by Dan Chiacchia
Celtics 114 - Knicks 109

The future is fast approaching for the Boston Celtics, and given last night’s fourth quarter onslaught of the Knicks in a 114-109 victory for Boston, it may already be here. This time, it was the “other” high school project, Kendrick Perkins, who had a startling impact on the game with 13 rebounds in 25 minutes of action, both career highs. Big Perk took full advantage of Raef Lafrentz being on the shelf with an ankle sprain and put in his most productive minutes as a member of the Celtics by giving them something they very desperately needed: someone who can rebound in traffic.

Things did not start well. The Celts came out and played an extremely sloppy first quarter that saw them make slow defensive rotations on the Knick pick and Roll, and make more errant passes than a drunken CEO at a Christmas party. The Knicks took full advantage of this by shooting nearly 60% for the quarter and racing out to a 34-23 lead after one.

It was at this point in the game that the Celtics’ younger players began to assert themselves to get the team back into the game. First, Al Jefferson reminded everyone in the building he is a star in the making with a variety of moves from his offensive repertoire; including spinning in the lane for a jump hook, beating his man off the dribble for a lay up, and a follow up dunk. He even nailed a fifteen footer when his man finally decided it might be a good idea to play off of him. On the perimeter, the threesome of Ricky Davis, Marcus Banks and Tony Allen stepped up the defensive intensity and started to fill the passing lanes on the pick and rolls, and the New York shooting percentage began to dwindle. The contrast between the defensive intensity and ability of the second unit versus the starters on the Celtics is striking. This unit is far more athletic and quick, and is really becoming one of the team’s main strengths. They managed to cut the Knick lead to one at 36-35 before the starters made their way back in.

It was this point that Jamal Crawford must have made a deal with Satan, because he started hitting from everywhere in site. Yes, it may have had something to do with the fact that Paul Pierce was now guarding him instead of Tony Allen, but the man was just flat out unconscious. Before long, the Celtics brief spurt had been erased again and the Knick lead was back up to eight at halftime.

The teams basically traded hoops and mini runs through much of the third quarter, until the Celtics onslaught began. The team forced a few turnovers and ran on the Knicks at will, constantly either taking the ball to the hoop on the break, or at least getting to the line. By the end of the third, the lead was down to four, and Boston’s dominance was just beginning.

In the fourth quarter, Marcus Banks (the other young guy from last year) took the game over on both ends of the floor with his speed and quickness. The Knicks suddenly could not buy a hoop, Kendrick Perkins was controlling the backboards, and Marcus Banks was running the floor at Mach 5 like a vintage Tiny Archibald to create a bevy of easy basket for the Celtics. In all, they went on an 18-3 run that blew the lid off the Fleet Center for really the first time this season as the leapt out in front 98-87 and coasted home to the win.

This game had a real “changing of the guard” feel to it. To put it simply, the starting unit pales in comparison to the second unit in terms of athleticism and intensity. I think a lot of this stems not only from the enthusiasm of the young players, but also from their overwhelming talent. We are quickly approaching the point where the crunch time line up will be a blending of these two units so as to combine the veteran leadership of the starting five with spark of the young guys. The inconsistency is maddening at times, but as each game passes, it is apparent this team could be a legitimate force in the East come playoff time.

By Tom
Heat 108 - Celtics 100

YOU GONNA CALL THAT A HARD FOUL???!!!!

