[Hawkeye Pierce]

just for the sake of argument... Why not Pierce

ok first off id like to say the pierce in my username has nothing to do with paul pierce so dont think im some biased celtics fan.



but why not??? ive heard alot of pierce being place just below t mac and kobe, but i dont see why, i think he just made the leap up to their levelk this year. he is arguably the best scorer of the three, third in the league(and he has a very good second option too) he shoots 40% from behind the arc, gets to the rim at will, rebounds as well as tmac does, dishes out a bout 1 assist less per game, and is an excellent defender. also has proven to be a clutch performer late in games. so i ask why not?

 

[Sir I Gotta Go]

most people rate vince and T-Mac and Kobe over Pierce because he is not as flashy as those guys. And because those guys are more popular. I do agree that Pierce is better than Kobe and Vince.

 

[JoeF]

Re: just for the sake of argument... Why not Pierce

Originally posted by Hawkeye Pierce

i think he just made the leap up to their levelk this year.

I think that statment explains it well enough. Kobe and TMac have done it for an extra year or two.

 

[Hawkeye Pierce]

ok ill accept that, but if they all put up similar numbers this year does pierce get the nod?

 

[Crossword]

OK. Pierce doesn't even play the same position as Vince, T-Mac or Kobe. Well you could make a case for McGrady, but he too plays the majority of his minutes at 2 guard now. In his position, he's probably the best in the East. And in the league, he's definately a top 5 SF, in no particular order along with Marion, Dirk, Garnett and MJ.

 

[Sir I Gotta Go]

pierce plays SG for Boston....

 

[JoeF]

Originally posted by Hawkeye Pierce
ok ill accept that, but if they all put up similar numbers this year does pierce get the nod?

If they put up similiar number this year, then it is a toss-up between the three. I would hate to have to make that choice. I see very little difference between Kobe and TMac.

 

[Kaboom Brown]

Pierce plays almost equal time at both of the positions, but starts the game off at small forward. Comparisons of Pierce, TMAc and Kobe are fine and fair. I think it will be a bit easier to compare them when Grantie comes back and gets some of the load of TMac's back. This being said, I think Pierce is better than Tmac, but I think he and Kobe are on the same level. You will all get to see more of Pierce this year because the C's are on TV 19 times nationally.

 

[Sir I Gotta Go]

He starts the game at 2 guard. Eric Williams starts at small forward.

 

[Kaboom Brown]

Actually, it was the other way around. Trust me because I saw Pierce's face with Walker and Battie's face close to 98 times last year.

 

[aquaitious]

You are both right and wrong.

Before the all-star break Pierce was playing SF but after they traded Johnson and EWill became a starter Pierce moved to SG.

 

[Kaboom Brown]

We are talking about something that is absolutely pointless so I am sorry.

 

[JNice]

I'd say Pierce has defnitely moved up there with Kobe and Tmac. But he has to do it for at least another year. Kobe has been doing it for abut 3 years consistently and Tmac now for two big years.


IMO Tmac is the best of the three, but a decisive argument cant be made for any of the three.

I think McGrady is more athletic than Pierce, giving him an edge. Also taller. I also thing he is a better passer and ballhandler, and a bit better defensively.

 

[JerryWest]

I think Kobe and Pierce are at about the same level, and Tmac slightly under both of them.

Tmac might be taller but Pierce is always focused and better prepared mentally IMO.

As for Pierce's lower "ranking" for alot of people. It's because he is less stylish. Pierce gets most of his points from jump shots and driving to the line consistantly to get the foul and then scoring the two easy buckets. He doesn't "avoid contact", he goes right into it and gets the foul so he has less opportunities for flashy plays, and people don't see him on hilight reels as much and think he's not as good. But he plays smart b-ball, it's much easier to make 2 wide open free throws for pierce so he tries to get points that way.

 

[Hawkeye Pierce]

yeah thats true, personally i love watching pierce play when he is attacking the basket, the spins the pivots, good solid bball right there!

 

[JNice]

Your description of Pierce is exactly how Tmac gets his points. Most of his points come off of his mid-range game, with some coming off of drives to the basket (not avoiding contact as well) and a couple three attempts per game.

The whole "Tmac doesnt play focused" is such a dumb and baseless argument. He just looks like he isnt focused cause he has a sleepy looking demeanor.

 

[pharcyde]

Why does one of them have to be better than the other 2?

On any given day any one of the three would come out on top in a 1 on 1 game. There's about 10-20 guys in the league at least who should be mentioned with the best in the league, but I don't think you can pick out a best player right now. It's not like when MJ was in his prime. In the mid 90's there was obviously no one else doing what he was doing, but now you have at least 2 or 3 at every position except for center doing close to the same thing.

 

[shobe42]

As for as better players I'd say Kobe and T Mac have the ability to do more.
Although I'd take Pierce for my team over T-Mac any day.
I'd also take Kobe before both of them.

 

[Kaboom Brown]

The way that Kobe and Paul are able to take over games in the fourth quarter are what seperate them from Tracy McGrady. Tracy may develop that in time, but Kobe and Paul were born with it. You can't coach that, but you can become more wise and learn to make better decisions in the crunch time. Would people consider MJ to be as holy as he is if he was not clutch? NO.

 

[TheRifleman]

I don't remember Kobe being clutch until this year. Pierce was clutch up until the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Walker & KA gets the most assists on the celtics and Paul gets about 3 a game. His passing is not anywhere near that of Kobe or TMac, as he has almost as many turnovers as he does assists! It is NOT a two to one ratio by any means of calculation.

As for defense, Peirce doesn't rotate to the right person many, many times. He doesn't stay up close enough and thus many times a shooter shoots a long two or a 3 in his face, as he doesn't defend tight enough.

From what I have seen and I watch almost every game on direct pass, I find Pierce, Kobe, and TMac pretty close in the overall aspects of their offensive & defensive games, but will give the edge to TMac & Kobe over Pierce at this time.