Should we be concerned for Pierce??

[Sweet17]

He is still looked upon as the go - to guy in close games. He kinda coasts on O until the thinks the team needs it or some opposing player ticks him off.

[Bankshot]

oh lets send him to the d league then 

I was thinking we could send PP down and bring up Giddens, since Giddens scored 32 points last night.

[crownsy]

He is still looked upon as the go - to guy in close games. He kinda coasts on O until the thinks the team needs it or some opposing player ticks him off.

I dont think he coasts so much as understands that most teams are going to double him before they do other guys.

Paul isn't going to force it unless he has to vs a double, thats why his assist numbers are up since the begining of last year. I'm reminded of a great qoute by marc jackson last year during game 4 of the finals after a great pass by paul to perk.

"the differance between good and great offensive players is this. Good offensive players look for thiers first, and tend to pass only when the defense goes at them hard. Great Offensive players understand that hey, I can get mine anytime, contested or not, let me get other guys going so that the defense can't focus on stopping one aspect of our offense and make us more dangerous as a team."

[USG]

I also wouldn't call it coasting. I think with Pierce, it's just a matter of his shot falling or not. Lately, it hasn't been. But then he would go out and get back-to-back 30-point-games, and everyone would stop worrying.

For me, you get worried about Pierce when he stops getting to the FT line, and he's still doing that. If anything is shutting him down, it's more a matter of the increase in numbers of plays run for Ray (how often of late have we seen Pierce provide a timely pick to free up Ray for a wide open shot? See: GSW, PHI games), and teams focusing on Paint defense thanks largely in part to Rajon Rondo's "sudden" aggressive nature (note how nicely Rondo's coming-out party aligns with Pierce's drop off). Once the jumper starts falling again, though, he'll be fine.

[albas89]

Well, today PP took many shots and had a bad night again...I don't want to verify myself, I just think I wasn't totally wrong when I started this thread and expressed my initial concern about Paul's performance!! I have absolutely no problem with that as long as Rondo(especially), Ray and KG are playing like they played tonight and the C's are winning games by 20!!
It's just a bit frustrating to see one member of the Big Three and the Captain being out of rhythm for the last 10 games approx(maybe expect for last game against the Magic),makes me wonder if he's injured or when he's gonna come back again, playing well...

At least we've got Rondo replacing him in Big Three's party in these games...

[twistedrico]

Concerned about Paul Pierce? Why? He has been the team MVP.

[Toine43]

When a team has this many weapons, people aren't going to put up the numbers they might put up on worse teams. Keep in mind that last year Paul's scoring production stayed up there consistently because Ray was inconsistent. Now that the real Ray Allen is showing up every night, Paul seems to be the one whose stats are slipping. It can be tough (regardless of how many shots he ends up taking) for a player like Paul who is used to being the go to guy every night to establish a rhythm to his game if he's not being looked to early on.

If you still think that we should be concerned about Paul in February and March, I'll listen to you. For now though, just be patient.

[Scalablob990]

I don't think this is a shooting slump, rather it could be either he was tired, or he  had another "Late" night out. He front rimmed almost all of his shots and sometimes missed the hoop completely. I'm not worried in the least, when he's needed he'll show up 100% I trust him. Pierce is, and always be, the hero on this team even if he has nights that are really off. As KG said, he loves it when superman goes into the booth, changes, and comes back out ready to play.

[PierceMVP08]

I don't think this is a shooting slump, rather it could be either he was tired, or he  had another "Late" night out. He front rimmed almost all of his shots and sometimes missed the hoop completely. I'm not worried in the least, when he's needed he'll show up 100% I trust him. Pierce is, and always be, the hero on this team even if he has nights that are really off. As KG said, he loves it when superman goes into the booth, changes, and comes back out ready to play.

Late night out on a Tuesday?  Lol, wow.  The man is 31, has a family and is a true pro.  I think we can stop with the late night worrying, especially on Tuesday nights, lol

[Scalablob990]

I don't think this is a shooting slump, rather it could be either he was tired, or he  had another "Late" night out. He front rimmed almost all of his shots and sometimes missed the hoop completely. I'm not worried in the least, when he's needed he'll show up 100% I trust him. Pierce is, and always be, the hero on this team even if he has nights that are really off. As KG said, he loves it when superman goes into the booth, changes, and comes back out ready to play.

Late night out on a Tuesday?  Lol, wow.  The man is 31, has a family and is a true pro.  I think we can stop with the late night worrying, especially on Tuesday nights, lol

Pierce is the man no doubt, and he may party it up as much as he wants, but every now and then his antics make me a bit worried..example-this summer Call it paranoia, but i'm getting worried since our big three are pushing around 35+ mins the last few games. Bench needs to start clicking again like it was beginning of the season, and can we STOP using scalabrine and call up Walker till TA gets better, because tonights assambled groups were atrocious.

[Tr1boy]

not at all. This is paul pierce at his best when he doesn't over do things and when we need a comeback gets ready to explode.

The worst part part about pierce is that he is a rhythm player and if he doesn't shoot alot in a game including not going to the line that much his shooting is really cold.

[albas89]

not at all. This is paul pierce at his best when he doesn't over do things and when we need a comeback gets ready to explode.

The worst part part about pierce is that he is a rhythm player and if he doesn't shoot alot in a game including not going to the line that much his shooting is really cold.

I recognize it being a problem of shooting rhythm but he somehow needs to get out of this slump cuz shooting 38% FG% and, most important, 2-20 3PT in his last 6 games(and most of them being WIDE OPEN SHOTS) is really frustrating. I mean, it's 10%, it's not even bad, it's horrible! And what I'm concerned, as well, about is that his rebounding and dishing has been down quite a lot, too! And even his defense, last night(a relatively bad) Roy was dribbling past him whenever he wanted to... If you combine this stuff with the fact that the other starters seem to be doing quite well and don't really need his offensive plays in the last few games, I have a hard time figuring out how he could get out of this slump in the near future! I mean, his season started so well, he was not only shooting well but, also, he seemed to be much more explosive and fresh at both ends of the floor in his first games, and now...

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'll worry about Pierce when he's struggling during the playoffs. He has too many tools to use even when he's struggling. He still gets to the line frequently, and as far as scoring goes, he's still getting it done. He's simply not shooting efficiently.

Pierce is the person of the big 3 that I don't worry about much offensively, as long as he's doing the decisions correctly. When Ray is missing his shots, we can be in trouble. When Garnett is missing his shots, we can be in trouble. But not so much with Pierce because he more than makes up his production by keeping the defense unbalanced and getting to the line. Garnett and Ray have more trouble doing that.

[zerophase]

i wonder if his wrist may still be an issue. also, his elbow which use to be unwrapped is now wrapped. getting old mr. pierce?

[Roy Hobbs]

He is still looked upon as the go - to guy in close games. He kinda coasts on O until the thinks the team needs it or some opposing player ticks him off.

I dont think he coasts so much as understands that most teams are going to double him before they do other guys.

I'm not sure if he's coasting *now*, but according to Danny, he *does* coast:

"Like DJ, Paul can get a little salty.  He's up and down moodwise.  And on the court he's kind of an energy conserver.  He doesn't play all out all the time.  That used to drive me nuts about DJ because I was the other guard and I'd think "This guy is so gifted.  What's he doing coasting?"  But then, like with DJ, Paul has stretches that are unbelievably special.  You need something to happen, whatever it is -- a blocked shot, winning a jump ball, a steal, a rebound, a pass, a shot -- and Paul supplies it.  That's how DJ was."