Re: Pierce's role: Co-star to leading man

[Ryan W <ubiquitous_am_i@xxxxxxxxx>]

Great job reading, Kestus...those were the exact
points of the article that startled me...

--- Kestutis Kveraga <Kestutis.Kveraga@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> A verrrry interesting article from MacMullan :
> 
> On Walker:
> "So which perception is correct? Was Walker a leader
> his teammates admired, or
> an overbearing All-Star whose words rang hollow in
> his final days?
> 
> "A little of both," answered Williams. "He was a
> fiery leader in games, a good
> leader. But, at times, he overdid it. Sometimes in
> practice, when he didn't
> want to do stuff, the other side came out. But who
> do you blame for that? They
> gave him the rein to do it by not bringing it to
> light."
> --- end of quote ---
> 
> +++A thinly-veiled criticism of Obie and his staff
> from Ewill? Wow... 

Yeah, crazy talk from E.  But apparently everybody has
their own theory on how to get thru to Antoine (as
evidenced by this list).  It seems the E was the only
one who ever truly knew Toine.  You've got to imagine
the fact that E got traded so quickly after Pitino was
hired to be one of those early moments where Toine
began to lose respect for Rick.  Would it all have
been different if we hadn't originally traded E?  We
would have had a happy Walker (or at least a happier
Walker).  We would have had a great small forward in
pre-injury E (and I think this year is showing that
post-injury E could have been comparable to pre-injury
E had we given him the opportunities).  Even though we
got E back, I would submit that the trading of Eric
Williams was the worst Pitino trade ever (and I hated
the Billups trade from Day 1, though it kinda worked
out for us)...

> 
> 
> On Pierce's leadership abilities:
> "Based on interviews with his teammates, Pierce's
> leadership skills needed some
> honing. He was often demanding and impatient with
> players who he felt had not
> reached their potential. He was particularly hard on
> forward Kedrick Brown and
> Vin Baker last season. Fellow veteran Tony Delk (who
> was traded along with
> Walker to Dallas) often had trouble concealing his
> displeasure with Pierce's
> tactics.
> 
> "What Paul has got to realize is his position is
> different from everyone else
> on the team," Williams said. "Not everyone can get
> the shots he gets. A lot of
> guys sacrifice their games for his glory. "But I've
> already seen a difference.
> He's encouraging guys more. He's much more positive.
> Last year, I used to feel
> for Kedrick. Paul would ride him so hard. It
> bothered Tony, too. You could
> hear the two of them on the court going at it
> sometimes."
> 
> +++ Wow, St. Paul is not so saintly after all... The
> biggest thing that Baker
> and Kedrick lack is confidence, and Pierce wasn't
> exactly helping the
> situation. Also, the last bit might partially
> explain why Delk is gone. 

Yeah, but notice how the potential rift between Baker
and Pierce appears to have been mended (from the Baker
comments that you haven't quoted that appeared in the
original article) while the rift (assuming there was
one) between Kedrick and Paul has not been mended. 
This partially explains one thing I've noticed about
Kedrick...he doesn't seem particularily close to the
team.  When you see shots of the team celebrating on
the bench, usually Kedrick is celebrating on his own,
while other players are bumping chests or high-fiving.
 Even on the court, there really isn't much
comaraderie between Kedrick and the other players.  Is
this a product of Kedrick's personality (is he just a
loner) or is it some team wide hostility.  Who
knows...but it is bothersome (if Kedrick doesn't feel
a part of the team, it will definitely affect his
play).

> 
> Pierce on his relationship with Walker:
> "Most of the time, I deferred to him," Pierce
> admitted. "He was here first. He
> had seniority. The times I stepped on Antoine's toes
> were the times we
> clashed. It happened a lot on the court."
> 
> +++ A confirmation that this wasn't exactly a
> relationship of equals, despite
> Pierce's superior abilities on the court. 

Yeah, but the lack of equality was a problem that they
both should have faced.  If you watch Antoine's game
in Dallas, he really trusts his teammates.  He's
making the right pass almost in every instance.  In
Boston, he hardly trusted anyone except Pierce, yet
still would not take criticism from him.  Sometimes,
in those situations, you need to stand up and show the
other person what you're made of (you've gotta demand
respect).  Pierce should have done that (that is,
assuming he never did...for all we know, he did,
Antoine resisted, and Paul deferred to keep the
peace).

> 
> from Banks:
> ""Paul is the best," said rookie Marcus Banks. "I
> look up to him. I listen to
> everything he says. He's been really positive with
> me. He knows what I'm
> capable of doing."
> 
> +++ That's encouraging. I saw Pierce talking to
> Banks after that ill-advised
> 3pt attempt against Chicago, and he seemed to be
> chastising him. His body
> language was somehow all wrong. Banks appeared to be
> defensive/defiant and I
> was concerned about both Paul's attempts at
> leadership and Banks's attitude.
> But maybe I needn't have been. 

On this last comment regarding body language, you're
sounding a lot like the Brain Doctor (remember, I'm
the only one on this list who actually is giving Ainge
the benefit of the doubt on the Brain doctor, so this
is not necessarily a bad thing).  I watched the same
exchange and got the opposite impression.  I sensed
that is was a good move on Paul's part (since it was a
bad shot) and that Marcus was receptive to it.  

Ryan



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