<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Pierre Pierce is about to find out what happens when a troubled athlete makes a mistake, gets a second chance, blows that, then is fortuitously handed a third. Pierce, the former Iowa basketball star, is less than a year removed from an 11-month prison term. He has been convicted on charges related to sexual assault twice in a three-year span, and according to the provisions of his latest sentence, must remain under probation until 2010. He is here at the invitation of the Warriors, who are intrigued enough by his potential -- and undeterred by his past -- to offer a summer-league spot and see what the guard can make out of his admitted final lifeline. "I've had two opportunities -- there is no more room for a mistake for me," Pierce said this week. "My margin for error is slim. Very slim. I know that." The 24-year-old speaks with a maturity and thoughtfulness that belies his extensive rap sheet. After starting for the Hawkeyes as a freshman, Pierce was charged with third-degree sexual abuse in 2002 and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. Because he had no prior history, his record was eventually expunged. But an even uglier mark soon took its place. In 2005, after being allowed back onto Iowa's basketball team, Pierce admitted to assaulting his former girlfriend at her apartment. He pleaded guilty to felony burglary and three misdemeanor charges, including assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Pierce, the Hawkeyes' leading scorer at the time, was kicked off the team and handed a two-year prison sentence, of which he served nearly a full year. He says he spent his time behind bars reading, playing chess and hoping for another shot at his NBA dream. His first high-level basketball game in 2 1/2 years came Sunday with mixed results. The Warriors are trying him out as a point guard, and though Pierce scored 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting, he also had three turnovers against three assists. More often than not, he looked for his own shot first and his teammates second. And since one of those teammates was hot-shooting guard Marco Belinelli, who hit nine in a row at one point, Pierce's lack of passing was glaring. Yet he followed up with a solid game Monday, finding Belinelli for his second three-pointer of the afternoon and later leading the fastbreak off a steal and dishing off to Belinelli for another three. He finished with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes in the 94-87 win over the 76ers. "You see the flashes, but having been out for a while, he has to play catch-up," assistant coach Keith Smart said. "His body, conditioning-wise, the speed of the guards he's playing against -- these are all big adjustments for him now." </div> Source: SFGate
