Quote from www.basketbawful.com

[MyInsatiableOne]

"Danny Ainge: Considering all their frontcourt injuries and how unimpressive Mikki Moore has been for them so far, Ainge's lack of patience in waiting for Joe Smith to be released by the Thunder is looking more and more damning, right up there with trying to save a few million dollars by letting James Posey walk. Last night, Smith gave Cleveland 12 points, perfect 5-for-5 shooting, 3 rebounds and 2 blocked shots off the bench. And every shot he hit made me think he totally could have been this year's P.J. Brown for the Celts."

This quote from from today's postings over at www.basketbawful.com...hard not to agree with the entire analysis at this point...

[Frank Lucas]

I agree I think Danny Ainge should have waited on Joe Smith. Plus he had to know that Joe wanted to come to Boston first but then Boston sign Moore all sign pointed to Joe going to the Cavs. Don't get me started on James Posey because having Posey hear is the reason why I think Paul Pierce legs was fresh during the play-offs and nobody was better then Paul Pierce in the play-offs last year. This season I think Paul is going to dead legs. I'm not sure if KG can carry this team from an offense standpoint he's never been that type of player.

[MyInsatiableOne]

I think we can be *OK* without Posey, but Smith>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Moore...

I like Mikki, he seems like a good teammate and is really trying, but he just is not as good as Smith...plus it would have kept Joe away from CLE, which would have been even better...a net gain for us and loss for them...

[BRUNiNHO91]

I agree I think Danny Ainge should have waited on Joe Smith. Plus he had to know that Joe wanted to come to Boston first but then Boston sign Moore all sign pointed to Joe going to the Cavs. Don't get me started on James Posey because having Posey hear is the reason why I think Paul Pierce legs was fresh during the play-offs and nobody was better then Paul Pierce in the play-offs last year. This season I think Paul is going to dead legs. I'm not sure if KG can carry this team from an offense standpoint he's never been that type of player.

We have Ray Allen..don't know if you know that...but he won't struggle as much as he did in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs last year..he is fully capable of helping PP carry the scoring load..and Im pretty sure if needed KG can bust a 25-30 pt game..just give him the touches. I don't like Joe Smith..he isn't that good..but this is the typical case of 'The grass is always greener on the other side'...had Mikki been in Cleveland and hit 5-5(which really doesn't impress me at ALL) people would say 'Ahh Danny **** up...he should have signed Mikki because he is more 'explosive' and has a better mobility than Joe'...pffffffff...We have big Baby improved this year..he has proved he can hit those 15 ft jumpers when needed, just like PJ. Powe can give us the inside game PJ gave us. Tony Allen and Bill Walker will back Pierce up when needed, and I believe that those 2 together can fill in the role Posey had in this team. But seriously, don't go around panicking about Posey and PJ...they were like 5% of last years roster...Danny knew what he was doing dropping Posey and signing Mikki/Marbury...it will all show come playoff time.

[Bad-Thoma]

Signing Marbury this year>>signing pj last year. Mikki will get better when he learns the defense, he is used to man D, not the C's rotating d. Marbs is starting to get his feet under him, he'll really bolster this team when he get's his **** together.

[Frank Lucas]

Hey BRUNiNHO91, you have a lot of faith in all the moves that Danny Ainge has done last off-season and the move to pick up Moore and Marbury. But you know what I still think it was a mistake not bring James Posey back. You can't really sale me on Tony Allena nd Bill Walker replacing the championship, big shot making and hardcore defense that James Posey brought to every game. James Posey was a guy you can put on Kobe and Lebron and have Paul Pierce rest. Oh yes Ray Allen has played better on offense this season but his defense has drop off. So once again James Posey would have given Doc another defensive option too. Someone should start a poll who would you rather have Marbury or James Posey? I'm not even going to talk about Moore because I would take PJ Brown, Joe Smith and Drew Gooden over him.

[MyInsatiableOne]

I agree with bad-thoma that Marbury could well turn out to be a really good move, providing he keeps his attitude in check. And Bill Walker should develop and end up being a pretty good bench player. But I really would like to have Posey instead of, say, Tony Allen and Glen Davis...

[threrf23]

This thread (and the quote) is ridiculous. Joe Smith was purportedly only looking to play for Cleveland anyway, Moore hasn't been amazingly unimpressive and shouldn't be needed with everyone healthy in the playoffs. Meanwhile, since turning 32 on January 13th, Posey has shot 32% from long range and 36% overall and by all accounts he has not done much to transform the performance of NO's bench. The grass is always greener. His contract was stupid and it would have most likely prevented us from signing Eddie and Tony.

