Re: Peter May on Paul Pierce

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Kim, you asked why I thought May took a little bit of a cheap shot at
Ricky Davis and Chris Mihm. The line that bothered me was this:



"When Ainge pulled the trigger on the Ricky Davis deal in December, the
coaches and players were upset not so much for what was coming --

although that hasn't been too hot -- but for what was leaving."



Davis and Mihm have been pretty darn good in Boston, and Ricky,
especially has been on his best behavior. I'm sure I'm being
oversensitive, but like I said before, you could make a case that Davis
and Mihm have been playing harder than any Celtics since the trade. I
think a throwaway line about them not being "too hot" isn't being fair.



I'll admit that I underestimated EWill's importance to this year's team.
He clearly provided a focus that Pierce, especially, needs. But it would
be nice if the critics of the trade also acknowledged that maybe, just
maybe, Ricky Davis isn't the devil in basketball shoes and Chris Mihm is
a little more than your average BWS. Of course, I won't hold my breath
for that acknowledgment from Peter May. He'd have to take a break from
building his Eric Williams statue, and he can't be distracted from such
important tasks.



Mark



P.S. Speaking of Ricky Davis ... will the statute of limitations ever
run out on the triple-double thing? It was a terrible thing to do.
Really dumb and selfish. But wasn't there an entire team a while back
that let an opponent score just so they could get the ball back and try
to get a guy a triple double? Was that any less reprehensible? I'm not
excusing what Ricky did, but at some point, shouldn't he be judged on
his current behavior, and not on one glaringly bad decision?