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

[hpantazo]

Pierce gave it his all. Nothing to complain about imo.

[Clench123]

Pierce was really disappointing in this series but I won't blame the captain because none of us know what he was going through.

Call me whatever you want to call me, but I think the REFS had a huge impact in the way these series turned out.  

[EJPLAYA]

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

Not a scapegoat. Just fact was his poor play was really the difference in moving on. That big shot in game was definitely one to remember, however it was one of the few big shots he hit in the entire playoffs. He just physically couldn't bring it this year. That doesn't make him a scapegoat. I guarantee none of us feel as bad about his inability to give the team what they needed than he does.

[celticinorlando]

Boston was severely.handicapped when Bradley went down. That changed everything defensively

[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.  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.

Sure.  Had Pierce been healthy maybe we win it.  Had Bradley been healthy maybe we win it.  Had Bosh been healthy early maybe we get swept.  Had Howard been healthy maybe we end up getting dominated by size against Orlando.  Had Rose been healthy maybe we end up getting destroyed in the 2nd round.  Had Al Horford been healthy maybe we don't even beat Atlanta.   Stop looking for excuses... we overachieved.  We lost to a better team.  Be proud and lets move on.

[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.

Sure.  Had Pierce been healthy maybe we win it.  Had Bradley been healthy maybe we win it.  Had Bosh been healthy early maybe we get swept.  Had Howard been healthy maybe we end up getting dominated by size against Orlando.  Had Rose been healthy maybe we end up getting destroyed in the 2nd round.  Had Al Horford been healthy maybe we don't even beat Atlanta.   Stop looking for excuses... we overachieved.  We lost to a better team.  Be proud and lets move on.

I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that i had to say that we overachieved in YOUR words vs mine saying we overachieved. I wasnt aware that it was YOUR timeline that I was supposed to follow for "moving on".  Can you please let me know how I should demonstrate being proud? Come on dude. Being snarky with me over trying to discuss reasons we couldn't finish the job in order to come up with thoughts on how we can be true contenders again doesn't make me any less proud of the job they did this year than you. Moving on is exactly what we need to do. It is clear to me though that the Big 3 are not going to be part of that at least in their present roles if we are going to win 18. Move on in the way you'd like to and I will move on in my own way.

[wahz]

I would love to have KG and Ray back. Ray played good d on everyone even with the surgery he needs. PP otoh wasn't enough.

if we got a good trade for pp id love it. keep pp, kg, and get some great young guns

[EDWARDO]

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

Epically embarrassing quote. Since when is Brooks a small forward? Since when is his name "Marshawn"?  Since when is a rookie "me first" gunner who is notoriously selfish and disinterested in playing defense going to guard Lebron? He'd have been completely destroyed. Let me guess, some of your 13,000 posts were about Avery Bradley being garbage, right???

[Celtics18]

Thank you, Captain, for helping to lead this team on this great run and for battling until the end. 

 

[Bahku]

I could easily contribute this loss to Rondo's tentativeness and failure to involve his team-mates in the last several minutes, or KG's shortcomings on offense in the post, or Paul's under-average performance, or Doc's rotations in the third and fourth quarter, or Ray's failure to get his shot going in the second half, or the underwhelming contributions by the bench, or ...

Point I'm making: No one player carries the responsibility for this loss. We win as a team, we lose as a team ... period.

[EJPLAYA]

I could easily contribute this loss to Rondo's tentativeness and failure to involve his team-mates in the last several minutes, or KG's shortcomings on offense in the post, or Paul's under-average performance, or Doc's rotations in the third and fourth quarter, or Ray's failure to get his shot going in the second half, or the underwhelming contributions by the bench, or ...

Point I'm making: No one player carries the responsibility for this loss. We win as a team, we lose as a team ... period.

I understand your point, and much of that is definitely true, however it doesn't change the fact that the Heat's leading scorer overcame a lot of poor performances from teammates yet was able to overcome those and lead his team to the Finals. PP, due to age and injury yes, was unable to do that. He played worse than Rondo, KG, Ray, and Bass during the ECF's. No matter the reason, HIS play cost us a trip to the finals. Had he been normal PP, we are talking about OKC match ups.

[Smitty77]

Bahku,

Yes, it sure is easy to blame the triple double machine and the guy that had the highest efficiency rating for BOTH teams:-))

Smitty77

P.S.  Just having some fun with you Bahku:-))

[twinbree]

He played every other day with a torn MCL for two series. Looking at how much time he spent playing and traveling with that injury I find it hard to dwell too much on his performance. It was a tough match up. If we got a little more from the bench we could still have won the series with him struggling. Or if we had rebounded better. Or gone to the line a few more times. Or had Stern replaced with a pod commissioner. It's pointless to play the blame game now. We had a great run and we lost. On to the offseason.

[Bahku]

I could easily contribute this loss to Rondo's tentativeness and failure to involve his team-mates in the last several minutes, or KG's shortcomings on offense in the post, or Paul's under-average performance, or Doc's rotations in the third and fourth quarter, or Ray's failure to get his shot going in the second half, or the underwhelming contributions by the bench, or ...

Point I'm making: No one player carries the responsibility for this loss. We win as a team, we lose as a team ... period.

I understand your point, and much of that is definitely true, however it doesn't change the fact that the Heat's leading scorer overcame a lot of poor performances from teammates yet was able to overcome those and lead his team to the Finals. PP, due to age and injury yes, was unable to do that. He played worse than Rondo, KG, Ray, and Bass during the ECF's. No matter the reason, HIS play cost us a trip to the finals. Had he been normal PP, we are talking about OKC match ups.

I hear ya, EJ, (TP), but again, change any one of the things I listed, and we win this game, (and a whistle or two extra goes our way in game two, and we win it, and make a game seven moot).

[Celticsbloke]

EJPlaya, I agree with you that if Pierce played to his usual level, we would be in the Finals right now.

It seems like you are suggesting Pierce is done though and we should just move on. I don't think you are right about that. I think Pierce was playing very well right up until he hurt his knee in round 1 v Atlanta.

Even in this series, when he was clearly struggling offensively with no lift, he still found ways to contribute, with big rebounds and blocks and mostly solid D.

I still think KG and Pierce can make massive contributions on a contender next season, but Ainge has to get them some help.

Hopefully Jeff Green is willing and able to play for us next season and can take a lot of the load off Pierce during the regular season.

Its going to be more difficult to get help for KG, because noone in today's NBA even comes close to what he brings, but if we can land someone like Kaman or Humphries, get some development from Stiemsma and bring Wilcox back for some depth, I think we'd have enough support there.

Even if we do fall short again next season, the leadership and know-how KG and Pierce bring is just something you want to keep around as you try to develop the next gen around Rondo. Give Pierce two years with Green and KG a year with Stiemsma and I think just those two will improve immeasurably.