No Subject

[Peter Delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>]

I just read SportsGuy's colum from last week and was really struck by
Antoine's home/road splits:

*Home -- 68-for-141 from the field; 41-48 from the line; 7-for-23 from
3-pt land; 9.3 rpg; 4.9 apg; 23.0 ppg.

* Road -- 61-for-165 from the field; 41-for-58 from the line; 10-for-46
from 3-pt land; 6.2 rpg, 1.7 apg; 19.3ppg.

Pretty compelling.

However, I also have been thinking a lot about Pierce. Check this out:

98-99 13. fga/g, 43.9 fg %, 41.2 3 pt %
99-00 15.5 fg/g, 42.8 fg%, 39.4 3 pt %

Now, a lot of Paul's other numbers have declined from last season --
he's getting fewer blocks, commiting slightly more turnovers & more
fouls, and pulling down .2 fewer rpg (and, notable, 1.1 fewer orbs). The
only areas where he's improved are FT%, steals and assists (as well as
scoring, but IMO if you're taking more shots and shooting a lower
percentage, it's not necessarily a good thing for your scoring to rise).
But I specifically want to focus on hit shots/game and FG% and compare
them to:

Ron Mercer

97-98 14.3 fga/g, 45 fg %
98-99 17.2 fga/g, 43.1 fg %

I feel like it's déja vu all over again. Is there something in Rick's
system that encourages his off guard to jack up more shots?

Obviously I am looking at just one part of the picture here, and I may
be underestimating the extent to which Paul's injury may still be
affecting his shot. But I find it discouraging that the very thing for
which we most maligned Ron last year -- shooting more and at a lower
percentage -- is exactly what Pierce is doing now.