ATL and CLE Harder to Beat than DET and LAL in 08 so we need a big, not Posey

[rondohondo]

you have got to be kidding me. First of all there are no big men on the free agent market that are going to make an impact off the bench. Secondly , Possey was a HUGE part of the team chemistry, befor every game each starting player would go hug Posey and he would pump them up by telling each guy something before tip off. The guy is a proven clutch shot make in big games and has 2 championships under his belt.

Also think about this. Last year we got very lucky with PP and RA basically healthy the whole season. Ray is going to be 33 next year, what happens if he was to get injured for an extended period of time next year and we don't have him for some games in that playoffs, would you rather have a rookie like giddins, walker or pruitt playing or would you want posey  and all of his championship experience in there ?

I think the answer is easy, sign posey to a 4 year 18-20 mil deal and use the vet min on a backup pg and center. There is always the trade deadline to get a big man if we are in dire need of one.

[wdleehi]

Atlanta should have been a sweep.  They were no match for the Celtics when the Celtics played their game. 




Cleveland is a tough matchup, but does it make sense to get rid of the 2nd Lebron defender in Posey?  He was one of the reasons the Celtics won. 




The Celtics need Posey (or someone close to his defensive ability) next season. 



There are some big men out there that have shown to be good #2 C (Elson) that will not cost the MLE. 

[saibnel]

I love Poz and want him here, but the guy is referencing specifically clev and atl, Poz did an amazing job on Kobe, but this concept that his D on lebron helped us win the cleveland series, well I just didnt see it. If you still have the games on tape (i do not but watch each game at least twice) what lebron did to posey as far as getting to where he wanted to on the court was just painful. PP was by far our best defender on lebron...

that said, posey is such a solid player I think i would still make him the priority as far as off season spending goes

[wdleehi]

I love Poz and want him here, but the guy is referencing specifically clev and atl, Poz did an amazing job on Kobe, but this concept that his D on lebron helped us win the cleveland series, well I just didnt see it. If you still have the games on tape (i do not but watch each game at least twice) what lebron did to posey as far as getting to where he wanted to on the court was just painful. PP was by far our best defender on lebron...

that said, posey is such a solid player I think i would still make him the priority as far as off season spending goes

Who covered Lebron when Pierce went to the bench?  Do we want to see Ray, Tony or one of the rookies on him next year?

[BudweiserCeltic]

I love Poz and want him here, but the guy is referencing specifically clev and atl, Poz did an amazing job on Kobe, but this concept that his D on lebron helped us win the cleveland series, well I just didnt see it. If you still have the games on tape (i do not but watch each game at least twice) what lebron did to posey as far as getting to where he wanted to on the court was just painful. PP was by far our best defender on lebron...

that said, posey is such a solid player I think i would still make him the priority as far as off season spending goes

Who covered Lebron when Pierce went to the bench?  Do we want to see Ray, Tony or one of the rookies on him next year?

Or some other free-agent pick-up.

[wdleehi]

I love Poz and want him here, but the guy is referencing specifically clev and atl, Poz did an amazing job on Kobe, but this concept that his D on lebron helped us win the cleveland series, well I just didnt see it. If you still have the games on tape (i do not but watch each game at least twice) what lebron did to posey as far as getting to where he wanted to on the court was just painful. PP was by far our best defender on lebron...

that said, posey is such a solid player I think i would still make him the priority as far as off season spending goes

Who covered Lebron when Pierce went to the bench?  Do we want to see Ray, Tony or one of the rookies on him next year?

Or some other free-agent pick-up.

That's why I wrote

The Celtics need Posey (or someone close to his defensive ability) next season. 

But do we see anyone out there equal?

[Greenback]

The Celtics absolutely need Big Game James!  However, another huge need is a big backup center.  Maybe there will be someone available through free agency, but there doesn't appear to be much there.  Mourning and PJ are on their last legs.  If only we could ship out Scal in a package with one of our new draft picks.  Compared to free agency, the draft was a cheaper way to pick a big and we came up small.  Clifford Ray, who worked with Dwight Howard out of high school, could have helped develop a big project for us.  Now, we are inviting Brian Butch in for a minicamp.  Point guard is not as good as I would like to see, either.  Rondo really looked inexperienced in the playoffs except for game 6 against LA.  Rondo would drive to the hoop and then was afraid of taking it to the basket. The result was a risky pass to someone to shoot a desperation shot.  Don't forget the value of Eddie House and Sam.  Repeating won't be as easy as most believe and right now the Celtics have several needs.

[rondohondo]

Rondo really looked inexperienced in the playoffs except for game 6 against LA.  Rondo would drive to the hoop and then was afraid of taking it to the basket. The result was a risky pass to someone to shoot a desperation shot.  Don't forget the value of Eddie House and Sam.  Repeating won't be as easy as most believe and right now the Celtics have several needs.

Of course he looked inexperienced, it was his first playoff run, but it's not like game 6 was his only good game .

