I'm Calling Out Sekou Smith

Sekou Smith is one of the league's most respected beat reporters; he's right up there in that top tier with Brian Windhorst and Ira Winderman. Smith is the Atlanta Journal Constitution writer who prematurely broke the story yesterday that Joe Johnson had been named to the All-Star team. After hearing Paul Pierce's assertion that his teammate, Ray Allen, should have made the team instead of Johnson "based on record and what we [the Celtics] were doing team-wise," Smith, understandably, wrote this blog post defending Johnson.

I have no problem with a beat reporter standing up for a player whose team he covers. But I do have a problem with him omitting some facts. Here's what Smith writes about Allen (emphasis mine):

I won't dip down to the level of the haters and knock his argument for Allen (who by the way has posted the lowest field goal percentage and scoring average since his rookie year), mostly because I know the transition he's had to make joining two other All-Stars as the third option.

That's factually accurate, but it doesn't really tell the whole story. Joe Johnson's field goal percentage of .407 is the second-worst of his career, only besting the .397 mark he posted in 2002/2003. Smith didn't mention Hedo Turkoglu in his post at all, and that's fine; he probably just wanted to point out that Allen is undeserving this year and that Pierce -- who has twice been chosen to All-Star teams despite his team being below .500 -- is being hypocritical. But I'll just go ahead and mention that Turkoglu's .438 field goal percentage this year is the second-best of his career, only topped by the .454 clip he shot in 2005/2006. Just, you know, for what it's worth.

Again, I have a lot of respect for Sekou Smith. I just wish he'd at least concede that there were players more deserving of an All-Star roster spot than Joe Johnson, and not omit facts that prove it.