Paul Pierce rarely, if ever, speaks to members of the media before games. He did speak prior to tonight's game against the Charlotte Bobcats though. Here are some of the things he had to say:
Difficulty in developing rhythm or groove:
"You get into a good, comfortable groove and then you sit out a few weeks, or a couple weeks and then you get into a groove and you sit out a couple weeks. It's like going to the race and then stoping and starting, starting and stoping. How do you expect to win if you do that?"
On health:
"I feel pretty good right now to tell you the truth. It's the best I've felt in a few weeks. I expect myself to get out there and get into a good groove pretty soon. You know, my body feels great and I'm ready."
On winning convincingly at home:
"Well we have to do a better job at establishing something at home. I look up, and it was crazy I was looking at the standings last night and I think we're like the best road team in basketball, or tied for it. I was like, 'man if we took care of business we would probably be the best team in the NBA record wise at home'. It's crazy to me when I look at it like that, so we definitely got to do a better job at winning at home regardless of if it's a blowout or just winning ballgames. I mean, I think we're the second worst team at home in the top eight, so if we could take care of home we can be right back in business. I think that's the main thing for us- having better focus and better concentration at home like we do on the road."
On If he agrees with Perkins that the team may be "bored" with regular season:
"I personally don't feel that way. I understand that it's a process and this helps build the process going into the playoffs. You don't see teams just turn it on once the playoffs start, so the process is very important. Just like when you go into a boxing match, you don't just step out there during the match and fight. You have to build up. You have to have practices, you have to spar, and that's what the regular season is. You have to get ready."
Good to hear that he is starting to feel better and is on the right track. Hopefully in time he will feel more comfortable out on the court and the Celtics will be able to draw more plays up for him and get his shots up. Also, love the boxing analogy. You've got to assume that the opponent is always training harder for the fight. If you go into the fight overconfident and underprepared you're going to get knocked out.