The dreaded end of game Paul Pierce isolation play

[incoherent]

7 Seconds is not long enough for Paul to dribble and dribble at top of key.

Really dissapointed with the captain's clock awareness here...



Rondo is the only player on the team that can create something that quickly.  I know he cant shoot FT but he should have drove and kicked. Pierce should have inbounded, screened, and rolled. Rajon recieves the ball , drives and dishes for an open shot.

[TheReaLPuba]

7 Seconds is not long enough for Paul to dribble and dribble at top of key.

Really dissapointed with the captain's clock awareness here...



Rondo is the only player on the team that can create something that quickly.  I know he cant shoot FT but he should have drove and kicked. Pierce should have inbounded, screened, and rolled. Rajon recieves the ball , drives and dishes for an open shot.

In those situations 7 seconds is an ETERNITY.

Maybe 5 seconds or less then Rondo gets the ball and we run a double pick and flare for Ray or Pierce.

Paul tried to drive and get to the elbow J but Duncan cut him off well. Then Pierce got his step back which was a pretty good look.

I had no problem with the shot at that point.

[bostonman1]

It seems as some are getting away from the main point of the issue here. 

As I said in the OP, Paul Pierce is a great player and should be a top option to close out games.  Have no problem with him taking shots in those situations it's just the type of shot.  Dribbling around and taking a contested fadeaway jumper is not the best option when he had plenty of time to drive to the basket.

Not sure what the point is either of showing how bad Kobe is percentage wise at those shots, all that does is reinforce how bad resorting to those type of plays is.

The fact that Pierce, Kobe, Lebron or anyone else makes the shot on rare occasions doesn't mean it's a good play.  Even if Pierce had converted last night to win the game, the larger issue is the play itself.

Doc is a great coach and is often referred to as a "player's coach"  I think sometimes he defers too much instead of insisting on what he feels should be run at the end of games.  It's hard to believe that after 2 timeouts the best Boston could do is have Pierce run out the clock and take a contested jumper.  San Antonio had a foul to give but didn't even use it - Popovich was assuredly thrilled with Pierce taking that shot and willing to live with it if such a low percentage play worked.

And according to Doc himself after the game, yes he likes Pierce taking the last shot - however he wasn't happy with the shot selection or him waiting so long to take it!  When the coach doesn't like the shot or when it was taken that shows Pierce went on his own and ignored what Doc was saying during the timeout and that is the bigger issue.

"We actually said that they probably would [give the foul] and we were trying to get Duncan on a Paul matchup, because we thought we had the speed advantage," said Rivers. "We wanted him to go a little quicker because I thought [Pierce] could’ve beat [Duncan] off the dribble and he would’ve reached the foul line and you know Paul has a knack of getting the ball up. But his step-back is what he wants. I just thought we waited a little too late in the clock.”

[Celtics18]

It seems as some are getting away from the main point of the issue here. 

As I said in the OP, Paul Pierce is a great player and should be a top option to close out games.  Have no problem with him taking shots in those situations it's just the type of shot.  Dribbling around and taking a contested fadeaway jumper is not the best option when he had plenty of time to drive to the basket.

Not sure what the point is either of showing how bad Kobe is percentage wise at those shots, all that does is reinforce how bad resorting to those type of plays is.

The fact that Pierce, Kobe, Lebron or anyone else makes the shot on rare occasions doesn't mean it's a good play.  Even if Pierce had converted last night to win the game, the larger issue is the play itself.

Doc is a great coach and is often referred to as a "player's coach"  I think sometimes he defers too much instead of insisting on what he feels should be run at the end of games.  It's hard to believe that after 2 timeouts the best Boston could do is have Pierce run out the clock and take a contested jumper.  San Antonio had a foul to give but didn't even use it - Popovich was assuredly thrilled with Pierce taking that shot and willing to live with it if such a low percentage play worked.

And according to Doc himself after the game, yes he likes Pierce taking the last shot - however he wasn't happy with the shot selection or him waiting so long to take it!  When the coach doesn't like the shot or when it was taken that shows Pierce went on his own and ignored what Doc was saying during the timeout and that is the bigger issue.

"We actually said that they probably would [give the foul] and we were trying to get Duncan on a Paul matchup, because we thought we had the speed advantage," said Rivers. "We wanted him to go a little quicker because I thought [Pierce] could’ve beat [Duncan] off the dribble and he would’ve reached the foul line and you know Paul has a knack of getting the ball up. But his step-back is what he wants. I just thought we waited a little too late in the clock.”

"Ignored Doc" is a harsh assessment.  He had a very quick decision to make; try to get by seven feet of Tim Duncan and risk getting stripped of the ball and not get a shot up, or make a little fake and get enough separation to get his patented elbow step back off.  He got the latter, and it was a decent look.  That's what you ask for in that situation. 

If he drives to the hoop, gets stripped, flails his arms and gets no call (as happened a bunch of times previously in that game, by the way), how happy are we?

Did Paul Pierce make the wrong choice earlier in the year when he had a switch with Tyson Chandler on him against the Knicks and stepped back and hit a game winner off the backboard?

[dmopower]

7 Seconds is not long enough for Paul to dribble and dribble at top of key.

Really dissapointed with the captain's clock awareness here...