Incredibly, those words did not come out of Tommy Heinsohn’s mouth last night after Ricky Davis was thrown out of the game for fouling Dwayne Wade. With the score 80-76, Miami in the 3rd quarter, Wade (33 points, 11 assists, 4 steals) stole the ball and broke free at half court. As most NBA followers know, an open court steal in the regular season almost always ends up in an uncontested SportsCenter dunk. This was not one of those occasions. Ricky Davis hustled back to contest Wade’s dunk. He came at him from an angle and left his feet to contest at the dunk. Unfortunately for Davis, he ended up hitting Wade on the arm (mostly) and the head, which resulted in Wade landing awkwardly on the floor. Was it a foul? Definitely. A flagrant foul? Maybe. A type two flagrant foul, which results in an automatic ejection? Absolutely not. The replays clearly showed that Davis aggressively went for the ball and not the body. Here’s the question: Would this call have been made if the Donovan Darius incident did not happen in Green Bay? Or the Ron Artest situation last month? I’m convinced that if McHale had clotheslined Rambis on this night that he would of not only been ejected, but the game would have been stopped and police in riot gear would have came in with tear gas to escort him off the court.

This one play riled me up for a few reasons. First, losing Davis (12 points, 4 rebounds, 18 minutes) was a big blow to the Celtics chances of winning. This game was being played at his tempo- up and down, hard driving to the basket. Certainly he would helped the Celtics down the stretch. This combined with Raef LaFrentz sitting out most of the second half with a sprained ankle hurt the Celtics depth. It also limited Doc Rivers options when it came to guarding Wade. Second, the play clearly took momentum away from the game, which was while lacking defense was a very entertaining game to watch. And lastly, the message that calls like that send to a younger player. It’s rare in the NBA that you see hustle on a play like that. It would be a shame if dunks and layups were not contested because of fear of ejection.

Ironically, it was hustle that Coach Rivers pointed to after the game as something the Celtics were lacking. The Heat, winners of 8 straight coming into the game, were without Shaquille O’Neal who strained his calf stepping off his soapbox. This did not matter as they consistently attacked the Celtics, driving to the hoop and scoring almost at will. They also seemed to be a step ahead of Boston in the loose ball area. Udonis Haslem (17 rebounds), in particular was involved with numerous scrums for loose balls.

The Celtics did their part on the offensive end to keep pace. LaFrentz, Payton and Pierce had strong first halves. Al Jefferson had a solid game which included the highlight of the night when he blocked a Keyon Dooling shot, knocked the ball away from another Heat defender, grabbed the ball at mid court and drove in for a two hand slam.

The difference in this game was Wade. Once again he destroyed Jiri Welsch who is considered by most an adequate defender, off the dribble. The amazing thing about Wade’s game is that he has only attempted nine 3 pointers all year. He creates his points for himself and others by attacking the basket. The other amazing thing about Wade is that he has already established the “superstar” status in the eyes of the officials. Every block/charge call went his way. And yes, I did go back and TiVo replay each one of them.. The only player who seemed to be able to neutralize Wade was Tony Allen, who because of foul trouble had to be switched off of him.

These two teams do not meet again until Tax Day, which is unfortunate because they have played two very entertaining games so far. Here’s hoping that Doc Rivers assigns Tony Allen to Wade right from the opening tap. Here’s also hoping that each team has it’s full roster to utilize for the entire game.

Celtics 114 - Cavaliers 107 OT

367 days past “The Day The Music Died,” the Celtics came back to Cleveland and took a victory from the Cavaliers. Mind you, no one calls the trade that brought Ricky Davis to Boston by this title, but that hasn’t stopped the Boston Globe’s forward thinking NBA guru. You’d think Peter May may be spending too much time with a certain curly haired columnist across the Globe newsroom. Nevertheless, May and then-coach Jim O’Brien hated the move of bringing Davis to Boston. Many uninformed observers believed that Davis’ arrival in Boston began the Celtics horrible decline in the Winter of 2003, but a number of factors contributed to this, most of all O’Brien’s departure half way through the season.

Since that point, the Celtics-Cavs rivalry has become much more heated, particularly in the wake of some on court trash talking between each team’s star player, Paul Pierce and LeBron James. This dispute took place during an exhibition game in Cleveland and ended with Pierce allegedlyspitting in the direction of the Cleveland bench. After a tough matchup the first meeting in the regular season, one the Cavs won with last minute heroics from James and a missed clutch shot from Pierce, the Celtics entered this game still feeling good after their big Double OT win against the Clippers on Monday and a comfortable victory against a Kirilenko-less Utah Jazz team. This game had all the makings of a great game, and it was…. for the last 17 minutes.

