reply actions

He can play the game, so he is already better than Green. I see him as a solid player but don`t have too big expectations for him. If he was a couple of inches taller I would be a lot more optimistic but he just lacks height for a SF…

by thebirdman on Apr 13, 2009 5:17 AM EDT reply actions

Not Good Comparisons

Success for many of the players just depends on what system they are put into, and then what happens to their psyche afterwards. Brown was an athletic three who was used incorrectly. Obie had him spotting up on the three point line. That was never his game. He became somewhat of a good defender, but overall, the style of play didn’t fit for him. By the time he was traded, mentally he was out of it. I’m not saying he would have been a superstar, but that Obie did not play him to his strengths.

Green just isn’t smart. All the talent in the world, but I keep thinking of the Wizard of Oz . . . if I only had a brain.

Walker has skills, but it’s way too early to tell. He has a good work ethic, desire, and talent. The key for me is what he comes back to camp with in the Fall. Has he made a step? Will Doc use him to his strength? And will his head still be in the game?

by amenhotep04 on Apr 13, 2009 7:07 AM EDT reply actions

Isn't Tony Allen

the better comparison? I guess TA came in with a better D rep – but a lot of that was BSG’s “a celtics insider says he’s like Artest on D” hype, which I consider similar to how BSG LOVED the Forte pick.

Anyways, I see him more like TA, I think he’s somewhat useful already (just not much room for him playing behind PP and RA.) But he probably needs to be good enough to get some regular burn, to get better. This was always the catch-22 with TA: he needed to have regular (and with him starting) minutes to get things going, but was never quite good enough to do so. When he finally got the chance he destroyed his knee. (I always wonder if TA would have been traded instead of Delonte had he not had that injury, but that’s a tangent for another day.)

The other question I have is he a good tweener (uses size on the other team’s SG and speed on their SF) or a bad tweener (gets out run by the SG and posted up by the SF.) That’s a big TBD IMO.

by Brendan on Apr 13, 2009 10:00 AM EDT reply actions

Except

Bill has better size than Tony and has more potential iso. He is also much stronger.

by Greg on Apr 13, 2009 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Overrated

He can’t defend like TA, he also doesn’t having the ability to dribble. His game will be very limited, I just don’t see him being a starter in the league for an extended period of time. A 3 with no shooting ability, I am not drinking that kool-aid. You are better off having Wilson Chandler.

by tmak26b on Apr 14, 2009 12:16 AM EDT reply actions