Pierce and Walker in the All Star picture

[opi@unesco.org]

Paul Pierce faces long but not impossible odds to get invited to the
millennial All Star game on February 13th. The obvious problem is that
there seem to be four shooting guards who will definitely make the team
in starters Allan Iverson and Eddie Jones plus Ray Allen (top twenty in
five NBA categories) and Allan Houston (Dream Teamer and Knicks leading
scorer at 20.5ppg).

IMO the Eastern backcourt would most likely be filled out with two point
guards from among Sam Cassell, Stephon Marbury, Darrell Armstrong or the
mostly-injured Tim Hardaway. But ideally, just one more point guard will
be invited to back up Iverson and his 31ppg  (Sam Cassell is the most
deserving at 18.4ppg and 2nd in the NBA in assists at 9.5) with an
additional swingman type picked from among frontrunners Paul Pierce,
Jerry Stackhouse (22.7 ppg, 4.7 assists) or Latrell Sprewell (who’s
presently the third-leading All Star vote-getter overall at forward).
Others who could usurp Pierce’s place are veterans Reggie Miller or
Mitch Richmond. Ike Rider is also having an All Star year (9th in
scoring), but get real!! Although Pierce is a quiet tenth place in
votes, he has every reason to feel he’s still in the running if he has a
solid few weeks (he’s 2nd in the NBA in steals for one thing). The two
awesome games each against Vince Carter and Ron Mercer can’t hurt.

As for Antoine, he profits from the lack of elite big forward depth in
the Eastern talent pool. For example, if only two centers are selected
(Alonzo Mourning and Dikimbe Mutombo) then for better or worse I think
Antoine has the best chance of being our representative on the Y2K All
Star team. In fact, even if the high vote-getting future Hall of Famer
Patrick Ewing gets selected as an early retirement gift, Antoine could
still legitimately grab the last frontcourt spot.

That’s because Toine will be the only power forward on a team whose
starters (Grant Hill and Vince Carter) are swing forwards. If Ewing
doesn’t get selected, look for a third small forward like Big Dog
Robinson (22.7 ppg on near .500 shooting) to deservedly make the team
instead. In that case, Antoine Walker will still be one of four
candidates for the last (and still only) Eastern power forward spot
along with the clearly more popular (in terms of votes) but by no means
statistically preferable Keith Van Horn, Shawn Kemp and Marcus Camby.
Van Horn is the more popular choice, but Walker has two more games
against the Nets before the All Star game to highlight what many feel
amounts to a massive talent differential. Personally, I think it is more
justifiable (but not necessarily more likely) for all four guys to be
passed over for a deserving veteran role player like PJ Brown or one of
the Davis boys (probably Indiana’s Antonio although Dale is more
deserving). It makes sense that the Heat and Pacers will earn multiple
All Star representatives (even assuming both Tim Hardaway and Reggie
Miller beats out Paul Pierce).

I know some people feel ambivalent about early All Star recognition for
our Celts kids, but I would be thrilled not only for Pierce but also for
Walker. This would reinforce the fact that a more unselfish team
attitude can go together with All Star recognition. You would have to
read a lot of negative things into Antoine’s captaincy to assume that
making the All Star team a second time would lead him back into wild,
who-cares-about-winning habits.

It’s unlikely that a sub-.500 team will get 2 of the 12 slots in the
15-team conference, but I'd be thrilled if one of our two guys makes it.
To get a sense of the odds, the Celts have had only one All Star
invitation since the “Big Three” era. But on paper we could send two
deserving players this year contingent on wheter they and the team as a
whole can go on a mini hot streak in the next two weeks. This is a
reflection of the talent on the present team, in my view. Those two guys
are All Star calibre talents. Why even Fortson and Potapenko could get
there one day, unless there is a sudden college talent infusion at
center and power forward in the coming years. If you check out the only
other Eastern Conference centers ahead of Vitaly in All Star voting
other than the one's previously mentioned above (they are Rik Smits,
Elden Cambell, Jayson Williams, Michael Doleac and Matt Geiger), you get
the picture.

Joe

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