Pierce- last 10 games

[Redz]

Pierce has been great Doc has not been. If we had a coach who could pull out a close game we wouldnt be in this slump. 50 seconds left, give it to pierce for a quick shot, then 10 seconds left give it to rondo to dribble it out...That is thinking in reverse logic and he underperformed with those two play calls.

Pierce was 1 for 5 in last 6 minutes last night and was called for an offensive foul.  He missed a shot he usually makes that would tied the game with 36 seconds to go.  Pierce got the ball in the clutch, but Doc must have not coached well enough to make the shot go in.

Pierce has been playing fine, but he missed shots last night late in the game.  Why is this Doc's fault?

[nickagneta]

Pierce has been cheating towards the lane all year long and leaving his man open on the perimeter. He's still doing it. He's been basically being a one man show every time he brings the ball up all year and that hasn't changed. He's been turning the ball over a lot all year and that hasn't changed.

Uh, our team defense for the last two years has always had the weak side defender cheating toward the lane, and for very good reason.  The man closest to the basket is always the most dangerous and someone has to cover him when a big steps out to rotate.  You can't get from the sideline to the paint quicker than the ball.  Therefore the weakside defender ALWAYS plays near the paint. No matter who the weakside defender is.
 Pierce isn't doing anything differently defensivley this year than he was last.  What is happening is we are not rotating as a team the way we should.  Rondo has been one of the biggest culprits.  Once his man gets by him Rondo gives up on defense.
Case in point last night.  Rondo let his man get past him.  Pierce had to stop the ball.  Then Pierce had to recover to the three point shooter too.  Once Rondo's guy got past him he should have automatically picked up the guy in the corner.  Instead he stood and watched.

And he has been averaging 13 shots per game over the last ten games because that's how much he's supposed to take.

I didn't know we had a quota.  If that's the case then I'll be jumping on the fire Doc bandwagon.
If you have one guy who is shooting well and four that aren't then the one guy who is shooting well [dang] well better be getting more shots.  PERIOD!

I beg to differ but Pierce has been doing it no matter where the ball has been. Strong side, weak side or even if his man has the ball. Pierce has been playing much further off his men and cheating towards the post or passing lanes. How many players earlier this season lit him up from deep because of this? Off the top of my head without looking up anything I remember Granger in Indiana, Maggette here, Jefferson in Milwaukee, T-Mac here, and Marvin Williams here and there.

[xmuscularghandix]

Pierce has been great Doc has not been. If we had a coach who could pull out a close game we wouldnt be in this slump. 50 seconds left, give it to pierce for a quick shot, then 10 seconds left give it to rondo to dribble it out...That is thinking in reverse logic and he underperformed with those two play calls.

how, on a team with three hall of famers, is it the coaches fault they can't win in the fourth quarter? maybe the offense would run better if he suited up and ran the offense himself.

[Jaycelt]

I beg to differ but Pierce has been doing it no matter where the ball has been. Strong side, weak side or even if his man has the ball. Pierce has been playing much further off his men and cheating towards the post or passing lanes. How many players earlier this season lit him up from deep because of this? Off the top of my head without looking up anything I remember Granger in Indiana, Maggette here, Jefferson in Milwaukee, T-Mac here, and Marvin Williams here and there.

Do you mean the 1-7 from 3pt land Granger who was held to 39% shooting and 5 pts below his average?  Yeah we lost that game so it must of have Pierce's lack of D. Forget the fact that Daniels shot 50%, Nestervic shot 58%, Ford shot 56%, and Murphy, while only shooting 40% shot 2-5 3 pointers.
That's all four other starters not only shooting better...but most much better than Granger.

Do you mean the T-Mac that was on the bench in street clothes in Boston, or the one that was 1-4 from 3pt land in Houston, and the one Ray Allen was guarding down the stretch on switches when he scored 9 of his 26 points, most from the free throw line, a game we won BTW?

Do you mean the Jefferson that was 2-4 from three...both baskets coming in the first quarter, and then couldn't do anything the rest of the game?

Do you mean the Marvin Williams who took a whole 6 shots and was outscored by a very efficient Pierce (57% shooting) by 20 pts in Boston or the oe that was 0-2 from 3 pt land in Atlanta and got most of his 16 pts while Pierce wasn't even the game (pierce held him to 1-5 in the first quarter)?


Really, I wouldn't be relying on your memory if this is the best you can do.

[nickagneta]

I beg to differ but Pierce has been doing it no matter where the ball has been. Strong side, weak side or even if his man has the ball. Pierce has been playing much further off his men and cheating towards the post or passing lanes. How many players earlier this season lit him up from deep because of this? Off the top of my head without looking up anything I remember Granger in Indiana, Maggette here, Jefferson in Milwaukee, T-Mac here, and Marvin Williams here and there.

Do you mean the 1-7 from 3pt land Granger who was held to 39% shooting and 5 pts below his average?  Yeah we lost that game so it must of have Pierce's lack of D. Forget the fact that Daniels shot 50%, Nestervic shot 58%, Ford shot 56%, and Murphy, while only shooting 40% shot 2-5 3 pointers.
That's all four other starters not only shooting better...but most much better than Granger.

Do you mean the T-Mac that was on the bench in street clothes in Boston, or the one that was 1-4 from 3pt land in Houston, and the one Ray Allen was guarding down the stretch on switches when he scored 9 of his 26 points, most from the free throw line, a game we won BTW?

Do you mean the Jefferson that was 2-4 from three...both baskets coming in the first quarter, and then couldn't do anything the rest of the game?