For the first three quarters, Cleveland held a comfortable lead for much of the way. Despite some nice scoring from Pierce, the Celtics could never seem to get closer than a few points before the Cavs poured on and extended their lead. Mark Blount filled what may have been his worst game of the season (2 pts, 1 reb.,) in 25 min) and was horrible that Doc went with Walter down the stretch to provide rebounding help instead of Blount. Yikes.

Once Walter, Banks, and Wheezie came in, near the start of the 4th quarter, momentum began to shift in Boston’s favor. The key to this was Banks. His tough D didn’t enable Cleveland to get into its set easily, and Marcus made a number of good decisions on the offensive end. After a poor performance against Denver, it is good to see Banks rebound in two straight games. And, don’t forget Wheezie Jefferson. Big Al had some nice jump hooks in the lane and went after the boards during his time on the floor. He isn’t consistent yet, but no has “figured him out” and that is a good sign.

Ultimately the Boston Celtics won tonight痴 game because of “The Day the Music Died,” but this has little to do with Ricky Davis’ performance tonight. Ricky was solid (14 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast and one nice block on James in crunch time), but the C’s won because he was wearing green and white rather than crimson and gold. Once LeBron fouled out with less than 2 minutes to go in OT, the Cavs had no “go to” players who can create their own shot. Without Ricky D, the Cavs were forced to rely on Ira Newble, Ilgauskas, and Drew Gooden to create their offense… good luck.

While Gary Payton followed up a stellar night on Friday with another great performance in Cleveland (21 pts, 3 ast, 4 reb), it was Paul Pierce who gets the Full Court Press seal of approval in this game. Pierce (34 pts, 7 reb, and 6 ast) not only outscored his rival, but he did not give in to his sometimes frequent urge to personally beat the opposing team’s star player. Against Denver (Carmelo) and Cleveland earlier this year, Pierce took the entire team out of its offense so he could personally beat his rivals. This was the same mentality that has caused Pierce to fail miserably at winning games on the final shot… Pierce feels he needs to do everything himself. Tonight, Pierce did not fall into that trap and hopefully learned from his earlier mistakes. His bounce pass to Payton with seconds remaining in regulation, while exhibiting horrible fundamentals, at least showed him looking up the floor. A small step for sure, but one the Celtics’ star may not have made 6 weeks ago.

Also deserving of mention, and credit, in the Celtics victory is the defense turned in during crunch time. Over the final 17 minutes of play the Celtics scored 40 points the Cavaliers, 20. That is the story of the game. The Celtics defenders were able to take Cleveland out of their game offensively, and while LeBron was able to push the game into OT, once he fouled out, the game was over. Cleveland simply does not have another player it can go to in the clutch to get them a basket. The Celtics win over the Clippers on Monday and the Cavaliers loss this evening are an interesting contrast in the value of a player like Ricky Davis. Granted Ricky has matured greatly as a player and as a person in the last 367 days, perhaps my neighbor Don McLean needs to pen a new song for Peter May to use in his Sunday notes columns because the only thing dying around the Boston Celtics is the malaise that has surrounded the team since “the father (Bird), Son (McHale), and Holy Ghost (Parrish) hit the last train headed for the coast”.

I’VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY! : Good luck to the Toronto Raptors as they continue to make the Isiah Thomas era, their golden era. Trading for Alonzo Mourning and then shifting him to Miami for Eddie Jones may be the team’s worst move ever. The Toronto post game prior to this deal consisted of phenom Chris Bosh, Loren Woods, and I think Grammy award nominated Canadian rapper Snow. Needless to say they were weak, and Aaron Williams ain’t the answer, bub. As much as I dislike Jalen Rose, the Raptors are better off keeping him and his albatross of a contract rather than moving Zo to much warmer climes.

