Sam Smith: Is Paul Pierce Hurt?
by Jeff Clark on Apr 23, 2009 8:57 AM EDT
in Boston Celtics News & Links
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PrintSam Smith puts on his best Oliver Stone hat and offers this evaluation:
Yes, this guy wearing Pierce's jersey is averaging 20.1 points in the series tied 1-1 with Game 3 at the United Center Thursday.
But he's been relatively uninvolved.
He can't seem to get separation on his move to create space and seems to have little lift on his shot. He doesn't seem to have any explosion to the basket and seems to avoid playing in the middle of the floor where he's most dangerous.
I think Pierce is hurt.
I ran that by an NBA guy and he agreed that it sure looked like it. We haven't seen Pierce play this indifferently in two years. Finals MVP. Team leader. I had been thinking maybe with Kevin Garnett out Pierce had just given up, knowing the Celtics would not repeat.
But I've seen a changed player the last two years, a real competitor who's almost impossible to stop. It doesn't make sense.
You say we haven't heard anything about it with Garnett and now Leon Powe out injured. Of course, everyone in Boston seemed to think Garnett was fine and would be playing at near full health to open the playoffs. Until Doc Rivers said Garnett could barely move. Big difference there.
The football Patriots apparently were in some sort of spy scandal. Anything seems possible in the Boston sporting world.
I can't wait till Pierce drops 30 on 'em tonight.
Note: Hardwood Paroxysm has been trying to tell everyone for months that Pierce is hurt - see this post on April 7 for an example: "Paul Pierce is doing an amazing job of hiding a knee injury that hobbles him every other quarter." (also see here and here)
Me? I think he's over 30, was not super-athletic to begin with, and he's played more defense in the last 2 years than he's played all his life. He might be wearing down but he can still pick his spots.
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Which is why...
…he should be making game winning uncontested free throws. If you can’t make those, oh well…
by The Village Idiot on Apr 23, 2009 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions
And I can see Pierce scoring 30
or laying an egg.
Pierce, like most ageing stars, still has all the skills to frequently have great games, where he looks like his old self, but no longer is able to dominate consistently and is prone to have some prolonged or not so prolonged slumps.
Maybe Sam Smith hasn’t been watching Pierce much the past few years. He’s just not super athletic. He doesn’t blow by guys like Rondo and TA can do. He had one very explosive dunk in the beginning of the last game, but that isn’t really Paul’s game. I think he’s fine. He’ s facing playoff defense and he’s not forcing things.
not to worry
he looked good in philly a few days ago…he’s THINKING and holding the ball,niether are his strong suit….
i'm not sure..
matt moore (of hardwood paroxysm and fanhouse) has been saying for months that pierce wasn’t right although i haven’t found any evidence to support that. i just assumed he hasn’t been the pierce of old because, well, he’s old. but this casts some more doubt to his real health status.
Pierce Not Indifferent
We haven’t seen Pierce play this indifferently in two years. Finals MVP. Team leader. I had been thinking maybe with Kevin Garnett out Pierce had just given up, knowing the Celtics would not repeat.
Even thinking that Pierce has given up is an insult to him, to the team and to Celtic fans. Paul Pierce does not give up. If we lose everyone on the team, including Pierce, will go down fighting.
The local articles today seem to make it a team problem, mainly about spacing. They solved the problem with Ray and they’ll figure it out for Pierce.
"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird
"Criminally Negligent Officiating"--Tommy Heinsohn
I hope he goes off for 52 points tonight. More importantly, the Celtics win the game.
Boston Celtics - 2008 World Champions
I Would Like That Too
But if PP goes for 52 it means the team isn’t playing well and PP had to save it. I’d rather Paul get an efficient 20 points and the team wins by 52.
"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird
"Criminally Negligent Officiating"--Tommy Heinsohn
how about 13-14 from the field with 4-4 threes, and 14 of 14 from the line?
that would be pretty efficient but its only 44 points;>)
he's fine...
catching the ball 30 feet out and trying to dribble by two defenders while the third is waiting in the lane doesn’t help. What he needs is to get the ball on the box and have some space to work his man. Having Scal back should spread the floor and help him get more space.
I think there is a ‘fair’ chance that Smith is correct.
In the past, the Celtics, especially Pierce, have purposely kept injuries to its stars (in particular) quiet. They let it be known only when they have to. It is for obvious reasons. Other teams will try to take advantage of them.
In fact, I’m quite certain that players have played with injuries that were never made public many times in the past. It is not out of the realm of possibility.
I’ve noticed Paul’s ‘non-Paul Pierce’ games, as have many people. Why would he be holding back now, when they need him most now? It doesn’t make sense, IMO.
If he’s not quietly nursing an injury, then he is tired, IMHO.
One way or another, I believe it is more than Pierce just being “cagey.”
I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.
