Pierce

[Ryan W]

--- Kim Malo <kmalo17 at verizon.net> wrote:

> That's apparently not true anymore. According to
> Sean Grande just 
> last night, over the past few weeks *he's* the one
> whose name keeps 
> popping up in the discussion amongst the top 5
> options rather than 
> Garnett, in part because of his play when Garnett
> was out (which also 
> cost Garnett).

Crazy.  That's what I get for not listening to the
radio.  That's good to hear though.  That said,
Garnett's playing out of his mind right now.  If he
keeps it up, doesn't get injured, and we win 65, the
buzz will turn back towards him.  There's not a single
player in the league that could have done what he's
done here.  We're the best team in the league and KG's
the biggest reason.  That spells M-V-P to me.  Not
that individual awards matter.  But still, KG is the
most deserving.

> 
> >  I'm not saying he
> >should win it--I think Garnett is the obvious
> choice
> >and I'll be pissed if LeBron or Chris Paul or Kobe
> win
> >it just because KG got injured for 9 games
> 
> Prepare to be pissed then...

There's still 20 games left or so.  KG's starting the
heat up.

> 
> >  And I
> >think the disrespect--which probably stems from the
> >fact that Paul isn't a flashy, high-flyer like most
> 2s
> >and 3s in the NBA--caused some of those behavioral
> >problems referenced by Kim.
> 
> I don't think so. There weren't enough blatant
> public episodes a la 
> an Artest or even Artest's more whiney than evil
> former running mate 
> in Indy for that to be a case. And I'm not sure it
> is active 
> disrespect vs some underrating. For example, I've
> never thought he 
> got enough credit for the rebounding, which is not a
> matter of easy, 
> fell in his lap, stats, but something he WORKS to
> get. But that's 
> merely underrating not active disrespect. While his
> game DID have 
> major holes and problems, effective a scorer and
> rebounder as he 
> could be at times. I think how bad the Cs were while
> he was their 
> center hurt him a lot more than any behavioral
> problems. And not 
> wholly unfairly.

That's a good point.  And I guess it's more
underrating versus active disrespect, but I still
remember Karl throwing Paul under the bus, and the
comments Barkley has made this season, and I think
that if Paul could jump like Kobe or Vince then he'd
be considered a top-5 talent in this league.  Because
he plays so fundamental but lack explosive leaping
ability, he continually is underrated.  He's like the
Tim Duncan of small forwards.

> 
> And look, I wasn't jumping all over Pierce for the
> way he behaved 
> before. I was simply pointing out that saying he
> never caused a 
> problem wasn't true, while noting that there are
> plenty of valid 
> reasons to really praise him now. I came not to bury
> Caesar but to 
> praise him <g>

Yeah, I didn't think you were jumping all over him. 
Like you said, by mentioning what happened in the past
you can fully appreciate the transformation that's
occurred before our eyes.

> 
> >Also,
> >with KG and Ray in the fold, and their respect
> >enumerated many times, I think Paul feels secure
> for
> >the first time since Antoine was traded in 2003.
> 
> Yup, a legit point that doesn't often get made, at
> least not that 
> way. Because I also think part of last season's
> emotional turnaround 
> was related to a different type of security issue,
> where he got 
> engaged and had someone here, not back in his
> childhoon home, to 
> trust who was completely on his side outside the
> game as well, in 
> contrast to the feeling very isolated and estranged
> way he came 
> across in an extended Globe Magazine interview the
> year before.

A good woman does wonders, that's for sure. 


> 
> >  We
> >haven't mailed in one game this season.  That's
> >because of Doc.
> 
> Nor, at least as significantly. did we mail them in
> last season, when 
> it would have been a lot easier to do so because of
> the losing and 
> when we weren't as full of real professionals.

True that.

Ryan



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