As for New Jersey? Give me an effin’ break. Everyone is congratulating Rod Thorn for bringing in perennial “Most Overrated Player” Vince Carter to the Garden State, but does anyone realize that his two best players have one good knee between the two of them? And as much hope as some NBA observers express at Kidd’s ability to get Carter going back to the hoop after 2 years away, I can’t see Vinsanity attacking without abandon on alley oops as Kenyon Martin had done. I can just see this Kidd-Carter relationship turning sour like 8 month old Egg Nog. I’ll give them one year before they are sniping at each other in the Daily News or Newsday. And then you have Isiah across the river….

At times like these, it’s good to be a Celtics fan.

The last week has not been kind to our guys in green. After 3 straight losses, the team captain is calling on his teammates to execute the offense, the newly acquired future HOF point guard is calling on the captain to execute the offense, and Mike Gorman, the team’s long time play by play TV guy, has spent a number of days in the hospital with diverticulitis. Sheesh…

A veteran team would struggle through a stretch like this, but how this still wet behind the ears collection of talent turns around the current skid will largely depend on Doc Rivers. This week the Full Court Press will take a look at the Celtics coach after almost a quarter of the season complete. How will he continue the development of his younger players? Will he be able to keep Gary Payton interested enough to avoid demanding a trade? Can Doc get his players to run at a consistent basis? And, given this week’s events, what happens to Paul Pierce? Without further ado…

Kevin:
One can only imagine what Doc Rivers’ Christmas list must look like this year: The top item is probably a team captain who has the good sense to act like one in front of his teammates. Or perhaps a starting point guard with the perspective to realize his proper place as a role player in this autumn of his career. Or maybe a time machine to speed along the desperately needed development of his young talent. Or, fittingly, a copy of Chicken Soul for the Beleaguered Coach’s Soul. In reality, Doc is unlikely to get any of things. One thing he will get, however, is my sympathy. He’ll also get a thumbs up for the job he has done with this leaky ship thus far.

Perhaps the fairest litmus test for the new coach is to compare him to his predecessor , who achieved both success and popularity before he hit the road. I’m talking about Jim O’Brien, of course, not John “Interim” Carroll. So let’s look at some revealing differences in coaching styles between O’Brien and Rivers:

1) O’Brien was defense first while Rivers preaches a greater balance on both sides of the court. Clearly O’Brien achieved success with his philosophy, especially during the 2002 playoff run. That said, one question always lingered with me whenever I watched his Celtics scramble like madmen on D: What’s the price for all this extra defensive effort? Essentially, the result was a sedentary half court offense where a reliance on the three-pointer became the norm, which is no way to win consistently or over the long run. In contrast, watching Rivers preach the running philosophy, which is to say a search for easier baskets, has been refreshing. Just remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are fast-break oriented offenses.

2) O’Brien essentially handed the keys over to his star players. To me, this was perhaps OB’s shrewdest move in the wake of Rick Pitino’s hasty departure. While Evil Rick demanded the spotlight, O’Brien quickly gave the reigns to Walker and Pierce, thus gaining their loyalty and placing a greater sense of responsibility for winning in their shoulders. And it worked. Kind of. Unfortunately, this philosophy also came with a price, which was the team’s inane tendency to run the offense through Walker and Pierce on almost every possession. Now it’s just Pierce, who still clearly doesn’t trust his teammates and thinks he has to do everything on his own to win. That’s why Rivers’ benching of Pierce last week was so significant. It was the very essence of a coach asserting control over his star player and therefore his team. The guy in Foxboro would’ve done the same thing, don’t you think?

3) O’Brien was reluctant to play his young guys. Scream Kedrick Brown all you want but the fact remains that OB preferred playing veterans. Joe Johnson wilted under O’Brien, who had a lightning quick hook to the bench following rookie mistakes. Rivers, on the other hand, has shown faith in Al Jefferson and would likely show equal faith in Delonte West if his hand would ever heal. The future of this team is in the hands of players like Jefferson, West and Perkins, not Tom Gugliotta and Gary Payton. It’s good to have a coach again who knows that.

