So I am watching the Rockets game and my friends call me to get my two cents about a fun NBA discussion/argument they are having. They want to know where I rank Paul Pierce among the SG/SF players in the NBA today. So I had to sit and think about it for a second and it turned out to be a bit more difficult to handle then I initially thought. Here is my thoughts so far, but I would love to hear some more input from other NBA fans: I think Pierce can play, but I don't think that highly of his overall game. Don't know if its because he has been stuck in Boston and hasn't really made a big splash or what, but something doesn't make me associate winner and a threat with Paul Pierce. Players I put ahead of him without a doubt: Kobe, LeBron, T-Mac Players I might put ahead of him with some hesitation: Wade, Melo, Ray Allen Now here is where I ran into trouble with the question: Kobe, Bron, and Mac are without a doubt better than him, but where does he fit in? My friend asked me if the Rockets would be better or as equally good with Pierce instead of T-Mac and I thought definitely not because we need T-Mac's passing-abilities which I don't think Pierce can handle. I look forward to hearing from you guys!
Yeah my friend asked me if he thinkgs Rockets would be better off with Pierce. Of course he gave the old Tmac seems too fragile argument. I thought about it for a second and then flat out told him no way I'd trade for Pierce. Offensively they're both capable but when Tmac puts his mind on to shut somebody down, he SHUTS THEM DOWN. Tmac has that ability to take another great player completely out of the game. That's what sets those two apart.
Paul Pierce is an underrated player. He's below Kobe, Tracy, Wade, Melo and LeBron but he's definitely better than Ray Allen. I think this season people will be reminded how good PP is.
I was unsure before the season how good Boston would be, or more specifically how well Paul Pierce would adjust to playing a facilitator's role. I must say, I am surprised at how smoothly he has handled it all. Everyone knows he can score, but his game encompasses much more. People forget what a great rebounder he has been in his career. He has averaged almost 5 assists over his career, and really had nobody to pass to the majority of the time. One of the top off-the-dribble creators in the game, but lacks in the defensive intensity department much like his teammate Allen. Wingmen i would have to take over Pierce: Lebron Wade Tmac Melo Kobe Outside of those, there isn't anybody I say is an improvement over Pierce. Not Rashard Lewis, Richard Jeffferson, Ron Artest, Shawn Marion...
To shipwreck..... if you handle the ball and people double on you, you should average 5 assits per game.
Pierce can do just about everything Tmac, Kobe, Bron can do but just not as good as them. He is below them but not by much. He can play offense, defense, create his own shot, create for others, can pass, can rebound, and hit the clutch shots. He has been the forgotten man because Celtics have sucked so bad recently. Between Garnett, Allen and him, it is actually Pierce who is the best go to guy in clutch. He will be their closer in playoffs.
Paul Pierce is great SG/SF.....he's not quite as good as Kobe, T-Mac, and LeBron, and maybe Wade, but better than others like Melo and Allen.
(Fantasy) I traded Paul Pierce for Reshard Lewis He's doing alottt better than I thought he would. I guess I under estimated his game my self.
PP is a stud but I'd rather have T-mac. He (Pierce) always played the game and never whined about the petty bs and not having enough help. I'm glad he has KG and Allen now.
Pierce is a clutch beast who has done the best he could with limited(by comparison) physical abilities. He's a notch below T-Mac-Kobe-Wade-LeBron but can outperform them on any given night. Anyone who watched him carry the Celtics to the eastern conference finals and threaten a much better New Jersey team will tell you how much heart he has.
Agreed I am a big Paul Peirce guy He plays hard every night he is like Kobe-Lite not as intense but more teammate friendly Rocket River
I think Kobe, LeBron, and Wade are in their own category at the top. McGrady is a notch below them. After those four, it's tough for me to rank any wing player as clearly ahead of him. I think Ginobili is really, really good, so I'd probably put him next, and then you have Pierce, Carter, and Carmelo all in more or less the same category. If pressed, I'd rank them Pierce, Anthony, and Carter in that order.
just curious, whats your reasoning for not having Wade in the group of Kobe, Lebron, and T-mac? I would take Paul Pierce over Melo and Ray Allen from your list, thats about it.
Here's a ranking of the top SG/SFs in the league based on a weighted average of their PER over the last two seasons and the early part of this season. I used a 1.5 weight for last season minutes, and a 2.0 weight for current season minutes. Code: [B]min wtPER[/B] Wade 6752 28.1 Bryant 9554 26.8 James 9741 26.3 Ginobili 5933 24.5 McGrady 6821 23.3 Pierce 6562 22.6 Anthony 7911 22.1 Redd 7204 21.8 Allen 7460 21.7 Carter 9158 21.4 Lewis 7570 20.4 Howard 6825 20.3 Wallace 7175 19.8
^^ Nice! I think Pierce is severely underrated. He loves playing against elite players at his position and actually plays very good defense at times. I've seen him give Tmac as much trouble as Marion or any of the other great wing defenders.
Top tier - Kobe, T-Mac, Lebron 2nd tier - Wade, Pierce, Melo 3rd tier - Vince, Allen, Joe Johnson, Redd 4th tier - R. Lewis, Ginobili, Durant, Josh Howard, C. Butler, etc.
I mostly agree... but Durant?!? He hasn't proven a damn thing yet except thatn he can shoot under 40%. And I like the guy and went to UT. Gerald Wallace and Josh Smith deserve to be on this list...possibly both moving into the 3rd tier if they can duplicate last season's work.
