Pierce Getting His Due

[Wimmah]

A good feature written on Pierce. It's just sad that it took so long for him to be recognized at this level league-wide!

http://www.studyofsports.com/?p=261

[ma11l]

Very nice article.  Good read.


Speaking of being recognized league-wide, I can't believe Pierce didn't win Eastern Conference Player of the Week last week.  LeBron had great numbers, but within the context of the games played throughout the league Pierce's contributions were definitely the most significant.  He was robbed in my opinion. 

[Redz]

Very nice article.  Good read.


Speaking of being recognized league-wide, I can't believe Pierce didn't win Eastern Conference Player of the Week last week.  LeBron had great numbers, but within the context of the games played throughout the league Pierce's contributions were definitely the most significant.  He was robbed in my opinion. 

Also worthy of consideration: Devin Harris missed a game but the two he played were pretty spectacular (30+ each night with back-to-back wins over Atlanta)

But yeh, PP is definitely getting his due much more frequently on the national shows.

[Roy Hobbs]

Thanks for the article.  Nice link.

Two parts I'd quibble with:

The fact is this: after winning banner number 17 in June, Pierce said he considers himself the best player in the world. Now that the league and fans across the country see him chasing down every record on the best franchise in NBA history to accompany his new ring, who can argue?

and

So as Red Auerbach hunches over the Celtics record book in basketball heaven, lighting another cigar with each Paul Pierce achievement, it is hard to argue that there is another player in the NBA that is more important to his teammates, franchise, and fans.

I'd argue both of those points.  I don't think Pierce is the best player in the game, and I think his place in the Celtics record books is largely irrelevant to that status.  Maybe that's important in discussing his place in Celtics history, but in terms of how he relates to his peers in the league presently, I just don't think it matters.

Secondly, Pierce is definitely important to our team, but I don't think he's more important to his franchise than, say, Lebron or Kobe.  Take Pierce off the Celts and replace him with an average player, and we're a playoff team still.  Replace Lebron with an average player, and that team finishes at the bottom of the lottery.

Still, it was a nice read, reminding everyone of Pierce's place in Celtics lore.  It's no small feat, what he's been able to accomplish here.  I don't think, though, that those accolades increase his standing around the league.  He either is or is not the best player in the league; where he stands statistically relative to other Celtics greats shouldn't be a factor in that debate.

[Wimmah]

Very true Roy-

I wonder who Celtics fans would vote as MVP of the team: KG or Pierce? It's clear Pierce has done more over his career, and he was obviously awarded finals MVP, but clearly replacing KG with an average player (like the many we have had at that position in the past) wouldn't yield a championship...

[crownsy]

Very true Roy-

I wonder who Celtics fans would vote as MVP of the team: KG or Pierce? It's clear Pierce has done more over his career, and he was obviously awarded finals MVP, but clearly replacing KG with an average player (like the many we have had at that position in the past) wouldn't yield a championship...

nor would replacing our SF with an average player.

I pretty much think of it as a team effort. I don't need to judge anyone on the team an MVP, they're all pretty valuable.

[Steve Weinman]

Very true Roy-

I wonder who Celtics fans would vote as MVP of the team: KG or Pierce? It's clear Pierce has done more over his career, and he was obviously awarded finals MVP, but clearly replacing KG with an average player (like the many we have had at that position in the past) wouldn't yield a championship...

nor would replacing our SF with an average player.

I pretty much think of it as a team effort. I don't need to judge anyone on the team an MVP, they're all pretty valuable.

Amen.  It's a big part of what makes this particular group so special - they've been a true team in every sense since day one last year.

-sw

[Tr1boy]

pierce has been clutch but one thing he needs to stop doing is criticizing and Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.ing at his teammates on the court(he looks angry as hell at times). He makes tons of mistakes also. Tonight he wanted to make a pass to perk on the key and the ball went off bounds. He started to yap at perk and or rondo to prob mask his mistake or just that it was a miscommunication.

[2short]

It wasn't long ago that many people were writing on here that we needed to get rid of Pierce for Wallace and others.  Pierce got stuck with lots of bad teams but we've seen him alter his game and attitude for the good of the team.  I think what makes the C's so dangerous is we don't have 1 guy, any of the big 3 can be the high scorer and the other 2 are fine with 10 pts.  Pierce no longer needs the 25 a night, he has gotten 10 pts BUT is adding great defense, 10 boards and assists.  Like any good player stuck with bad teams you are underappreciated.
Of course when you think of his late game heroics