Paul Pierce = the blown leads?

[Drucci]

I know the starters should be blamed as a unit for the blown leads so my point may seem useless.

But as I recalled which games we lost after leading big at halftime and which games we won by hanging on to our 10+ points lead after halftime, I see only one common factor in the losses : Paul Pierce.

Don't want to make him a scapegoat or anything but look at this :

In the games against Orlando and the Lakers in late January, when we had a 10+ points lead at halftime, we collapsed in the second half. Pierce played in both of these games.

Then Pierce plays against the Wizards but gets hurt and he doesn't play in the 4th quarter, when we make our comeback to win the game.

Against Miami and NJ, Pierce doesn't play either. Same scenario everytime, we hang on to the lead and win it or make a comeback and win it in the second half.

Against Orlando, Paul plays and we collapse in the second after having a big lead. Same thing tonight against New Orleans.

If you take into account the only game we won against the Magic on Christmas... we had a 10+ points lead at the half and managed to hang with it to win the game... again, no Pierce.

So basically, of our latest 4 collapses, Pierce was playing in 4 of these games.

On the other hand, out of the 3 games we won while keeping our big lead (not including the Nets one since we were down at halftime) Paul wasn't playing (or not playing in the second half - see Wizards game - ).

I think it's more than a coincidence, especially considering how poorly Paul has played in the second half of games lately.

[ducksawce]

Yes Drucci!  I was just about to start a thread on this.  You already recounted which games Paul was in, during which we lost big second half leads.  I too think it's much more than coincidence.

Specific to this game, two characteristics made this ultra clear.  First of all, Ray Allen was out.  No more would he be to blame for missing shots.  Without Ray in this game, we simply had no one to drive the offense.  Even with Ray going cold from the perimeter, his non-stop efforts at driving into the lane and virtually propping up the team's mid-range offensive game make the Celtic's starters look GOOD!  Before, we were blaming him for missing so many threes, despite the fact that his offensive officiency is not so far off from his norm.  Without him in this game, there was NOBODY to carry the offensive load for the starters.

The second thing was Sheed.  I just wrote a whole fan post about what Sheed needs to do, and really he did exactly what everyone wanted him  to do!.  He was brilliant, and he played better than every single starter on the team.  No more can he be the excuse.  He is not "the cancer"...he is the one that single-handedly (actually double-handedly with Marquis) extended the lead to 12 before the half.

So then who's fault is all of this?  Clearly all of the starters....but mostly Paul.

Every time the Celtics start 3rd quarters, Paul is leading the way.  Without Ray around, it was totally apparent that Paul blew.  He had 9 turnovers!!!!!!   He was slow as hell, disgruntled and p---y....horrible beyond belief.


I love Paul, but he seriously was the reason we lost tonight.  He may also be the reason why this team is blowing 2nd half leads.

This team's only chance of winning in the near future lie in Paul Pierce resting...and getting his game back.  Part two in winning in the near-mid futures is getting Ray back to his old 3 shooting self.  The final piece in the long term (by the 2nd round of playoffs...if we even get that far) is having KG back to where he was in December.

Will this happen?  I have no idea.

Drucci, you should write a long fan post on this, and describe what you saw.  I'm interested in seeing if you noticed what I've been noticing.

[Newguy]

Did you take into account that Orlando and the Lakers are just superior teams at the moment?  Miami, NJ and the Wizards aren't as good, and therefore could be won without Pierce.

[Change]

But if Pierce can't bail the team out who can? Rondo can't make a clutch shot or FT. Ray is a horrible decision maker. Pierce is still the go 2 player on this team. But that needs to be in late close game situations. The thing about Pierce is that he disrupts the flow of the game. To be precise, He takes the ball away from Rondo. If he can defer early to Rondo, and take over (if he can still can) in late situations. And also its time for Rondo to lead. He can't ride on coattails of the Big3 forever. Rondo still takes days off, and now even plays.  To reach the CP3 level, Rondo needs to be consistent.

[rayallen1934]

But if Pierce can't bail the team out who can? Rondo can't make a clutch shot or FT. Ray is a horrible decision maker. Pierce is still the go 2 player on this team. But that needs to be in late close game situations. The thing about Pierce is that he disrupts the flow of the game. To be precise, He takes the ball away from Rondo. If he can defer early to Rondo, and take over (if he can still can) in late situations. And also its time for Rondo to lead. He can't ride on coattails of the Big3 forever. Rondo still takes days off, and now even plays.  To reach the CP3 level, Rondo needs to be consistent.

i really dont understand how Ray Allen is a "Horrible" decision maker. If anything Paul Pierce makes the worst decision.  Ray Allen is a pretty good passer when he makes the quick passes down low. The only time hemakes bad decisions is when hes given the ball with 5 on the shot clock and has to make something happen. Which doesnt happen often.

