Friday, September 30, 2005
Another Polarizing Conversation About Paul Pierce
It just wouldn’t be CelticsDoom without a half-assed analysis of Shira Springer’s interview with our main man Paul Pierce, wherein much is said but little revealed. The only interesting nuggets to be lifted from what amounted to a typical flogging of the company line, were 1) Paul thinks the code of conduct is good for the young players, and 2) that being stabbed in a nightclub doesn’t count as “getting in trouble off the court.”
The whole code-of-conduct thing has been highly abused by those on both sides of the Pierce coin – the haters claim it’s a direct response to Pierce and Ricky’s alleged nocturnal hi-jinks, the Kool-Aid drinkers think it’s Doc Rivers infusing his wonderful “respect of the game” to the emotionally battered but otherwise highly loveable and immensely promising Celtics squad.
Now a third look - taking advantage of the uncertainty swirling around Tony Allen’s future as a man free to walk the streets, our Captain opines that it’s actually all about keeping the young-ins in line. They, after all, are not the mature, multiple all-star, proven veteran blah blah blah that PP views himself as.
The bottom line is, who the fuck knows? Maybe Ricky D gets paged by hookers at 4 in the morning, perhaps Justin Reed pees in the shower, or maybe it’s all part of Doc’s fruitless and reductive head-games. Wherever the truth lies, it points to the dysfunction that surrounds this team that is predictable given their youth/instability, but also worrisome given the lack of direction this mess seems to be heading in (this year). If nothing else, we should all be in awe of the finely tuned double-talk of Doc, Ainge and Pierce that have kept us all debating the most subtle nuances of what amounts to a very obvious train-wreck in the making. Sadly, I’ll be watching every minute of it.
The whole code-of-conduct thing has been highly abused by those on both sides of the Pierce coin – the haters claim it’s a direct response to Pierce and Ricky’s alleged nocturnal hi-jinks, the Kool-Aid drinkers think it’s Doc Rivers infusing his wonderful “respect of the game” to the emotionally battered but otherwise highly loveable and immensely promising Celtics squad.
Now a third look - taking advantage of the uncertainty swirling around Tony Allen’s future as a man free to walk the streets, our Captain opines that it’s actually all about keeping the young-ins in line. They, after all, are not the mature, multiple all-star, proven veteran blah blah blah that PP views himself as.
The bottom line is, who the fuck knows? Maybe Ricky D gets paged by hookers at 4 in the morning, perhaps Justin Reed pees in the shower, or maybe it’s all part of Doc’s fruitless and reductive head-games. Wherever the truth lies, it points to the dysfunction that surrounds this team that is predictable given their youth/instability, but also worrisome given the lack of direction this mess seems to be heading in (this year). If nothing else, we should all be in awe of the finely tuned double-talk of Doc, Ainge and Pierce that have kept us all debating the most subtle nuances of what amounts to a very obvious train-wreck in the making. Sadly, I’ll be watching every minute of it.