Was he ever worth a max contract? Pierce spent the early years of his career piling up scoring number in the woeful Celtic's, my turn, your turn, offense. Those numbers, combined with his end of game strip tease routine, somehow impressed management enough to reward him with a "max" contract, which I never felt he was worth. What has he given them for all that money?
Not enough, in my opinion. The only thing he accomplished for that $100 million dollars is that for one season, he acceded to being second banana and helping Kevin Garnett lead/carry the Celtics to their first championship in over two decades.
So far this season, he has played two games against Kevin Durant, being outscored 36-21 and 37-15, and he played against Kobe once and while only being outscored 19-15, he gave up the gamewinning basket to him, but those embarrassing performances pale in comparison to hosw he has fared against James.
In three regular season games against Cleveland, James has outscored him 38-23, 30-18 and 42-16. I don't know which of those games was most embrrassing, as LeBron was unstoppable in the fourth quarter of two of them.
Now, in the playoffs, playing against a tattered Lebron, if not a wounded one, James has outscored him 35-13, 24-14 and 38-11. The most remarkable stat from any of those games, as I have pointed out in the NBA Playoff thread, is that Pierce had ZERO personal fouls in the biggest Celtics home court playoff loss in their history.
Pierce is facing the "player option year" of his contract. He can either take $21.5 million for next year, or go on the market as a free agent. What kind of contract could a 33 year old Paul Pierce command on the open market after what he has shown the league this season? If the Celts get clobbered two more times, a free-agent Pierce might wind up taking a mid-level exception next year.
There have been some moments in history when the Celtics were going down but wouldn't go without a fight. In 1967, when they trailed Philly 3-0 and were on the verge of being swept. John Havlicek and Sam Jones had big games to force the series back to Philly. In 1987, after the Lakers had beaten the Celtics on Magic Johnson's mini-hook in game four of a Finals series played in the 2-3-2 format, Bird called his wounded teammates together and told them that they weren't going to lose the championship on their floor, and they didn't. They won game five in Boston and forced the series to go back to LA for Game 6.
Tonight isn't an elimination game but it might as well be, as there is no way the Celtics can sweep Cleveland in three games after that, with two of them in Cleveland. I don't think they could sweep the Nets in three games, with two of them in Boston. It is time for Pierce to "Cowboy up".
Not enough, in my opinion. The only thing he accomplished for that $100 million dollars is that for one season, he acceded to being second banana and helping Kevin Garnett lead/carry the Celtics to their first championship in over two decades.
So far this season, he has played two games against Kevin Durant, being outscored 36-21 and 37-15, and he played against Kobe once and while only being outscored 19-15, he gave up the gamewinning basket to him, but those embarrassing performances pale in comparison to hosw he has fared against James.
In three regular season games against Cleveland, James has outscored him 38-23, 30-18 and 42-16. I don't know which of those games was most embrrassing, as LeBron was unstoppable in the fourth quarter of two of them.
Now, in the playoffs, playing against a tattered Lebron, if not a wounded one, James has outscored him 35-13, 24-14 and 38-11. The most remarkable stat from any of those games, as I have pointed out in the NBA Playoff thread, is that Pierce had ZERO personal fouls in the biggest Celtics home court playoff loss in their history.
Pierce is facing the "player option year" of his contract. He can either take $21.5 million for next year, or go on the market as a free agent. What kind of contract could a 33 year old Paul Pierce command on the open market after what he has shown the league this season? If the Celts get clobbered two more times, a free-agent Pierce might wind up taking a mid-level exception next year.
There have been some moments in history when the Celtics were going down but wouldn't go without a fight. In 1967, when they trailed Philly 3-0 and were on the verge of being swept. John Havlicek and Sam Jones had big games to force the series back to Philly. In 1987, after the Lakers had beaten the Celtics on Magic Johnson's mini-hook in game four of a Finals series played in the 2-3-2 format, Bird called his wounded teammates together and told them that they weren't going to lose the championship on their floor, and they didn't. They won game five in Boston and forced the series to go back to LA for Game 6.
Tonight isn't an elimination game but it might as well be, as there is no way the Celtics can sweep Cleveland in three games after that, with two of them in Cleveland. I don't think they could sweep the Nets in three games, with two of them in Boston. It is time for Pierce to "Cowboy up".
