Looking for some negatives in this Cassell business

Post #1 » by **SuperDeluxe** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 9:10 pm

Yeah, I have some free time and will use it to likely create some discussion around here.

Disclaimer: I will be elated, stoked, amazed the moment Cassell signs his first contract with the Celtics.

Negative #1: Some posters were badmouthing Clippers owner Donald Sterling for not wanting to pay Cassell one penny if he wanted to leave town. The thing is, why on earth would you blame Sterling? Someone knocks on his door asking him for a contract rescission. The reason? The person prefers to play someplace else. You want to play someplace else? Why should I pay you anything to play someplace else?

We all know that if the person had been a Celtic player, we would have saved only the worst thoughts for such a player. Now that we are on the receiving end and a bought out player seems to be coming to Boston, we are cheering like schoolgirls.

This guy seems to think along the same lines.

Negative #2: Cassell was barely able to guard Rondo the other day. Why would he be able to guard the likes of Chauncey Billups or Jason Kidd?

Negative #3: Having an ego larger than life is amazing if you are the starter. How many of you think Cassell will cherish being a backup? How about not being the one finishing games?

Unrelated bonus: For the first time in decades we (Celtics fans) are not finding ourselves on the outside looking in when it comes to trophy free-agent signings. Now that the Celtics are a contender and free agents are flocking to MA, we know why they were not coming here in years past. Down goes the myth that free agents wouldn't come to Boston because of racism or cold winters. (Disclaimer 2: I am not saying Boston is or is not racist, ot that New England winters are or are not very cold, as this is not the point of this post.)

OK, time for you guys to start insulting me.

Post #2 » by **SuperDeluxe** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 9:22 pm

Potential negative #4: How much Cassell will embrace the ubuntu philosophy is anybody's guess. Does he really seem like an ubuntu type of guy to you?

aSizzLe · Post #3 » by **aSizzLe** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 9:24 pm

Negative #2: Cassell was barely able to guard Rondo the other day. Why would he be able to guard the likes of Chauncey Billups or Jason Kidd?

Rondo is a completely different type of guard than Billups or Kidd. Rondo is among the quickest players in the league, while Kidd and Billups rely more on their strength.

Cassell brings the strength that Rondo lacks.

humblebum · Post #4 » by **humblebum** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 10:05 pm

Pierce 4 MVP wrote:
Negative #2: Cassell was barely able to guard Rondo the other day. Why would he be able to guard the likes of Chauncey Billups or Jason Kidd?

Rondo is a completely different type of guard than Billups or Kidd. Rondo is among the quickest players in the league, while Kidd and Billups rely more on their strength.

Cassell brings the strength that Rondo lacks.

Eh, I don't believe Cassell will guard Billups any better than Rondo. Sam is just a bit taller than Rajon other than that I don't think he has any real aspect to his game defensively that makes him a better option against Mr. Big Shot, excepting the all important fact that Sam WILL get more calls from the referrees in the playoffs. I'd also say that Sam is a well established flopper in the league, so make that two plusses for Sam on defense.

Tony Allen is the player to guard Billups, especially in crunch time with offense/defense substitutions. Period.

To Superdeluxe, I also share many of your concerns. I'm hoping that Rondo is able to assert himself on the court, in practice, and off the court to the point where Sam has NO OPTION other than to back him up. In most ways it really comes down to how Rondo handles himself throughout the rest of the season and playoffs. If he plays to his potential Doc would be a fool to allow Cassell to seriously infringe on Rajon's role. But Doc wouldn't be that stupid, would he?

bmac · Post #5 » by **bmac** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 10:06 pm

Cassell is the closest thing to a player/coach as there is in the nba. He will be an extension of Doc, and as a backup pg...he will provide a great deal of stability to the Celtics.

+ he can score. This would be a great move.

And re:

Negative #3: Having an ego larger than life is amazing if you are the starter. How many of you think Cassell will cherish being a backup? How about not being the one finishing games?

He had no problem last year relinquishing his role and/or splitting time with Livingston before that ghastly injury.

Rocky5000 · Post #6 » by **Rocky5000** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 10:16 pm

About the defense thing
Opponents PER vs Cassell: 17
Cassell's PER: 19
Net:+2
Opponents PER vs Rondo: 17.2
Rondo's PER: 17.5
Net:+0.3

So, for what it's worth, opposing point guards play better versus Rondo than they do Cassell.
Of course, there are a lot of other factors in play, like Cassell having Kaman as an Eraser behind him, and the type of defense played by both teams.

