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First, I want to put this out there. After reading this... I believe Pierce is going to be sick in the playoffs this season. Not that he wouldn't... But, this also made me think: If I'm the league (the other teams) looking from the outside in and wondering how is Boston winning without their top offensive threat being just that. There's that stifling Celtics defense, of course, but you still must score to get a victory. Or you've the naysayers or his critics believing that Pierce is an one-time this or that as certain Lakers fan would proclaim. As in, he only did it last season. He'd played defense... Or what have you. I say, "let sleeping dogs lie." I mean it has been said in local media and talk radio that Boston hasn't played their best basketball yet. Well, consider this: Neither has Paul Pierce. Pierce's getting it done in other areas doing his best in games to fill out a stat sheet. But, really... Pierce hasn't scored like Boston fans know he's capable of doing at any time. In other words, he's holding back. And I think that his scoring will resurface during the playoffs. He doesn't need to score a lot now. So, he won't... However, it's a transition in the playoffs. During this time, stars will make their presence felt if they're indeed a star player. Remember, Pierce and Garnett and company share a strong desire to repeat as NBA champions. Michael Jordan's comments in part are fueling this Boston Celtics team's fire this season.

These are excellent points presented in these two articles. It's sure nice to know that Pierce has embraced Rivers, his teammates (as many times as they've changed), Ubuntu, a desire to repeat as a NBA champion and has apparently accepted change in his role still as captain of the Celtics. This is truly the evolution of The Truth. That change where you go from being an perennial All-Star to a player that seriously contemplates his legacy to his sport. How do I want to be remembered to the basketball fans, my peers, family and friends. And given his unyielding confidence (see his I have a lot of confidence in myself interview) in himself. He probably wouldn't mind it at all if he were held in reverence (as a fellow NBA legend among legends) and remembered by international fans outside of the US as well.

The last week and a half has illustrated how greatly Pierce's role has changed since last season's arrival of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Instead of having to carry the Celtics on offense, Pierce has been dishing off, acting as a high-profile decoy, or resting on the bench. He shot 6 for 14 and had 19 points against the Bobcats, only the second time in six games his field goal attempts have been in double digits. Before Saturday's game, Pierce averaged 11.8 points in five victories, the Celtics winning by 18, 17, 15, 8, and 24. Then, Pierce was called on for a late-game salvation project, producing 8 points and an assist in the final 3:56 of Saturday's victory.

So, a different go-to guy every night?

"It's working for us," Pierce said. "We've been playing well, why change up? I know what I'm capable of any given night, so I'm a constant threat on the floor. If I get a chance to sit for a quarter and the bench can close out games, or play 25 minutes and we can win the game, that's definitely luxurious. Because, earlier in my career I played 40-45 minutes for the team to even have a chance. Hopefully, this will extend my career."

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... situation/

Even on the Cadillac of a team he now runs, the point guard understands many are willing to take the last shot, but only a few are worthy.

And none, as recent history has shown, are more worthy than Paul Pierce in the last four minutes of a game. Ray Allen certainly comes close, especially from deep. But the Celtics captain has a truly rare ability - not just a desire - once the clock becomes a factor.

“Gimme the ball,” Rondo said in an attempt to describe Pierce’s late-game aura. “He just has it. Everyone wants the ball, but not everyone can get it and do what they want with it. He just plays that way. As long as I’ve known him, he’s always been calm in those situations.”

Witness Pierce’s ability to turn his deadly switch on Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C. He had averaged just 11.3 points in the previous five games, cracking 20 points only once (21 points on Nov. 26 against Golden State), and after three quarters had 11 against the Bobcats.

But this was a recent rarity for the C’s - a close game. The switch thrown on, Pierce calmly demanded the ball and scored eight points in the last four minutes. First, the C’s captain victimized Jason Richardson with a pair of soft jumpers in the lane, then he drove and posted up to make three trips to the free throw line.

Pierce didn’t cause as much as will those calls, and the referees complied.

Back in the old days, when Pierce was the Celts’ only hope, the result was often a forced shot or a flagrant flop in an attempt to get the call.

But Pierce is now riding in luxury. His minutes are down, and he claims to feel the most rested of his entire career.

As of yesterday he was 25th in the league with an average of 36.4 minutes per game. That’s a far cry from the time when Pierce and then-Celtic Antoine Walker routinely inhabited two of the top five positions in the league in terms of minutes played.

“It’s definitely a luxury,” Pierce said not only of the reduction in the minutes load, but also in the scoring load.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/bask ... ormat=text

This is a good read about Pierce.

The Truth Revealed

But when measuring greatness, it all came down to the word win. Celtics great Kevin McHale sniffed that Pierce "couldn't carry Larry Bird's jock," and after Pierce led the U.S. to a sixth-place finish at the 2002 world championships—with coach George Karl benching him against Argentina and sitting him in the fourth quarter of the final game against Spain—the notion gained currency. Suddenly Pierce was tagged as selfish.

"Paul and I? It was obvious at the end that we were battling," Karl says. He'll say only that Pierce wasn't always "committed" to areas beyond scoring and tended to force "his personality on the game. And when that happens, the game has a way of slapping you."

