All Stars Pierce and Walker

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

There are going to be some players and agents 
disappointed with the All Star selection. 

I thought Ray Allen was a lock, and that Jerry Stackhouse 
was the most talented player we've faced this year.

Its quirky to see both Zydrunas and Brad Miller make the 
team, since Jermaine and Ben Wallace can handle center 
duties for that one game. Put another way, if Vin Baker 
had matched last year's career-low Seattle numbers, he'd 
be as good a bet as any to make this Eastern All Star 
team. That's how pathetic the center situation is in the 
East!

The All Star roster points to bigger minutes for Paul 
Pierce behind both Carter and Iverson, fewer minutes for 
Antoine (behind Jermaine and the three centers). 

That formula works out well for the Celts, given 
Antoine's need for rest and how Pierce is in peak form 
for a good All Star performance.

Paul's 35.5 points and 6.3 assists last week add up to 
more than 48 points of total offense, not counting three-
point assists which could put it up around 50 ppg.

That's around 55% of the teams points, a very high number 
even over a short stretch of games. Basically its Bird-
esque.

Pierce also had 3.25 steals, led the team in rebounding 
(8.5) and, best of all, shot 50% from the field.

In order for Boston to have a monster second half, Paul 
Pierce will probably have to shoot closer to the .442 of 
last season, rather than the .404 of this year to date.

The big concern is the perimeter slump. Pierce has 
crashed a staggering 100 points so far this season from 
his career .387 3-pt FG% (537/1388) coming in. That's a 
huge statistical collapse.

The slump has messed up his game enough that he chose to 
only attempt one 3-pointer on Sunday against Orlando. 

If he can shoot even the league average of 34% the rest 
of the season, that would make a certain difference in 
keeping defenses honest. After all .340 is the equivalent 
of .510 shooting on 2-pointers, measured as points scored 
per shot attempt.






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