Re: Blame Jordan!

["Lance Jacobson" <lancejacob@xxxxxxxxx>]

    Anyway, if the point is that the Celtics offense is ugly because it is designed
    like "Walker, Pierce, and a bunch of three point shooters," then that's another
    discussion. If it's "Pierce could improve his game", ditto. But if it's "Pierce
    hurts this team because he's a selfish player and I'm going to prove that by
    repeating myself 100 times per day while insulting you", then I, like most
    of the rest of the list, am not convinced, and moreover, will soon stop
    listening entirely.>>Alexander Wang

Sir--I agree with your assessment on Mercer and Pierce almost completely.  Mercer was
a limited player, but his jump shot was a Minor-like consistent 2 points, and he could
play defense as well.

The thread, you MAY recall was that Kenny hadn't done anything for the team for those
three intervening years, and I brought up that the arrival of Pierce had Mercer
shooting more from outside, and competing, as you state, for his contract against Twan
and PP's outside shots.  The issue wasn't about Pierce, it was about Kenny, and how he
stopped passing or working hard because his three teammates were standing around.

If you choose to believe that everything comes down to Pierce, so be it.  I didn't
criticize PP in that post, only that Mercer responded to his arrival by joining the
Arc Club.  FYI, in the '98-'99 season, Mercer played 40 vs. 81 games in the prior
year, but took 707 shots vs. 586 he'd have taken at the prior season's rate.  Sure, he
was playing for his contract and firing it up, and he did double his 3pt shooting
rate.  And he got to the line less often as well.

That's why Kenny got fed up.  Three guys standing around and no one to pass to.