If anything, Ainge can be criticized for being to patient with guys like POB, and not making a move early to secure guys like Deke or Birdman. But those were calculated risks.

[cisco]

This thread (and the quote) is ridiculous. Joe Smith was purportedly only looking to play for Cleveland anyway, Moore hasn't been amazingly unimpressive and shouldn't be needed with everyone healthy in the playoffs. Meanwhile, since turning 32 on January 13th, Posey has shot 32% from long range and 36% overall and by all accounts he has not done much to transform the performance of NO's bench. The grass is always greener. His contract was stupid and it would have most likely prevented us from signing Eddie and Tony.

If anything, Ainge can be criticized for being to patient with guys like POB, and not making a move early to secure guys like Deke or Birdman. But those were calculated risks.

Agreed. When are people going to get it through their heads that Joe Smith preferred Cleveland to Boston, so there is no way he would have ended up a Celtic unless we traded for him. Did anyone read any of his quotes one he joined the Cavs? He wants revenge against the Celtics for beating them last season. There is a reason he didn't want a buyout when the Celtics wanted him, but all of a sudden wanted one once Mikki was signed and Cleveland came calling.

[MyInsatiableOne]

I *do* think expecting Tony Allen, who had shown only flashes of good play mixed in with being an absolute and utter bonehead, to replace Posey was a dumb move...

[BRUNiNHO91]

Hey BRUNiNHO91, you have a lot of faith in all the moves that Danny Ainge has done last off-season and the move to pick up Moore and Marbury. But you know what I still think it was a mistake not bring James Posey back. You can't really sale me on Tony Allena nd Bill Walker replacing the championship, big shot making and hardcore defense that James Posey brought to every game. James Posey was a guy you can put on Kobe and Lebron and have Paul Pierce rest. Oh yes Ray Allen has played better on offense this season but his defense has drop off. So once again James Posey would have given Doc another defensive option too. Someone should start a poll who would you rather have Marbury or James Posey? I'm not even going to talk about Moore because I would take PJ Brown, Joe Smith and Drew Gooden over him.

Well I was a Danny hater..I won't even lie..I questioned alot of his draft moves, and trades and pretty much everything he did. However, as soon as he managed to trade a bunch of scrubs, for Ray Allen and Kevin GArnett and make this team one of the best teams in history, I just had to give it up to Danny. He knew all along what he was doing, and he made it happen with the right moves, at the perfect times. About Posey, I think Tony Allen is just as good a defender as he is. I have never seen somebody play Kobe so well on the defensive end like Tony Allen did a couple of years back. Phenomenal defense, just sticked to kobe like he was Kobe's shadow...and seriously it's about team D. Tell Posey to guard Kobe now, without KG and Perk behind him and see what happens..Kobe will go for 50. To guard players like Kobe and LeBron you need people behind you to help out. So I do think Tony can guard Kobe...but that is if he is healthy by playoff time. And Posey being clutch...mhm..we have Pierce, House and Ray. They are clutch enough. Posey is overrated IMO. He has done well in winning teams, but nobody speaks of him now that he is in a mediocre team. The Heat and the Celtics made Posey, not the other way around. About Moore...of course Gooden and Pj are better than him and im guessing you could make an argument for Joe being too. But he will be like 3rd 4th string behind Baby, Powe, Perkins and KG. Seriously, I think Danny didn't get Smith because Smith wanted Cleveland. He will get alot more playing time there, than he would here. Really the only option for Danny, as a defensive minded, aggressive player, who could shoot that jumper was Mikki. He was the best out there for us to get and we got it..again Kudos to Danny. And he has been improving alot the last few games. Even though he picks up dumb fouls, he has improved and I like him when we play teams like Cleveland. He is the perfect guy to match up with Varejao on intensity levels. Marbury x Posey....right now I would prefer Posey because Marbury is really off at the moment and we are a bit deeper at the point than at SF. HOWEVERRRRRRRR....Walker has stepped up and Tony will come back..so that would solve our SF problem, but at point we would only have..House or Pruitt backing up ROndo...I would hate that...House is best when backing up Ray, and Pruitt is just not consistent enough. IMO when 100% healthy our biggest problem was the PG position..nobody could back up Rondo well enough and make the offense flow nicely like he did. Marbury can do that now. And about Ray's defense..Im not at all worried about his defense. If he has his offense flowing well, that's really all we need. He is a winner and a superstar, when needed his D will be taken up a notch, just like PP. Paul's D has not been all that brilliant as of lately, but when crunch time gets here that will change and we all know he turns into a great defender in the playoffs.

