Paul Pierce 46 pts to knock out Iverson on our way to the ECF

[lon3lytoaster]

Toine had a pretty good series too against the Sixers, actually he had a pretty [dang] good playoff run in 2002.

I have no problems saying Toine was our best player in the 2002 playoffs.

I would. They were a dynamic duo, 'Toine was the vocal leader but PP was the leader on the floor. The Green would go as far as PP took them.

You are absolutely right, the 2002 Celtics were only going as far as Paul Pierce took them.

Toine being the best Celtic playoff performer in 2002 was the reason why the Celtics didn't get to the Finals, because Pierce wasn't the best Celtic.

Well two players led a team of over the hill stars, kids, and draft busts to the Eastern Conference finals, now thats pretty impressive. But the think with Toine and Pierce is that it was Toine playing good and hitting shots for the first three quarters while PP contributed off and on... then in the fourth Paul would just do his thing and try to pull us out with the win.

In all fairness to everyone else on the team...

Kenny Anderson was the perfect PG for this team.
Rodney Rogers at this point was perfect for filling his role
Tony Battie was a decent center but didn't do well enough rebounding... well nobody did
Delk & Williams were past their prime but could still fill roles.
Johnson was on the rise and really put up some good numbers early in his rookie year...never should have been traded, we could have had a homegrown big three by 2004.

Are you talking about Joe Johnson? He was barely ever on our team and wasn't on it during those playoffs. We sholdn't have given up on him but we never would have made it that deep in the playoffs that year as we acquired Delk and Rogers from him right? Also his rookie numbers with us were nothing to write home about. 6 ppg 1.5 apg 2.9 rpg and shot 273 from downtown...
I can't believe looking back on that season how well they did. They really were not that good and almost made the NBA finals.   People talk about Lebron and dwade leading there teams with limited casts how did Pierce not get as much credit for leading his team as far as he did?

I think the answer to your last question is because Paul kind of choked the Nets series away. He missed a game-winning free throw that would have put Boston up 3-1. He hits that there's a 95% chance Boston faces LA in the Finals and Paul gets the credit that LeBron and Wade got.

Regardless, does anyone think we had a realistic chance against the Lakers? Could we have even won a single game? I'm not sure, Shaq was still in full blown beast mode at the time. I think we did beat the Lakers in their house that season though.. On a questionable buzzer beater.

[screwedupmaniac]

I don't think his weight is a problem, just becuase he can't jump as high doesn't mean anything, the fact that he's thick and has some weight allows him to plant down and cover guys like Lebron.

yeah, and besides, back in the day he played a lot of SG, but he's almost exclusively a SF now, and a little size at that position, like you said, is actually benefiting him.

[WeMadeIt17]

Wow remember that was the first game I ever seen Paul Pierce And the Celtics my uncle John R.I.P. told me to start liking them and I fell in love with em! Go Celtics!!!

[BigAlTheFuture]

I remember being 12 watching this game. I was going crazy in the living room. TP for the video.

[ToppersBsktball10]

I cant help but think that if pierce slimmed down again it may help his game a little bit, not that he needs that much help, but im just saying.

He'd be a little quicker, and maybe could jump a little higher. Which would help his game both now and in the long term picture.

[cool breeze]

Not sure if anybody else caught this video the other day, but Paul looks to be in GREAT shape, and represents the Celtics well here:

http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/26598207/active-kids-healthy-kids.htm#q=%22paul+pierce%22

[CelticG1]

Toine had a pretty good series too against the Sixers, actually he had a pretty [dang] good playoff run in 2002.

I have no problems saying Toine was our best player in the 2002 playoffs.

I would. They were a dynamic duo, 'Toine was the vocal leader but PP was the leader on the floor. The Green would go as far as PP took them.

You are absolutely right, the 2002 Celtics were only going as far as Paul Pierce took them.

Toine being the best Celtic playoff performer in 2002 was the reason why the Celtics didn't get to the Finals, because Pierce wasn't the best Celtic.

Well two players led a team of over the hill stars, kids, and draft busts to the Eastern Conference finals, now thats pretty impressive. But the think with Toine and Pierce is that it was Toine playing good and hitting shots for the first three quarters while PP contributed off and on... then in the fourth Paul would just do his thing and try to pull us out with the win.

In all fairness to everyone else on the team...

Kenny Anderson was the perfect PG for this team.
Rodney Rogers at this point was perfect for filling his role
Tony Battie was a decent center but didn't do well enough rebounding... well nobody did
Delk & Williams were past their prime but could still fill roles.
Johnson was on the rise and really put up some good numbers early in his rookie year...never should have been traded, we could have had a homegrown big three by 2004.

