Back up small forward...

[wdleehi]

I wonder what it would take to get a player like Thabo Sefolosha or Ronnie Brewer.

And here's a name for you: Justin Reed.  He wouldn't cost much, and he can defend.

He wouldn't cost much because he isn't an NBA player. 

[Who]

How many SF are out there that the Celtics need to worry about Pierce guarding the whole game in the playoffs?

The only one I can think of is Lebron. 

I'd be worried about Orlando too. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu are elite shooters at 6-10, and if they're easily shooting over the top of Tony Allen and that could spell trouble. Rashard Lewis has an excellent post game too.

Caron Butler would post up Tony Allen.

Joe Johnson for Atlanta could post up Tony, but I'm not sure he'd do it enough to bother the team. If he did, he'd kill Tony, best post game in the league at shooting guard, wish he'd use it more often. Atlanta have been playing some big lineups recently with Josh Smith at small forward, if Smith is at SF he'll definitely post up Tony but the team could help of Zaza/Horford well enough to negate most of that. Marvin Williams supposedly worked on his post game during the offseason but I haven't seen it yet (he's injured, didn't use it much before injury), he's been fairly passive in the past so it's probably not a big deal.

The Detroit Pistons will definitely post up Tayshaun Prince. How effective that is versus their offense depends on Tayshaun, he's played poorly in key series in the playoffs last few years. They'd post Rip too, who's got a nice turnaround that he shoots over the top of smaller defenders.

Phily would post Iggy, unknown if they'd post Thaddeus Young.

Have to wait and see if LeBron has improved his post game at all ... probably not, so I'm not concerned about him (posting Tony) at this moment.

I wonder what it would take to get a player like Thabo Sefolosha or Ronnie Brewer.

And here's a name for you: Justin Reed.  He wouldn't cost much, and he can defend.

Justin Reed was in Philadelphia's training camp. He only lasted a day or two .... do not know why they let him go so quickly. Replaced him with Cory Underwood.

I don't think you could get Ronnie Brewer at this stage without giving up a quality starter.

You look at Chicago's overcrowded backcourt and wonder about Thabo though .... Paxson being Paxson I expect he'll hold onto Thabo until he figures out Ben Gordon's long term future. He'll want the fallback so Thabo would likely cost a decent bit to acquire. Thabo could be gettable though.

[Who]

I think Tony's size will be an issue at small forward, but I can't tell if it's a minor issue or a serious one at this stage ..... I think we're going to have to wait until we play a good portion of the season.

[POBstuntin]

I think we got the guy already, both to backup Pierce and who can fill in at the 4 in a pinch. 

Brian Scalabrine

Say what you want about him, but he is an above average defender in this league.  He knows the system as good as anyone and he can guard both 3's and 4's.  And don't leave him open to double Pierce or KG, Scal will knock down that outside shot when given the opportunity. 

I'm calling it right now, career year for Scal in 08'-09'

still love to know where this "above average defender" thing comes from considering he gets toasted in the limited minutes he gets, but hopefully im wrong and scal helps us out.

It would be great if this works out because the reason I think that we are going to miss the Pose is the end of the game lineup.  We were great at the end of the fourth when we'd play KG at the 5 and posey at the 4, it allowed us to have 5 (4.5 with rondo) shooters on the court, spread the court and let Pierce go to work or KG get single teams in the post.  If was good enough to do this it would be great but I really dont think he is and without this line up Im a little scared for crunch time.

Posey at the 4 wasn't that good of a lineup, or you don't remember how many times people were crying over small ball throughout the season? Of all the things that we shouldn't miss, is Posey at the 4.

With that said, having a 4 handy that can knock down shots is a good thing to have, but not a necessity.

I could really care less if people were crying about small ball we won a championship playing with it. Obviously those people who complained really don't value the importance of spacing or winning games. Watch the games, see what opened up at the end of games for us with that line up in.  Obviously you can't run it all game but, at the end with pierce and ray going to the boards extra hard, it was great.  Whats our end of game line up now?

[nickagneta]

I think we got the guy already, both to backup Pierce and who can fill in at the 4 in a pinch. 

