Paul Pierce Appreciation Thread

[Carhole]

Honestly, I don't see a ton of Paul Pierce hate on this blog, either.  Yes, people criticize the iso, but does that mean people hate Paul?  I mean, Doc is the one calling those plays, right?  I'd personally like to see us go away from an iso offense at the end of quarters, but that doesn't mean that I'm disrespecting Paul or his game.

WEEI is a different story.  I don't listen to the station because I think it's garbage, filled with morons who don't know the first thing about basketball.  People tell me there's a lot of Pierce criticism on there, and if true, then those people need to get a life.

I think it's fair to point out the flaws in players when they've played a bad game; every player on the team has had multiple performances where they looked terrible this season, and it's fair to mention that when decompressing after a game, in my mind.  That said, I do get the sense that at least on this blog, Pierce is easily one of the most popular guys.  He's probably not number one (Rondo seems to be everyone's favorite at the moment, and KG has a ton of fans), but he's not near the bottom, either, in my mind.

I agree with your premise. But again I am not attacking the blog as a whole saying the blog doesnt like PP. I am saying there that I cant think of a player who is a HOF-er that spent his entire career in one city, brought them a title and still has this subset of fans who wait for him to screw up an iso or turnover the ball just to come out of the woodwork and point out his faults especially when the players they point to as needing more touches etc have most of the same faults. It is a bizarre phenomenon.

There should not be "a lot" of hate on the board for the captain of the celtics especially when we are winning championships but pre big 3 there was plenty to go around. I distinctly remember constant trade PP threads that used the rationale we can get what we get from PP through Gerald Green if we just play him!!! That is how misguided people were.

[Roy Hobbs]

Honestly, I don't see a ton of Paul Pierce hate on this blog, either.  Yes, people criticize the iso, but does that mean people hate Paul?  I mean, Doc is the one calling those plays, right?  I'd personally like to see us go away from an iso offense at the end of quarters, but that doesn't mean that I'm disrespecting Paul or his game.

WEEI is a different story.  I don't listen to the station because I think it's garbage, filled with morons who don't know the first thing about basketball.  People tell me there's a lot of Pierce criticism on there, and if true, then those people need to get a life.

I think it's fair to point out the flaws in players when they've played a bad game; every player on the team has had multiple performances where they looked terrible this season, and it's fair to mention that when decompressing after a game, in my mind.  That said, I do get the sense that at least on this blog, Pierce is easily one of the most popular guys.  He's probably not number one (Rondo seems to be everyone's favorite at the moment, and KG has a ton of fans), but he's not near the bottom, either, in my mind.

I agree with your premise. But again I am not attacking the blog as a whole saying the blog doesnt like PP. I am saying there that I cant think of a player who is a HOF-er that spent his entire career in one city, brought them a title and still has this subset of fans who wait for him to screw up an iso or turnover the ball just to come out of the woodwork and point out his faults especially when the players they point to as needing more touches etc have most of the same faults. It is a bizarre phenomenon.

There should not be "a lot" of hate on the board for the captain of the celtics especially when we are winning championships but pre big 3 there was plenty to go around. I distinctly remember constant trade PP threads that used the rationale we can get what we get from PP through Gerald Green if we just play him!!! That is how misguided people were.

Well, if elements of the fanbase never fell in love, keep in mind that: 1) management tried to trade him after he pouted against Indiana in the playoffs, because they didn't think he'd ever "get it"; 2) Paul was on the team during some of the very worst years in Celtics history; and 3) Paul openly talked about forcing a trade away from the team.

Is it fair to criticize Paul for those things?  Not really, in that it's consistent with the behavior of most stars in the league, especially as they experience losing.  However, a lot of fans have long memories, and when WEEI develops a certain perception of a player, it's hard to shake, at least with a minority of overly-critical fans.