Take Pierce off Lebron!

[steve]

Obviously.  Posey and TAllen can take on the responsibility.  Let Pierce focus on his scoring.  This is so obvious.  Nobody can justify why Pierce is playing Lebron.  Pierce should guard Wally because he he can get a hand in his face.     

[wdleehi]

No. 


Lebron on Pierce is more of a factor then the energy Pierce is using guarding Lebron. 

[jay_jay54]

I think our matchup problem is Ray on Wally..after 4 games,i hope Doc has figure this out

[Celtic]

I think our matchup problem is Ray on Wally..after 4 games,i hope Doc has figure this out

Yep, there it is, if you want Pierce off Lebron then you want Cleveland in six, Ray on the other hand has played very poor defense on Wally. If Ray would fight through picks a little better and stay with Wally it would make a huge difference in the outcome of the game.

[Aaron]

Nobody can justify why Pierce is playing Lebron.       

Um, I'd like to give it a try...

2-18, 6-24, 5-16, 7-20

What more do you need?

[crownsy]

ummm pierce and posey are holding king james to 25% shooting....

pass some of what you've got to the left will you? defense on james is about the only thing paul is doing well right now.

and taking him off james wont let him "focus on shooting" this isn't nba2k8, the cavs aren't going to magically take lebron off pierce if he guards someone else on offense. Its not like doc and brown go to the half court and go "yea, ive got pierce on wally tonight, so don't be mean and put lebron on paul k, he has to gaurd ray, those are the rules."

his shots will still be just as tough to get off.

[RockinRyA]

i agree.. same with starting posey with pierce as 2 guard.. posey would take bron defensively but do u think cle would put wally on pp and leave lbj on pose?

[RedsCeltics34]

i agree.. same with starting posey with pierce as 2 guard.. posey would take bron defensively but do u think cle would put wally on pp and leave lbj on pose?

I agree that should be done, But dont you think Ray would feel disrespected?

[Greeny]

Why is Pierce taking so many shots if he has Lebron covering him?
Paul cant go to the hole because Lebron would just swat it away.

We need Ray and Rajon to go to the hole and score or pass to KG or kick it out for a 3.   There is too much standing around waiting for Paul to make a move. Usually a bad one.

I would like Leon to come in for Pierce and have Posey in too.
These guys fight on both sides of the court. 
Leon, KG, Posey, Rondo, & Ray

[crownsy]

i agree.. same with starting posey with pierce as 2 guard.. posey would take bron defensively but do u think cle would put wally on pp and leave lbj on pose?

I agree that should be done, But dont you think Ray would feel disrespected?

i think his point was it wouldn't force lebron off pierce, which has been a huge pain offensively.

our offense keys off pierce driving, and lebron can limit that because he's a PF in a SF body.

paul has to learn to live with it, because you will pry james off pierce when he has 6 fouls, not before.

Look at tonight, sasha had him for what, 5 minutes? and pierce had 7 points. Clevland is very, very aware that they need lebron on pierce.

Paul needs to adjust, or were in trouble no matter how well we play on the defensive end.

[D Dub]

I think Pierce's defense on Bron has been the one bright spot for us.  

Pierce's ability to contain him in 1 on 1 coverage kept us in this game tonight, and will keep us in this series.

Its up to his teammates to pick him up on the offensive end.  

[steve]

Nobody can justify why Pierce is playing Lebron.       

Um, I'd like to give it a try...

2-18, 6-24, 5-16, 7-20

What more do you need?

Its our defense as a whole that is shutting Lebron down.  There would be a tiny downgrade on defense if Pierce wasn't guarding Lebron.  There would be a huge upgrade on offense because Pierce won't be expending so much energy and concentration on defending Lebron.  

Pierce is so focused on his defense that he can't get in a rythm on offense.  Or are you telling me that Lebron is suddenly a Paul Pierce stopper?  

Give me a reason why Paul can't get into a rythm?  From the start of the series he's been locked into a defensive battle with James.  He has tunnel vision.  

[Kuberski33]

They key issue came up on the Post Game show with Tommy, Mike and Donny Marshall.  Do you keep defending Cleveland the way they've been doing it -- focusing the entire team on containing Lebron?  Or do you forget doubling LeBron, let him get his points and focus on shutting down the rest of the team.

Heading into game 5, that's the point that should be debated. It IS the way the  Celtics have dealt with superstars dating back to Bill Russell.  And Cleveland's supporting cast -- save for Ziggy -- isn't very good.  But you run the risk of Lebron going for 40+.

Doubling on Lebron makes Wally and Delonte better players than they actually are.  On the other hand, it's kind of late to experiment -- and they have been keeping these guys in check when the defensive effort is there.

[steve]

When the Spurs beat the Cavs last year they used Bowen and the same defensive scheme we are using.  Posey is our Bowen.  Stop wasting Paul Pierce in this role.  Paul should be attacking Lebron on offense.  Ray Allen stinks right now.  We need offense.  We need someone to go nuts in the fourth quarter.  Paul Pierce has never been used as a defensive stopper for the opposing team's superstar.  Why is he now? 

You can't sit there and say that "Paul needs to figure out how to get involved in the offense"    I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that guarding Lebron James requires 100 % of your focus.   

[CsfanNH]

They had Lebron with 3 fouls at the half. Not going all out at Lebron to get him a quick four was a poor move on the game plan in my opinion.

CsfanNH