Pierce, the 3-point shot etc.

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Joe wrote last night:
"A good month of March also requires that 1) the Celts win at home, and
2) Paul Pierce doesn't hit the rookie wall. I keep waiting for him to
have his first slump, mini-slump, or at least an embarrassing off-game."

****

Geez, I really feel like I may have helped jinxed the poor guy (0-11
last night). I actually believe in and feel guilty about that stuff.

BTW, here's an interesting season stat IMHO. A lot of us have expressed
concerned about the brain-less Celtics playground offense, and the
ridiculous number of 3-point shots Antoine and friends have shot and
missed. Well then, consider this:

-Despite going a brutal 2-11 last night vs Cleveland, the Celtics are
currently shooting .339 from 3-point land.
-In other words, for every 100 attempts, we have converted about 34
shots or 102 points.
-To score 102 points in 100 attempts via the standard 2-point field
goal, the Celts would of course need to hit .510 from the field.

This illustrates in numbers that (provided we take good attempts within
our offense) the 3-pointer is still just as effective a weapon as, say,
Ron Mercer coming off a screen from 18 feet. Prior to last night, the
Celtics had outscored opponents by an average of 7.8 ppg from 3-point
range, which has more than made up for the gap in free-throw attempts
allowed (7.0 pg) due to our lack of an inside game.

Having an offense that can spread defenses out to 23 feet from their
basket is a great thing. For one thing, we finally have the athletes to
drives & dish or drive & score off of tight perimeter defense. We just
need our "big four" to continue growing together and looking for each
other as teammates.

Joe

p.s. I'll be going on biz to NYC and Boston next week. Too bad for me
the Celtics aren't playing in either town. Guess I'll be going to a lot
of operas and movies. Boring!

****