Fw: Shaq and Magic Johnson comments on Paul Pierce

["Josh Ozersky" <jozersky1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Great stuff here...what do you think about Shaq's
assessment of the Celts D?

----- Original Message -----
From: "pointman" <tcd_point1@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.sports.basketball.nba.boston-celtics
Sent: Friday, June 14, 2002 3:59 PM
Subject: Shaq and Magic Johnson comments on Paul Pierce


> Shaq, Magic speaketh the Truth
>
> by Steve Bulpett
> Friday, June 14, 2002
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Shaquille O'Neal was just moments removed from his
> third straight NBA championship as he stood beneath the stands at
> Continental Airlines Arena waiting for his turn on the interview stage. He
> was wearing his Lakers uniform and an eau de sweat and champagne cologne.
>
>
> When a brief conversation turned to Paul Pierce, the man who named the
> Celtics co-captain ``The Truth'' smiled when told he had copyrighted the
> moniker. If anyone can appreciate a good business move, it is Shaq, who
> later was seen joking with Donald Trump.
>
> ``He should copyright that name,'' O'Neal said. ``It's him. Paul Pierce is
> the (expletive) Truth.
>
> ``He should have been here in the Finals, but he wasn't because Boston
went
> back to that Rick Pitino (expletive) defense. You saw how we just stayed
> back and made the Nets shoot jump shots. That's what the Celtics should
have
> done. But they didn't. That's why we played the Nets.''
>
> Both O'Neal and Lakers legend Magic Johnson paused to talk up Pierce upon
> seeing a Boston face.
>
> They noticed his production fall off as the postseason wore on, but they
> were aware, too, that they might be seeing him in person next June.
>
> ``Every young star has to learn,'' O'Neal said. ``There's only a couple of
> guys that can come in here and dominate right from the start.
>
> ``But the more times he fails, the hungrier he's going to get, and he's
> going to realize what he has to do.
>
> ``In the first two series, he had pretty good series, but in the last one
I
> think he was trying a little bit too hard. But Paul `The Truth' Pierce
will
> always be The Truth. Remember, you heard it here first.''
>
> The truth became a little hard to take as Pierce shot just 36 percent from
> the floor (21 percent on treys) in the conference finals against New
Jersey.
> He still managed to average 23.7 points vs. the Nets, but the sharpness
was
> clearly gone from his game.
>
> ``You can't look at that because, first of all, this is his first time in
> the playoffs,'' said Johnson. ``He ran out of gas. He brought them to the
> point where they were at, and the way he plays, he moves all the time. You
> could expect him to just be tired physically at a certain point.''
>
> Magic knows. Magic was keeping close tabs on Pierce, who hails from the
> Lakers' former home of Inglewood.
>
> ``Yeah, I was watching, because that's my guy,'' Johnson said. ``Paul and
I
> go way back to when he was in high school and then college and then the
NBA.
> I've worked with Paul in the summer, and I'm just happy that he was able
to
> bring them to the point of the Eastern Conference finals.
>
> ``Everybody should be happy. The fans are back in Boston. They see now
that
> they have a young team that's only going to improve. And I told Paul. I
> said, `I'm so happy that you're an All-Star.' And I see him working every
> summer at UCLA - every day. People don't see that.''
>
> As one who has criticized the approach to the game of today's NBA
prototype,
> Johnson said he has found a throwback in Pierce.
>
> ``He didn't have a post game; he developed one. That's the kind of thing I
> really like,'' Johnson said. ``He used to settle (for jump shots). He used
> to be soft and not take it to the basket hard. I told him he's got to
change
> that because he's got to draw fouls, and you saw how well he did that this
> year.
>
> ``He was like, `How did you know how to draw fouls like you do? Teach me
> that move.' So we worked. After we were done playing for two hours, we
> worked for another hour and I showed him how to put his body into the guy
> and draw fouls. Then this guy goes back out the next season and you could
> see how much he worked on it. And it wasn't just us working on it; he
worked
> on it himself.
>
> ``That's why I say he's a throwback. He's like one of the old guys because
> he wants to improve and he'll work at it.''
>
> With that, Johnson went back to the party that would move from Jersey to
> Manhattan to LA. Pierce?
>
> ``He's probably off somewhere right now figuring out how he's going to be
> here next year,'' said Johnson. ``I'd bet on that.''