Brian Scalabrine

Say what you want about him, but he is an above average defender in this league.  He knows the system as good as anyone and he can guard both 3's and 4's.  And don't leave him open to double Pierce or KG, Scal will knock down that outside shot when given the opportunity. 

I'm calling it right now, career year for Scal in 08'-09'

still love to know where this "above average defender" thing comes from considering he gets toasted in the limited minutes he gets, but hopefully im wrong and scal helps us out.

It would be great if this works out because the reason I think that we are going to miss the Pose is the end of the game lineup.  We were great at the end of the fourth when we'd play KG at the 5 and posey at the 4, it allowed us to have 5 (4.5 with rondo) shooters on the court, spread the court and let Pierce go to work or KG get single teams in the post.  If was good enough to do this it would be great but I really dont think he is and without this line up Im a little scared for crunch time.

Posey at the 4 wasn't that good of a lineup, or you don't remember how many times people were crying over small ball throughout the season? Of all the things that we shouldn't miss, is Posey at the 4.

With that said, having a 4 handy that can knock down shots is a good thing to have, but not a necessity.

I could really care less if people were crying about small ball we won a championship playing with it. Obviously those people who complained really don't value the importance of spacing or winning games. Watch the games, see what opened up at the end of games for us with that line up in.  Obviously you can't run it all game but, at the end with pierce and ray going to the boards extra hard, it was great.  Whats our end of game line up now?

Actually what I remember about fourth quarters and Celtics small ball was a lot of very comfortable leads becoming uncomfortable. I remember scoring more points with a bunch of gunners on the floor but I remember their defense being fairly bad most of the time and taken advantage of by even the worst of teams.

[xmuscularghandix]

i think its gonna be tony backing up minutes for ray and paul, along with walker playing short minutes. but by the late parts of the season i think walker will have a serious opportunity to jump in.

[wdleehi]

I think we got the guy already, both to backup Pierce and who can fill in at the 4 in a pinch. 

Brian Scalabrine

Say what you want about him, but he is an above average defender in this league.  He knows the system as good as anyone and he can guard both 3's and 4's.  And don't leave him open to double Pierce or KG, Scal will knock down that outside shot when given the opportunity. 

I'm calling it right now, career year for Scal in 08'-09'

still love to know where this "above average defender" thing comes from considering he gets toasted in the limited minutes he gets, but hopefully im wrong and scal helps us out.

It would be great if this works out because the reason I think that we are going to miss the Pose is the end of the game lineup.  We were great at the end of the fourth when we'd play KG at the 5 and posey at the 4, it allowed us to have 5 (4.5 with rondo) shooters on the court, spread the court and let Pierce go to work or KG get single teams in the post.  If was good enough to do this it would be great but I really dont think he is and without this line up Im a little scared for crunch time.

Posey at the 4 wasn't that good of a lineup, or you don't remember how many times people were crying over small ball throughout the season? Of all the things that we shouldn't miss, is Posey at the 4.

With that said, having a 4 handy that can knock down shots is a good thing to have, but not a necessity.

I could really care less if people were crying about small ball we won a championship playing with it. Obviously those people who complained really don't value the importance of spacing or winning games. Watch the games, see what opened up at the end of games for us with that line up in.  Obviously you can't run it all game but, at the end with pierce and ray going to the boards extra hard, it was great.  Whats our end of game line up now?

Actually what I remember about fourth quarters and Celtics small ball was a lot of very comfortable leads becoming uncomfortable. I remember scoring more points with a bunch of gunners on the floor but I remember their defense being fairly bad most of the time and taken advantage of by even the worst of teams.

That lineup was overused.  And it was used in situations that they should have stayed big.


But there were times when the smaller lineup did work and the Celtics lost some of the flexibility.

[xmuscularghandix]

or they could just sign...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMead7kC5Wc

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think we got the guy already, both to backup Pierce and who can fill in at the 4 in a pinch. 

Brian Scalabrine

Say what you want about him, but he is an above average defender in this league.  He knows the system as good as anyone and he can guard both 3's and 4's.  And don't leave him open to double Pierce or KG, Scal will knock down that outside shot when given the opportunity. 

I'm calling it right now, career year for Scal in 08'-09'

still love to know where this "above average defender" thing comes from considering he gets toasted in the limited minutes he gets, but hopefully im wrong and scal helps us out.

