RE: Pierce

["R. Singh" <keltsfan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Josh,

In my opinion, Pierce is a small forward, not a shooting guard.  He
doesn't have the handle and natural court vision of a two guard.  In any
event, Pierce will not be able to play the way people have seen him play
in the past because one of the factors in his success is no longer with
the team.  Because of that he is being asked to do more than he is
capable of and consequently the strong parts of his game will and have
suffered.  

If Allen or a player of his caliber were brought in, I would run the
offense through him.  He is much better at creating for others while
also creating good opportunities for himself.  You can still make Pierce
the scoring focus of the offense but it must be the end result. He
cannot be expected to be the creator. Pierce's job should be to score a
lot of points, rebound and play above average defense. Leave the
playmaking to someone else. 

If you bring in a veteran, defensive minded point guard, it has to be
one that can also create scoring opportunities for himself to alleviate
some of the pressure on Pierce, not to mention, make the correct pass on
the break and in the half court sets. How many of those point guards are
out there?  And if the Celtics somehow managed to get one they better
hold on to him, which then makes Banks unnecessary - unless it is a
player that could easily swing to the shooting guard position.  Perhaps
a combo guard like...Jamal Crawford.

Personally, I think Banks will be fine in a season or two. Why not fill
the need of a legitimate big time two guard knowing that in one or two
seasons Banks and Perkins will be major contributors with Pierce, an
Allen type shooting guard and perhaps, just perhaps, Vinnie Baker
leading the charge.  

Now that I think about it more, if Crawford can swing to the shooting
guard position and over time play the majority of his minutes there and
he has the ability to create scoring opportunities for himself, he might
be a very good fit. 

Ravi





-----Original Message-----
From: owner-celtics@xxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-celtics@xxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Josh Ozersky
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 4:28 PM
To: celtics list
Subject: Pierce


I saw where Ravi put quote marks around Pierce's
"star."  Pierce is a star; I don't think you can help him
by bringing in another guy (e.g. Ray Allen) who plays
his name position.  If Pierce doesn't start playing like himself again,
it won't matter who we get.  And if he does start playing to the level
we're used to, he won't need another all-star 2 or 3 to help him.  I'm
comfortable with the idea of Pierce being the featured scorer in a
motion offense a la the Jordan Bulls or the Karl Malone Jazz.  But
obviously, you need the whole team to play well around him, and a point
guard to run the show and handle the ball.  A veteran would help a lot
right now.  I believe in Banks, but I would like to put James on the
bench and let an experienced PG run the first unit.  The guy can't be a
defensive liability like Brevin Knight, either; he needs to be big and
aggressive and sturdy, or at least long.  If only Jiri weren't so slow,
he would be a good stopgap; when he's out there, he's the de facto point
because his floor game and court sense are so good. I really would like
to see him get some of James' minutes, much like I would like to see
Hunter get minutes from Walter, Brown, and LaFrentz.  We could've used a
few rebounds last night.  But again -- what does any of this matter if
Pierce can't make big shots for us?

Josh