Where did Paul Pierce go?

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

Where did Paul Pierce go?

Many have commented on the difference between the Pierce of February and
the Pierce of March. The numbers certainly bear out the comments: from 20.4
ppg to 9.2 ppg and 7.1 rpg to 4.8 rpg. People have also speculated on what
might be responsible for the precipitous drop in production. 

It is always safe to start with the physical aspects of the game, since
they invite far less controversy. Certainly, Pierce’s ankle injury has been
a factor. As we know, the legs are important part of any jump-shooter’s
game. Mercer’s problems throughout the month of February (after a
tantalizing preseason) are a good example of this fact. Also, the sheer
number and frequency of games may be a factor. Pierce is a rookie, although
his early play (and our hunger for wins) may have led many of us to forget
this. Also, opposing teams have by now had a chance to scout Pierce’s game.
Although the many skills demonstrated by Pierce in February would hardly
lead me to believe that he is a ‘one-trick pony’, unless the coaching staff
actually designs plays that take advantage of his skills it would seem
inevitable that other teams would be better able to contain him. Finally,
some have speculated about his ‘heart’ ‘toughness’ or ‘priorities’. At this
point I’ll leave those ‘metaphysical questions’ for others to judge because
I’ve seen no tangible evidence that would indicate that this is anything
other than pure speculation. Of the evidence that I have seen that would
lead me to form an opinion of Pierce’s personality, I would conclude that
Pierce is a hard-nosed, committed team player. Indeed, it is these very
traits may well have contributed to his declining productivity.

Before I get to the figures I’d like to provide a bit more context. March
began - *before* the current slide in Paul’s production - with Coach Pitino
saying that Pierce needed to begin trying to do “different things” on the
court. Now, you may ask yourself why on earth a player who is averaging 20
ppg, 8 rpg, nearly 3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game needs to start doing
“different things”? We’ve heard since about how teams would catch on to his
baseline move or the questions whispered about his lack of dunks on moves
to the hoop (isn’t still worth 2 points?). But, as I understand the game,
teams usually try and devise plays or create situations that exploit a
player’s strengths, not tell them to start trying to do “different things”.
I would think that would be the case, especially when the player in
question was already facing major adjustments in the jump from college to
the pros.

Was Pitino clairvoyant? The numbers would seem to indicate that Pitino was
actually more of a catalyst in the decline of Pierce’s game. For March also
marked the return, after several absences, of Ron Mercer to the starting
lineup. Mercer had only missed five full games (during which Boston was
4-1!) but his assorted injuries limited his participation in the offense
for the majority of the month of February. Mercer’s return meant that his
shots had to come from somewhere and it seems pretty evident from the
numbers that a good chunk of those shots came from Pierce. (You didn’t
think Pitino was going to take them from Walker, did you?) Both play a
similar game: they have a nice mid-range jumper and finish well to the
hoop. They differ in that Pierce has three-point range and the upper-body
strength to draw fouls in the paint while Mercer has the speed and moves to
be nearly unstoppable on the break. However the numbers make it pretty
clear that both have not been given the same opportunities. (This is not to
cast Ron Mercer as the ‘bad guy’ - personally, Mercer is one of my
favorites on the team - but merely to point out what the numbers pretty
clearly demonstrate.)

The same numbers that demonstrate a drop in productivity also provide a
clue as to where Paul’s game has gone. Pierce’s minutes have dropped from
February to March, but only from an average of 35.8 per game to 26.7 per
game. Paul’s shots, however, have been nearly cut in half, from 15.5 per
game to 8.5 per game. Of the shots that Pierce does get, the percentage of
three pointers has increased dramatically from 27.5% to 36.5%. It doesn’t
take a genius to figure out that his trips to the charity stripe would
correspondingly suffer, going from 5.9 per game to a mere 2.6 a game. 

Mercer’s permanent return has had the unintended consequence of effectively
marginalizing Pierce. The current offensive scheme has reduced Pierce to a
one-dimensional offensive threat, waiting out by the three-point line for
the crumb’s to come off the master’s table - oftentimes with the shot-clock
running down. Its pretty hard to grab an offensive rebound from the
three-point line, let alone dunk or draw fouls. And not surprisingly, when
a young players stops getting touches he starts losing his feel for the
game and his game gets out of sync. Ask yourself, however, what is a young
player to do - disobey the coach? Pierce has done all that could have been
expected: he’s gritted his teeth and done what’s been asked of him, despite
all the media blather about “rookie showdowns” and inane questions like
“does he have heart”.

Now, if one wants to cast blame I think that the worst thing that one could
do is to start pitting the players against one another. Its not necessarily
Walker’s or Mercer’s or Pierce’s fault. There’s not any evidence to think
that the players see it that way - yet. One has to wonder however, how long
the other players will continue to tolerate the favoritism that Pitino
continues to manifest when it comes to the ‘Kentucky connection’. ‘Mental
toughness’ should not be something only non-Kentucky alumni are expected to
demonstrate. Even less excusable are fans who behave as if basketball were
a competition to berate another’s favorite player as the ‘cancer’. Too many
Walker fans have taken Pierce’s March woes as a time to crow when neither
player is performing that well under the current circumstances. The players
do not draw up the offense - indeed, lately its looked as if no one has
bothered to draw up an offense. 

At various times this season each of the Celtics, particularly the Kentucky
contingent, have acted like well-intentioned but undisciplined infants: we
realize that they’re not trying to *intentionally* drive us crazy, but
their ill-behaved antics aggravate us just the same. This should not be
surprising, since discipline (free-throws, man-to-man D, decision-making)
has never been a Pitino strong-point, other than the discipline required to
learn and run the press, that is. It is one thing to let your players run
amok when the press will reward them with easy baskets, however, and quite
another when your half-court offense or defense depends upon unselfish team
play. The ills that currently plague the Cs can be traced to Pitino’s
disdain for the pro half-court game and the type discipline it would
require of him and his troops. Rather than adapt his coaching style it
seems that Pitino is ready to simply flush this year and start focusing on
the next. Unfortunately, such a decision leaves both the players and the
fans to flounder this year. I’m confident that Coach P is bright enough to
coach under less-than-ideal circumstances, but the real question is whether
he is humble enough to acknowledge that the mental complexities and
physical demands of his pressing game are not suitable under these
admittedly less-than-ideal circumstances?