Paul Pierce's thoughts on the FIBA games, Rodney, Vin, and the Olympics

["Lance Jacobson" <lancejacob@xxxxxxxxx>]

Please, gang, give this a read and consider how much of a Team Player you've
got here.

    From Peter May/Boston Globe

    He already has weighed in on the Vin Baker trade. (''It brings us a new
dimension. If we can get Vin Baker to come in here and really work and show us
that he has a new attitude and that he's willing to commit to what we're
trying to build, I think it's something that could really work.'')

    He has already weighed in on Rodney Rogers's signing with the Nets. (''I
thought we should have done whatever we could to sign Rodney. He's going to a
team we battled for the Eastern Conference. It makes them a lot better.'')

    But he has yet to respond to some curious stuff that surfaced during the
recent World Championships in Indianapolis. There was talk after the loss to
Argentina that Pierce was too selfish and was shooting too much.

    ''I've heard that,'' Pierce said. ''But if you look at our team, who else
was going to shoot the ball? And if I was shooting too much, how did I end up
second [actually third] on the team in assists?

    ''There's always going to be something when a team doesn't do well. What
can I say? Criticism comes when you lose. And we had a big eye on us. A lot of
people were watching.''

    Then there was the apparent snub from US coach George Karl, who kept his
leading scorer (Pierce) on the bench for the final 13 minutes of the loss to
Spain, the third defeat in four days for the US team. Karl said he didn't put
Pierce into the game because he ''played the people who wanted to be on the
court.'' That seemed a bit strange given that Pierce was the only US player to
start all nine games and was second in minutes to Michael Finley. The US
offense went completely stagnant.

    Pierce was dumbfounded to hear Karl's statement.

    ''I don't know what to say about that,'' he said. ''I definitely wanted to
get back on the court. I didn't like what was going on.''

    He then paused and added, ''I'll remember that. I can't wait to play the
Bucks.''

    It still stings Pierce that he was on the first US team of NBA players to
lose in international competition. And, as he noted, ''We didn't lose just
once. That was bad enough. We lost three times. I really didn't take too much
good away from that. It was a big disappointment. We played on a team that
made history. I can't imagine a team with NBA players will ever lose three
games again.''

    But, Pierce noted, the experience didn't sour him on possible future
participation for USA Basketball. There's going to be the Olympic qualifier
next summer and, assuming the US qualifies, the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

    ''I just hope I get another shot in the Olympics,'' Pierce said. ''I
definitely want to do it again. [The sixth-place finish in Indianapolis] left
a sour taste in my mouth, and the only way to get rid of it is to get the gold
medal.''