I am Afraid The Truth Cost us a Trip to the Finals

[EJPLAYA]

I don't want this to sound overly harsh towards PP, because he has been the Cornerstone of this Franchise for many years now and brought us a ring 4 years ago, but we really should have been in the Finals this year if he even remotely had shown up.

38-113 (32%) from the floor 8-32 (25%) from 3 pt land.

That's not good enough when you are taking the most shots of the team. Not when your Rebound and assist numbers are also way down.

Clearly, it wasn't all him and others like Ray Allen didn't have their normal game either. Rondo had off times. KG quite honestly was the only guy to play fairly consistently above normal the entire playoffs. The "Truth" though is that had Pierce been his normal self we win that series.

The sad part is that the most likely culprit is his age and it is only going to get worse from here. It is time for us to rebuild. I am glad that they decided not to mid season because that was one heck of a run and there wasn't anything out there that would have been franchise changing anyway. As a team they overachieved and it was a better way to go out than what it would have been. I am grateful for their runs. It is just time to build for the future. Thank you Captain. It's been one heck of a ride. You, Ray, and KG just can't win it all any longer. Sad, but true.

[celticinorlando]

I think the truth was playing on a knee that was hurt worse than we know

[Chief Macho]

mcl sprain.  dude gave it his best effort.  just to old to not expect to have these type of things pop up.  it seems they always do.

[rondohondo]

I heard a stat on weei after game 6 that he was something like 26% on shots outside of 10 feet in the playoffs.....

[EJPLAYA]

I think the truth was playing on a knee that was hurt worse than we know

Very possible. That's sadly part of the trouble with an old body that has taken the pounding that PP's has. I am not in any way saying that PP intentionally didn't bring it. I just don't think physically he can to the degree he needs to anymore. Especially when Lebron is between him and the finals. Props to him for giving it what he could, but it just isn't enough anymore. We need to move on and he needs to be a 25 minute player on a contender. If that is somehow us, great. If not then I wish him well. Injuries for the big 3 will only be more frequent from this point on.

[NoraG1]

Game 6 was a team 'effort' unfortunately.

[EJPLAYA]

I heard a stat on weei after game 6 that he was something like 26% on shots outside of 10 feet in the playoffs.....

Sounds right based on his overall stats. It also explains no lift at the rim. When your legs aren't right your outside shot is the first thing to go. Just ask Ray!

[Change]

Old. Try guarding Lebron James for 7games on gimpy knee.

[pork3]

Old. Try guarding Lebron James for 7games on gimpy knee.

Old indeed.
We need a small forward that isn't old and will be Pierce's heir.
Otherwise, this is going to be a continuing trend in the years to come.

-Jamman

[EJPLAYA]

Old. Try guarding Lebron James for 7games on gimpy knee.

Not arguing against this thought at all. His knee is gimpy because he's old. He can't guard Lebron. It's going to be worse in the future though, not better. I think he did the best he could, however Lebron is young and in his prime. We need to go a different direction. 

[LarBrd33]

He's been playing with a sprained MCL.  The Truth at 60% was better than no Truth at all...

