Pierce, Allen, Or The Field?

Thanks to the picture above, Paulie has officially earned the nickname "Popeye" Pierce.

Well, the Celtics did what good teams do, and beat a crappy team heading into the All-Star break. If you can't do that, you suck. Am I right, Laker fans? Paul Pierce came back crazy strong from his really awful game against Miami, scoring 31 points in the 94-80 win over the Nets yesterday. Paulie's All-Star buddy, Ray Allen, buried a big three with 5:58 left in the game, and that gave the C's an 80-78 lead. The Nets were still right on our tail! Luckily, that shot from beyond the arc started a 16-0 run for the Celtics that put the game in the bag. It quickly turned a close game into a blowout for the Green Army.

The C's shot just 18% from three-ville, but the defense did the job by holding the Nets to 38% from the field. What also helped was how the foul calls went our way. We shot 39 times from the charity stripe, while Jersey was only handed 15 free throws. That's a gigantic advantage. In addition to Popeye's 31, KG put up a double-double (14 and 10), Allen drilled 12, and the bench added 25 (led, surprisingly, by Harangody's 8). Rondo deserves some love as well, as he nabbed 3 steals, which led the team.

The Green Army are sending four players to the All-Star game in Los Angeles this weekend, as Paulie, Ray Ray, R-Squared, and KG all hope to shine for the East. Even more exciting than the actual All-Star game, for Celtic fans, is the three point contest. Pierce is back to try and defend his title, and he'll be going head to head with his buddy (and all-time NBA three point scorer) Ray Allen. So, if we were a betting blog, which we aren't because the blog doesn't make us any money, would we pick Pierce, Allen, or the field in the big event?

Paul Pierce

Ray Allen

The Field (Kevin Durant, Dorell Wright, James Jones, and Daniel Gibson)

Who you got? First off, I'll point out that picking Kevin Durant to be in the three point contest is a complete joke. He shoots below the league average from beyond the arc! That's just stupid. You could have picked from a hundred other jokers, who can actually hit a three at the average clip (watch, he'll win the thing now). 

Now, I'm not sure if numbers from the "first half" of the regular season are actually any kind of predictor of success in this contest, but we'll look at 3P% real quick to compare the participants, and then make our pick between the three options.

Pierce- 38.5%
Allen- 45.7%
Durant- 33.8%
Wright- 40.1%
Jones- 42.3%
Gibson- 44.3%

When you look at those numbers, it's kind of hard to want to pick Popeye Pierce to repeat as 3-point champion, which probably goes to show that regular season 3P% isn't a good predictor, as I guessed. It's also really, really hard to pick Durant (because he has a worse 3P% than I do). But, it's kind of really easy to pick the good story. While Gibson and Jones have a chance to hit us with a surprise win, I'm not sure how I can pick anyone other than Ray Allen.

How about that story? The aging veteran, just days after breaking the NBA All-Time Three Point record steps onto the court at Staples Center and blows away the beyond the arc bombing youth to win the exhibition contest? Sounds perfect. Go and get you some, Jesus Shuttlesworth.

Before I go, I will say this, and you should probably sit down. The Celtics have been the basketball team that I have rooted for as long as I can remember. They are, and always have been, my team. Now, when they went out and got KG and Ray Allen, my love took a hit. In fact, I almost defected to being a Timberwolves fan after that whole big trade. Not because the guys we got aren't awesome (they really are amazing players), but because I kind of hated the attention that they got from ESPN and the like (and I kind of hated how much they started winning, and how Doc Rivers became known as some kind of mega-coach). I liked them soooooo much better when it was Pierce, Walker, and the ol' Delonte (and a then-crappy Doc Rivers). I can't really invision a reason that I would ditch my support of the Celtics. Unless... http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlesports/2011/02/16/canucks-owner-wants-hornets-in-vancouver-globe-and-mail/ 

I am officially going on the record. If Vancouver gets a NBA team (again), I will ditch the Celtics and follow the BC Ballers (name idea? I'm just saying...). Yep, it's true. If a team never comes to my favorite North-of-the-Boarder town (which I'm guessing will be the case), I'll keep bleeding green forever. 

In a similar vein, I will never switch my NFL support away from the Rams if LA ever gets a new team, just to get that out of the way now. The Rams are just too near and dear to my heart after playing in Anaheim during my youth.

Sorry, C's.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē