So there we were… 3 and a half minutes to go in the first quarter… and here comes Sam Cassell. We all knew Doc was going to go to Sam in this spot… and a lot of us feared what would happen.
12 seconds later…. Sam got a shot blocked by Rip Hamilton as he forced the offense for his own shot. ‘Here we go again.’
After the play… while Jason Maxiell was taking free throws… the camera zooms in on Paul Pierce… and he’s jawing with Sam Cassell (who is off camera). Whatever Cassell is saying… Pierce isn’t having it… and he ends the conversation by looking at Sam and saying “run the play.” Sam responds… and Pierce repeats… “run the play.”
It’s a great illustration of Pierce being a leader… and standing up to what could have been a disruptive force. As far as I’m concerned, that one moment was worth more than any points he could have scored last night… because it may have set Sam straight. Sam played much better after that… and wasn’t looking for his own shot as much… and the Celtics ended the quarter on a 10-0 run.
[Big props to Odenized for finding this video for us]
Hey John,
Just wanted to point out that you wrote 3 and half minutes “in the game”, it’s actually the 1st quarter. Feel free to delete this post, so no one realizes the minor error.
Go C’s!
Or I can just delete your comment… and make it look like my editing of the post never happened
Great Catch John! That is totally what he said, I think I can almost make out “That’s your job” after the second time Pierce says “runt he play” but that could be a stretch. Anyway, good for Pierce, things changed after that for Sam didn’t they?
Sorry, I was referring to my comment when I said “delete this post”. Meaning you could delete what I wrote. It’s all about technicalities this Memorial Day.
Ah… I thought you were busting my balls.
No biggie… I’ve made major errors on this site before… so a minor one is no shock.
Justin… things totally changed. Sam actually was fairly effective… and he hit a couple of shots. I know he got 8 minutes… but that was a key stretch early in the game.