Is Pierce Most Underrated Defensive Player in the League?

[Rerisen]

It takes effort and Tom Thibodeau to become a great defender.

And KG and Perkins backing up the perimeter guys makes a huge difference. Even if Kobe gets past his initial defenders, he is met with the second line.

It's also easier for guys like Ray Ray and Pierce to split time and not have to cover Kobe all game, which could tire them out. And Boston can throw Posey in there as well for some physical punishment.

Nevertheless, Pierce is playing very solid defense this series. All season really, along with Ray. You don't get to be no 1. defensive team without effort from everyone.

It's amazing the motivation that a realistic shot at a title can bring to guys. Especially, as their careers are heading out of their peak years.

[celticfan42487]

Pierce is not a DPOY but now everyone sees he's going to be a tough cover for anyone on BOTH sides of the floor.

look at the stats, Pierce played great defense his first 4 or so years. And this is NOT THE FIRST TIME HE'S BEEN ON A GREAT DEFENSIVE TEAM.

No one remebers the 01' Celtics because they lost in the ECF and Ainge came in and blew them up. But that's a team with Battie,Walker at the frontcourt. Eric Williams and Pierce and Kenny Anderson. And they were the 4th best fg% team defensively I believe. do you think that's because Battie and Walker rotated over for help defense? Nope, Pierce never does anything that is going to awe you, but he does everything very well and with heart and with strength.

Pierce has always been a very good defender.. he just got labeled as a chucker with Walker back when the Celtics had the horrible 5 year stretch and he stayed with the team.

So, DPOY discussion level? Hell no. But he's not a sleve like everyone thinks he is defensively. He's a very good defender.

And my god people he's not out of shape wtf is wrong with you people. He's not an anorexic ballerina he's a freaken NBA player who is a strong slasher/rebounding/defender.

[kansasceltic]

[quote="Curmudgeon"]Since 1999 he's been a one-dimensional player. This year he's found religion.

Outstanding defense on Kobe in the 4th quarter.[/qu

Curm, I know you are some mystical, omniscient higher power when it comes to basketball. BUT, most intelligent basketball fans (and anyone who has been a team leader in the sport at any level) know that you can't be a "complete" player on an incomplete team, as was the case with Pierce in recent years. And since your brain was formed as a tribute to what man could know about basketball (if only they had the time, like you, to learn EVERY nuance of the game) it surprises me that you have never grasped this concept. Or maybe you are just some internet cartoon character persona who likes to piss people off, especially people who like the same team as you. I wish we would've traded Pierce for the #4 pick and drafted Gerald Green like you wanted a few years ago, but instead we had "to weather the storm" with Danny Ainge's dumbass 3 year plan.

[Malinhion]

Pierce got his recognition this year. Everyone was talking about his defense. And I think he was well-regarded defensively before this season.

[Curmudgeon]

No I wanted to trade Pierce to Portland for the #3 pick and Van Exel's unguaranteed contract to get Chris Paul.

So did Ainge, but Pierce nixed the deal when he made it publicly known that he wouldn't report to Portland.

You can't be "a complete player on an incomplete team?" That's baloney. You can bust your tail every night on defense regardless of how well you team is doing. And Pierce did not do that consistently until this year.

What you're really saying is that Pierce didn't think his teammates were good enough to be worthy of a little extra effort from him.

[kansasceltic]

What I'm saying is people have their physical boundaries, and Pierce is certainly no exception. Doesn't this season prove that when given adequate defensive help, Pierce is an All-NBA defender? Defense has so much to do with the personnel around you, even moreso than offense. It takes more effort and if those around you aren't willing to make that commitment, chances are the unit as a whole isn't going to look all that great. If you put a diamond in a rusty wedding band, its not going to be all that impressive. When you are constantly trying to cover for J.R. Bremer or Tony Delk or even the legendary Antoine Walker himself, your individual defense will slip a notch. I remember games where Pierce would drift from his man and most of the time it was the result of him attempting to deny offensive rebounds or help on guard penetration.

[The_Believer]

Actually, Pierce isn't the most underrated, although like I said earlier, he's very good. IMO Stephen Jackson is. He was shutting down Dirk and TMac just awhile back just like Pierce/Ray have this playoffs, but he got hurt.

[Fencer reregistered]

Pierce doesn't have the conditioning to be great at both ends of the floor all game. This season, with him not having to carry a Kobe/Jordan-style offensive load -- and not having to be the superior rebounder he was last season 00 he's been a consistently strong defender.

Even so, the reporting says he was utterly exhausted at the end of Game 4, after half a game covering Kobe plus an active offensive performance.

Very few men in the history of the game have had that conditioning that Pierce lacks. Indeed, I'm not sure any did; the problem in part is that his game is higher-effort than that of the other great swingmen (perhaps because he has more strength than any of the others except LBJ and Jordan, but less hops than any of the rest).

[CB4MiamiHeat]

I think Pierce and Lebron are the 2 best defenders among the perimeter "All-Stars"...

I said 2 months ago that i thought they were better than Kobe defensively..i got laughed at...i still think so and what has happened these playoffs confirms it, maybe some people agree with me now.