Time To Free Pierce From Carbonite Hibernation


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The King has had enough.  He's indirectly described his guards Mo Williams and Anthony Parker as peasants, not knights when its come to guard Rajon Rondo.  He's informed his head coach, Mike Brown, that he wants a piece of Rondo.  Rondo is un-fazed by all of this and considering that he now actually gives Red Bull wings (instead of the other way around) he shouldn't be worried.  John did an excellent job pointing out the many options the C's would have if this happens.

If LeBron wants to check Rondo then that will begin to thaw Paul Pierce out from carbonite hibernation.  Pierce has been using most of his energy guarding and fouling LeBron.  He hasn't been able to get into any sort of flow.  The Celtics have been able to win two games in this series without any semblance of Pierce's offensive game being unleashed.  It's not absolutely imperative for Pierce to carry the offensive load however.

The point is, if LeBron wants to make a valiant effort and guard Rondo, Pierce's eyes will light up at the sight of Parker (or whomever else) guarding him.  LeBron is an all-NBA defender and nobody else on the Cavs is even close.  Rondo has emphasized the point that the Celtics don't rely heavily on one or even two options on offense.  Pierce has reiterated this point by stating that he doesn't worry about getting his points as much as doing whatever each game calls for him to do.

Everyone remembers the glorious 41 point performance that Pierce delivered in Game 7 against the Cavs in 2008.  He also struggled through most of that series as well however.  Through the first four games, Pierce was averaging 12.5 PPG while shooting just 34.6% from the field.  In Game 5 he finally broke through with 29 points while shooting 8/19 from the field.

Captain Clutch has delivered in some big games before.  If he's getting a steady diet of Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon instead of LeBron, he'll be scoring a lot more.  Go ahead and guard Rondo, LeBron.  It just makes is more likely that Captain Clutch gets freed from carbonite.

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