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Lip service. When Stoudamire is available, Danny won't let that chance slip.

P2 wrote:Lip service. When Stoudamire is available, Danny won't let that chance slip.

I am not so sure. Celtic history indicates that Ainge's talk about PG's being overrated has some validity. With all those titles only Cousy and Tiny were classic PG's and neither of them had a true PG backing them up.

What they all did have was a defensive stopper in the back court.

The problem in the back court is of multiple components.

1) Breaking a press
2) Getting in to the offense quickly when Rondo is off the floor
3) Defending big guards like Billups, Kidd, and Deron Williams

Obviously, Stoudamire can provide 1 and 2 above but not 3.

In regard to number 1, there are other ways to break a press, like having a taller player hang near mid court for an upcourt pass. Since he does not play the post on offense and passes well KG could easily provide that.

Stoudamire would help considerably with number 2

Although Stoudamire did pass his voluntary drug test and has apparently cleaned up his act, Celtic management is serious about its behavior policy and may still have questions.

It really does depend on Ainge's priorities. A back court of Rondo, House, and Stoudamire would be very small....too small IMO.

I agree with DA, but against opposing first units, given the rest of our first unit, I think we either need a true PG or at least defense and some toughness from the PG slot. Without Rondo we have neither unless Doc is willing to play TA there despite turnovers.

Whatever we have right now is not working whenever Rondo is unable to go. I'm tempted to believe that Rondo is our second most important player behind KG because of this. I'm also tempted to say that without Rondo, if Doc wants to start House, House should be starting listed as the SG, TA the PG, and Ray Allen should be our sixth man.

You're right. Pierce and Ray may be better players right now, but Rondo's probably the 2nd most important team with (gulp!) Perk possibly even third. That is, Posey, House and TA can fill in okay at the wing spots, but with the other guys out we have a real weakness for opponents to exploit.

What we really need is not a point guard, it's a big man and his name is Chris Webber. If Detroit picks him up we will all be kicking ourselves. The guy is still a very very solid basketball player. In the past I think he's slacked on defense but I think being surrounded by guys like KG, who he admires, Ray and Paul, as well as coach Thibodeau will really get him to step his game up. Defense is contagious. Before this season nobody thought that Ray could play defense. The last couple of games I've seen him make some tremendous plays, even stopping a few fast breaks. The same thing goes for Eddie House. House has been a better defender than Rondo this year, who expected that?
Perk is really the weak link on this team IMO. Tony, House, and Pruitt are good enough for me at backup pg. Big baby can step in and do the things that Perk doesn't but his size limits his ability. Perk has caught Blountitis and has been dropping more passes than I ever remember before. He's left open a ton but can't seem to get the hang of going strait up to the hoop with the ball or finish with contact. C Webb would give us a quality C and a very good substitute for when KG goes to sit as they both play pretty similar offensive games.

Danny is right about the PG situation and having two combo guards like himself and DJ, but the celts don't have combo guards at the 2 and 3 spot.

That's the thing. Pierce and allen aren't ball handlers, they are more wing scorers. So, that makes the need for a strong dribbling and passing pg all the more acute.

The way the celts are currently constructed they need a "true PG. "

If they had a combo guard at the 2 spot it would work well. I am a proponent of the combo guard backcourt, but the only combo guard on the roster is Pruitt.

C's could probably use a bit more ball handling ability at the 1 and 2 spots. The guy doesn't have to be a pure point though. A guy like Gilbert Arenas could work fine.

While I think an average "true pg" is useless because he simply is a player that the other team doesn't have to guard. This team is in need of an experienced ball handler. While Eddie can get by it makes him less of a weapon and while Tony is a nice passer and penetrator he is a shaky ball handler and all in all I can't say I like the duo together.

I like Pruitt but he isn't ready for this, at least it appears that way right now.

Damon is no true pg he is a scoring guard but he can handle the ball and demands defensive attention. The problem with him is he can't guard anyone. He is too small and we have seen with the defense Doc runs we depend on our pgs to man up with the teams bigs on the pick and roll, and undersized guys just get run over, i.e. see Dan Dickau.

This is why Cassell would be great, Anthony Johnson also, even a guy like Darryl Armstong who is undersized, but knows how to play some defense as well handle the ball. Damon is kind of just replacing Eddie House.

For a while I've thought that Darrell Armstrong was a perfect match. Still do. The "need" for better ball-handling is situational. Having a guy who, theoretically, would not grouse at periods of inactivity, is the perfect solution to this problem if you cannot find a longer term option. Someone of Cassell's caliber you'd gladly sacrafice minutes from House and, at times, TA. But for other niche role type players who do not greatly exceed the contributions of House, Allen or one of the bigs, like Stoudamire, I am less inclined to target.

The need is not so great as to force you to disrupt chemistry or to sacrafice another role, to fill. Signing someone like Stoudamire helps ballhandling, but at the same time it may lead to more defensive deficiencies (TA out more frequently), diminished outside shooting proficiency (House out more frequently). Before signing anyone, you've got to project how the dominos will fall and determine if it makes sense on the broader team level.