Eddie House has been a better defender than Rondo this year.(Although he's likely been seeing worse competition)

I don't think we'll lose anything with Cassell defending mostly backup point guards when, so far this year, he's been defending the starters as well as Rondo.

celticfan42487 · Post #7 » by **celticfan42487** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 10:33 pm

Asked about opposing players Shaq responded with "I'm not known for my defense"

The last thing we should be talking about is the defense Cassell has. We have House as he's competition for defense.

Cassell is great because of the way he can run a team without mistakes and his capable scoring abilities.

dwestside · Post #8 » by **dwestside** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 10:59 pm

In regards to Cassell's defense, it's entirely possible he becomes a very serviceable or even effective defender on this team. Pierce's defense has been stellar all season ... would we have guessed that?

Of course there are potential negatives ... when you're relying on buyouts for free agent pickups there will always be negatives. I just think the positives of having a very solid guy behind Rondo outweigh the negatives.

GreenGrizz · Post #9 » by **GreenGrizz** » Sat Mar 1, 2008 11:06 pm

Yeah, right, House can play pg.

Truthiracy · Post #10 » by **Truthiracy** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 12:19 am

Why even make a negative thread? So we look "humble" to others?

hiphop1 · Post #11 » by **hiphop1** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 12:22 am

KG makes everyone a better defender

Post #12 » by **SuperDeluxe** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 12:23 am

LucerneStDoggz wrote:Why even make a negative thread? So we look "humble" to others?

No, so we can discuss (you know, that's what forums like this are for).

Datruth345 · Post #13 » by **Datruth345** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 3:34 am

i really dont see any of these "negatives" becoming an issue...it's just the stupid stuff the media brings up to me

how will he embrace the unbuntu? he will embrace it whole heartedly that is how this team wins, and he wants to win with this team

he is coming to Boston to win, Cassell himself is a winner, if unbuntu is the philosophy of the winning team he is joining, he is going to embrace that

all this ego stuff...lame...Sam Cassell is not trying to prove he is a star or belongs in the NBA...Cassell knows who he is and who he isn't

this reminds me of all the stupid, "they wont be able to share the ball" stuff..these guys are all proven NBA commodities...the single focus is winning basketball games and more importantly winning basketball games in the playoffs...all the other things are irrelevant to them

it's all media banter, i don't buy into it myself

bruno sundov · Post #14 » by **bruno sundov** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 4:30 pm

Da Truth, best avatar of the year so far!!!!!!

Post #15 » by **UGA Hayes** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 10:15 pm

To me there is only one concerning negative.

Will Doc have the balls to put Rondo in at crunch time over Sam.

Post #16 » by **canman1971** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 10:28 pm

UGA Hayes wrote:To me there is only one concerning negative.

Will Doc have the balls to put Rondo in at crunch time over Sam.

I think it will all depend on matchups and I see Doc doing a defense offense thing or who is hot at the time. The only real potential negative to this is if Sam comes in and completely sucks. Everything else will take care of itself. Having Sam around will only make Rondo better. He said himself he has no problem with that role and I'm sure KG will remind him if he even starts to think otherwise. This team is on a mission and I don't think bringing in anyone will disrupt it. There is a reason Ainge waited for the "perfect" fit at backup PG.

Post #17 » by **UGA Hayes** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 10:33 pm

^ I think you are way to opimistic.

The Rondo Show · Post #18 » by **The Rondo Show** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 10:47 pm

UGA Hayes wrote:To me there is only one concerning negative.

Will Doc have the balls to put Rondo in at crunch time over Sam.

Are you really against having Sam in there at crunch time? I am a massive Rondo fan, but his 60% at the line is a big liability in the last 3 minutes when every point means a ton. Cassell is 90% from the line and has always been a very clutch player.

I definitely want Rondo in there at crunch time at times, but I think I'd trust Cassell more in a game 7 with the game on the line. The guy has consistently got the job done in big moments throughout his career.

Post #19 » by **UGA Hayes** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 10:54 pm

My problem is that I don't think there is going to be much discretion in when we put Cassell in over Rondo. I'm afraid its just going to always be Cassell. If its not that way than I'm not that cancerned. But I don't think its such great poilcy to bench the guy who has been the PG on the best record in the league and has been pretty darn productive.

I think this has the potential to be an issue. Its not ironclad but I think this is harder to manage than I think people are admitting.

3pt % · Post #20 » by **3pt %** » Sun Mar 2, 2008 11:56 pm

SuperDeluxe wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

No, so we can discuss (you know, that's what forums like this are for).

There is no discussion on this board.

You will drink the kool aid and worship at the Green Alter unquestioningly.

You will now watch 5 Knicks games as pennance for even suggesting that there is room for discussion on this board.

As a former Mod, you should know better.