Pierce Wants To Take It To The Next Level

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Boston Herald
To C's delight, Pierce not satisfied
by Steve Bulpett 
Friday, April 28, 2000

In a season that probably should have been more of a breakout campaign
for Paul Pierce, the lasting image is of a mid-January trip to
Washington.

The reason?

 

 
Paul Pierce sees many areas of his game that need improvement before
next season. (Herald file photo) After a lockout-abbreviated rookie
year, Pierce was mainly treading water as he slipped occasionally from
the shadows to offer a glimpse of major talent.

Celtics assistant coach Jim O'Brien took Pierce aside in Washington and
explained to him exactly what is expected from players of his stature.
Pierce replied with 34 points against the Wizards and 30 two days later
against Toronto.

It was suggested to Rick Pitino that with five assistants around the
club, perhaps one of them should be assigned the task of reminding
Pierce how good he is before each game.

As he settles into the Celtics' too-soon offseason, Pierce is anything
but settled with his sphere. He is keenly aware that he is approaching a
crossroads, and he appears determined to take the higher road.

``I do think I have to step up next season - in a lot of ways,'' Pierce
said. ``There's going to be a bigger expectation put on myself next
year. It's about that time.

``I'm going into my third season. I'm going to have to start stepping up
and being a leader - not only showing it, but maybe more vocally. I just
want to take that next step, and that's getting to the playoffs.

``Whatever it is that we need, I feel like I'm going to have to be ready
to do that.''

Pierce had space to fill this past season after the trade of Ron Mercer,
and he dutifully added three points to his average, making it a healthy
19.5 ppg.

But Pierce's 3-point shooting slipped and, of greater importance to his
coach, defensive issues were exposed - particularly when he was checking
opposing shooting guards.

The defensive matters are enough to park him in front of a television
and VCR.

``I know I have to work on my ballhandling so I don't turn the ball over
as much,'' Pierce said. ``I need to get better at the things I'm already
good at, but it's obvious I need to work on defense. Defense is
something we all need to focus on more. You can't really practice that
by yourself, but this summer I'm going to watch a lot of film and see a
lot of the mistakes I made and try to correct them. I'm going to watch a
lot of game tape, because I don't want to make the same mistakes next
year.

``You never know what you could be asked to do, but I think I have to
prepare to be at two-guard more. It doesn't matter on offense with our
team whether you're at small forward or two-guard, but I saw a lot this
season that things can be really different on defense when you're going
against the guards. I think that's going to be a position where I'm
going to be guarding a lot of people next year, so I have to work on
technique and I have to get a lot faster so I can guard these guys.''

Pierce also plans to work on more than simply physical matters. He is
doing his part for NBA playoff ratings, but it is more of a homework
assignment than fan fare.

``I'm watching all the games,'' he said. ``I'm going to learn from it.
I'm thinking this is where I want to be next year, so I want to watch
and see how each and every player takes it. I want to feed off that and
give myself even more motivation to be there next year.''

According to his coach, Pierce is a favorite in the race to stardom.

``When you evaluate a player, there are four reasons a player will or
will not reach his potential,'' said Rick Pitino.

``One is his work ethic, two is his athleticism and three is his
physical maturity. Four would be his motivation. In Paul's case, I think
he has all those ingredients. I think he has the athleticism, the
desire, the motive.

``So if you're going to evaluate him on whether he'll be a terrific
player some day, I'd bank on it. He's not there yet, but I'd bank on
it.''