Paul Pierce College HOF
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Paul was one of several honorees to make it today. The guy who stole some POY votes from Danny Manning, Hersey Hawkins was another. I was in the midst of full time parenting of 4 little kids 6 years apart so I missed parts of the Pierce era and maybe didn’t get the great appreciation of his skills that many of you have.
I can’t put my finger on that ‘Paul Pierce Moment’ that is etched in KU lore, but maybe some of you do to remind me.
He certainly was a part of what I think is the greatest KU team of my fandom. To his credit, he returned for another season and another upsetting end to the season. NBA has never been my thing so I really was surprised towards the end of career to see that he is a future NBA HOFer.
Who’s the next enshrined Jayhawk? Frank Mason possibly? I wish we could say maybe Joel, or Wiggins. Perry was terrific of course, just not HOF material. Doke had such a fascinatingly great skill set that I think if he could’ve had a chance to win it all he might be a HOF candidate. Certainly all time shooting percentage leader is something worth being enshrined for.
Proud of all of our Jayhawks of course. Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!
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@wissox I never thought about Doke missing out on college HOF by missing the post season. Thank you for the added dimension to my sadness. Just kidding. I think our next HOFer will be ol’ 5 year Christian Braun.
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Yeah I thought maybe Doke could have immortalized himself with a monster 11-12 shooting game with 14 rebounds, 6 blocks, 1-7 FT’s in taking down Wisconsin in the National Championship!
And yes, a 5 year Christian Braun is nice to think about. In fact, it will be interesting to see how many players take advantage of it, how that will impact recruiting and the competitive balance of teams. Right now I’m thinking Wisconsin has 5 seniors starting and I guess would be welcome to come back and play again. None of them are going pro, at least in this country, and so it’s just a fascinating thought.
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Strange, I thought one of our guys being inducted into the College HOF would generate some discussion.
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@wissox TBH I’m mostly living in the present atm. I think it’s healthy for us to look back as much as we can and preserve the continuity, it’s just hard. Also, I wasn’t watching KU much during the Pierce years but I’ve always been curious. Feels like we’ve talked at length about Wilt and Manning but my frame of reference on Pierce is a few clips.
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Pierce was the player I grew up watching, being from the Northeast getting the chance to see Celtics games on TV every day was great especially since KU games were harder to find not being from Kansas. I still have my Pierce KU Jersey from when I was a kid and it’s hanging in the Man Cave. I thought Paul was the greatest thing since sliced bread at KU and in the Pro’s. I thought he was snubbed in the draft but obviously his career ended up pretty good the way it played out. I wasn’t a Celtics fan but man did I root for Pierce on the court and he’ll forever be one of my favorite players. Nothing but fond memories from my side!
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@approxinfinity said in Paul Pierce College HOF:
@wissox TBH I’m mostly living in the present atm. I think it’s healthy for us to look back as much as we can and preserve the continuity, it’s just hard. Also, I wasn’t watching KU much during the Pierce years but I’ve always been curious. Feels like we’ve talked at length about Wilt and Manning but my frame of reference on Pierce is a few clips.
Oh you missed a good one during his time at KU. - -I watched him a lot . Got I believe a 8x10 pic of him in his Rookie year in his Celtic uniform all framed in. - -would love to be able to get it signed by him , very mint condition might be worth some money someday for someone. maybe my Grandkids - -or their kids lol
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I remember Pierce at KU as never jumping an inch more than necessary. And, if he missed a shot, he’d probably bang in there and put back his own miss.
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@DanR wow! The kid looked unstoppable. So many buckets.
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Max sighting! You’re my boy blue!
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This got me fired up for tonight! Thanks guys!
I think Pierce is getting into the college HOF based on his body of work, which includes his current role as an ambassador of the sport in the studio and booth at games. One of the greatest Jayhawks of all time who happened to be a member of one of the greatest teams as well.
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@DanR It looked he jumped more than the bare minimum in the videos. I really have few memories of the guy. Thanks for sharing.
