plot points/messing with the story; ok, this is a valid point. Though, you've never seen for yourself. I really don't think it's THAT bad as what you say. the anime is still enjoyable, even if panther's coach isn't racist.
One of the things that the manga does best is set things up way in advance, so when, for example, Musashi finally rejoins the team much later on, you feel that they really had to work for it. The anime cuts out almost all of that foreshadowing, then shoehorns it back in right before the big payoff scenes, severely cheapening that feel. Also, the anime takes out a huge amount of scenes that aren't directly essential to the plot, but give the series and its characters a lot of its charm. Actually, there are several characters whose personalities get sent to the anime's chopping block. It's a sterilized shell of the manga, and goes far beyond Apollo not being racist.
Oh, but since that was brought up I may as well talk about the God-awful censoring. They didn't just gloss over Apollo's racism; they attempted to cover it up with KITTENS of all things. A lot of Hiruma scenes make him look like a goofy clown instead of threatening like he did in the manga, as well. Whether or not crude humor isn't one's cup of tea, it's undeniably a big part of the manga's style (at least early on), and trying to cover it up by having the production staff awkwardly spread rotting fecal matter over it is pathetic.
is there really that many fillers? i'm sure there are, but your the first ive heard to make a big complaint of it. nothing's really bothered me so far.
There are two filler scenes in particular that bug the hell out of me: Suzuna's introduction and that stupid "where's Eyeshield" episode, both of which screwed up a lot of canon continuity. I'm not in the mood to really rant about them right now though.
For the record, I have watched a lot of the anime (I'm not just going on hearsay), and can honestly say that it's one of the worst adaptations of a manga that I've ever seen.