Pietrus Struggling to Find His Shot

Mickael Pietrus has been a good fit in Boston so far this season. He’s a savvy veteran that has helped stop the bleeding after losing Jeff Green before the season even started. He’s nowhere near as good as Jeff Green, but I have appreciated his services and positive mindset all year while giving solid minutes. I also like what he brings to the basketball court. He’s a hard nosed defender and has a decently high basketball IQ. What Air France has made a career out of has been his ability to knock down the 3-point shot, and he’s done that relatively well over the course of his career, shooting at about 36%.

With that said, he has been seriously struggling to get his shot to go down over the past month or so. He’s been getting good looks, but just can’t seem to manage to get the orange in the basket. Over the past 15 games, Pietrus is shooting a horrific 15-55 (27%) from downtown and 30-88 (34%) overall. For a player who is a known threat from 3-point range, that is unacceptable. The type of numbers that do not even make him a threat from deep. I know it’s just a funk, but the Celtics need him to shake this funk and get back on track. Players go through cold spells, but I’ve held off on writing this article for quite some time thinking his shot would start to fall more consistently … it hasn’t.

The Celtics don’t live and die with Pietrus, but on a team that desperately needs help from wherever they can find it, Pietrus can definitely be more of a contributor (if he makes it past the deadline). He’ll give the 2nd unit a threat from deep, and I’ve also noticed that when him and Ray Allen are on the floor at the same time, Doc Rivers will sometime start both of them on the blocks, and they both receive picks as they flare out to the wings looking for the 3-pointer. That could be a very dangerous combo, especially late in tight games. Check out the best sports books online.

Pietrus is a proven 3-point shooter and the only real thing shooters can do is to keep on shooting and maintain their confidence. Pietrus seems to be doing just that, as he launches about four a game from deep. I just hope some of his shots start to find the bottom of the net.

Check this video out, it was against the Raptors (they lost), but if Air France can do anything similar to this, he can be a great contributor for this team.

Pietrus Goes 8/11 From Deep