[LB3533]

The common theme for our blow leads is we suck at the 3rd Quarter.

The 3rd Quarter used to be our strength.

We could rest our starters in the 4th Quarter before.

Now we can't.

Now we not only have our starters suck in the 3rd, they come in the 4th Quarter and get gassed more and still suck.

[jr_3421]

I don't think it's anymore Pierce's fault as any of the other starters. My only concern is when he plays with the backups. Did you see how well they were moving the ball until Pierce got in the game? I think he has it in his head that when he is the only starter on the floor, he has to take over offensively when that is not the case anymore. But with the starters he's fine, just hurt.

[guava_wrench]

I have had no faith in Pierce in the fourth for most of the season. I feel our offense seizes up as he starts pounding the ball, but he hasn't had the mobility to get open for a shot. He was able to get away with this in the past, but it hurts us with his current speed.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'm usually looking at Rondo. If Rondo was playing aggressive, they'd have no need to play through Pierce. So even though Pierce might not be as effective as he has been in the past to finish up games, it all starts with Rondo and how he's running our team. Just check all the games and the various points during which Rondo is aggressive and when he's not, and you'll see a pattern of when we play well and when we struggle.

[Scribbles]

Injuries have really effected Pierce's quickness and speed this season more then anything.  I just don't get how people can blame Pierce.  How about tonight for instance KG not scoring in the 2nd half..that sure didn't help. I prefer though to not blame any individual and blame the team/coaching staff for blowing leads.  I'm sorry but if Pierce and KG are not healthy this team goes nowhere and everyone on this forum knows that. It doesn't matter how good Rondo, Ray, or whoever plays, the team goes where Pierce and KG go. They still are the two best players on this team, and there's a big gap between the third best player on the team this season. 

And Rondo just isn't ready, or maybe never will be ready to be a go to player in the clutch, though being able to hit his foul shots would go along way in helping him. 

[twinbree]

IIRC Rondo said that Paul usually calls the offense in the 2nd half. I don't know if they are still doing that but that is one way to explain the lack of continuity on offense between the 2 halves.

Having Pierce and to a lesser extent KG playing at less than 100% and expecting them offensively to produce like they did when they were younger and healthy makes no sense. Their minutes should be monitored carefully and their back-ups should get extended minutes especially in games when they are playing well like Quis and Baby were yesterday. I don't know if it's the trainers, Doc or Paul himself to blame but someone needs to realize that he is not completely recovered.

[kenmaine]

It was painful to watch PP last night. He's obviously not healthy. No one "ages" ten years in the middle of the season. Same goes for KG.

Where is the coach???  Pierce should have been yanked early in the second half. It's 90% Doc's fault for keeping PP in the game.

And has a team above grade school level ever shot free throws worse than the C's did last night?

[clover]

It was painful to watch PP last night. He's obviously not healthy. No one "ages" ten years in the middle of the season. Same goes for KG.

Where is the coach???  Pierce should have been yanked early in the second half. It's 90% Doc's fault for keeping PP in the game.

And has a team above grade school level ever shot free throws worse than the C's did last night?

Why isn't Pierce held responsible when he says his foot's not right and it could use the rest from the All-Star break--but he still plans to play in the All-Star game?

[kenmaine]

It was painful to watch PP last night. He's obviously not healthy. No one "ages" ten years in the middle of the season. Same goes for KG.

Where is the coach???  Pierce should have been yanked early in the second half. It's 90% Doc's fault for keeping PP in the game.

And has a team above grade school level ever shot free throws worse than the C's did last night?

Why isn't Pierce held responsible when he says his foot's not right and it could use the rest from the All-Star break--but he still plans to play in the All-Star game?

Agree 100%. He shouldn't even be thinking of the all-star game at this point.
But my point was that Doc should have made the in-game decision last night to sit PP when it became obvious that he couldn't function.

[2short]

It was painful to watch PP last night. He's obviously not healthy. No one "ages" ten years in the middle of the season. Same goes for KG.

Where is the coach???  Pierce should have been yanked early in the second half. It's 90% Doc's fault for keeping PP in the game.

And has a team above grade school level ever shot free throws worse than the C's did last night?

Why isn't Pierce held responsible when he says his foot's not right and it could use the rest from the All-Star break--but he still plans to play in the All-Star game?

Agree 100%. He shouldn't even be thinking of the all-star game at this point.
But my point was that Doc should have made the in-game decision last night to sit PP when it became obvious that he couldn't function.

agree agree agree
PP has shown to have really tired legs for some time now, daniels is back REST pierce