He averaged 10ppg, 6.6apg, and just 1.8 to . That is a very good assist to turnover ratio. I agree that we still need a vet pg back and a vet big man , but not at the expense of losing james posey.

[CoachBo]

We don't need Posey?

Wow.  I'm glad you're not the GM.

Could not agree with Bankshot more strongly, and could not disagree with the OP more strongly. No Posey, no title.

[silvershamrocker]

We need both.

We need Posey to do what he does: guard LeBron and the other good wings of the NBA, hit threes, get rebounds, take charges, gives the starters a hug, etc.

But we also need a center to: guard bigs we'll probably see in the playoffs like D Howard, Big Z, maybe Detroit will trade for a big guy; rebound, protect the paint, block shots, etc. They also should play every night, and I don't know if Mourning or Mutombo or PJ can do that.

Loy's Place has a great list of FA centers, btw:

http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2008/06/shopping-for-free-agent-center.html

[BudweiserCeltic]

I love Poz and want him here, but the guy is referencing specifically clev and atl, Poz did an amazing job on Kobe, but this concept that his D on lebron helped us win the cleveland series, well I just didnt see it. If you still have the games on tape (i do not but watch each game at least twice) what lebron did to posey as far as getting to where he wanted to on the court was just painful. PP was by far our best defender on lebron...

that said, posey is such a solid player I think i would still make him the priority as far as off season spending goes

Who covered Lebron when Pierce went to the bench?  Do we want to see Ray, Tony or one of the rookies on him next year?

Or some other free-agent pick-up.

That's why I wrote

The Celtics need Posey (or someone close to his defensive ability) next season. 

But do we see anyone out there equal?

Matt Barnes or Mickael Pietrus might be up for the task in our defense, especially with all the help defense we can give.

Some might disagree with me, but I think the key for LeBron wasn't as much Pierce and Posey, but our big man rotation behind them... Pierce and Posey were great though. But as we know, we don't stop this types of players individually, it takes the whole team.  Also, Pierce was much better on LeBron than Posey was. Aside from the first 1 or 2 games, LeBron started looking quite good against Posey.  I remember you getting on Doc for putting Posey on LeBron instead of Pierce in one of the games. The reason for that was because LeBron was getting the best of him.

Then there's the Rip Hamilton situation. A bit unfair to put Posey in this situation, but just as we get someone capable of defending powerful powards/guards, we still have problems with the quick ones. So it's not as clear cut as some people might want us to think.

Posey needs to resign, but I wouldn't go and hand him the full MLE without exploring other options to maximize the MLE first.

[Greenback]

If Posey is gone, who would give everybody hugs?

[Vermont Green]

The Celtics need Posey (or someone close to his defensive ability) next season.   

Some one else said it along the way that Posey did many good things in the playoffs but covering LeBron was not one of them.  Posey is not alone in that for sure.  The point is that right now, the hype around Posey, who is a terrific bench player, is exaggerated.  IMO, another legitimate big is a more important need than the things we would lose if we can't get Posey back.  Posey brought toughness but the team will not be exactly soft without him.  He can hit the 3 but only if fully set and not contested.  He can defend a range of players but can't defend a quicker 2 or a bigger 4.  He gives us some nice options when we "go small" but I would rather be able to "go big".  It is a tough call for sure but if we use the "bigger" money on Posey and what is left on whatever big we can get, I will be worried.  I have read many good points here both ways but we need to get a big first and then if we can get Posey too, great.  If not, the next best Posey type player (and there are always other good mid-sized bench players around) will have to do.

[Roy Hobbs]

I have read many good points here both ways but we need to get a big first and then if we can get Posey too, great.  

Again, though, who is that big?  Is Kwame Brown going to be that much more valuable to our team than Posey?

[CoachBo]

The Celtics need Posey (or someone close to his defensive ability) next season.   

Some one else said it along the way that Posey did many good things in the playoffs but covering LeBron was not one of them.  Posey is not alone in that for sure.  The point is that right now, the hype around Posey, who is a terrific bench player, is exaggerated.  IMO, another legitimate big is a more important need than the things we would lose if we can't get Posey back.  Posey brought toughness but the team will not be exactly soft without him.  He can hit the 3 but only if fully set and not contested.  He can defend a range of players but can't defend a quicker 2 or a bigger 4.  He gives us some nice options when we "go small" but I would rather be able to "go big".  It is a tough call for sure but if we use the "bigger" money on Posey and what is left on whatever big we can get, I will be worried.  I have read many good points here both ways but we need to get a big first and then if we can get Posey too, great.  If not, the next best Posey type player (and there are always other good mid-sized bench players around) will have to do.

I can't begin to tell you how much I disagree with this viewpoint. We just won a championship with James Posey and PJ Brown.

Please tell me how reversing that mix makes this basketball team one iota better, and please tell me exactly who at the 5 makes this team better than Posey and Brown.

I don't agree with you at all, Vermont, and I am going to be livid if James Posey isn't resigned. No Posey, no title, according to Danny Ainge. And he's exactly correct.