Memo to everyone: Stop looking for someone to blame just so it will sooth your pain.  Keep in mind we had 4 players go down with season-ending injuries this year.  Keep in mind our starting center (nenad krstic) never returned from Europe.  Keep in mind that Ainge spent the entire offseason going hard after Chris Paul, temporarily believed we had David West signed on... and instead we were stuck with a stripped down, under sized, aging roster with deep flaws and a weak bench.  We were giving significant minutes to d-leaguers for god sakes.  Keep in mind that Paul Pierce was playing with a sprained MCL and Ray Allen was dealing with bone spurs in his ankles.  Keep in mind that the MVP of our team who carried us for much of these playoffs was a 36 year old PF playing out of position that many believed was already washed up until he started dominating defensively and averaging an improbable 20 and 10.  Keep in mind that we were the 4th seed heading into these playoffs (which was a small miracle in itself considering the ridiculous schedule we had to close out the season) and yet we made it to the ECF.  Keep in mind that we were the underdogs in this series, MIami was favorited for a reason... and we stretched them all the way to 7 games.  Stop crying about the refs.  Stop crying about individual players disappointing you.  Stop crying about a blown opportunity in game 2... for all we know we would have lost the next three had we won game 2.  Just stop.  We overachieved.  It was an incredible run.  They silenced many critics.  The team should have nothing but pride for itself and you as fans should feel nothing but joy that they didn't get swept in the first round or miss the playoffs entirely (as I honestly believed we were destined for earlier this year).  This was never Boston's year.  I feel no different about this run than I do the improbable run our non-contender made in 2001 with Pierce and Walker.  It was a lot of fun making it to the ECF, but expectations had to be tempered.    

[Spicoli]

Pierce being thrown off his rhythm due to foul trouble and the knee injury is one thing, but his defense on Battier tonight was inexcusable. Bass took the job of guarding LeBron which should have helped Pierce get free, but instead he overhelped and allowed Battier to drain 4 crucial three pointers. That to me, was the most disappointing aspect of PP this series, his defensive awareness was sorely lacking, picking up cheap fouls, leaving his man open, etc.

[celticinorlando]

Old. Try guarding Lebron James for 7games on gimpy knee.

Old indeed.
We need a small forward that isn't old and will be Pierce's heir.
Otherwise, this is going to be a continuing trend in the years to come.

-Jamman

We had one.....named marshawn brooks. Traded him for a stiff

[Roy H.]

No need for scapegoats tonight.  I'll always remember Pierce's huge shot in Game 5.

[EJPLAYA]

He's been playing with a sprained MCL.  The Truth at 60% was better than no Truth at all...

Memo to everyone: Stop looking for someone to blame just so it will sooth your pain.  Keep in mind we had 4 players go down with season-ending injuries this year.  Keep in mind our starting center (nenad krstic) never returned from Europe.  Keep in mind that Ainge spent the entire offseason going hard after Chris Paul, temporarily believed we had David West signed on... and instead we were stuck with a stripped down, under sized, aging roster with deep flaws and a weak bench.  Keep in mind that Paul Pierce was playing with a sprained MCL and Ray Allen was dealing with bone spurs in his ankles.  Keep in mind that we were the 4th seed heading into these playoffs and yet we made it to the ECF.  Keep in mind that we were the underdogs in this series, MIami was favorited for a reason... and we stretched them all the way to 7 games.  Stop crying about the refs.  Stop crying about individual players disappointing you.  Stop crying about a blown opportunity in game 2... for all we know we would have lost the next three had we won game 2.  Just stop.  We overachieved.  It was an incredible run.  They silenced many critics.  The team should have nothing but pride for itself and you as fans should feel nothing but joy that they didn't get swept in the first round or miss the playoffs entirely (as I honestly believed we were destined for earlier this year).  This was never Boston's year.  I feel no different about this run than I do the improbable run our non-contender made in 2001 with Pierce and Walker.  It was a lot of fun making it to the ECF, but expectations had to be tempered.    

Not sure how what you said is much different than what my post was... This was no "bash Paul" thread. This was stating an undeniable fact. The guy who took the most shots in the series who has been our go to guy for years played an awful series. Had he not, we win it. It is very clear this was due to his age, and injured knee. It wasn't about want to. It was about being ABLE to. He wasn't. He likely won't again. That's likely a fact.

Just because people look for reasons to explain why we weren't able to move on, doesn't mean they are bashing any one player. If that is what some need to help them cope then what does it matter? Even if they were criticizing a player, how is that any worse than your criticism of the way they want to deal with the loss? We all know what transpired since the lockout. A history lesson isn't going to change the fact that my post thanked them for their effort and also called them overachievers.