Your Opinion - What's Wrong with Our Captain?

[Cyclical]

This is not a Pierce bashing post.

But, let's face it - this is as bad as he's looked in a very long time and as far as I remember his worst playoff series. Funny to say that when he's averaging over 20 points per game but this is not the Paul Pierce we all know and love. He's looked tentative, confused, very, very tired and has probably had only 3 quarters and 1 overtime period of vintage PP ball. Having said all this, he's still giving a good defensive effort so let's give credit where credit is due.

So, what is it?

Tired legs from carrying this team without KG for way too long?
Age catching up to him?
Are the double teams and focus of the Bulls' defense too much for him?
Is the Bulls' shotblocking effecting his confidence to drive thereby causing less trips to the line and changing his game?
Are Salmons and Heinrich simply great defenders he's having a hard time dealing with?
Has the KG loss been too much of a psychological blow to him?

I wonder. I tend to think the first reason listed is by far the biggest.

We miss you Paul.

[MasterRyu]

Uh..you said this after he won the game for the Celts in Game 5? Nothing's wrong, just ups and downs. Humans being humans. Look at Kobe's poor 5-24 performance in the Lakers loss to the Jazz.

[DarkAzcura]

For one I think this is the most Pierce has ever gotten hacked in a series and not have any fouls called. That's going to take him out of his rhythm, and Hinrich has been giving Pierce the most trouble I've seen since Artest guarded Pierce in 2002-2004.

I don't think Salmons has been giving him problems actually, and I want the Celtics to stop doing those switches to get a smaller guard on Pierce. It's always been Hinrich and it DOES NOT work. Pierce vs. Salmons has been much more effective then Pierce vs. Hinrich. If they want to switch Pierce onto Gordon or Rose, fine, but stop switching Pierce onto Hinrich. It's driving me nuts. I think he has only hit like 2 shots on Hinrich and has had like 10 turnovers just because of Hinrich.

[BillessuR6]

He is tired, burned out!

Because Doc played him 40+ minutes for 2 months after KG went down with injury...

[Cyclical]

Uh..you said this after he won the game for the Celts in Game 5? Nothing's wrong, just ups and downs. Humans being humans. Look at Kobe's poor 5-24 performance in the Lakers loss to the Jazz.

Read my post - I said he had a total of 3 good offensive quarters and 1 OT period -- this is in a total of 24 quarters and 7 OT's. Of course all players have ups and downs but this is overwhelmingly DOWN for a guy like Pierce. He's never taken this much time between UPs. Let's get real here - it's something more than just "being human" in this series.

[Celts17Pride]

He is tired, burned out!

Because Doc played him 40+ minutes for 2 months after KG went down with injury...

That about sums it up. Also 196 games in 10 months will do that to you.

Part of me wonders if losing to the Bulls would really be a bad thing this year given the fact that the Celtics are undermanned and a longshot champion at best. More time off for the Big 3 and come back with vengeance next season. Then the other part says just win and push on.

[BRUNiNHO91]

He is averaging like 24 pts a game...which is better than in the regular season. He is fine...he is just turning it over too much during crucial plays...

[TonyMontana]

He obviously looks very tired and worn out.
Him and Ray have been carrying the main load of your team on their backs, also going into I believe 7 overtime games in one serious doesnt really help him with the much needed rest that him and your starters need.

[PP34RA10]

hes averaging about 24 ppg on 44 % shooting, thats not bad at all

its because the celtics are losing your pointing this out, nothing is wrong, PP is just getting double teamed almost everytime

[BRUNiNHO91]

He is tired, burned out!

Because Doc played him 40+ minutes for 2 months after KG went down with injury...

That about sums it up. Also 196 games in 10 months will do that to you.

Part of me wonders if losing to the Bulls would really be a bad thing this year given the fact that the Celtics are undermanned and a longshot champion at best. More time off for the Big 3 and come back with vengeance next season. Then the other part says just win and push on.

