RE: Pierce on TNT

[jeff_chin@notes.teradyne.com]

I'd love for a Twon for Wallace trade, but it's nothing more than a pipe
dream.  Wallace is clearly Portland's best player and gets his numbers
playing in a much tougher conference than Twon.  There's just no
comparison.  Portland would trade the rest of their roster before trading
him.  And even if they did want to trade him, we'd have to package pierce
or all of our picks along for them to even think about doing it.  As for
Wallace being a head case, I don't think antoine is really any better with
his whining to the refs.

I think trading antoine is a good idea, but I don't think any team wants to
give anything up for him unless pierce or our picks are involved in the
deal.


>
> Interesting to see Pierce on TNT with Barkley et.al.; seemed like a
> thoughtful - if a tad shy and deferential - young man. Hopefully this is
the
> start of a trend of higher visibility for Pierce and the Celts. Pierce
> played it close to the vest both Sat and Sun but he did pick the
Charlotte
> upset and loosened up when he told Jordan to just keep watching the
> highlights. Barkley paid him a nice complement when he said Pierce was a
BMW
> who could be a Mercedes (like him and Jordan).
>
> One more interesting insight into Pierce: when asked what he thought of
> Rasheed Wallace and his techs Pierce simply said something to the effect
> that "he is who he is - he's and intense player and you have to take what
he
> gives you". This seems like a pretty mature view and would help explain
why
> he gets on with Twon so well: you accept people for what they are - good
AND
> bad - and don't get upset over things you can't change/control.
>
> That being said, it got me to thinking of whether the opportunity to swap
> Walker for Rasheed might present itself this offseason given the
implosion
> in Portland. Before you fire off the "not THAT headcase" salvos, consider
> the following stats:
>
> Wallace: 77 games, 38.2 MPG, 50% FG% (WOW!!), 19.2 PPG, 90 steals, 135
> blocks 7.8 RPG
>
> All that with only 15.3 shot attempts per game - say what you want about
> Wallace and the refs, he is fairly unselfish when it comes to his
teammates
> and effective at what a PF should do. Aside from the techs the only
weakness
> seems to be in total rebounds, but he averages 9.8 over 48min to Twon's
10.2
> per 48 so this is basically a wash given Portland has better rebounders
> around Rasheed.
>
> Add to that the fact that Wallace is an active and effective defender on
the
> post (and hence from my perspective a more complete player) and such a
swap
> sounds quite tempting. Of course the Cs would have to employ a PG if they
> swapped Walker for Rasheed, but  . . . is that such a bad thing?
>
> Cheers - Tom Murphy
>
>


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