Not to be a Debbie Downer but...

[yoursweatersux]

It's become obvious during this Celtics-Bulls series that Pierce is exhausted. Like, totally spent.

The question is: at his age, does he have what it takes to remain an elite player? Will we be able to depend on him down the stretch next year? His mid-range game is still sweet, and he can still shoot the three. Unfortunately, he's been relying on those outside shots more and more as his ability to get to the rim, draw contact, and finish has diminished. So yes, he's still a very good player. But without his ability to get to the rim, I'd have to say he definitely drops off the 'elite' list. Without energy, he's not only a less potent scorer, but he also goes from a defensive asset to a liability. How many times has Salmons blown by him during this series?

Even worse, giving him more minutes off by playing another small forward really might not help. I don't buy the whole "If he plays more minutes in December he'll be exhausted in the spring" bull... if that were the case, what's the point of conditioning? Hmm let's see I haven't done anything physical the last two months, maybe I should've ran in the Boston Marathon and set a new record time since I would have had so much energy. Honestly, it's bogus. What do you think?

[Scalablob990]

Yes, your sweater does suck...yeah your post is pretty valid, but at this point it's so apparent and we've known he's been done in the ending of the season.

[rondohondo]

this is the reason doc should have been giving Walker more minutes in the regular season if for no other reason than to give PP some rest. It would have been nice to have developed a wing to at least be able to give us 5-10 mins a game in the playoffs too. TA isnt even seeing the floor in this series

[Mr October]

Pierce needs a backup next year.... It would also help if the officials called some fouls when he is getting raked going to the hoop - i saw at least 3 no calls in game 4

[rondohondo]

bonzi wells anyone?

[Casperian]

Well, the writings were on the wall. I think we all wanted more rest for Pierce in the regular season. I can`t remember, was it the Washington game where he played although we were down 20 in the 4th? And that wasn`t the only game where a lot of people questioned the decision to play him so much. A lot of fans wanted a backup wing at the trade deadline, but instead we got Mikki Moore. If we win this game, maybe it`s best to give him a game off, and try to win this series in 7?!

I dunno...

[Roy Hobbs]

bonzi wells anyone?

We can do better than Wells.  He's old (32), hasn't played in the NBA in a year, doesn't play much defense any more, and has had attitude problems throughout his career.

[Spfldkid]

{Play Walker, he showed a lot of good things this year...in the meager minutes he was given to develop & give PP a rest, it is the coaches job to develop the rookies, besides, if you don't have home court, and you aren't going to get it, the only thing that matters is rest the stars, develop the other guys....!

[Atzar]

{Play Walker, he showed a lot of good things this year...in the meager minutes he was given to develop & give PP a rest, it is the coaches job to develop the rookies, besides, if you don't have home court, and you aren't going to get it, the only thing that matters is rest the stars, develop the other guys....!

Come on.  All he did was dunk.  He contributed little else on offense, and his defense was marred by the fact that he didn't know the system well.  He makes a ton of rookie mistakes, he fouls too much, and he's not ready to get playoff minutes.  Period.

The playoffs aren't the time to be concerned with player development.

[cdif911]

I didn't even read the post, b/c I didn't want to be debbie downed

[Jon]

Two things:

1) He looked a little more energized in overtime.  Maybe he's getting a second wind.  Regardless of that, he'll be less winded when Ray Allen's playing (and perhaps KG).

2) A backup is a little tricky with this team.  Most people don't want to be Paul Pierce's backup since they won't play many minutes.  They really need to find a quality guy, sell him on the fact that he'll backup Paul and Ray (easily 20-25 mpg) and then stick to that rotation.  I think part of the problem for guys like House, T. Allen, and Marbury tonight is that Doc's playing too many of them.  It's hard to get any rhythm when you're only playing a couple minutes here and a couple minutes there.  If he'd plan out his rotations a little better, he could have one guy back up two positions and keep a better flow out there.  With Rondo, Allen, and Pierce all playing big minutes, there's no reason why a combo guard can't back up the 1/2 or a swingman can't backup the 2/3. 

[Jaycelt]

Pierce needs a backup next year.... It would also help if the officials called some fouls when he is getting raked going to the hoop - i saw at least 3 no calls in game 4

And tonight was no better.  It's amazing the lack of respect the officials are giving him in this series.

[nickagneta]

{Play Walker, he showed a lot of good things this year...in the meager minutes he was given to develop & give PP a rest, it is the coaches job to develop the rookies, besides, if you don't have home court, and you aren't going to get it, the only thing that matters is rest the stars, develop the other guys....!

Why is it that everything negative on this team is due to Doc and all the positives are due to other things with you? Doc can't develop kids at the expense of winning games especially when he can probably see quite readily that the kid is at least a year away from being trusted with regular season minutes, never mind playoff minutes.

Doc had no choice due to injuries and fouls than to play Pierce at the center position for nearly an entire quarter this year. The man games this team lost from their 9 man rotation was crippling and Doc's use of the bench to keep Pierce's and Allen's minutes to 33-35 MPG levels would have meant as much as 5-10 more losses. That would not have been acceptable to the players, the coaches, the front office or the fans. No way. No how.

It's been a long two seasons for Pierce, Allen and KG. Pierce is slumping. He's still relatively young and in his prime. he will be there. But let's not fool ourselves here. This is no longer his team. It's Rondo's. It is soon going to be Rondo's time to take and make those big shots and free throws. Pierce was brilliant tonight in the OT but just like Rondo made that shot before half time and was the one taking the shot for the win the other night, look for Pierce to slowly take a back step to the emerging superstar in Rondo.

[liam]

bonzi wells anyone?

Bonzi might be done but if not I'd take him.

[bruinsandceltics]

Oh man do we miss James Posey.