Paul Pierce at ESPN

["Josh Farber" <joshfarber@home.net>]

Here is an article on Paul Pierce dropping to 10 at ESPN.com.

It's a pretty good article

Also, vote for Paul Pierce in the poll there!!!.

He lost the CNNSI Poll, but help him win this one!!!

Tuesday, Feb. 23 3:57am ET
Celtics thrilled with Pierce

By David Nielsen
Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON -- Boston Celtics coach Rick Pitino admits he was duped by some
false advertising last summer. But instead of being raving mad, Pitino is
just raving -- about Paul Pierce.


Pitino thought he was getting an athletic jump shooter when he selected
Pierce with the No. 10 selection in the 1998 NBA draft. He had no idea he
was also getting a fierce rebounder, a tenacious defender and the early
favorite for Rookie of the Year honors.


"I thought of him in terms of a scorer, a finesse player, somebody who ran
and obviously jumped very well," said Pitino after the Celtics lost to the
Washington Wizards on Sunday. "I didn't realize, and he worked on it in the
offseason, how physical he is with his upper body strength. He can be
punishing. ... He blocks shots, he's a good anticipator defensively. He
plays hard all the time. He does it all."


Indeed, eight games into his pro career, Pierce has done it all for the
Celtics. Splitting time between shooting guard and small forward, he's
averaging 20.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, a league-leading 2.75 steals, and 1.63
blocks. And as expected, he's hitting his outside shots, nailing 44.0
percent of his three-pointers.


Those are hardly the numbers one expects from the 10th player in the draft.
In fact, only one player drafted lower than No. 5 has won Rookie of the Year
the past 20 years (Mark Jackson, picked 18th by New York in 1988).


Of course, going into the draft most observers felt Pierce would be selected
much higher. Pierce did, too.


"I felt like I should have been a higher pick than I was," he said. "I felt
like those teams were making a mistake by passing on me and that I could
come in and be a good player. I use that to drive me to be a better player."


Unlike some rookies who are still adjusting to the physical demands of the
NBA, Pierce stepped right in like he's been playing with the pros for years.
Actually, he has.


Even before he left his home in Inglewood, Calif. to go to Kansas, Pierce
was playing pickup games with NBA players. During the lockout, he joined
Shaquille O'Neal, Eddie Jones and several others stars in regular games at
UCLA's gym.


  Paul Pierce
Small Forward
Boston Celtics
Profile


  SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG BLK STL
8 20.0 7.3 1.9 13 22



"It helped my confidence playing against a lot of the pro players," he said.
"I learned I could play with these guys any day of the week. I come out here
in the NBA and I think it's easy for me to adjust."


Among the players Pierce matched up against was Magic Johnson, whom Pierce
had cheered for as a young Lakers fan.


"It was a lot of fun, playing against somebody you've admired your whole
life," Pierce said. "You go in there with bright eyes; you're kind of
star-struck at first. Then you're out on the court with him. I guarded him
every day. He really helped me a lot."


Boosted by Magic's tutelage, Pierce has rocketed to the top among NBA
rookies. He leads first-year players in scoring, blocks and steals, and is
third in rebounds and three-point shooting.


"That's one of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the season is
to be one of the top rookies," he said. "But I set high goals for myself. I
not only want to be one of the top rookies, but I want to be one of the top
players in the game as well."


Wizards perennial All-Star guard Mitch Richmond said Pierce is well on his
way.


"He's a player," Richmond said. "He can put it on the floor. He can shoot
the three. He rebounds, he's a pretty good defender, (has) quick hands, and
runs the floor very well, so you really have to pick up. He can do it all."


Now he just has to find a way to help Boston win. But even with the Celtics
struggling at 3-5, Pierce figures he has it better than his former Kansas
teammate, Rookie of the Year candidate Raef LaFrentz with the woeful Denver
Nuggets.


"I haven't talked to him since before opening night, and I told him they'd
be lucky to win five games this year," Pierce said, laughing. "I said it
jokingly, I didn't really mean it."