The slaps kept coming. In 2003 Pierce had his first playoff triple double in the second round against New Jersey and led Boston in postseason assists and scoring. But the Celts lost to the Nets, and when Ainge took over as general manager that May, he unloaded Walker. "He didn't think highly of me and Antoine at all, and I knew this," Pierce says. "So I'm already thinking, He's not feeling my game; I don't need to try to build a relationship because he already doesn't like me and just traded Antoine. Maybe I'm next."

The team won just 24 games in 2006--07, and late in the season Pierce told a Boston reporter, "I'm the classic case of a great player on a bad team, and it stinks." Yet such foot-stomping had become more exception than rule; Ainge, Rivers, his brothers Jamal and Steve had noticed that, as Pierce says, "my spirits really changed." He had been seeing a woman named Julie Landrum since '05, and Pierce credits her with teaching him to think more positively and "keeping me happy." Out for nearly half the '06--07 season with injuries, Pierce watched Boston lose a record 18 straight. He realized that, at 29, he was as far as ever from winning a title, and his first impulse was to publicly demand a trade. Landrum talked him out of it.

The Celtics bolted to a 30--4 start, and anyone could see that Garnett and Allen had freed Pierce. He had carried the scoring load for so long that his all-around game now came as a revelation. With Garnett's presence enabling him to gamble on the defensive end, and Allen's outside shooting providing a payoff for his passes, Pierce took the fewest shots of his career and had the season of his life. He averaged 19.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.26 steals. He made the All-Star team for the sixth time. He began changing minds.

"What I saw was commitment," Karl says. "If the game said, 'Be a defender'? He was a defender. If the game said, 'Be a rebounder'? He was a rebounder. If the game said, 'Be an orchestrator'? He was an orchestrator. He made his career scoring points, but last year? What the game asked him to do, he did."

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ ... /index.htm

A great read.....thanks

The stabbing incident makes you really appreciate Pierce. Especially, how the franchise lost Lewis. You'd hoped that you wouldn't lose Pierce.

Speaking of Pierce, he's on pace to not be named to this year's All-Star game by head coaches. If that's the case, there's room for Rondo now since Garnett and (Ray) Allen are likely shoe-ins. But, Pierce probably doesn't care about it. He has bigger fish (goals) to fry this season.

bonsaiflipflops wrote:The stabbing incident makes you really appreciate Pierce. Especially, how the franchise lost Lewis. You'd hoped that you wouldn't lose Pierce.

Speaking of Pierce, he's on pace to not be named to this year's All-Star game by head coaches. If that's the case, there's room for Rondo now since Garnett and (Ray) Allen are likely shoe-ins. But, Pierce probably doesn't care about it. He has bigger fish (goals) to fry this season.

Why wouldn't the coaches vote for him???

gigi wrote:Why wouldn't the coaches vote for him???

Because if a players isn't voted in by fans through the online voting. Players from each conference who are deserving are voted on by head coaches from both conference. However, they can't vote for their own players. Thus far, Pierce isn't scoring... Everyone knows that no one cares about the other things you do statistically. Pierce does other things to help his team win games. But, fans and the national media and head coaches aren't going to always take that into consideration. See Ray Allen last season. He only got in due to Caron Butler's injury.

Personally, I believe Pierce realizes that he doesn't need to score. He'll score when he needs to or he'll continue to pick his spots. Plus, a few days ago it was said on WEEI after a recent game this week that Pierce has or could've a hand injury that no one's aware of. That's unconfirmed... But, Pierce would admit he's struggling right now to get into the flow of the offense. Pierce is Pierce. He's alright. I'm not concern. Rondo and Perkins combined are capable of picking up his slack, offensively.

Pierce has, multiple times, taken a few steps down the path to being a stereotypical jerk.

But before getting very far at all, he's always stopped that and headed in a very different direction.

Kudos to him.

The first time I'd read about fans outside of MA disliking Pierce and referring to him as a selfish player was from Nets fans. I was shocked since I'd viewed Pierce as anything but. However, I do recall Pierce caught heat for a comment made toward the Nets (during the Kidd years) that they couldn't guard him or something. I guess because Pierce usually has good games in New Jersey or he did then.

As far as him being a jerk, I can only think of one incident that was out of character for Pierce. It was when Pierce walks in for a press conference wearing bandages to exaggerate his point about something that happened in a game during the playoffs against Indiana I believe.

Lately, Pierce has been catching heat for the wrong reasons by national fans and his detractors. I mean there's the incident with his leg injury in game one of last season's NBA Finals game where he was able to return later to th game. Many viewed it as a hoax. Then there's his now notorious comments about his proclamation of being the best player after winning a NBA championship this year. And of course, him drawing criticism for his inability to control his emotions during banner night. These are just a few of the reasons that the national perception of Pierce isn't a good one and why he'll continue to be one of the most disliked NBA players today. Personally, I could careless. I'm a Pierce fan and I feel like those looking from the outside are purely jealous and dislike when Boston has any kind of success. To them, The Truth is fake. I say he's underrated.

^^Pierce is hated outside of New England, yet Kobe, that admitted adulter, accused rapist, and suspected second-time adulter (with that Laker girl last year) is absolutely LOVED by the national media. Again, I'm not passing judgment on Kobe and I respect his game and the Lakers great team this season, but talk about a **** double standard...what's to be expected when **** ESPN is to sports reporting what the New York Times is to national media? The consistently wrong and biased giant who sets the agenda!