So considering all these positives he’s brought to the table, let’s give Doc Rivers our love and support this holiday season. I’m afraid he’s going to need all the help he can get.

Jon:
In putting this little piece together, I thought I should call a septuagenarian friend of mine to get his thoughts on the Celtics coach. The former basketball coach said to me, “ok, you’re Doc Rivers, you’ve got a guy who is one of the top talents in the league, a future Hall of Fame point guard to implement your new offense, the trust of the entire organization, and some rookies with tremendous upside potential.” When you put it that way, life should be good the former Atlanta Hawks star, but I’m not sure Rivers shares this rosy outlook.

Despite the difficulty Rivers currently finds himself in, little of this should be attributed to him. Doc has instituted a fast paced, uptempo style of play that is not only a good fit for the team assembled for him by Danny Ainge, but it is much more pleasing to the eye than any brand of basketball these parts have seen since Bird, McHale, and Parish were walking through that door and weren’t old and gray. This uptempo style of play has infused the games of slashers like Ricky Davis and Marcus Banks; not to mention given more confidence to rookies like Tony Allen and Al Jefferson.

Now the comparisons between Doc Rivers’ offense and Jim O’Brien’s offense are inevitable, but they are not flattering for Rick Pitino’s former lieutenant. Even in its infancy, Doc Rivers’ offense has shown more ball movement in 17 days than the Celtics have exhibited as a team in the last 12 years. During the first quarter of the Kings game, the Celtics were moving so well without the basketball that it had appeared the teams had swapped uniforms. A key component in this improvement in the half court, has been the increased attention Doc has given to fast break basketball. The days of Antoine Walker, who RealGM poster Ritalin Reggie nicknamed “Empty Trip”, leading fast breaks to a certain demise are over, and in his place are crisp outlet passes to any number of guards to push the ball up for positive result more than half the time. Contrast that with the Obieball Celtics where even 6 fast break points in a game would be noteworthy. My how times have changed.

Of course the personnel that O’Brien worked with is very different than the composition of the current Celtics squad. Rivers has six players on his roster with a year or less of NBA experience, not including Jiri Welsch who played sparingly in Golden State his rookie season. While this inexperience creates an unhealthy amount of inconsistent play, this is also an opportunity for Rivers to begin his tenure in Boston with a clean slate and develop a style of play with these younger players before they are brainwashed into terrible habits. (see Pierce, Paul and Walker, Antoine) Celtics fans are already rejoicing at the end of the three point barrage that was more offensive than offense.

Now all is not rosy with the arrival of Doc Rivers, but even these negatives are expected with the amount of turnover on the Celtics roster, the relative youth of the players involved, and the inconsistencies that always accompany a coaching change. I continue to question the use of Walter McCarty and Tom Gugliotta when neither player has brought much to the court, and both have played more minutes than 2003 first round pick Kendrick Perkins. But these coaching moves pale to the manner in which he has handled the difficulty Paul Pierce has encountered in grasping a true offense for the first time in his NBA career. Sure Doc pulled Pierce from a game in the 4th quarter with the game on the line, but after giving Pierce an appropriate amount of time of digest what he did wrong on the court, Doc placed Pierce back into the game and won it with clutch shooting. How Doc and Pierce’s relationship progresses will be something to watch, but Rivers has hand here and Pierce knows it. It behooves Pierce to fall into line soon, or he may get the “Empty Trip” treatment in a one way ticket to Chicago.

As promised yesterday, here is part 2 of the Full Court Press’ look at Paul Pierce and his role with this team. Note that these comments were made prior to Doc Rivers’ removing Pierce from the game down the stretch for not running, so please don’t hold it against the authors for missing this piece of info.

