RealGM

Right now, who is the better player?

Obviously Pierce has had the better career, and he's on a better team, but straight skills who is the better player, Paul Pierce or Caron Butler?

I say Butler, but I'm a wizards fan, wanted to see what some unbias fans thought.

I'd have to go with Tough Juice over Stale Poop.

Poor time to ask this question as most will go with PP.

Pierce easily

Even before the playoffs, I would have picked Pierce regardless.

you might as well ask who is the better PG...
TJ Ford or Chris Paul
Pierce is obviously better... bad comparison

how is it not close? caron averages 20/7/5/2, pierce averages 20/5/5/1. They have almost identical percentages, except caron shoots better from the FT line. only difference is pierce is on a team with KG and Ray Allen now so he's winning and people assume he's good

are we to assume butler can actually stay on the court to display his skills?

rockymac52 wrote:how is it not close? caron averages 20/7/5/2, pierce averages 20/5/5/1. They have almost identical percentages, except caron shoots better from the FT line. only difference is pierce is on a team with KG and Ray Allen now so he's winning and people assume he's good

you don't think people thought he was good before this yr? people just "assume" he's good cause he has good teammates?

i'm going to "assume" you just worded that horribly.

You can't ask this question now. People are going to pick Pierce merely because he's the freshest in their minds. He may be the better player, but not nearly as much as some people here claim he is.

rockymac52 wrote:how is it not close? caron averages 20/7/5/2, pierce averages 20/5/5/1. They have almost identical percentages, except caron shoots better from the FT line. only difference is pierce is on a team with KG and Ray Allen now so he's winning and people assume he's good

Pierce has had 5 seasons averaging 25 or more ppg, as the leader of his team. Butler has had one season of over 20 ppg (barely)... This really isnt close, Paul Pierce has done it better for longer. As a lone All Star and on a team with 3 All Stars... I dont remember the last time Caron Butler had 38 or 41 points in a playoff game....

I love Butlers game, but this is Pierce fairly easily. He's really just a notch below the likes of Kobe & LeBron at the wing position, and I've been saying that for 4 or 5 years every time he got compared to somebody like Jesus or Vince.

there's no way Pierce has been on a completely higher level than Carter and Allen for the last 4 or 5 years..1 year sounds good..

Butler looks like he has the tools to be better, but he has never really led a team like Pierce. In Miami, he was on par with Wade when Odom was leading the team. On the Lakers, he was a third option and would never have passed Kobe. Now, it seems like Gil is the #1 guy in Washington. If not, Jamison has been there the longest and is the team captain. Some thing that Caron is actually the most important part of that team, but its clear he's not the star of the show.

Pierce obviously has more accolades but I'll reserve judgment until I see where Caron might lead a team. The thing is, he's an ideal second piece. He doesn't get a massive number of points, but he scores them efficiently. He can create for himself. He's a stellar rebounder, taking some physical pressure off the star. He's also a lockdown defender and gets a few steals per game. Why would you want him as a first option when he's an ideal second for a title contender?

I'd probably take Pierce right now for his veteran wile, even though I like Butler more.

Pierce is better scorer and defender.

rockymac52 wrote:how is it not close? caron averages 20/7/5/2, pierce averages 20/5/5/1. They have almost identical percentages, except caron shoots better from the FT line. only difference is pierce is on a team with KG and Ray Allen now so he's winning and people assume he's good

Those are their numbers when Pierce has Allen and KG taking his touches away. Pierce puts up better numbers if he is in a similar situation to Butler was this year (just look at the year's when he was).

^^^ You bring up a good point in that these two players should be compared using situations that were similar (namely, Pierce last season and Butler this season). However, Pierce's defense really did improve significantly this year (whether that had to do with having Garnett behind him, or with Tom Thibodeaux, he flat out plays better defense), so we'll take his defense from this year and his raw numbers from last year.

Statistically, Caron comes up as a slightly better passer, a better rebounder and a better ball-hawk.

Pierce, though, is a far better scorer. Caron lacks the ability to consistently create his own shot -- one of Pierce's strengths. Pierce is also a far superior defender. Yes, Caron gets a lot of steals, and no, he doesn't gamble a lot (his steals are actually legit, unlike other players with high steals per game, like Arenas, Iverson, etc), but his man defense is average to slightly above average depending on who you ask. Paul also drives to the hoop much more often, getting to the line far more than Caron, who makes the mid-range jumpshot his weapon of choice. Pierce has some of the best footwork in the league which enables him to penetrate seemingly at will.

I'd take Pierce in this comparison. But there is good news for Tough Juice in that he has gotten better and added new aspects of his game each and every season. I fully expect him to be a better player than he was last year this year.

Caron's a good player, but not on the level PP was and still is.