Step Away From The Ledge

Obviously I was the first to jump down Pierce's throat for what came out of his throat, and I stand by that. It was a immature and flat-out classless thing to do. I feel shame as a fan of this team because of his action. But what's done is done and its time to pick up and move on.

However, looking at the reactions on this blog's comments, the Globe chat room, and a few message boards that I peaked in on, you would think that Paul was a clubhouse cancer with a Dennis Rodman complex. People seem to be giddy with the thought of trading Paul. Like it was never ok to talk about trading him, but now that he messed up, they are finally able to express themselves without fear of ridicule.

Hey, if you don't like Paul and you think we would be a better team without him, that’s your prerogative. I don't agree, but I suppose there's a (slim) chance that I am occasionally wrong, ...maybe.

Here's my thinking. There are certain classes of player that you just can't trade and expect equal value for. Shaq and TMac are the obvious examples. Of course Paul is not quite in that category, but I don't feel like he's really all that far off either. He's what you might call a class 1b player. You just don't get good value for these guys. You have to get back another player that's 1b or higher. A package of three 2 class guys just doesn't add up.

Bottom line is that Paul is not perfect. But he's the best player we have and he's a better player than we would be able to acquire anytime in the near future. Might as well learn to deal with it.

As I said, Gary has been through this kind of stuff before (some of which he's brought upon himself). Maybe he can guide Paul through this and help him not make the same mistakes he's made in the past.

Besides, for all my bravado and condemnation, this is essentially a minor incident. I hope its not an indication of a larger issue, but Paul hasn't really given me any indication to believe so. If Doc is a coach worth his salary, he'll sit down with Paul and figure out how to channel his competitive fire in a productive way. The budding rivalry with Cleveland will be a bit more interesting. But beyond that, I don't think there will be any additional fallout as a result of this.

Links:

Pierce Can't Spit Out Denial

James, Pierce Cool After Fracas

Celtics Must Make Headway