Can Isaiah be the pocket Pierce?

It's no exaggeration to say that Isaiah Thomas is starting to evoke comparisons to the young Paul Pierce. When everyone is back on their heels, and the team needs someone to step up and take charge, Pierce lived for those moments. Early in his career he could pile up a couple of bad games, or bad quarters, and then suddenly he would go off like a Roman candle in space, the way Isaiah did in Game Three.

Like Thomas, Pierce was an exciting scorer. He didn't have the practiced mechanicals of Ray Allen, or the towering turnaround of KG. He had a trademark step-back jumper, where he hardly lifted off the floor; like his free throws, he rarely missed them. But he could score from anywhere and in every way possible. Like Thomas, he preferred to drive and draw contact. At one time, he had as quick a first step as anybody and would blow by defenders then, hesitate a split-second to catch the foul. If they kept a statistic called Drawn Fouls, he would have been all-league every year.

Early in his career Pierce wasn't the most committed defender. When a player can shoot as well as he could, you can't blame him for subscribing to the Antoine Walker theory that the way to win is to try and outscore the other team (as opposed to the Bill Russell doctrine of stopping the other team from scoring). That's not to say Pierce couldn't defend with the best of them; he proved that against Lebron, among others. He was an all-around basketball player who had already learned every skill in the book long before he was drafted, a genuine gym rat who studied everybody else's game and constantly worked on improving his own.

Paul always knew he could do what he did in 2008. Considering the competition - Lebron, Kobe - his accomplishment was legendary. But that isn't the point. It's that he always knew he could do it, and played that way, and never gave up, never gave in, no matter how pitiful the players surrounding him were. It's probably his most enduring legacy, that he believed in himself, no matter what, and through it all.

For Isaiah Thomas, this is his first taste of all that personal intrigue, at least on the professional level. Not that he hasn't always known what he's capable of, just that he never was in a position to show it to anyone, including himself.

For that reason alone, I wouldn't mind seeing this series go seven games.

Different positions and styles of play, but no question IT is pound for pound one of the toughest if not the toughest player in the game today, just hope his body holds up as it is remarkable the pounding he takes night in and night out and he still attacks relentlessly and plays his game. These 2 games in Boston he has far exceeded my expectations with the 42 point game Friday and coming thru in the clutch tonite sending game into OT, then getting the crowd crazy with the clinching 3 in OT. Big games and big moments from the little guy.

On another note Marcus Smart is proving he is a very special big time player, his impact tonite was indescribable it was so sick and big in its impact, I can't imagine anyone saw this coming? Shutting down an all star PF having his career night....and scoring 11 points in a row at the crucial point of the game to carry us back in 4th, great heads up play, initiating the offense in OT and all this time battling and limiting Milsap from going off in the post.

These are 2 worthy big time players, they are Celtics.

rickdavisakaspike wrote:
It's no exaggeration to say that Isaiah Thomas is starting to evoke comparisons to the young Paul Pierce.  When everyone is back on their heels, and the team needs someone to step up and take charge, Pierce lived for those moments.  Early in his career he could pile up a couple of bad games, or bad quarters, and then suddenly he would go off like a Roman candle in space, the way Isaiah did in Game Three.

Like Thomas, Pierce was an exciting scorer.  He didn't have the practiced mechanicals of Ray Allen, or the towering turnaround of KG.  He had a trademark step-back jumper, where he hardly lifted off the floor; like his free throws, he rarely missed them.  But he could score from anywhere and in every way possible.  Like Thomas, he preferred to drive and draw contact.  At one time, he had as quick a first step as anybody and would blow by defenders then, hesitate a split-second to catch the foul.  If they kept a statistic called Drawn Fouls, he would have been all-league every year.

Early in his career Pierce wasn't the most committed defender.  When a player can shoot as well as he could, you can't blame him for subscribing to the Antoine Walker theory that the way to win is to try and outscore the other team (as opposed to the Bill Russell doctrine of stopping the other team from scoring).  That's not to say Pierce couldn't defend with the best of them; he proved that against Lebron, among others.  He was an all-around basketball player who had already learned every skill in the book long before he was drafted, a genuine gym rat who studied everybody else's game and constantly worked on improving his own.

Paul always knew he could do what he did in 2008.  Considering the competition - Lebron, Kobe - his accomplishment was legendary.  But that isn't the point.  It's that he always knew he could do it, and played that way, and never gave up, never gave in, no matter how pitiful the players surrounding him were.  It's probably his most enduring legacy, that he believed in himself, no matter what, and through it all.

For Isaiah Thomas, this is his first taste of all that personal intrigue, at least on the professional level.  Not that he hasn't always known what he's capable of, just that he never was in a position to show it to anyone, including himself.

For that reason alone, I wouldn't mind seeing this series go seven games.

I'd rather it go six games. Win in Atlanta on Tuesday and close it out in Boston.

Excellent post Rick. You captured the essence of Paul Pierce in four paragraphs of perfect prose.