Charley Rosen compliments Paul Pierce

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm not a huge Rosen fan, but he does say some nice things about the Captain in his recent mailbag:

Q: Can you give us a breakdown of Paul Pierce's game? He went largely unnoticed in his early years with the Celtics but has emerged as Boston's go-to scorer. How does he compare with the other elites at his position? Is he truly a great player, or more of a beneficiary of playing with other great players? — Johnathan Chan, Tucson, Ariz.

Charlie Rosen: Pierce isn't as fast up-and-down as he once was but remains quick in the attack zone. He's active, athletic, uses his body well and has a total game. He's possessed of very convincing up-fakes as well as a super first-step. On the drive, Pierce can use an inside reverse pivot or spin to change direction and, although he can go either way, prefers to go left — plus he's become an excellent passer while on the move. In the post, he wants to make contact with his left shoulder so as to protect his turnaround shots. He can also pull up and shoot with a herky-jerky motion that belies the accuracy of the resulting shots.

Defenders are advised to try to limit his catches. When he does have the ball, play him for the drive and encourage him to shoot from the perimeter. This strategy will keep him off the foul line and prevent him from getting easy shots for his teammates.

On defense, he's tough and relentless.

Besides his various talents, Pierce's not-so-secret attribute is his strength.

Yes, he's a truly great player. For me, his defense and his ability to deliver in the clutch makes him better than, say, Dirk Nowitzki.

Link.

It's crazy to me that the fan asking the question seemed to think that Pierce wasn't all that good until recently.

[wdleehi]

[Celtics33]

It's crazy to me that the fan asking the question seemed to think that Pierce wasn't all that good until recently.

Sadly, alot of people never realized how good he was until the Finals. Unfortunately when you play on a losing team in a league alot of people don't respect, you go unnoticed. Besides the come back against the Nets, Pierce never really got to showcase his skills with a national audience.

They mostly saw the immature Pierce in the Pacers series and the whole Team USA debacle that he got partial blame for. Then they wrote him off.

[LB3533]

Ya, and in our minds Pierce's game is "regressing" or on the "downside", as he is getting older.

10 years ago, Pierce was a bigger version of AI, dropping 40 points per game in his sleep.