Paul's Numbers Down; A Good Thing

by Jeff Clark on Dec 7, 2008 12:37 PM EST in Boston Celtics News & Links

Justin Poulin of CSL has this to say about Paul Pierce's lower numbers.

Paul Pierce has averaged only 14.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 2.7 APG during this nine game span, which is far below career stats of 23 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 3.9 APG. It has been the cream of the Celtics future crop that has risen to the top, making up for Pierce’s struggles and the some. Rajon Rondo has gone for 14 PPG, 9 APG, and 5.9 RPG with the highlight coming against the Pacers and a traditionally difficult match-up with TJ Ford – resulting in a triple-double effort with 16 points, 17 assists, and 13 rebounds. Paul Pierce has been shooting 38% while Rondo has been lights out at 60% despite the reasonable and obvious criticism that his jump shot still needs work. The return of Rondo’s floater has helped improve his scoring greatly as has the pace and anticipation he has exhibited while dribbling through paint.

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Not only is Pierce less involved in setting up the offense, but his touches are way down as evidenced not only by less FGA (9.4 per game) but more notably FTA (3.4 per game) over the past nine games. During that time, Pierce has had only one game with double digit FTA as compared with six over the course of the first twelve games of this season. This fundamental shift is all about longevity, something that the national pundits doubt; success beyond the “three year window”. However, less FTA and fewer shots not only enhance the development of Rajon Rondo, but preserve Paul Pierce for the future as well.

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I don’t see how pierces numbers being down is a good thing..sure its positive that we’re still winning games with him shooting 38% and other guys can get the job done, we just never seem to be clicking on all cylinders, someones always in a slump

by TheAncientRivalry on Dec 7, 2008 3:11 PM EST reply actions

Paul will come out of this bad stretch and get to a higher level of performance again. So long as we’re winning and he is contributing to the wins (which he is, very much) then I have patience and confidence in our team’s captain. And yes, it is great to see the “non-superstar” starters, Perk and Rondo, improving their stats and overall play.

by NoobSaibot1994 on Dec 7, 2008 3:28 PM EST reply actions

The whole premise is that Pierce is able to do other things on the court, while still there to hit the big shot or attack the rim if they need him to. With that being unnecessary, he does the other things and they win big.

by Jughead on Dec 7, 2008 3:38 PM EST reply actions

winning is all that matters

If Paul has truly bought into “winning is all that matters” this team will be awesome.

The past great Celtic players lived by that and it produced winners, year after year.

by CfanMissippi on Dec 7, 2008 5:23 PM EST reply actions

Paul's Numbers Down; sprained hand.

His shooting percentage is at 40%, a definite bad. My guess is that it’s the product of the sprained hand.

The rest of the numbers being down is a neutral. This team has proven its ability to dominate without any one player having dominant numbers.

In the end, I say the jury is out.

We’ll see how long his numbers stay down, and what, if any, impact it has on the overall team success.

by Page_and_Plant on Dec 7, 2008 5:32 PM EST reply actions

Agreed P&P, this is but a small sample size. But at the same time what we’ve seen is that the team is better when Paul can focus on defense and the team is getting offense from elsewhere. That is kind of a no-brainer observation, but it’s Paul’s willingness to let that happen that I hoped to emphasize.

by Jughead on Dec 7, 2008 6:11 PM EST reply actions