Where to find another James Posey?

[GuyClinch]

Case in point, tonight's game. Despite the fact that Roy is strictly a 2-guard it was Paul not Ray that blanketed Roy all night tonight to the tune of a 3-11 13 point performance. Roy couldn't even find the lane tonight and whenever he went up for a jumpshot Paul had a hand in his face and never bit on any pumpfakes.

Funny you would say that. I was thinking just the opposite. Case in point tonight is when we see that our bench could use more help - even if its just for depth purposes. No one is disputing that PP is a decent defensive player (though honestly Roy is not half as tiring as Lebron). What I am disputing is that a bench that has Scalabrine as its 9th or 10th best player is good enough to win a championship.

I think those guys are very weak NBA rotation players. They wouldn't play on most teams - or even be on a team like Portland or LA. Yes the C's are 19-2 - but that's because the top 8 players are very good collectively. TA goes out and suddenly you have Scalabrine playing a major role in crunch situations.

I suspect Danny agrees with me and by the end of the year we will see some changes. Maybe he is waiting for buyouts or plans to use Giddens or Walker. Who knows..

Pete

[buckner1976]

Case in point, tonight's game. Despite the fact that Roy is strictly a 2-guard it was Paul not Ray that blanketed Roy all night tonight to the tune of a 3-11 13 point performance. Roy couldn't even find the lane tonight and whenever he went up for a jumpshot Paul had a hand in his face and never bit on any pumpfakes.

Funny you would say that. I was thinking just the opposite. Case in point tonight is when we see that our bench could use more help - even if its just for depth purposes. No one is disputing that PP is a decent defensive player (though honestly Roy is not half as tiring as Lebron). What I am disputing is that a bench that has Scalabrine as its 9th or 10th best player is good enough to win a championship.

I think those guys are very weak NBA rotation players. They wouldn't play on most teams - or even be on a team like Portland or LA. Yes the C's are 19-2 - but that's because the top 8 players are very good collectively. TA goes out and suddenly you have Scalabrine playing a major role in crunch situations.

I suspect Danny agrees with me and by the end of the year we will see some changes. Maybe he is waiting for buyouts or plans to use Giddens or Walker. Who knows..

Pete

OK, fair enough. On this I won't dispute. I would prefer someone else there and my hope is that Giddens or Walker become that person. The slashing, penetrating athleticism that TA brings is obviously missed when he doesn't play So we are of the same mind here.

On a separate note, are you surprised given how well the TA worked with this unit that Doc chose to ignore Gabe despite the fact that his playing style is far more similar to what TA gave us than Scal? I mean wouldn't you have liked to see a Gabe/Eddie/Paul or Ray/Powe/Davis group instead of having Scal out there. I mean sure that group is severely undersized everywhere but we'd be quick and able to run. And since Scal doesn't rebound anyway he gave us a neglible advantage with his height save for a few nice sequences defensively on Outlaw.

[billfromBoston]

And one last thing about Lebron, not a major point but while he is extremely strong he's not really a post up player. He likes to make his moves from the perimeter and go to the rim, not post up from the block. And anyone attempting to guard Lebron is gonna get help anyway.

Sure - unless TA was covering him. Then he would just post him up till poor Tony fouls out. Do you think Cleveland fans hoping they stick Delonte West on Pierce?

Obviously the C's are 18-2 and very good. But if there is something that could use improvement its at backup center (we could use a mobile shot blocker) and SF (We could use someone bigger then TA)...

We are talking about depth here. What if PP gets 3 quick fouls. Are we really going to put Scalabrine on Lebron and pray?

Pete

Actually, LeBron has ZERO post up game - you'd think he'd use his size and speed down there, but he doesn't have any back-to-basket moves at all - TA has guarded him a number of times in the past and has been very effective on forcing LeBron into pull-up jumpers because TA can challenge his dribble and move his feet to stay in front of him - LeBron takes no one to the post...

[buckner1976]

And one last thing about Lebron, not a major point but while he is extremely strong he's not really a post up player. He likes to make his moves from the perimeter and go to the rim, not post up from the block. And anyone attempting to guard Lebron is gonna get help anyway.

Sure - unless TA was covering him. Then he would just post him up till poor Tony fouls out. Do you think Cleveland fans hoping they stick Delonte West on Pierce?

Obviously the C's are 18-2 and very good. But if there is something that could use improvement its at backup center (we could use a mobile shot blocker) and SF (We could use someone bigger then TA)...

We are talking about depth here. What if PP gets 3 quick fouls. Are we really going to put Scalabrine on Lebron and pray?

Pete

Actually, LeBron has ZERO post up game - you'd think he'd use his size and speed down there, but he doesn't have any back-to-basket moves at all - TA has guarded him a number of times in the past and has been very effective on forcing LeBron into pull-up jumpers because TA can challenge his dribble and move his feet to stay in front of him - LeBron takes no one to the post...

Exactly as I thought too bill. Lebron will bully his way into the lane for a finish but he's not gonna really take guys down to the block and spin on them or shoot a turnaround or anything. Kobe is the one with the post-up game.

[humblebum]

The Celtics are really only going to go about 9 players deep in the playoffs anyways. Whether people like it or not TA is going to be tasked with guarding Lebron in a playoff matchup. There is no one that the Celtics could bring in who could do any better of a job than TA, no one.

What the Celtics need is a 4-5 with length and range on his jumper. It should be obvious at this point because the coaching staff has done everything in their power to get Glen Davis to be that guy... he hasn't yet performed well consistently in that role and in general lacks the height to be a great presence in the lane.

If the Celtics were able to get a Joe Smith to come off the bench, you can then use Powe and Davis more situationally, limiting the exposure of their weaknesses. Let us not forget that KG and Perk are probably the best frontcourt duo in the NBA and they're going to take up a majority of the minutes.

TA and House form a nice complementary backcourt duo off the bench with Doc staggering the minutes of Ray and Paul to keep at least one of them on the court for the great majority of the game. Scal can play in specific situations in short stints... he's capable of that.

The only thing you worry about if you're the Celtics are injuries to any of your top 6 players (starting lineup + TA)... but that goes for just about any team in the league.

[BillTheGOAT]

a guy to replace posey with is bonzi wells, both players season totals and averages are much a like from last season,posey might be a better defender though but as a backup we will have use for him.

their stats are scary similar. posey takes more shots though,bonzi scored alot more and leads in rebounds,stls,blks,asst and ppg. they play almost same mpg,posey leads in FT% and 3 PT, what about that ? but he signed with a chinese team today for a one year contract.