Before the lockout made him a poker player, Paul Pierce was a basketball player.
Actually, he was a pretty good basketball player.
I was fortunate enough to be in Boston for games 3 and 4 of the Heat/Celtics series this past post-season.
Such was the source for my previous posts of Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh working out.
Did you know that I was also able to see the the Truth workout?
See for yourself:
The Truth doesn't really seem to exert himself that much on his jumps shots - as his release seems fairly effortless. It is interesting how many of his mechanics are perhaps opposite that of Ray Allen, but still in the games he is just as effective.
Some numbers:
Right wing three pointers: 8-13 (61.5%)
Left wing three pointers: 15-28 (53.5%)
What I like about his pre-game workout is how he gets into a little one on one/isolation moves. You can see towards the end of his right wing three pointers he starts to work on his jab-step and go.
Like with any good workout, you have to make sure your sneakers are tied. So of course, at the 4:20 mark, Pierce did just that. I zoomed in on this process and found it hilarious that his sneakers actually say "TRUTH" on them.
But seriously, another thing I appreciated seeing was Pierce working on one of his patented go to moves.
You may remember I wrote a post detailing the mechanics of the step-back jump shot (using Kemba Walker as a case study). At the end of that post, I mentioned that I felt Paul Pierce was perhaps the best in the NBA today at utilizing that move.
Therefore, you could imagine how delighted I was to see Pierce work on his step back (although briefly) from each elbow (he shot 9-9).
Pierce finished his routine with top of the key three pointers, shooting 10-19 (53%).
The numbers may not blow you away - but then again, does it really seem like he is trying?
Imagine when he is really warmed up and into the flow of the game.
Or consider this, the Celtics where down 0-2 heading into game 3 (and this workout).
Pierce went on to score 27 points later that night on 45% shooting (5-7 from three) to lead Boston to their only win of the series.
But let me tell you a story of what happened before game 4......
In the Celtics locker room, I came across a picture that I thought was both amazing and inspirational:
Think about it.
This is a sign hanging up in the Boston Celtics locker room.
The Franchise with the most championships in the NBA.
Does that say it all or what?
I took this picture with a tremendous amount of respect and the thought of perhaps showing it to the high school kids that I help coach.
As it turns outs, to the immediate right of this picture is a door to the Celtics medical treatment room.
Funny enough, as soon as I snapped the picture above none other than paul Pierce walks out of the door to see me with my camera in my hand.
His response?
"What is this?" "A memorial!"
"What is this?" "A museum!"
"We got people taking pictures of stuff on the walls"
It elicited a few laughs from the locker room and made me feel a little awkward.
At the time I didn't really appreciate it and thought the dude was trying to play me (although looking back at it, perhaps it wasn't that bad - maybe he was just trying to have a little fun).
I was already rooting for Miami in the series, but was pulling extra hard for them that night.
As for Pierce, he again finished with 27 points on 50% shooting, but only 1-6 from three.
He also had an isolation play with LeBron at the end of regulation but missed a step back jumper to win the game. The Heat went on to win in overtime and the series in 6.
Paul, I respect your game and gave you props in several of my posts.......
Why would you come at me like that????
I guess you had to learn the hard way, it's not a good idea to try and play Dr. JRS.
It might cause you to miss your go-to move during crunch time.
Hopefully next season we get to meet on more amicable terms.
Sigh.
I'm glad I got that off my chest.
It was really liberating.
The truth will set you free.
No comments:
Post a Comment