T
My 2 Cents
We can’t look at the way Paul plays now and compare it to pre Ray and KG. He’s more into a team concept now and needs to walk a fine line between trying to do it on his own and staying withing the team concept. The whole team is not playing well now as a team. The Bulls are concentrating on Ray and Paul and taking the chance that Rondo, Perk and Big Beast can’t beat them. The C’s are trying to figure this out as a team. They solved the Ray problem last game. They know what the P problem is and have had a few days to work it out. I’m not sure if he’s hurt or not. He usually plays well when hurt. I think we just need to give the Bulls some credit for having a good defensive game plan and we need to give all the C’s time to figure out how to counteract it.
"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird
"Criminally Negligent Officiating"--Tommy Heinsohn
Go back and watch
The 1st half of game two. Rondo controlled the offense. Paul hardly ever saw the ball. Rondo was going to the basket and either getting layups or getting his shot blocked. When Rondo wasn’t shooting Davis was. Hard to argue with the results where Davis is concerned but I think this is exactly what Doc was talking about after game 1. They were taking the first shots available, the ones the Bulls wanted them to take, instead of making the extra pass. Davis took 12 shots and Rondo took 10 + (8 FT)
Now add to that the fact that the entire team was focused on setting picks to get Ray open shots after his horrible first game.
How many shots did that leave for Pierce?
6.
It’s hard to score when you don’t get the ball.
If we are demanding more from Pierce then maybe the team should get him the ball. True?
Execellent Observation And Post
Also, Ray took 4 shots in the first half.
"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird
"Criminally Negligent Officiating"--Tommy Heinsohn
I think he got hurt in the last Philly game
at the very end of the game you can see him heavily limping and it appeared to be his right shin that was giving him issues. Ever since that game (albet it’s only been 2 games since then) he has not looked the same.
whatever it is, you should hope he looks better than this.
http://www.blogabull.com/2009/4/22/849007/the-block-on-pierce-and-the-sick
USE THE SOFTWARE. Actions-> Rec/Flag. Reply to comments with the reply button. Rec good fanposts/fanshots so the crud gets pushed down.
by your friendly BullsBlogger on Apr 23, 2009 11:22 AM EDT reply actions
It's unofficial, Paul is really hurt!
Paul is hurt because every analyst vision a LA – CLE finals.
Paul is hurt because every one said that Boston got no chance of repeating since KG was injured.
How long is everyone going to overlook Pierce's defense in this series?
He’s destroying John Salmons in every single statistical category:
Salmons scored 19 a game and shot 48% from the floor and 42% from 3 all year.
In this series he’s at 14.5 ppg and shooting 36% and 10% respectively.
Pierce’s 21 ppg and 8 rpg along with 40% from the floor and 33% from three are nothing to sneeze at, and they are miles ahead of the guy he is matched up with. So again, what’s the problem here? Pierce did the same thing last year! He torched teams with his defense, played steady for most of the playoffs, and had a handful of breakout games. Sometimes we think hes a super hero or something. Paul Pierce is not out there trying to score 30 every night. Wake up people!
SCOTT
Salmons is injured, too.
John Salmons is recovering from a groin injury himself. All the more reason for whoever Salmons is gaurding to attack him.
Salmons sored a total of 12 points on 4 of 18 shooting combined in 62 minutes of play in the Bulls last two regular season games. I doubt it’s Pierce’s defense on Salmons. Salmons has actually improved a bit.
by Tom Halzack on Apr 23, 2009 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions
I think Sam Smith
went to BU Medical School. ;-) Seriously, people have to realize that the Bulls match up exceptionally well with the Cs. Also, because KG is out, we lack that inside/outside passing game leaving Pierce to handle the ball a little more than I’d like to see. Honestly, if Ty Thomas and Noah’s Ark keep doing their best impersonation of the old twin towers, we’re toast.
by The Real Large James 2 on Apr 23, 2009 11:47 AM EDT reply actions
but he doesn't pass
from the low post the way KG does.
by The Real Large James 2 on Apr 23, 2009 1:25 PM EDT reply actions
Great Post
You bring up passing. That’s a place where we miss KG. Perk and Baby don’t do so well with passing after getting the ball. They do some nice interior passing, but we don’t have the inside-out game that KG gives us and we don’t swing the ball to the other side of the court. The Bulls defense looks good because we are allowing it to. We need to get the ball moving and the Bulls defense moving. The blocked shots are do to our stagnation and lack of awareness and lack of fakes. They are also due to the fact that the ball is not moving and they can set up easy to make the blocks.
"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird
"Criminally Negligent Officiating"--Tommy Heinsohn
i noticed
he was wearing that elbow pad again on Monday. But still I call 40 tonite.
Only The Strong Survive
Pierce is a warrior
NBA is one tough game. Pierce shows up EVERY night, sometimes with sublime game, sometimes below normal (for him). No one should criticize the guy. You’ll see tonight. He will cut the heart out of Bulls fans
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