If we beat Chicago, which I think we will...we will play a half court team in Orlando instead of a run and gun athletic young team in Chicago. It will be kind of like last season..a really tough time against Atlanta, and an relatively easy time with Detroit, even though Detroit was by far the better team. Why? Because it's all about the matchups. Pierce will play Hedo Turkoglu, who is always camping around the 3pt line, instead of having to play that pesky Hinrich or Salmons who move alot...they are also both better defenders than Turk...Ray Allen will play Lee instead of having to run around Ben Gordon all game long..Rondo will play Rafer Alston instead of the freak Derrick Rose...the matchups for our guards will be much, much easier in the second round...Only Perk will have a tough time with Howard..Baby with Lewis too...but idk..Lewis is slower than Thomas..Thomas is alot more agile than him...that's why I want to go past Chicago so bad..I feel we match up alot better with Orlando.

[pac213up]

Personally I think he is just in a bad funk, sort of like Ray Allen in the 1st two rounds last year.

[BRUNiNHO91]

hes averaging about 24 ppg on 44 % shooting, thats not bad at all

its because the celtics are losing your pointing this out, nothing is wrong, PP is just getting double teamed almost everytime

Exactly..yesterday when he missed the shot that made it go to OT or 2OT (i don't remember)...he was TRIPLE teamed....I have never seen Pierce being tripled before like that..Chicago has been playing pesky D on him..give them credit for stopping Paul a little..it's not all on him playing bad..but on them playing him great...people need to realize we are in game 7 against them for a reason. They are playing well...I mean..we just lost a game against them where Ray scored 51 points...51 friggin PTS!! how many people would beat us when Ray scores 51 pts and Rondo gets 19 assists with 0 TO's?? Chicago is for real...they aren't no joke..

[celticfan42487]

he seems tired.

Natural progression of age?

[drza]

I wrote the following on a different board in response to a variation of this same question, asking why he's really had only 1 - 2 good games this series. But it applies here just as much:

Pierce is playing almost exactly the way he did last year in the playoffs.

In round 1 against ATL last year he had 1 - 2 good games and several average/below-average games.

In round 2 against Cle last year he had 1 all-world game, 1 good game, a couple of average/below-average games and 3 or 4 pretty bad outings.

In round 3 against Detroit he had 3 good games, 1 average game and 2 pretty bad games.

In the Finals against the Lakers he had 1 all-world game, 2 or 3 good ones, 1 or 2 average ones, and a pretty bad one.

People tend to remember Pierce's explosions and try to project that memory like it happened on a game-to-game basis last year...but it didn't. Pierce's forte now is not to carry the team on a nightly basis in the post-season. That's what KG was for last year, and what Rondo/Allen have been for this year. Pierce is going to have his average/poor nights, but his strength is to have that one huge game every so often where he just dominates...and he has a knack for having those games at the best possible time. The same thing is true within any given game...he's likely to have his down periods, but he'll generally have 1 or 2 key stretches where he's brilliant and those stretches will often coincide with crunchtime.

So to me, the real Pierce HAS stood up this postseason. This is exactly who he is. And if he continues with his general form, I'd expect Saturday to be one of those games where he tries to put up an All-World performance because this is the time where he generally shines.

[exculpatory]

Paul is just plain tired, and is getting mugged constantly. The toll of carrying the team at almost 25 ppg since KG went down has taken its toll to an extent. As a result, he has definitely not been THE REAL TRUTH consistently. He missed a couple of critical FTs in 2 games, made a bad TO in OT 3 last night, and let Salmons eat his lunch in a couple of games. But for christ sake, he is averaging 24 ppg, shot lights out and won Game 3 for us, and put on a clutch shooting exhibition for the ages in Q4 and OT in Game 5.

Paul Pierce is the ultimate warrior. As he has done so many times in the past, he played hurt last night with multiple stitches in his nose and upper mouth.

Bookmark this. Regardless of fatigue, he will lead this team to a W in Game 7, lead this team to a W in Round 2, and leave it all on the floor against Lebron.