[Rocky5000]

Well someone being the Celtics PJ Brown of last year, is not really that great of an accomplishment. How did PJ end up getting deified by the media? I remember being disappointed in Doc playing PJ almost exclusively over Powe and Big Baby, which he remedied in the Detroit and LA series, in which we won fairly easily. PJ made one big shot, a huge shot, but there's no reason to believe that any other player we have could not have made that same shot. In fact, with the way BIg Baby has been shooting his jumper lately, he looks more reliable than PJ Brown ever was. PJ shot 34% from the field last year! 34%! Antoine Walker could be "our PJ Brown" if that's all we're asking of a bench player. As a reference, Mikki is shooting 52.5% for the year and 54.1% with the Celtics. Mikki hasn't been Hakeem out there, but he's been more and asked to be more than PJ was at this point last year. PJ played 209 regular season minutes as a Celtic, and Mikki because of injuries has already played 189.

[handlethetruth]

New guy here, One thing to remember is that Moore wont be playing nearly as many minutes as he has been when we get completely healthy. I think he will be far more effective when Doc is only asking him to play in short stints on the court instead of being a primary big which he has been due to our injuries. I do agree that Joe Smith would have been better, but also feel that he was going to Cleveland no matter what. Danny got the next best big available.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Well someone being the Celtics PJ Brown of last year, is not really that great of an accomplishment. How did PJ end up getting deified by the media? I remember being disappointed in Doc playing PJ almost exclusively over Powe and Big Baby, which he remedied in the Detroit and LA series, in which we won fairly easily. PJ made one big shot, a huge shot, but there's no reason to believe that any other player we have could not have made that same shot. In fact, with the way BIg Baby has been shooting his jumper lately, he looks more reliable than PJ Brown ever was. PJ shot 34% from the field last year! 34%! Antoine Walker could be "our PJ Brown" if that's all we're asking of a bench player. As a reference, Mikki is shooting 52.5% for the year and 54.1% with the Celtics. Mikki hasn't been Hakeem out there, but he's been more and asked to be more than PJ was at this point last year. PJ played 209 regular season minutes as a Celtic, and Mikki because of injuries has already played 189.

That's what I been trying to tell ya'll. Davis can fill his role in like it's nothing.

and handlethetruth..welcome aboard big homie..enjoy the ride...

[handlethetruth]

Thanks buddy, looking forward to it.

[Joebiscuit]

Well the only reason Moore is playing this much is because all the celtics bigs are hurt. He was brought in as insurance.

Smiths Numbers: 5.89PPG 4.38 RPG.

Moore is averaging 3.9 PPG and 4.23 RPG.

Their rebounds are pretty much the same but Smith is getting 2 more point per game.

Nothing to really be upset about. Ainge had to make a move and no one was certian if Smith was going to be bought out.

[Pogue Mahone]

Fair and reasoned analysis Joe. I agree.

[hocje]

Well someone being the Celtics PJ Brown of last year, is not really that great of an accomplishment. How did PJ end up getting deified by the media? I remember being disappointed in Doc playing PJ almost exclusively over Powe and Big Baby, which he remedied in the Detroit and LA series, in which we won fairly easily. PJ made one big shot, a huge shot, but there's no reason to believe that any other player we have could not have made that same shot. In fact, with the way BIg Baby has been shooting his jumper lately, he looks more reliable than PJ Brown ever was. PJ shot 34% from the field last year! 34%! Antoine Walker could be "our PJ Brown" if that's all we're asking of a bench player. As a reference, Mikki is shooting 52.5% for the year and 54.1% with the Celtics. Mikki hasn't been Hakeem out there, but he's been more and asked to be more than PJ was at this point last year. PJ played 209 regular season minutes as a Celtic, and Mikki because of injuries has already played 189.

Agreed, good post!

[MyInsatiableOne]

Fair and reasoned analysis Joe. I agree.

It...actually...sorta...*was*...

[TonyMontana]

Smith wouldve never signed with the Cs just like he wouldnt signed with the Lakers.
His commitment was to the Cavs since he did play for them, D.A did the right thing for what was available in the market.