Re:

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

Steve Knight wrote:

> Since I haven't seen more than a game or two all year, I rely on the
> boxscore to tell the story of how people play. My question is this: Is
> Antoine racking up lots of assists because he is setting people up when the
> defense collapses on him, or is he simply getting Pierce the ball to knock
> down shots. In other words, is he getting cheap or legit assists?
>
> If Walker ever becomes a more efficient scorer and learns how to get to the
> foul line a la Pierce, look out NBA.
>
> I'm suddenly encouraged about the team's future. We have two young, budding
> talents who bring it every night. Surround them with great role players, and
> we've got what it takes to compete in the NBA. Imagine what Pierce and
> Walker will be playing like in three years with a solid supporting cast. My
> vote is to let Walker/Pierce mature together and build a team that will
> complement their strengths and cover up for their defensive weaknesses.
>

True Walker is averaging 8.0 assists in games where Pierce scores over 40, but
of course I don't think we can trivialize his assist totals as "cheap" either
due to Pierce's hot hand.

To wit, no one on the LA Flakers averages Walker's assists, despite having BOTH
Kobe and Shaq to hand the ball to. The Spurs' leading assist man (their point
guard) averages 4.1 per game despite have Duncan/DAnderson/Robinson and a ton of
excellent perimeter spot up shooters.

Or you can put a reverse spin on it. Like Pierce, Walker has also had some huge
scoring nights, having scored over 36 points four times including a 47 point
game.

In those four games Pierce racked up a total of just 11 assists, while Walker
himself managed 27 assists on the side. The two guys play different roles, but
it definitely seems very complementary at the moment. I hope Pierce gets March
"Player of the Month".

Right now Paul "the [expletive deleted] truth" Pierce is possibly even a bubble
candidate at small forward to make All NBA 2nd team, which is absolutely
staggering considering he was not even one of the nearly 30 ballplayers who were
chosen to the All Star game.

The biggest game of maybe the past 8 seasons is tonight at the Fleet Center, and
it is a B2B against a talented, veteran team. And yet we know who is going to
open a serious can of grade-A, government inspected, whupass tonight....Boston's
dynamic duo of Pierce and Walker. Go Obie! Go Celtics!

Joe

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