Obie pitches Walker/Pierce

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

Obie does his part in pitching Pierce and Walker for the All Star
reserves. He does a good job of it.  It's a loooooong shot because of
the won-loss record.

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Copyright Boston Herald - Bulpett

``I think all you do is compare Antoine to the other people that he'd be
competing against,'' O'Brien said before Walker had a season-low 11
points (but provided a key defensive play at the end) in an 83-82 win
over Atlanta. ``I have a difficult time believing that there are many
better players than Antoine Walker in the NBA. And I think the fact that
over the last five games he's almost averaging a triple-double (30.0
points, 9.6 rebounds, 7.0 assists heading into last night) would speak
to the people that are in charge of deciding who's going to be in a
reserve role (neither was voted in as a starter in the fan balloting).

``I think Paul, to me, is a guy that's having a very solid year, who's
improving defensively, who's a big-time player, who is a great story
from the standpoint of the adversity that he overcame.

``I'm going to say that they both deserve it, and it's up to the
coaches. I think they have to look and figure it out. If there's a more
valuable guy than Antoine Walker to any given team at any given time, I
don't know who it is. I think he's playing brilliantly.''

The fact the coaches generally lump forwards together (not breaking them
up into power and small designations) and the Celtics' record (16-26)
could work against Walker and, to an extent, Pierce as the coaches
gather to select the subs.

``That's certainly their prerogative, to look at the record,'' O'Brien
said. ``And certainly Antoine and Paul and the rest of us who want them
to be in the All-Star Game understand that the record we have is a
negative against whether they'll be on the team or not. I don't think
you can ignore that. . . . But right now I think both of those guys are
playing really good basketball.''

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