Rondo is the only player on the team that can create something that quickly.  I know he cant shoot FT but he should have drove and kicked. Pierce should have inbounded, screened, and rolled. Rajon recieves the ball , drives and dishes for an open shot.

I agree! We could have done much better than that last play. The ball should have been in Rondo's hands. I hate seeing us constantly shooting step back fadeaways with one of the all time best Centers in your face and everyone in every country knowing what were doing and 4 offensive players reduced to mere witnesses. Might as well give his team mates camers so we have more angles of this jurrasic shot.

[Marcus13]

"We actually said that they probably would [give the foul] and we were trying to get Duncan on a Paul matchup, because we thought we had the speed advantage," said Rivers. "We wanted him to go a little quicker because I thought [Pierce] could’ve beat [Duncan] off the dribble and he would’ve reached the foul line and you know Paul has a knack of getting the ball up. But his step-back is what he wants. I just thought we waited a little too late in the clock.”

Soo Pierce just blew it.  Fair enough.  He's earned the right to do that from time to time (as all of the Big Four have)

[dmopower]

There lies the difference in thought. You say PP blew it. The OP is saying Doc, the coach that called the play blew it. I agree with the OP.
 Motion and ball movement, make the defenders turn their heads and wonder what were going to do.

[rickyfan3.0...]

HAHAHA GREAT THREAD!!

[bostonman1]

There lies the difference in thought. You say PP blew it. The OP is saying Doc, the coach that called the play blew it. I agree with the OP.
 Motion and ball movement, make the defenders turn their heads and wonder what were going to do.

Good point - sometimes it's hard to make points without people flying off the handle and saying things like 'how can you criticize Paul Pierce' or talking about when he makes those kind of shots.

Earlier drza44 pointed out how poor of a percentage that Pierce converts in those situations.  Then when others try to say 'well Kobe is even worse'  that is the entire point of it being a bad play. 

My views are that the play is wrong in the first place.  Nothing wrong with occasionally throwing in a Pierce isolation to end games if the situation calls for it.  Last night after 2 timeouts and having just seen Ray convert off a set play with great ball movement wasn't the right time.  Popovich and the Spurs appeared to know what was coming and didn't even foul as they were more than happy to have that poor of a shot attempt decide the game.

If the Celtics run the exact same play tonight to end the game against Chicago and Pierce converts I would be the first to cheer and say Paul made a great shot  - HOWEVER that wouldn't change the underlying issue of it being a poor choice of what play to run.

[Chris]

I agree with Chris that this was probably the third or fourth option. I know Pierce taking a fall away jumper gives you a 'decent' chance, but Ray coming off a pick or something going to the hoop gives you a much better chance. I know Pierce is our go to guy, but he's no Bird or MJ and he is only losing a step at this point in his career.

I think giving Pierce the ball was the right thing to do. He can pass, shoot, or make fts, but his shot wasn't the best chance for a win. When I saw the name of this thread, I knew exactly what the OP was saying...

The problem was, the pass wasn't there, so it WAS the best chance for a win.  The Spurs played it perfectly, and had Pierce tried to pass it, even if the pass wasn't deflected, there is a very good chance they would have ended up with an even worse shot at the basket.

I think we need to remember that there is also a team playing defense.

[LooseCannon]

I think we need to remember that there is also a team playing defense.

That's unpossible.  Clearly, on every possession, Rondo could drive to the hoop if he wanted, KG could post-up, and Ray Allen could get a wide-open three.

[Chris]

There lies the difference in thought. You say PP blew it. The OP is saying Doc, the coach that called the play blew it. I agree with the OP.
 Motion and ball movement, make the defenders turn their heads and wonder what were going to do.

Motion and ball movement is great...but ball movement when you are down 1 with 7 seconds left is just asking for a turnover, and not even getting a shot up.  

When the defense is locked in, you just have to win the one on one battles.  The more you try to complicate it, the more advantage you give to the defense.

[guava_wrench]

I agree with Chris that this was probably the third or fourth option. I know Pierce taking a fall away jumper gives you a 'decent' chance, but Ray coming off a pick or something going to the hoop gives you a much better chance. I know Pierce is our go to guy, but he's no Bird or MJ and he is only losing a step at this point in his career.

I think giving Pierce the ball was the right thing to do. He can pass, shoot, or make fts, but his shot wasn't the best chance for a win. When I saw the name of this thread, I knew exactly what the OP was saying...

The problem was, the pass wasn't there, so it WAS the best chance for a win.  The Spurs played it perfectly, and had Pierce tried to pass it, even if the pass wasn't deflected, there is a very good chance they would have ended up with an even worse shot at the basket.

I think we need to remember that there is also a team playing defense.

Why would they set a pick to force Duncan to defend Pierce if they didn't want Pierce to shoot?

That looked like a play designed to get Pierce a shot. Unfortunately, Pierce ended up with a move quite unlike his normal moves. The shot was right by a decent margin, a pretty good sign he just chucked it at the hoop.

Was our offense dead in the water when Doc called the timeout? Calling it that late made it a bit easier for the Spurs to defend. That is when you want Dirk on your team.

[Who]

I don't like that high isolation for Pierce when he is pitted against a top notch defensive wing

But when he has a mismatch against slow-footed big man, I'll happily take that clear-out and take my chances on Paul making that shot. 

[Employee8]

Pierce makes the shot, this isn't even a discussion.  Much ado about nothing.