Are you talking about Joe Johnson? He was barely ever on our team and wasn't on it during those playoffs. We sholdn't have given up on him but we never would have made it that deep in the playoffs that year as we acquired Delk and Rogers from him right? Also his rookie numbers with us were nothing to write home about. 6 ppg 1.5 apg 2.9 rpg and shot 273 from downtown...
I can't believe looking back on that season how well they did. They really were not that good and almost made the NBA finals.   People talk about Lebron and dwade leading there teams with limited casts how did Pierce not get as much credit for leading his team as far as he did?

I think the answer to your last question is because Paul kind of choked the Nets series away. He missed a game-winning free throw that would have put Boston up 3-1. He hits that there's a 95% chance Boston faces LA in the Finals and Paul gets the credit that LeBron and Wade got.

Regardless, does anyone think we had a realistic chance against the Lakers? Could we have even won a single game? I'm not sure, Shaq was still in full blown beast mode at the time. I think we did beat the Lakers in their house that season though.. On a questionable buzzer beater.

That may be true about Pierce's missed free throw but that is pretty weak if that is the reason.  Also Dwade had Shaq which people jsut dismiss sometimes. Maybe Dwade got too much credit.

Anyway we probably didn't have a realistic chance against the lakers. They swept the nets didn't they? Of course at the time I would have convinced myself that we were better than them.... I can't think of the buzzer beater game. The only game i can think of that comes to mind is the OT loss when Shaq called pierce the Truth. Walker hit a tying 3 pointer off the backboard to bring us into OT.

[lon3lytoaster]

Toine had a pretty good series too against the Sixers, actually he had a pretty [dang] good playoff run in 2002.

I have no problems saying Toine was our best player in the 2002 playoffs.

I would. They were a dynamic duo, 'Toine was the vocal leader but PP was the leader on the floor. The Green would go as far as PP took them.

You are absolutely right, the 2002 Celtics were only going as far as Paul Pierce took them.

Toine being the best Celtic playoff performer in 2002 was the reason why the Celtics didn't get to the Finals, because Pierce wasn't the best Celtic.

Well two players led a team of over the hill stars, kids, and draft busts to the Eastern Conference finals, now thats pretty impressive. But the think with Toine and Pierce is that it was Toine playing good and hitting shots for the first three quarters while PP contributed off and on... then in the fourth Paul would just do his thing and try to pull us out with the win.

In all fairness to everyone else on the team...

Kenny Anderson was the perfect PG for this team.
Rodney Rogers at this point was perfect for filling his role
Tony Battie was a decent center but didn't do well enough rebounding... well nobody did
Delk & Williams were past their prime but could still fill roles.
Johnson was on the rise and really put up some good numbers early in his rookie year...never should have been traded, we could have had a homegrown big three by 2004.

Are you talking about Joe Johnson? He was barely ever on our team and wasn't on it during those playoffs. We sholdn't have given up on him but we never would have made it that deep in the playoffs that year as we acquired Delk and Rogers from him right? Also his rookie numbers with us were nothing to write home about. 6 ppg 1.5 apg 2.9 rpg and shot 273 from downtown...
I can't believe looking back on that season how well they did. They really were not that good and almost made the NBA finals.   People talk about Lebron and dwade leading there teams with limited casts how did Pierce not get as much credit for leading his team as far as he did?

I think the answer to your last question is because Paul kind of choked the Nets series away. He missed a game-winning free throw that would have put Boston up 3-1. He hits that there's a 95% chance Boston faces LA in the Finals and Paul gets the credit that LeBron and Wade got.

Regardless, does anyone think we had a realistic chance against the Lakers? Could we have even won a single game? I'm not sure, Shaq was still in full blown beast mode at the time. I think we did beat the Lakers in their house that season though.. On a questionable buzzer beater.

That may be true about Pierce's missed free throw but that is pretty weak if that is the reason.  Also Dwade had Shaq which people jsut dismiss sometimes. Maybe Dwade got too much credit.

Anyway we probably didn't have a realistic chance against the lakers. They swept the nets didn't they? Of course at the time I would have convinced myself that we were better than them.... I can't think of the buzzer beater game. The only game i can think of that comes to mind is the OT loss when Shaq called pierce the Truth. Walker hit a tying 3 pointer off the backboard to bring us into OT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A78pS8q9tGM

That's the game I was refering to.. Antoine off the glass leaving 1.2 and Kobe hitting a shot that got waived off.