It would be great if this works out because the reason I think that we are going to miss the Pose is the end of the game lineup.  We were great at the end of the fourth when we'd play KG at the 5 and posey at the 4, it allowed us to have 5 (4.5 with rondo) shooters on the court, spread the court and let Pierce go to work or KG get single teams in the post.  If was good enough to do this it would be great but I really dont think he is and without this line up Im a little scared for crunch time.

Posey at the 4 wasn't that good of a lineup, or you don't remember how many times people were crying over small ball throughout the season? Of all the things that we shouldn't miss, is Posey at the 4.

With that said, having a 4 handy that can knock down shots is a good thing to have, but not a necessity.

I could really care less if people were crying about small ball we won a championship playing with it. Obviously those people who complained really don't value the importance of spacing or winning games. Watch the games, see what opened up at the end of games for us with that line up in.  Obviously you can't run it all game but, at the end with pierce and ray going to the boards extra hard, it was great.  Whats our end of game line up now?

Actually what I remember about fourth quarters and Celtics small ball was a lot of very comfortable leads becoming uncomfortable. I remember scoring more points with a bunch of gunners on the floor but I remember their defense being fairly bad most of the time and taken advantage of by even the worst of teams.

Exactly, the line-up had little success. The problem was that there wasn't anyone Doc could trust down the stretch to play the 4 or 5 alongside Garnett... that's why I never blamed Doc for using Posey the way he did. Once they signed Brown and he established himself (even before that), Doc pretty much scratched that line-up because it simply didn't work. It worked against some (like the soft Lakers), but it isn't a preffered line-up.

[nickagneta]

I think we got the guy already, both to backup Pierce and who can fill in at the 4 in a pinch. 

Brian Scalabrine

Say what you want about him, but he is an above average defender in this league.  He knows the system as good as anyone and he can guard both 3's and 4's.  And don't leave him open to double Pierce or KG, Scal will knock down that outside shot when given the opportunity. 

I'm calling it right now, career year for Scal in 08'-09'

still love to know where this "above average defender" thing comes from considering he gets toasted in the limited minutes he gets, but hopefully im wrong and scal helps us out.

It would be great if this works out because the reason I think that we are going to miss the Pose is the end of the game lineup.  We were great at the end of the fourth when we'd play KG at the 5 and posey at the 4, it allowed us to have 5 (4.5 with rondo) shooters on the court, spread the court and let Pierce go to work or KG get single teams in the post.  If was good enough to do this it would be great but I really dont think he is and without this line up Im a little scared for crunch time.

Posey at the 4 wasn't that good of a lineup, or you don't remember how many times people were crying over small ball throughout the season? Of all the things that we shouldn't miss, is Posey at the 4.

With that said, having a 4 handy that can knock down shots is a good thing to have, but not a necessity.

I could really care less if people were crying about small ball we won a championship playing with it. Obviously those people who complained really don't value the importance of spacing or winning games. Watch the games, see what opened up at the end of games for us with that line up in.  Obviously you can't run it all game but, at the end with pierce and ray going to the boards extra hard, it was great.  Whats our end of game line up now?

Actually what I remember about fourth quarters and Celtics small ball was a lot of very comfortable leads becoming uncomfortable. I remember scoring more points with a bunch of gunners on the floor but I remember their defense being fairly bad most of the time and taken advantage of by even the worst of teams.

Exactly, the line-up had little success. The problem was that there wasn't anyone Doc could trust down the stretch to play the 4 or 5 alongside Garnett... that's why I never blamed Doc for using Posey the way he did. Once they signed Brown and he established himself (even before that), Doc pretty much scratched that line-up because it simply didn't work. It worked against some (like the soft Lakers), but it isn't a preffered line-up.

I too defended Doc for the use of that lineup. In many cases he just didn't have a choice because, let's face it, they didn't have a lot of height or muscle up front. Late, you wanted your best on the floor and Posey was the fourth or fifth(depending upon your opinion of Rondo) best player on that team last year.

The lineup didn't lose us many games but it was fairly ineffective and was better than having Perk's foul shooting presence on the floor in the fourth quarter. Yeah, at times Perk was necessary on the floor but you can't blame Doc for using his  5 best players out there.