Should we be concerned for Pierce??

[thirstyboots18]

I wouldn't say PP and KG have stepped back, I would say that everyone else has stepped up....and this is a good thing!

[wdleehi]

Pierce is in a little bit of a slump.


key questions to ask if we need to be worried.


1) Is his defensive effort dropping? 


2) Does he feel the need to try and shoot himself out of this slump?




It looks like the answer to both these questions are NO.  He trusts his teammates to pick up the slack when his shot is not falling.  He has matured to the point where he doesn't have to keep shooting. And his effort on defense shows that his head is still in the game.


Now, if he was slacking on defense and just tossing up bad shots to et out of the slump, we should be worried.

[Ian]

how quickly do ya'll forget?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpnDw3-93Y8

[Redz]

Right now Ray is so hot, KG is getting his open shots, Rondo is creating for everyone (including himself), and the Celts are winning.  Ray's shots are coming so much easier than the ones Pierce has muscle his way for. 

Rest assured in a close game (like the Warriors was for most of the 2nd half), Pierce will be the guy taking to the paint and getting to the line.

I have no worries or problems with the way Pierce is playing.

Pierce has scored 13 or fewer in 6 games this year.  The Celts record in those games is 6-0.  They're winning those games by an average of 13 points.

No worries folks.

[RebusRankin]

Given his minor injuries this is a good thing. He gets to rest and the team is still winning.

[Kwhit10]

I wrote an 8 page paper making my points against this, but here are the cliff notes:


No.

[moiso]

Paul draws the most attention from opposing defenses, so I think its good that less guarded players are taking more shots.

[Chris]

I wrote an 8 page paper making my points against this, but here are the cliff notes:


No.

Couldn't have said it better myself.  It is a long season, players go through slumps.  They mean nothing. 

[Redz]

I wrote an 8 page paper making my points against this, but here are the cliff notes:


No.

Me-likes the abridged version

[Amonkey]

You know what I have noticed with this team offensively is that they ride each other's streak.  During the game every player has a mini streak going and they always ride it as much as possible.  For example, last night there was a couple of drives where Rondo was taking in to the hoop.  Then he started passing to Ray Allen and he started making buckets.  They rode that until they started playing the outside more, so Rondo gives it to KG for a couple fierce dunks.  All this starting by Rondo, giving the ball to the hothand.

The point is that out of all the Big Three, the only one that doesn't need to be "given" the ball is Pierce.  He can start his own offense, especially by getting to the FT when the team is on an offensive slump.  The thing is that hasn't happened in the last few games.  Right now PP doesn't need to shoot, but when the offense slows down, I look to see PP taking to the hoop and scoring some buckets and them riding that until they get into a groove.

[Scalablob990]

No we shouldn't be. If and when he's needed, he'd step right up no question about that.

Took the words out of my mouth, he will appear when the team needs it, until then he'll let the other players get their feeding time to get better.

[guava_wrench]

not worried about pierce at all, although, as always I think hes working through some minor injuries.... He's not getting that many minutes to flourish either...he'll be fine
i like to see certain nights where ray/paul switch it up with the scoring

KG on the other hand, while playing good recently is the one who seems to have taken a  step back.. 2 rebounds last night?

Did we get out-rebounded? Who cares how many rebounds an individual player got. This isn't a fantasy team.

The reason why we are so good is because players don't care about stats. The worry more about defensive rotations and getting the ball to an open man on offense. KG could get more rebounds by forgetting about the team defense and just staying around the rim going after every rebound.

This Celtics team will never have an MVP due to the balance, but they don't raise MVP banners to the rafters.

[jsingh1699]

granted pierce isnt scoring much, but alotta of his points are now going to rondo, house, and allen. the 3 of them lately have been getting around 10 points per game each. even powe and baby seem to be getting 8 or 9 points per game each. his scoring is being distributed which is completely ok because his minutes arent as high (he played 25 against the sixers i think).

let him enjoy this break. at the begniing of the season, he was scoring 25+ and basically carrying the team on his shoulders. as long as he continues to work on the defensive side, why not let the other guys take the pressure off of him on the offensive side. we know that in a tight game, the ball will be pierce's hands and he'll be taking alotta the shots.

[RockinRyA]

oh lets send him to the d league then 

[Hova]

i personally think he should be involved more on the offensive end. when i watch the games it seems like he isnt even on the team anymore and ray and rajon try to keep the ball away from him. even rajon has been taking more shot attempts then paul.