[GuyClinch]

Pierce has not played badly.. He is the same player he was last year. <g> We went 7 games with Atlanta too..and we had KG then.

[drza]

Pierce has not played badly.. He is the same player he was last year. <g> We went 7 games with Atlanta too..and we had KG then.

Agree with your first sentence, but not the implication of the second one. We did go 7 with Atlanta last year, but that series is apples and oranges compared to this Bulls series. We could have played that Atlanta series 10 times and there was no way they were winning any more than 3 games. They just weren't going to touch us at home. Every game in Boston was a blowout, and we had our chances in Atlanta.

This year, with a bounce here or there the Cs could have won 6 - 0...but on the other hand, a bounce here or there and the Bulls could have won 5 - 1. The Bulls could easily have won all 3 games thus far in Boston, which means that this time the Bulls actually have a legit chance to win the series...Atlanta never really did (easy to say in hindsight, but true nonetheless).

[Joebiscuit]

He is averaging like 24 pts a game...which is better than in the regular season. He is fine...he is just turning it over too much during crucial plays...

He averaging 24 point a game but he is only shooting 0.439. He is turning the ball over like crazy, getting his shots blocked all the time and he is letting Salmons score at will.

PP is not fine he is exhausted. That is the problem when Doc really only has 6 guys he can play the whole game.

[exculpatory]

Dearest Joe,

He is very tired because he was overplayed while averaging almost 25 pgg and carrying the team after KG went down, and because of excessive minutes in this series where he is averaging 24 ppg.

However, you exaggerate the negative as usual. Sigh. Watch last night's game again. Salmons did eat Paul's lunch a bunch of times, but more than half of Salmon's points were scored off other defenders. In addition, Salmons has NOT had a good shooting series - in part because of Paul's D. Check the stats. Furthermore, there was 1 game where Paul had no lift and got blocked a few times on perimeter Js. He is not getting "blocked all the time". That is a ridiculous statement. Was he blocked at all when he took over Game 3 and shot lights out? Was he blocked at all, when he swished 6 straight Js to tie in regulation and win in OT in Game 5? I do agree that his fatigue is leading to excessive TOs - the TO last night in OT 3 was terrible.

Nonetheless, Joey sweetheart, try something new. While we beat the Bulls tomorrow with Paul and Rondo leading the way, try not to post your usual 10-20 negative predictions and play the ridiculous blame game. Sit back and enjoy the win just ONCE. Just one frigging time, sit back, be positive and ENJOY THE EFFORT AND THE GAME.

love
Ex

P.S. Please consider reading my last few posts in the Game 6 game thread, and the ones by Dunk on Me. You might learn something.

[BRUNiNHO91]

He is averaging like 24 pts a game...which is better than in the regular season. He is fine...he is just turning it over too much during crucial plays...

He averaging 24 point a game but he is only shooting 0.439. He is turning the ball over like crazy, getting his shots blocked all the time and he is letting Salmons score at will.

PP is not fine he is exhausted. That is the problem when Doc really only has 6 guys he can play the whole game.

So 24 points per game on 44% shooting is bad now?? And what is Salmons averaging? 19?20? Give me a **** break Joe. Yeah he has been making some stupid mistakes..alot of TO's in crucial moments. Yesterday he made ONE really really dumb play and it might have cost us the game. Yet just 2 days before that he puts on a SHOW and wins us a crucial game in OT, without Ray Allen. He might be 'exhausted' which really wouldn't be much of a surprise. The guy played 81 games in the regular season..almost 100 on the season before this, and for the last 35 games he has been asked to carry the load without KG. He is not Dwyane Wade or LeBron, with a freaks body in his 20's anymore. He is doing what he can...working hard, never backing down, trying to put up superstar numbers even if his body doesn't allow him too at times...all he needs to do is take it easy...don't force it. Watch him win this game for us tomorrow, and you will feel stupid...