Smith's numbers in 2010: 3 points, 2.5 rebounds, .3 assists, and 40% FG in 9 minutes a game for a good not great Hawks team. That screams out "washed up" to me, but I guess we have different definitions of the phrase.
Here's the thing about Starbury. You're talking to someone who was one of his biggest supporters back in 2009. I definitely wanted him back and I completely agree with everything you said. I thought he had great potential to be an impact role player on the team, and I think the guys for the most part liked him. However, I'm going to say what I said before: Starbury didn't want that. He wanted to be the star and he wanted to get paid. That wasn't going to happen on the Celtics. He knew at 33 that he wasn't going to get a big contract ever again in the NBA considering all that went wrong in New York and that his role wouldn't be any bigger than it would be on the Celtics. Considering Starbury also showed he wasn't the most stable person either, I don't think any pep talk would have helped him change his mind.
I'm not disagreeing at all that Marbury could have helped. I'm just saying he didn't want to. He wanted to help himself more than he wanted to help the Celtics. That to me is not Danny's fault. Also, Danny added big man depth with Rasheed, something we really needed since KG was coming off the injury, a half-decent back-up point forward in Marquis Daniels, and he acquired Nate Robinson for scraps who came alive in the post-season. Danny did what he could.
Fair enough, but as you said, he didn't play much. When he did get an opportunity, though, he seems to have played pretty well, like in the third game of the season against the Lakers, when he had 8 points, 5 rebounds (two of which were offensive), and 2 assists in 13:48 in an eight point loss at Staples. I just think that his size and experience would have really helped us
, and the Celtics were interested in him when he was bought out during 08-09, fwiw. I'm also only advocating for signing him for a year, which is what Atlanta did, anyway, as his career was coming to a close, obviously.
As for Starbury, while I agree with everything that you said, what struck me in that video was how he said that he would have played in Boston for free. Now, does that come with 'as long as I'm starting', lol
? I'm assuming that your answer will be 'yes'
, and I understand that, but if the guy is so into individual accolades, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, imo, as long as it doesn't come at the expense of the team, of course, why not sell him on winning 6th man of the year and a championship, to boot? I get that we're going around in circles, lol
(sorry about that
), but I think that if Rondo, Ray, Pierce, KG, Doc, and Danny had put on the full court press, as they did with Rasheed, to get Steph to buy into being our star off of the bench, I'm pretty sure that it would have been hard for him to say no to the idea, but that obviously didn't happen, sooooooo...how about Jannero Pargo? He was a very good shooter, both off of the catch and the dribble, from either 3 or midrange, could get to the basket, was at least a very good defender, iirc, had playoff experience, Ainge, again, was interested in him after 07-08, I believe, and he was cut by the Lakers, after making token appearances from 2002-January of 2004. He wasn't a point guard like Marbury, obviously, as few players are, but he could run a team, and he would have been perfect, here, imo.
Additionally, I just always believe that management could have done more, and like Pargo, Stackhouse would have been perfect for us, imo. He always relished going up against Kobe, he hit a lot of big shots in his career, you wouldn't have had to sell him on coming off of the bench, and his ability to slash and create his own shot would have made him a perfect backup for Pierce, imo, although you'd have to save him during the year for the playoffs, but it was definitely possible, to me. Then, sure, sign Michael Finley after he was released/waived or whatever he was by the Spurs. Again, he wouldn't have played big minutes, but he could have filled in nicely for Ray, as he did during a number of times, even in limited minutes, when he was here, iirc.
My whole view of building a bench is that you should prepare for the worst case scenario, like what happened in every game of the finals, that year. In game 1, Ray and Pierce each ended the game with 5 fouls
, and in game 2, Pierce and KG were also reffed out of the contest, iirc. Fortunately, Ray and Rondo were able to carry us that night, despite the ridiculous officiating, as always, and the game might have been easier had it not been for Shelden Williams throwing at least one dumb pass to Kobe who hit a 3 as the half expired, trimming the lead from 9 to 6, iirc.
With that in mind, what made Pierce, Garnett, and Allen so effective, Rondo notwithstanding, lol
, was that they complimented each other so well, offensively. You've got one of the greatest shooters of all time in Allen, who did most of his damage without the ball and was an underrated passer, imo, a slasher, scorer, and shooter in Pierce who could score from anywhere, any time he wanted, and KG, a great passer, rebounder, screener, defender, midrange shooter, and post player, to say the least, so in the event that any of those components should have to be taken out of the game, whether it be from fouls or Artest
, you should have guys who can at least somewhat replicate their skill sets, and if you put Stack at the 2, Finley at the 3, Smith at the 4, and Sheed at the 5, not to mention Pargo at the 1, you have many of the same options, offensively, and we could beat the Lakers with our bench, ahahaha
.