Kevin:
May 25th, 2002 stands out as the day that Paul Pierce’s career as a Celtic peaked. On that particular afternoon, Pierce led his team to a historic comeback win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. With his team down by 21 after 3 quarters, Pierce literally took over the game, attacking the basket like a man possessed. When the dust had settled, Pierce had scored 19 points in the fourth and the Celtics had taken the game and a 2-1 series lead. At the time, Pierce’s future never looked brighter as a blossoming NBA superstar.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years. Gone are Antoine Walker, Eric Williams and Jim O’Brien. Essentially replacing them are Raef LaFrentz, Ricky Davis and Doc Rivers. In the face of the massive turnover in personnel, Pierce’s game has suffered considerably. Poor shot selection and an acute inability to carry his team to victory during crunch time have been the leading indicators, both of which have left Celtics fans to ponder, “What the hell has happened to his guy?”

Although the details are infinitely more complicated, in essence the answer comes down to one simple word: foxhole. Antoine Walker, for example, despite his well-documented faults, was a consummate foxhole guy. Pierce wanted him by his side when he headed into battle because Walker was fearless when it came to taking big shots and was an effective leader in ways that Pierce could never be. Eric Williams was also a foxhole guy. Although never the most talented player on the floor, he was always the toughest man out there, both physically and mentally. So much so, in fact, that it rubbed off on his teammates. It visibly rubbed off on Pierce, perhaps more than anyone else. Lastly, O’Brien was a foxhole guy for Pierce as well, mostly because of their years spent together. Pierce trusted him completely and his play on the court reflected it.

And so a couple of notes to Danny Ainge with regards to your supposed franchise player: Chemistry matters , especially to Paul Pierce. Also, never underestimate the foxhole factor. It’s the one element that can make a team better than the sum of its parts.

Daniel:
Paul Pierce has really never had players the caliber of the ones he has right now with him on the Boston Celtics. It will be interesting to watch him develop throughout the season as he continues to learn how to trust the players around him, concentrate on rebounding and eventually not feel as though he always has to make moves off his dribble. He reminds me of Mark Aguirre or Adrian Dantley at their best. He has just had to play out of position for the first half of his career which means he has had to create too much with the dribble.

Pierce has never had a solid point guard on his team unless you count J.R. Bremer and a chain smoking Kenny Anderson (why can’t we get players like that). He has never had a true power forward. No, a month of a sober Vin Baker doesn’t count nor does Eric Williams. He has never had a solid 2 guard despite the presence of a streaky Tony Delk who can’t dribble and a since broken down Ron Mercer. The closest he had to having a player that could adequately catch, shoot, and pass the ball was Antoine Walker and currently he is NBA Siberia for reasons not so unknown. Pierce learned the tricks of the trade under Pitino and O’Brien which someone adequately described recently as the Chuck and Duck offense (can’t remember who or I’d give credit)

So we all want to know what we have right now in Paul Pierce. There is a contingency that thinks his career is in decline and those are the one’s to whom you say ëwhat game are you watchingí. Now my view of the Ainge regime so far is that he said upon taking over that he wanted players who could shoot and pass the ball and Ainge has gotten rid of a ton of dead wood and replaced it with a bunch of guys who are quick, have good hands, and can for the most part all get their shots off cleanly at almost anytime and create space for their teammates. This is the first time Pierce has been on a Professional team that could do that.

He’s been playing more in the low post with Davis or Payton feeding him from the high post. One of the things about West that I’ll miss for the next 2 months is that he knew how to feed the low post and he’ll be a perfect high post counterpart to Pierce’s low post. Enough about that. I expect a lot more of Pierce playing with his back to the basket and coming off of picks rather then him getting the ball beyond the arc. This will take some getting used to. Pierce’s difficulty excluding the end of games (and let’s not forget he won a buzzer beater this year so he’s 1 for 2 at the buzzer) is being able to recognize players running at him in the low post and then getting the ball to the weak side shooter that is open. Pierce is a smart, smart basketball player and this isn’t rocket science and he will learn to trust the open shooter whoever it is. Now don’t get me wrong Pierce is a great slasher and can get his shot off and make moves off the dribble but his game won’t truly open up into the team scheme Rivers and Ainge have in mind unless he learns to play two passes away from the point guard.

