Sorry, Paul

Just saw this on ESPN. Tough break, no pun intended. That has to be killing him.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/10067906/paul-pierce-brooklyn-nets-broken-hand-2-4-weeks

Good in the long run this has to help him.

One cannot say for sure that this injury would have happened if he had still been a Celtic, but injuries can happen at any time and this is the worst injury of his career (I think).  Between this, the sad decline of KG and JET not playing due to injury Danny's trade is starting to look more like divine providence and inspiration rather than merely gutsy. We'd still be struggling except minus 4 first round picks (Doc would not have left if "The Deal" hadn't happened, so no pick from LAC either).

I feel sorry for all those guys (ok, maybe not so much for JET, but definitely for Paul and Kevin) but all this couldn't happen to a nicer guy (Mikhail Prokhorov).


bob


.

You know how I felt about trading Paul, even KG, but all I kept hearing from my son was that there was an injury out there just waiting to happen to PP. He has been such a durable player during his career, it is sad to watch this decline in both of them. Sure, it makes Danny look like a genius, but let's see what transpires in the next couple of years.
I saw that picture of KG sitting on the bench with his hand on his jaw, just had a look like "what the hell am I doing here, I should have retired, this stinks (or a stronger word"! Would he or could he just retire at the all star break, or stick it out to the end of the season.

This is sad, really, really sad.

Rosalie

Rosalie

I can't feel too sorry for multi millionaires that said this was their life and to see the end of the careers when they have had such a long and good ones is tough.

As a kid I adored Mickey Mantle and the way his career ended when he could no longer do anything reminds me of this a bit. Mick hung on 1-2 seasons to long. He always considered himself a .300 career hitter but that last final season left him at .298 for eternity.  Perhaps KG and PP are doing likewise.

It does have to be driving KG nuts no matter how you feel. Between and owner not knowing what he is doing and a coach with zippo experience he's in for a season that will not end successfully no matter how you cut it.

beat

DA picked Brooklyn's pocket. I do feel sorry for players near the end of the road, like Mickey Mantle and now PP and KG, but for perspective, they have their millions, rings and memories to fall back upon. When I heard the terms of this trade, I thought we were clearly the winners; as we go into rebuilding mode, we get younger guys, and draft picks! The Nets get Hall of Famers in their last, well-compensated mile. About the only thing better would be to say goodbye a flawed coach and get a draft pick in return.
(With brains like this at the helm, I think we will be back on top in just a few years).
So, yes, I miss KG, TA, PP, KP, and for that matter, Russell, Bird and Cousy a lot, but I think DA's acumen has been underscored.) Go Celtics! Hawk

The thing is, it's not his hand that has betrayed him, it's his legs, and it's been going on for several years now. The biggest problem is that he moved to a team ill-equipped to compensate for his limitations. This recent article on the Nets did a good job explaining why they are so bad.

http://nba.si.com/2013/11/26/the-fundamentals-brooklyn-nets-desperation/

Look at this horrible defense. As Rodney Stuckey of Detroit brings the ball up, four Nets are back, but Joe Johnson is little more than a traffic cone, and Pierce, Andray Blatche, and Alan Anderson are spectators rather than defenders.



Pierce just stands there. This lack of mobility has been going on for several years, but the Celtics had several ways to counteract it --  athletic perimeter defenders like Rondo, Bradley, Lee, Mickael Pietrus, and Marquis Daniels to minimize penetration, guys like Bass, Big Baby, Jeff Green, and Sullinger who at least understand the concept of lateral movement, KG as a last line of defense, and a coach who put paramount emphasis on rotation and defensive anticipation. This allowed Pierce to be reasonably effective on defense because he was rarely left on a one-on-one defensive island, he could make plays using his intelligence to recognize and anticipate what the offense was doing, and the scheme put him in good position for defensive rebounds.

But that is all missing with the Nets. Pierce is surrounded by other old or defensively clueless players, KG is playing limited minutes and isn't as effective when he plays, they don't have a cohesive team defense strategy, and the rookie coach is unable to come with anything to compensate for their liabilities. So instead of being camouflaged, Pierce is now exposed.

On offense, the Nets are so slow that they take too long to initiate their sets, which leaves them up against the 24-second clock so that they have to take a desperation shot and can't take advantage.



Pierce needs time to work offensively. In an isolation situation, it takes time to set up the iso, and Pierce has developed a bag of tricks to make up for his loss of quickness, but that means he needs more time to go through a series of moves to set up his man and get the shot he wants. He's also effective making cuts or otherwise losing his man and getting open under the basket, but that also takes time. Since the Nets are slow to bring the ball up and slow to get things going once they get in the front court, this all works against Pierce's effectiveness.

There's no doubt that the Nets have been hit hard by injuries. In particular, Deron Williams played only 10 minutes in the preseason and has been basically nonexistent so far due to his ankle injury (painfully obvious for me since he's on my fantasy team). KG, Brook Lopez, Jason Terry, and Andrei Kirilenko have also been out. But even with their full complement of players, their starting five of Williams, Joe Johnson, Pierce, KG, and Lopez is old, slow, and defensively vulnerable and their coach is ill-equipped to adapt.

This already was looking like a bad farewell tour for Paul Pierce. A fracture on his shooting hand is just making a bad situation worse.

Poor Paul.

I'd never wish injuries on anyone. Kind of unfortunate for him and KG to go out like this.



KJ

Danny has to be congratulated not so much for any foresight in making the deal (unless he had a crystal ball) but for his willingness to stick his neck out and stand behind the trade, in the interest of speeding up the makeover, even if the three ex-Celtics all had great seasons for the Nets. Danny's far more gutsy than many people give him credit for.

Sam

By the way, Dbrown, nice to see you posting. I missed you for a while. (Maybe I just zigged when you zagged.)

Sam

Good to be back, Sam. Beginning to move my life in many positive directions with work, personal, family and church after the A-bomb of divorce a couple of years ago. I'm actually engaged to be married in June of next year!

Of course the Celtics somewhat up and down start hasn't helped much but I think once Rondo gets back and they have about a 20-30 game adjustment with him back in the lineup, we will probably be very dangerous again. Since the East has been completely written off by our close and personal friends at ESPN, the Celtics will have a very good chance of literally scaring the proverbial crap out of all those naysayers come the end of March early April.

I still think they are at best an 8th seed even with Rondo back given all the upheaval, but next season should be very interesting to say the least. But with the complete drop off after Seeds #1 and #2 are doled out, the Celtics could sneak up to the #3 much easier this season than any other. Except for 1 and 2, the East now looks like the West always does 1-8.

I have very good news for you, D. The first one is a rehearsal regardless of its length. I was married for 20 years (producing two daughters and a son-by-guardianship). We divorced, and now I've been extremely happily married for 34 years. Your life is going to be exceptionally good.

Oh oh. My wife's yelling at me for being late to dinner.

Sam

Thanks, my man. I really appreciate that.