Yesterday Pierce was Bird-like.

[BrickJames]

Pierce played well, but he wasn't Bird-like.  For starters, Bird would never have missed that free throw at the end.

As trivial as this is, he's right.  Pierce was not Bird-like.  No one we've seen since Bird has even been close to Bird-like.

Pierce was, as Colbert would say, "Truthy", and I'll take that through 6/19.

[Cman]

Pierce was, as Colbert would say, "Truthy", and I'll take that through 6/19.

I think you mean 6/17 -- what better way to hang banner #17 than by winning it at home on June 17th?  Celtics in 6.

[Ersatz]

Pierce played well, but he wasn't Bird-like.  For starters, Bird would never have missed that free throw at the end.

Okay, I'm so tired of this nostalgia for how unerring Bird and the old Celtics were. Listen, Larry Bird was and is and always will be my favorite athlete and the 80s Celtics will always be my favorite sports team, but he was hardly infallible, he did have bad games, he did miss shots, and they did lose games. Some quick googling reveals the following:

In Game 4 [of the '87 finals], the Celtics had a 16-point lead in the third quarter before the Lakers stormed back into the game. Bird had hit a three point bomb with 12 seconds remaining to give the Celtics the lead, however, with two seconds remaining, Magic Johnson sank a "junior sky hook" to give the Lakers a 107-106 lead, then Larry Bird missed a second 3-point shot, with no time remaining, to allow Los Angeles to escape with a three games to one lead.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakers-Celtics_rivalry>

So not only did the Celtics blow a 16-point lead (just like the Cs did on Wednesday), but Bird missed a shot that would have won the game, which essentially gave the series to the Lakers. But according to the hagiography on this board and from Simmons, Bird made that shot because he never missed when it mattered. Ever. Except when he did.

In the 1985 finals:

Meanwhile, Larry Bird's shooting slump from game 2 continued. He shot 17 of 42 from the field. He had been troubled by a bad back and a sore right elbow, although most people believed he was having trouble with Michael Cooper's defense.

and from game 6:

Thanks to Michael Cooper's defense and an injured right elbow, Larry Bird had a mediocre 12 for 29 shooting performance in the final game.

So Bird had a bad series and in the deciding game, the clutch moment, missed 17 shots.

And there's more where that came from.

[kevingamble34]

Posey was Bird-like on that steal on Tayshaun.  Huge huge huge play.  I cannot write "huge" enough about that play.  That one reminded me of the Bird steal.  Such a great play.

Hey, let's quit comparing this team to the '80s teams.  These guys are their own team, doing their own thing and making their own history.  For one, they're not so full of caucasians!  Let's love this team on it's own terms.  Let's embrace them for who they are and stop the comparisons.  Because with the whole Boston/L.A. thing the '80s flashbacks are going to be pretty over the top.

[Redz]

Pierce played well, but he wasn't Bird-like.  For starters, Bird would never have missed that free throw at the end.

Okay, I'm so tired of this nostalgia for how unerring Bird and the old Celtics were. Listen, Larry Bird was and is and always will be my favorite athlete and the 80s Celtics will always be my favorite sports team, but he was hardly infallible, he did have bad games, he did miss shots, and they did lose games. Some quick googling reveals the following:

In Game 4 [of the '87 finals], the Celtics had a 16-point lead in the third quarter before the Lakers stormed back into the game. Bird had hit a three point bomb with 12 seconds remaining to give the Celtics the lead, however, with two seconds remaining, Magic Johnson sank a "junior sky hook" to give the Lakers a 107-106 lead, then Larry Bird missed a second 3-point shot, with no time remaining, to allow Los Angeles to escape with a three games to one lead.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakers-Celtics_rivalry>

So not only did the Celtics blow a 16-point lead (just like the Cs did on Wednesday), but Bird missed a shot that would have won the game, which essentially gave the series to the Lakers. But according to the hagiography on this board and from Simmons, Bird made that shot because he never missed when it mattered. Ever. Except when he did.

In the 1985 finals:

Meanwhile, Larry Bird's shooting slump from game 2 continued. He shot 17 of 42 from the field. He had been troubled by a bad back and a sore right elbow, although most people believed he was having trouble with Michael Cooper's defense.

and from game 6:

Thanks to Michael Cooper's defense and an injured right elbow, Larry Bird had a mediocre 12 for 29 shooting performance in the final game.

So Bird had a bad series and in the deciding game, the clutch moment, missed 17 shots.

And there's more where that came from.

Wow, thanks for the new word.  Looked it up:

    ha·gi·og·ra·phy
Pronunciation:
    \-gē-ˈä-grə-fē, -jē-\
Function:
    noun
Date:
    1821

1 : biography of saints or venerated persons

--------------------------

Indeed Bird was human.  I can remember him "failing" on a few other occasions too, but I won't get into that, we get the idea.  But the 3 he hit before Magic's hook was clutch, and Larry clutch so much more often than not. 

Point well made by you though.  Our heroes tend to be beyond reproach. 

[BrickJames]

Pierce was, as Colbert would say, "Truthy", and I'll take that through 6/19.

I think you mean 6/17 -- what better way to hang banner #17 than by winning it at home on June 17th?  Celtics in 6.

I too think we'll win in 6 (already got tickets for that game) but I used the end date of the finals purposefully there.