5 NBA Players Guaranteed to Make a Second-Half Turnaround

It is the halfway point of the NBA season, and some NBA players need to get things turned around.

Dirk Nowitzki needs to shake his championship hangover. Pau Gasol needs to show Los Angeles that Kobe can't win without him. Paul Pierce needs to find the fountain of youth for his team's offense.

As the NBA All-Star Break approaches, it is a good time to take stock of the first half of the NBA season and make predictions on what the second half will bring. There are quite a few NBA players who need to turn their seasons around in the second half, but few who actually will.

Here are five guys who will turn their seasons around.

Pau Gasol

Pau Gasol has not had a bad season in 2011-12. He's averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. Those are extremely solid numbers for a starting power forward in the NBA.

So what's the problem?

Those 16 points are the fewest per game in Pau's career. His field goal percentage is at its second-lowest, and his free-throw attempts are at their lowest.

Gasol has always had the reputation of being a weak player. He's a finesse guy who is extremely skilled, but offers little bruising down low. The fact that the Lakers wanted to deal him for Chris Paul has made him more susceptible to this criticism.

Gasol needs to demand the ball more and exert himself as a force on the Lakers' squad. His numbers may not climb much, but his reputation is what really needs to be turned around this year.

Dirk Nowitzki

We're all happy for Dirk Nowitzki getting his first championship and the first for the Dallas Mavericks in their history.

But the celebration is over.

Nowitzki started this season playing some of the worst basketball of his career. He has recovered somewhat, but it will take the entire second half of the season to fix. Right now, Nowitzki's points per game, field goal percentage and three-point percentage are the lowest they've been in the last decade.

Nowitzki will get things going again. He's averaging over 22 points per game in the month of February.

Joe Johnson

Right now, Joe Johnson is averaging 17.7 points per game and shooting 42.5 percent from the field. Both of those marks are the lowest of his career since being trading to the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks are at No. 5 in the Eastern playoff standings—a half-game behind Orlando and Philadelphia for the No. 3 spot. If Johnson can get it turned around, this Atlanta team might be able to grab one of the best seeds in the conference. But it all depends on Johnson.

He will turn it around. Johnson is also averaging the lowest amount of shot attempts per game since moving to Atlanta. That will change down the stretch, as the team depends on its best player moving into the playoffs.

Paul Pierce

A long, commonly-held belief in and around the NBA is that every team has a No. 1 player, and that even if it has many great players, one guy must be the No. 1 option. Paul Pierce is that man for the Celtics.

However, his play has slipped this year. He's averaging 17 points per game—the lowest of his career since his rookie season—and his shooting percentage is the worst it has been in the last five years.

At 15-15, Boston is struggling to make the playoffs. Their defense is still very good (No. 1 in the league in opponent points per game), but their offense is lacking.

Paul is the man who must make it happen, and he will.

Andray Blatche

Last season, Andray Blatche averaged 16 points and eight rebounds per game, convincing many to believe that he was part of the foundation of the future along with point guard John Wall.

Forget about it.

Blatche is averaging 10 points and seven rebounds this season and has basically regressed in every statistical category. He appears to be a one-hit wonder at this point.

He will turn it around, though. His minutes and shot attempts are both down this season. If he can get those up (I believe he will), he'll have a very solid shot at showing himself to be the man Wizard fans hoped he was.