Jon:
First, don’t get me wrong. I like Paul Pierce, I really do. His performance in 2002 rekindled Celtic Pride, and made the Boston Celtics relevant yet again. Consistently slashing to the hoop, breaking down his defender on the blocks, or hitting impossible shots with a hand in his face; Paul Pierce made the Celtics SportsCenter worthy once again. But since that incredible 4th quarter comeback against New Jersey in the 2002 playoffs, Pierce has been on a gradual decline with last season being the apparent rock bottom. Consistently missing ill advised jumpers with a hand in his face, driving to the hoop through 3 or 4 defenders, completely ignoring wide open teammates, and on and on. 2004 was not a kind year for #34.

The 2005 season brought a great deal of hope and promise to the Boston Celtics and its captain, but to this point only Paul Pierce has been unable, or perhaps unwilling, to take advantage of his improved situation. Gary Payton’s arrival should have the biggest impact for Pierce as he no longer needs to run the offense AND score the points. Instead Pierce can focus on getting open and putting the ball in the net. Ricky Davis, Tony Allen, Jiri Welsch, and The Fragile Frenchman have figured out that moving without the basketball and finding the open man are key to succeeding in Doc Rivers’ offense. Hell, I bet if you put my 7th grade basketball team in there, they would figure it out before the 3 time All Star who will bring in over $14 million a year over the next 3 years.

So what are Doc and Danny to do? Wait until Pierce figures out that he can be the best shooting guard in the game if he moves without the ball and always looks for the open man, or move him. The last thing anyone wants is for Paul Pierce to turn into Vince Carter, but even on his worst day, Pierce has 50 times more heart than “Vinsanity”. And, let’s not forget that we sit here only 14 games into Pierce’s first season with Doc Rivers and a gaggle of new teammates. Even the New England Journal of Medicine has stated that it takes at least 35 games before the deadly affliction commonly known as “Obie Ball” can be expelled from a person with as severe of a case as Pierce has. So perhaps we are all being hasty in expecting Pierce to make the switch without some difficulty.

Yet, the events of the last two weeks bring even the most ardent Pierce supporter some pause about Paul’s long term prospects with the Green. Esteemed journalist Bob Halloran noted, in a piece for the Boston Press Box, that Pierce has not had the number of late game heroics many of us had assumed. Now of course the only Celtics action the WCVB newsman has seen has been in the highlights he reads over on weekend newscasts, but he isn’t completely wrong in noting Pierce’s diminishing ability in the clutch. Without Pierce’s ability in the clutch, Ainge must wonder whether Pierce is a better fit than the efficient and affordable Welsch, Davis, and Allen. A troika whose salaries combined are less than 2/3rds of Pierce’s yearly value.

If Danny Ainge does want to move Pierce his options are very limited at this point. The best targets are on the two best teams in the West: Shawn Marion witht the Suns and Ray Allen with the Sonics. Neither team is interested in rocking the boat at a time when they experience unexpected success. Elton Brand is another potential target, but not only are the Clippers playing well, Chris Wilcox is more likely to be moved than the former Blue Devils star. And you can forget about Jason Kidd… Danny Ainge would never move Pierce within the division, where he could take his vengeance out on the Celtics four times a year.

So unless you see hope in a Pierce and Banks to Golden State for Mike Dunleavy, Dale Davis, Troy Murphy, and a #1 pick deal; then prepare to be disappointed should ESPN’s Bottom Line say, “Boston Celtics Trade Paul Pierce To…”. You might as well turn off the TV and flip on the radio home to “Boston Celtics Basketball…. talk”, at least then you can avoid hearing about it.