Everyone is foucusing on offense here it seems and that is fine. However, I think clutch includes getting the big steal, blocked shot or hustling after a lose ball too. That's why the three C's of Russell, Havlicek and Bird had to be on my list. Jordan was another that I had to include due to his abilities to close out a game on both ends when the pressure was on.
I just defined clutch for myself with these criteria:
Late 4th Quarter Big Shots
Game Winning Shots
Last Minute Steals
Last Minute Blocks
Last Minute Hustle Plays
Last Minute Free Throw Shooting
Last Minute Lock Down Defense
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In that case, based on the 2008 playoffs, Posey should be on that list.
Posey was solid in those playoffs. But other than game 4 in LA I don't think he was truly special.
Guarding Odom with 5 fouls was impressive.
Don't forget the steal against Detroit.
Uh that was after he'd made a few rather bad plays the previous two minutes. I was actually yelling at Posey quite a bit until he made that steal.
How often do people forget those mistakes by Posey. He really did make some dumb mistakes towards the end. But hey hey Fafnir, that's blasphemy, Posey is the guy you can always rely on.
I agree with your opinion on Posey's performance during the playoffs. After the first couple of games against Cleveland, his defense left a lot to be desired from, particularly from guards and SFs (though he did a good job on Billups when they gave him that assignment). He had quite a bit of trouble with LeBron, Hamilton, Kobe (until that game 6, but for the most part it was excellent team defense). I thought he was really good against Odom though, and all the other non-star players.
But hey, Posey is "obviously" a lock down defender, who are we to suggest otherwise?
