Small forward,shooter or big defender?

[Red2]

Guess what- James Posey filled all of those needs. I still can't believe we let him go! Anyhow when you look at our roster the biggest hole is at the backup 3 where Posey played. Tony Allen can give you some minutes there as can JR GIddens I guess but they're both on the small side. Bill Walker was clearly drafted with this position in mind and I think that if Danny can't find a better option that Walker will have the opportunity to win the back up small forward position. Darius Miles must be in the mix as well and then there's devean george and bonzi who I think are still out there. Miles fills another need which is he gives you another long defender but ultimately I think injuries and his contract situation rule him out. Personally I say give Walker a shot if he's healthy. we already accomplished our goal which was winning a championship so anything we do this year is gravy. I think we need to develop Pruitt, Davis, Giddens and Walker this year and look to possibly make a move by the trading deadline. Scalabrine may well get his chance this year to earn his pay but I would still love to see him traded for a more serviceable player.

[JMillott]

I think the simple awnser is that J.R. Giddens and Tony Allen will fill what ever minutes are availible behind Paul Pierce.

I don't have a problem with Pierce playing 38-40 minutes a game this year as he is still well within his prime and in fact i'd like to see them run more of the offense through Pierce again this year as he is easily the best of the big three in terms of creating points for both himself and others in an efficent manner.

I think the biggest task for this team is to get Ray Allen's minutes down to keep him healthy and keep him from getting worn down over the course of the season at age 33 and with the likelyhood of him being kept beyond his current contract at a reduced salary its key we start to look to extend his career by getting him down in the 30-32 minutes per game range.

The best way to replace Posey is to go away from being such a jump shooting team which we were able to get away with simply because Posey gave us that extra high percentage long distance shooter.

Yes, we won a title playing that style of offense but being a jump shooting team was nearly the Celtics undoing against the Hawks and Cavs.

We should be looking to play less smallball because without Posey it wouldn't be a very good idea, this means no more playing KG at center with a SF lined up at PF to boot. Any such minutes that KG plays at center should come exclusively with Powe at PF.

I want to see the Celtics and Doc Rivers stick with bigger lineups as we should be able to get damn near 48 minutes of center play from Perkins, O'Bryant and Big Baby this year.

The way I see it the more minutes that KG and PP spend on the floor together at the forwards the better off the Celtics are. I would easily call them the best PF/SF combo in this league since the glory days of Bird/McHale in the mid to late 80's.

That combo is the true strength of this basketball team and allows everybody else to fall into easy roles that they can all handle playing off of them. I think that its questionable as to if we can repeat as champions if by the end of the year any of the big three decline unless Rajon Rondo takes a major step forward.

[Bad-Thoma]

I've head a few people claim we were a jump shooting team last year, but we dominated points in the paint almost every game from what I can remember. Of course, 3 point shooters like Posey help open that up for the inside scorers. As for George, Miles, and Wells, they're all pretty interchangeable in my book. Miles has great length and the most scoring ability of the three, he's a big question mark when it comes to health however. Bonzi is a well rounded player, but you don't know what your going to get effort wise or attitude wise from him, though sometimes a player's rep gets overblown. George knows how to play the game, is a big strong body, but is an offensive liability. I'd go with Miles myself, but any or none of these 3 is fine in my book. Danny may just be waiting to see what else shakes out of other team's rosters at this point before commiting to anyone.

[JMillott]

I'd rather bring Brandan Wallace back in then waste a second on Devon George or Darius Miles, I wouldn't mind Bonzi Wells if we were to pick him up mid-season like we did with PJ Brown and Sam Cassell but he isn't a player I want on this roster either.

I think people are largely forgetting that the bulk of Posey's minutes came at PF not at SF. Out of the near 25 minutes a night that he averaged 14-16 of them were normally spent at the PF position when we played smallball.

Even last year it was quite clear that we made a mistake not investing all of the back up PF minutes to Leon Powe and i'm thrilled that it looks like Powe will be getting all of the 16-20 minutes a night at PF that KG doesn't play and most likely close to 24-26 minutes a game as i'm sure he'll play with KG as well.

24-26 minutes or Leon Powe is in my opinion a pretty sizeable upgrade on 24-26 minutes of James Posey.

I also think that Posey really wasn't a very good back up for Paul Pierce last year because he really didn't mesh well with Tony Allen at SG because they just didn't have enough ball handling when they played the wings together.

Tony Allen can break down a defense but he isn't going to kick it back out to Posey making his shooting kinda a non-factor since he can't/doesn't create his own offense he was only really 100% useful when he played with Pierce and Rondo who would kick it out to him for open 3's.

His defense was pretty damn fantastic for a SF playing at PF as most teams in this league don't come close to holding teams to 95 PPG with smallball lineups. The key to this is that while Posey doesn't block shots in the paint he never gives up free layups always making a guy earn it at the line and at the price of some pain.

I'm far more concerned with how Eddie House, Gabe Pruitt handle the back up PG role and with how O'Bryant and Big Baby handle the back up center role.

I think Giddens and Powe will be more then up to the task of backing up Pierce and KG, in fact I think they will both deserve more playing time then they are able to actually get because of the quality of our starters.

[rambo_ortega]

i'd just take a risk on devean george. a big sf who can play pf and has a capability to hit open 3's. not to mention his championship experience with the lakers. just a one year vet min.

[JMillott]

The key to filling out the void left by James Posey isn't to try and find a player of simular type but instead to find a player or players who can play good basketball.

Is George a simular type of player to Posey? Yes, he is.

Does George make a simular positive impact like Posey? No, not at all.

The 2008/09 Celtics don't need to attempt to be a carbon copy of the 2007/08 Celtics in order to win a second title, they need to look to build the best possible team they can.

You have to understand what made James Posey so valueable last year, it was that he was an efficent role player who could defend both forward positions, shoot the three and was money at the line as well.

George doesn't have any of the real positives that made Posey so useful here but he keeps all of the flaws that Posey had in not creating shots, can't create off the dribble, no shot-blocking, etc.

[YUNG CELTAHOLIC]

I agree with JMillott. We don't need a replica of posey. Instead a player who can contribute in his own ways. imo we realy dont need a player who is that big of a threat from 3 point range becuase the way docs rotations are, one of the big three are always in. when kg and pierce leave the game, doc usually leaves ray out there with the second string guys. we need a guy who is willing to commit to winning another championship by contributing his assets and talents to the team, wether its rebounding, hustling, making clutch shots, or playing defense. i dont think we will be able to find a guy with all of those qualities but i have confidence that danny will come up with something.

[JMillott]

I actually would like to see them bring in Donyell Marshall on the cheap as he actually could replace much of what Posey brought to the table obviously in more limited minutes and for the veteran minimum if possible.

[threrf23]

Donyell Marshall is an interesting option, I don't know if he could replace Posey's athleticism at the age of 35, but if the guy could just bring to the table a percentage of what he used to bring to the table he could be a nice vet to have around.

In any event, he is under contract through this season. If he hasn't already been bought out, that has to happen first.

[CavemanDoctor]

Donyell has been waived and George has signed a 2-year deal with Dallas.

[DJToLarry]

I don't think any of those roles is the one that will be missed most. Who is going to fill his role as a crunch time player? That's where he will be missed most. He just has a knack of making big plays down the stretch of a big game. Rebounds, drawing charges, threes, deflections etc. Thats where it is going to hurt not having him on the club. The guy just steps it up when it counts.