Sports Guy Wrong About the Celtics

Bill Simmons goes off on a rant about Doc Rivers and the Celtics in his latest column but his conclusions are all wrong.

There's a decent chance that the Celtics could trade Paul Pierce within the next six weeks. I don't want that to happen because you can always find another head coach, but you can't always find another Paul Pierce. Still, the "Should we trade Paul?" question has been lingering over this team since November, when it became apparent that Pierce was heading for a career season on a subpar team. Playing his heart out every night, playing the most efficient basketball of his career, Pierce stands out the same way Tom Hanks stood out in late-'80s movies like "The Money Pit" and "Turner and Hooch." Back then, you always felt like Hanks could do better, that he would do better. Same with Pierce.

Pierce is on the downward slope of his career. He's a cross between Antoine Walker and Mark Aguirre who never averaged more than 14 points per game after he hit 30-years old (Piece is almost 30). Bill - the Tom Hanks analogy just makes you look stupid. It just reminds me that you were the same guy who lost an NFL betting contest to a dog.

Pierce rarely forces anything, leads by example and does it with a smile on his face.

Sports Guy obviously hasn't seen any Celtics games these past two years. The Pierce Pout has become famous in Boston. Doesn't force anything? Leads by example? Simmons must have wiped the memory of what Pierce did in the playoffs against Indiana last year out of his memory banks. Just to refresh everyone - here's how Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe described Pierce's "leadership" in that game:

Try this. There are 12.9 seconds left in regulation. The Celtics have a 1-point lead. Paul Pierce receives an inbounds pass and is fouled by Jamaal Tinsley. OK, he is fouled pretty hard by Jamaal Tinsley. OK, he is fouled very hard by Jamaal Tinsley, and he is hit in the face, and that's no fun. But all Pierce has to do is walk to the line, sink the two free throws that will put his team up by 3, engage in a little team defense, and walk off the floor, W in hand.

But nooo. Pierce has to be macho. He lashes out with his left arm and is hit with a technical foul. No, seriously. He is thinking about Paul Pierce instead of the team. Reggie Miller sinks the technical free throw, of course. The game winds up in OT. Oh, and the OT is played without Pierce because it is his second technical. He also exits in a classless manner, pulling off his jersey and waving it at the crowd.

Again - Bill how many Celtics games have you watched this year? What color is the sky on your planet?

That leaves the Celtics with two options:

1. Trade Pierce now. I mean, RIGHT NOW. Get what you can, whether it's Luol Deng and picks from Chicago, Corey Maggette and Shaun Livingston from the Clippers or whatever. If they can convince Isiah to take Pierce and the Mark Blount/Raef LaFrentz/Brian Scalabrine/Dan Dickau "Salary Cap Poison Package" for expiring contracts and Channing Frye, even better.

2. Fire Doc Rivers and see if the 2005-2006 Celtics could be salvaged with a competent coach.

I vote for Option No. 2. You can always find another coach. You can't always find another Paul Pierce.

When Reggie Lewis was playing you easily could have said that you'll never find another Reggie Lewis but shortly after his tragic death the Celtics drafted Paul Pierce. The Celtics were never going to win a championship with Reggie Lewis as their star player and these current Celtics will never win a championship with Paul Pierce as their best player. Its as simple as that. And saying all-star 6'6" small forwards don't grow on trees is just stupid. There is no commodity as available in the NBA as a 6'6" all-star small forward. Every offseason two or three change teams.

The rest of the column is a screed against Celtics Coach Doc Rivers where Simmons pretends to have expert knowledge about basketball. This charade is exposed with nuggets like this:

The Celtics average 16.6 turnovers a game ... only the Knicks (17.0) are worse. Well coached teams take care of the basketball.

And this:

The Celts grab 10.0 offensive rebounds a game (26th in the league) and give up 12.2 (24th) for a differential of minus-2.2 (only Phoenix is worse). Well-coached teams don't give up second chance points.

Larry Brown coaches the Knicks so by Simmons "logic" Doc Rivers is this a better coach than Larry Brown. The Suns are coached by Mike D'Antoni. By Simmons' logic Doc Rivers is thus a better coach than D'Antoni.

The real give-away that Simmons is just bloviating and does not truly know what he's talking about is the fact that he never once mentions Jim O'Brien who was Rivers predecessor and who by using Simmons points would have been considered a better coach than Rivers. Yet the reality is that O'Brien was exposed as a bad coach by his time in Philadelphia.

The truth is Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge work well together and this season is not about making the playoffs. It is about making things look close, look entertaining and yet still making the Draft Lottery because getting a good player out of the lottery is the only way the Celtics will get back to championship levels and that's what it is all about for true Celtics fans.