I have had about all I can take. I have long been lurking on Celtics Blog and posting an occasional random comment in the game threads, but I usually just have fun reading the comments and abstain from posting. However, I feel like somebody has to say something about the venom on this site directed at Paul Pierce.

  Pierce has never been the darling of Boston or the media, but we could always count on Celtic fans to support him. In the wake of game 4, I have seen many posts praising Rondo's amazing performance. Yet, many of these posts seem focused on saying that this is now Rondo's team and that we should trade Pierce or give him 5 shots a game or that he should be benched.

  Did any of you people making these claims stop to think that maybe Pierce is just having a bad series and dealing with guarding the best player in the league who is years younger than him, faster than him, stronger than him, has more endurance than him, and gets all the calls?

  This is Pierce's first bad playoff series in his career and he is 33 years old. Cut the man some slack! Don't forget what happened to Ray Allen in 2008 and he was guarding/being guarded by Wally Szczerbiak with no knees!

  How can people say they want Pierce traded or benched? Have you ingrates forgotten that this guy played a whole season for us after getting stabbed 9 times? Have you forgotten that it was Pierce who killed himself for teams that had no chance of making the playoffs and never demanded a trade while Vince Carter was moping in Toronto and Kobe was demanding trades? Have you forgotted the title that he won us in 2008 outplaying Lebron, Kobe and the refs? Or that it was Pierce with the 32 points (11 4th quarter) and the game winner who got us game 3 in Miami.

  What we should be rooting for is Rondo continuing his development into a superstar and for Pierce to get back to that level. Pierce was there for the Celtics against Miami, so give him some time to get himself together. This Celtics team plays it's best basketball when they play as a team and Pierce and Rondo are both rolling. Not to take anything away from Rondo, but I think it is clear that the Cav's gameplan has been to make Rondo beat them (mainly with jump shots) and make it hard for Pierce and KG. The Cavs just seem to have forgotten that 2010 Rondo is an all-star on his way to vieing for the title of best point guard in the NBA, and not 2008 21-22 year old developing Rondo.That is what teams do, they play the matchup game and trust each other.

  I am taking the long way to say give Pierce time, don't forgot what he has done for the Celtics and root for a team lead by Rondo and Pierce. For that matter, root for Perkins, Ray, KG and even Sheed! Root for a team, not individuals.

                                                 That is what the Celtics have always been about. TEAM.

edit:

"We watched, basically, the tape on him [Rondo]," said Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who has dropped out of Brown's postseason rotation. "It's hard for one guy to stop him because he is that good. It's going to take all five. We always knew that he was a hell of a player.

"Maybe we were so worried about The Big Three that in some degree we're underestimating him and that was our biggest mistake."

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=5178255

Big Z, that is one BIG mistake