I realize that Finley was a defensive liability, but only as a 2, imo, and especially in the finals. Take game 3, for example, when Ray was kneed in the thigh by Artest, and didn't hit a shot for the rest of the night. Just move Pierce to the 2 to take away Kobe's post up game and run Finley off of picks, which was always Artest's weakness, and Lebron is exactly the same way, imo, like the Spurs did in this 2009 games at home against the Lakers. It was Finley's season high, I believe -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLhwmKVLbK8 If he can get that open against Ariza, he would have destroyed Artest, imo, and on defense, we would have to worry about much of anything because Artest was more of a spot-up shooter and at least 4th option offensively, and, despite his size, he never had much of a post game, so Finley would have been fine, imo. Don't forget, that guy came up huge in the playoffs for the Spurs against the Suns in 2008, hitting the game tying 3 to send game 1 into overtime, and he wasn't afraid of the big moment. So, yeah, we could have just destroyed the Lakers with our depth, alone.
Beyond all of that, though, Ainge's biggest miss, imo, during the 2009 offseason came during the draft, when he failed to take Wesley Matthews with the 58th pick. It was the easiest decision ever, imo, as there was literally no better player available. I'd seen him mentioned on here in the lead up to the draft, and after looking into him, I liked what I saw, and I couldn't believe that he was available, that night. Did I know that he would become this good. Hell no, lol
, but I guess that it was beginner's luck, lol
. People say that that's unreasonable, to expect to get anything at 58, but I disagree, as every draft is different, and never tell me the odds, lol
. Who knows how different our team would have been, moving forward. Getting Matthews allows you to move Tony Allen, and gives you a much better option, offensively. Of course, keep in mind that I'm the same guy who would have traded Perk and Big Baby during the 2009 offseason, when their values were at their highest, respectively. Looking back, it would have been great if we could have done a sign-and-trade with Dallas for Brandon Bass, who would have been a big help against the Lakers because of his ability to finish inside, unlike Davis, plus Bass wouldn't have missed the first, what, 2 months of the season after getting into a fight
, which probably lead to Sheed blowing a gasket after coming into camp out of shape. #thanksalot
After that, move Perk and TA to Utah for the first round pick that the Jazz had acquired from the Knicks, which ended up being the 9th, overall, selection, iirc. I'm not sure if they would have gone for that, but I do know this - that group was breaking up, and 09-10 was their last chance, together, especially with Boozer's free agency fast approaching, so they needed to make it happen then, and Perk would have been a big help against Bynum and Gasol, while Tony Allen would have greatly helped against Kobe. Would that put them over the top? Probably not, but even if it didn't, they would have likely worn the Lakers down, for once, should the teams have met in the postseason.
Naturally, however, losing Perk makes for quite the hole at center, but fear not, as I have the perfect solution (well, imo, anyway, not that that means anything, lol
) - Ben Wallace. He was bought out by the Suns after they traded Shaq to the Cavs and was on the verge of retirement, but Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, iirc, talked him out of it, and he had a great year in 09-10 for Detroit. Since he was still a free agent into August, I believe, we would have had plenty of time to sign Sheed, Stack, Smith, and Pargo, so all that would have been left to do, for us, would have been to, again, put on the full court press, like we did with Sheed, but with him, this time, haha, in addition to anyone else who wanted to come along *cough* Stackhouse *cough*
, and I think that we could have persuaded him to write the final chapter of his career in the place where it began, in a way.
Not only does he help our rebounding, tremendously, and defense, of course, but he would have allowed us to outrun guys like Bynum and Shaq, and his intensity on defense meant that we could have trapped the Lakers in the backcourt, like KG did in 2008, taking time off of the clock, extending their offense, and making our defense that much more effective, as they Lakers would not have had nearly as many options in the halfcourt, imo. Ben's passing also would helped our halfcourt offense, tremendously, imo, and even though teams would have fouled him in the 4th quarter, that only helps us get into the penalty faster, at which time we can give him a rest and finish the game off with Sheed in his stead.
Starting lineup -
C - Ben Wallace
PF - Kevin Garnett
SF - Paul Pierce
SG - Ray Allen
PG - Rajon Rondo
Bench -
Sheed, Matthews, Bass, Stackhouse, Pargo, Smith, and Finley.
I'm not sure about Marquis Daniels. I liked him, a lot, but he was always hurt, so how about going for a guy with an even worse injury history in Shaun Livingston, lol
? This one is probably a hindsight move, as I can't remember if I wanted him at the time, but it's probably safe to say that I didn't, haha. Still, in looking over his 08-09 stats, he had a few excellent performances, even though he only played 12 games that year, and after he was cut on December 22, 2009 by OKC, he signed 2 10 day contracts with the Wizards, and then for the rest of the season, on February 26, 2010, via basketballreference.com, although obviously all 3 contracts were not signed on the same day, lol
. He played extremely well for Washington. Sigh.
And yes, I know that I'm nuts, lol
.