Celtics17
05-11-2010, 12:47 PM
Paul Pierce has shot 32% from the field overall, 22% from beyond the arc, has almost as many assists as turnovers, and is getting in lots of foul trouble trying to guard Lebron James in this series. I, like every other Celtic fan out there, really want to see him get his offense going before this matchup ends.
That said, The Truth has made some very positive contributions so far, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. He, along with the Allen family, has done an adequate job man-to-man against Lebron James. I remember one excellent defensive possession down the stretch of game four where Paul stopped the King from getting to the cup, getting a little help from Perk along the way. I forget the exact time and score, but I know it was a big stop at a crucial time. There have been many other times where Paul has moved his feet well isolated against His Excellence forcing James to pass the ball to teammates instead of trying the drive, spurring most observers to comment that there must be something wrong with the elbow or the head of Lebron. It certainly can't be that the Celtics are cutting off his path to the rim.
The captain's best defensive effort of the series, however, came in the third quarter of game 2 while older brother, Ray, was given the task of staying in front of the best player in the league. During the decisive stretch where we opened up the lead from around 15 to an insurmountable 23 points, Paul Pierce made four defensive stops in a row while playing as an off-the-ball help defender. On successive plays he blocked Anthony Parker's shot going down the lane, then did the same for Clown Boy, then trapped Lebron James brilliantly to force a turnover, and, finally, got in front of Delonte trying to get to the rim, leaving Redz to bobble the ball out of bounds. Interestingly, for all these plays, Paul got exactly 1 box score credit. I looked at his stat line for that game and he's only credited with one blocked shot for game 2.
His defensive contributions in game 2 put him in the running for MVP of the contest as far as I'm concerned.
So, while I would love to see Paul Pierce break out of his offensive slump starting tonight, more importantly for me, I want to see him and everyone else stay strong on the defensive end regardless of how it's going offensively for any individual player. And, I want to point out that the defensive contributions don't go unnoticed by everyone.
P.S. (and in the same vein) how about 'Sheed as an MVP candidate for game 4.
Go Cs!
That said, The Truth has made some very positive contributions so far, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. He, along with the Allen family, has done an adequate job man-to-man against Lebron James. I remember one excellent defensive possession down the stretch of game four where Paul stopped the King from getting to the cup, getting a little help from Perk along the way. I forget the exact time and score, but I know it was a big stop at a crucial time. There have been many other times where Paul has moved his feet well isolated against His Excellence forcing James to pass the ball to teammates instead of trying the drive, spurring most observers to comment that there must be something wrong with the elbow or the head of Lebron. It certainly can't be that the Celtics are cutting off his path to the rim.
The captain's best defensive effort of the series, however, came in the third quarter of game 2 while older brother, Ray, was given the task of staying in front of the best player in the league. During the decisive stretch where we opened up the lead from around 15 to an insurmountable 23 points, Paul Pierce made four defensive stops in a row while playing as an off-the-ball help defender. On successive plays he blocked Anthony Parker's shot going down the lane, then did the same for Clown Boy, then trapped Lebron James brilliantly to force a turnover, and, finally, got in front of Delonte trying to get to the rim, leaving Redz to bobble the ball out of bounds. Interestingly, for all these plays, Paul got exactly 1 box score credit. I looked at his stat line for that game and he's only credited with one blocked shot for game 2.
His defensive contributions in game 2 put him in the running for MVP of the contest as far as I'm concerned.
So, while I would love to see Paul Pierce break out of his offensive slump starting tonight, more importantly for me, I want to see him and everyone else stay strong on the defensive end regardless of how it's going offensively for any individual player. And, I want to point out that the defensive contributions don't go unnoticed by everyone.
P.S. (and in the same vein) how about 'Sheed as an MVP candidate for game 4.
Go Cs!