The Story That Shouldn't Be...

[wiley]

is the media's drumbeat idea that Paul Pierce MUST have a "breakout" game, or that he is EXPECTED to have a "breakout game", or that if he doesn't have a "breakout" game the Celtics are SCREWED.

This is nonsense.  See TitleMaster's posts for one of the musts that Paul must do:  REBOUND

Some other musts for Paul:

1.  Play closer to Rondo's pace (Doc gives Pierce a couple more blows during game)
2.  Give up the ball quicker and move self
3.  don't listen to the media's call for points
4.  DON'T WORRY (despite media) one iota about your game. 
5.  Try to outrebound Rondo
6.  Drive to the basket constantly, off the catch if possible.
7.  Look at film of the last game you went to the free throw line 15 times or more.
8.  Move Ball and move self!

Paul misses Garnett's passing more than any other Celtics player imo.  So the answer is to be the passer himself (not daredevil passes, just simple stuff.)

For those who can review the last game on video, check out the possession with 2 minutes 45 seconds left in ball game for a model of Pierce passing and moving himself.  Perfect possession!

Following the above advice will probably lead to a high scoring night for Paul, but if it doesn't, it doesn't matter.

[bruinsandceltics]

Did you send this to Paul? Looks like it would be a good read for him.

[Redz]

Here are the Celtics 20 point scoring performances for the playoffs so far.  Pierce has had 7 of them in 9 games (above his season's average).  Has he been dominant?  Not for entire games, no.  But if there;s a perception that he has been somewhat absent it's not really true.

The whole team has had lapses.

vs chicago

Game 1: Rondo 29, Pierce 23
Game 2: R. Allen 30, BBD 26
Game 3: Pierce (2) 24, Rondo (2) 20
Game 4: Pierce (3) 29, R. Allen (2) 28, Rondo (2) 25
Game 5: Pierce (4) 26, BBD (2) 21
Game 6: R. Allen (3) 51, BBD (3) 23, Pierce (5) 22
Game 7: R. Allen (4) 23, Pierce (6) 20

vs orlando
Game 1: Pierce (7) 23
Game 2: House 31, R. Allen (5) 22

[wiley]

Here are the Celtics 20 point scoring performances for the playoffs so far.  Pierce has had 7 of them in 9 games (above his season's average).  Has he been dominant?  Not for entire games, no.  But if there;s a perception that he has been somewhat absent it's not really true.

The whole team has had lapses.

vs chicago

Game 1: Rondo 29, Pierce 23
Game 2: R. Allen 30, BBD 26
Game 3: Pierce (2) 24, Rondo (2) 20
Game 4: Pierce (3) 29, R. Allen (2) 28, Rondo (2) 25
Game 5: Pierce (4) 26, BBD (2) 21
Game 6: R. Allen (3) 51, BBD (3) 23, Pierce (5) 22
Game 7: R. Allen (4) 23, Pierce (6) 20

vs orlando
Game 1: Pierce (7) 23
Game 2: House 31, R. Allen (5) 22

I don't think he's been absent.  But the media clearly does.  And Paul has had a concerned look on his face much of the time.  This is uneccessary.  He's so good in so many ways that I don't care about his point total. 

My concerns are about ball movement, shooting percentage and turnovers.  I think more foreceful driving to the hoop out of an offense in motion would take care of a couple of those...

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

Lead us Paul!

[PosImpos]

Here are the Celtics 20 point scoring performances for the playoffs so far.  Pierce has had 7 of them in 9 games (above his season's average).  Has he been dominant?  Not for entire games, no.  But if there;s a perception that he has been somewhat absent it's not really true.

The whole team has had lapses.

vs chicago

Game 1: Rondo 29, Pierce 23
Game 2: R. Allen 30, BBD 26
Game 3: Pierce (2) 24, Rondo (2) 20
Game 4: Pierce (3) 29, R. Allen (2) 28, Rondo (2) 25
Game 5: Pierce (4) 26, BBD (2) 21
Game 6: R. Allen (3) 51, BBD (3) 23, Pierce (5) 22
Game 7: R. Allen (4) 23, Pierce (6) 20

vs orlando
Game 1: Pierce (7) 23
Game 2: House 31, R. Allen (5) 22

I don't think this tells the whole story.  It's when and how he scores and how he passes / moves the ball that matters and in those respects in most of these games Paul hasn't been quite as good as we expect and hope for him to be. 

He hasn't been bad by any means, I mean, he's still clearly playing as one of our best players, but if we want to continue to have success we really need him to step up, we're going to need him to close out more games for us like he did in one of the Bulls games; Ray's not always going to be there for the clutch 3.

[Redz]

Here are the Celtics 20 point scoring performances for the playoffs so far.  Pierce has had 7 of them in 9 games (above his season's average).  Has he been dominant?  Not for entire games, no.  But if there;s a perception that he has been somewhat absent it's not really true.

The whole team has had lapses.

vs chicago

Game 1: Rondo 29, Pierce 23
Game 2: R. Allen 30, BBD 26
Game 3: Pierce (2) 24, Rondo (2) 20
Game 4: Pierce (3) 29, R. Allen (2) 28, Rondo (2) 25
Game 5: Pierce (4) 26, BBD (2) 21
Game 6: R. Allen (3) 51, BBD (3) 23, Pierce (5) 22
Game 7: R. Allen (4) 23, Pierce (6) 20

vs orlando
Game 1: Pierce (7) 23
Game 2: House 31, R. Allen (5) 22

I don't think this tells the whole story.  It's when and how he scores and how he passes / moves the ball that matters and in those respects in most of these games Paul hasn't been quite as good as we expect and hope for him to be. 

He hasn't been bad by any means, I mean, he's still clearly playing as one of our best players, but if we want to continue to have success we really need him to step up, we're going to need him to close out more games for us like he did in one of the Bulls games; Ray's not always going to be there for the clutch 3.

By no means does it tell the whole story.  Actually when I started assembling the #'s I was trying to prove a point that the scoring had been more spread out than usual (and that that's a good that).  Lo and behold I found that Pierce had been leading the team in scoring still most of the time in the playoffs (which off the top of my head I might not have guessed)

[guava_wrench]

The problem is the turnovers that are remembered so prominently, overshadowing the good stuff.

Also, the nature of how Pierce scores make him look worse when it doesn't work.