Do you mean the Marvin Williams who took a whole 6 shots and was outscored by a very efficient Pierce (57% shooting) by 20 pts in Boston or the oe that was 0-2 from 3 pt land in Atlanta and got most of his 16 pts while Pierce wasn't even the game (pierce held him to 1-5 in the first quarter)?


Really, I wouldn't be relying on your memory if this is the best you can do.

Just because my memory isn't great doesn't mean it isn't happening. If I was inclined, has the time, had the resources I'd put together the video proof of it but I'm not going to bother. It's just not that important to me. I know what I've been seeing this year from Paul's defense and it isn't nearly as tight or crisp as last year and it's been a ton more hero like trying to help back and play the lanes no matter where the ball.

Oh, and just because Jefferson only went 2-4 on threes doesn't mean he didn't light up Pierce that game. He scored 14 points in the first and unbelievably didn't start to miss until Pierce left the game. He hit two three pointers, a 20 footer and a 22 footer in that quarter alone.

And yeah that Marvin Williams that was pathetically wide open all game and 4-4 from long distance. I really don't know what Pierce outscoring the guy has to do with our discussion on how he plays defense. I wasn't aware Pierce played defense anywhere near his opponent's basket. I thought that was called offense.

And yeah that Granger that put up 11 points on Pierce in the first quarter with an array of outside sides. Again, I don't know what the significance of a win or loss or what everyone else was shooting has to do with Pierce's defense. Apparently you like clouding the subject with stuff that isn't important.

Maybe next time when debating a subject you should actually bring in arguments that pertain to the subject at hand.

[LB3533]

I actually think Pierce's defense is fine this year, just like it was last year.

The only difference this year is that the "no name" players or other opposing players are making their shots this year.

The opposing teams are not afraid of us nor are they looking at the Celtics team in awe anymore.

Also, Paul is driving the lane just like he did last year....except this year, especially earlier on in the season, he was missing a lot of easy layups and recently, none of the Celtics, not even Pierce, is/are getting the calls from the refs.

I know you can't tell the whole story just by looking at statistics, but look at the number of Paul Pierce's Free Throw Attempts for this year and last.

Currently this year, Paul is averaging about 7.4 FTA per game. Last year, he averaged 6.1 FTA per game.

What is shocking to me is that I feel like Paul (and the rest of the C's) IS NOT getting enough calls for them.

So to me, I think Pierce should be averaging like 10+ FTA per game this season.

Thanks refs!

Edit:  I want to throw in that Pierce is averaging LESS 3 FGA this year (3.7 per game) than last year (4.7 per game). Also, Pierce is taking less shots per game this year than he did last year and Pierce is STILL not leading the team in FGA's, KG is.

[LB3533]

[Pierce's] assists per game are at the lowest point of his career since the 01-02 "just give me the ball and let me shoot" days of Jimmy O'Brien.

Pierce's assists are down 0.8 per game from last year because the ball is not in Paul's hand as much, therefore he is not creating as much like last year.

The ball has actually been in the hands of the PG more, Rajon Rondo and this is where the ball should belong as far as setting teammates up.

Rajon's assists per game are up nearly 2.5 per game, and this includes Rajon's poor recent stretch....had he continued his good play he would have been averaging closer to 8 assists per game.

[nickagneta]

I actually think Pierce's defense is fine this year, just like it was last year.

The only difference this year is that the "no name" players or other opposing players are making their shots this year.

The opposing teams are not afraid of us nor are they looking at the Celtics team in awe anymore.

Also, Paul is driving the lane just like he did last year....except this year, especially earlier on in the season, he was missing a lot of easy layups and recently, none of the Celtics, not even Pierce, is/are getting the calls from the refs.

I know you can't tell the whole story just by looking at statistics, but look at the number of Paul Pierce's Free Throw Attempts for this year and last.

Currently this year, Paul is averaging about 7.4 FTA per game. Last year, he averaged 6.1 FTA per game.

What is shocking to me is that I feel like Paul (and the rest of the C's) IS NOT getting enough calls for them.

So to me, I think Pierce should be averaging like 10+ FTA per game this season.

Thanks refs!

What those stats, his lowering of his assists per game totals and my eyes are telling me is that he is finishing, or being fouled, or missing a lot more this year and passing off the dribble drive a lot less. Think. How many times last year was Pierce hitting an open man on his drive and think this year how little it is happening.

Just to clarify my stance on the Captain, I love the guy. He bleeds green. I think he's had a very steady year and come up big late for us a bunch, just like the most clutch player on the planet should. However, I don't see much change in his game from beginning to end this year other than recently his shots are going in and for the first 25 games or so they weren't.

Also, he's playing great overall but I think he has been lax on his defense this year, especially in the first quarter when last year the Celtics ran out to giant leads early and this year players have litten him up early a bunch. He's also passing a bunch less both on his dribble drives and on those occassions when he brings the ball up the floor.

Part of that is the installation of that 3-1 screen up top with Rondo that has been a much larger part of the team's offense this year. How can you argue about Pierce shooting when he has a guy 4-5 inches shorter than him guarding him 15 feet from the basket?

My complaints about Pierce are extremely minor. It's just I expect more from the greatest player on the planet.

[RAcker]

Pierce has been great Doc has not been. If we had a coach who could pull out a close game we wouldnt be in this slump. 50 seconds left, give it to pierce for a quick shot, then 10 seconds left give it to rondo to dribble it out...That is thinking in reverse logic and he underperformed with those two play calls.

Pierce was 1 for 5 in last 6 minutes last night and was called for an offensive foul.  He missed a shot he usually makes that would tied the game with 36 seconds to go.  Pierce got the ball in the clutch, but Doc must have not coached well enough to make the shot go in.

Pierce has been playing fine, but he missed shots last night late in the game.  Why is this Doc's fault?

Thank you, and amen.