Author Topic: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him  (Read 8206 times)

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Offline wahz

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Celtics teammates accept Posey’s bear hugs

James Posey - 1st off the bench

  By Mike Fine
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Apr 18, 2008 @ 12:08 AM
Last update Apr 18, 2008 @ 08:49 AM

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WALTHAM — It’s become a game-night staple, almost like Larry Bird wiping the bottom of his shoes with his bare hands, or M.L. Carr waving a white towel.

James Posey stands along the sidelines, meets a couple of his teammates and clasps them in a great big man … OK, bear hug and whispers a few words of encouragement.

Most of the Boston Celtics have been involved, even coach Doc Rivers. “I have,” Rivers said. “It’s very tight and longer than usual. He threw me off one game.”

“Yeah, you start one thing and it becomes ritual and you can’t change it,” Ray Allen said. “(Wednesday) night he wasn’t there (DNP-CD) and you kind of freeze up a little bit.” Allen said he has his own little rituals, like looking at certain people who are in the crowd every game, but the Posey ritual seems to get his teammates in a positive frame of mind.

“At first it was more a couple of individuals on the team,” said Posey, who first started the practice during his two seasons in Memphis, 2003-05. “It carried on from there.”

It seems to work. Posey feels the practice is useful and appreciated. “Some guys do,” he said. “I think they do. They haven’t turned down my hugs yet.”

Nor have they turned down any of the other positives that Posey has brought to the team, and as the Celtics prepare for the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs Sunday night at the Garden, they know they’re going to need him and his work, both before the game and once he comes into it, usually as the first player off the bench.

Posey this season has been exceptional, parlaying his defensive efficiency with his 3-point shooting abilities (106-for-279, 3.80) into a substantial contribution. He has meshed wonderfully with Eddie House, youngsters Leon Powe and Glen Davis, plus newcomers P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell. While most of the credit for the team’s success has gone to Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, one could arguably make the case that this team would be nowhere without its bench.

“I think early on we started out pretty good and then hit a wall for awhile,” Rivers said of the bench. “Then we got it going again. The one good thing about our bench, besides Posey, is that it’s been pretty much consistent throughout. There’s been different guys on different nights and that’s been good, as well.”

He does agree, though, that Posey has been the solidifying factor. “Yeah, not only to the bench but also to the team. He’s been terrific in so many other ways than just basketball.”

“I’m just being myself for the most part, just treating others as I would like to be treated. That’s all I can say,” said Posey, who said he’d rather avoid the notebooks and cameras and interact with his teammates.

When Posey signed with the Celtics last Aug. 25, he knew that the top three players were already in place, and that Eddie House had signed. But as far as playing on a bench unit of youngsters, many of them completely untested, was concerned, he simply had no idea what to expect.

“Eddie had signed before me so I knew Eddie was here. That was another big reason why I came. I wanted to be part of something special, as well. At that point it was just me and Eddie. You didn’t really know how things were going to turn out, so just come in and work like you do night in and night out and you see what happens.”

He had no clue about the kids, though. “I knew I just controlled my own destiny, so I was coming into training camp and working hard and trying to earn my minutes and playing time. That’s all I’ve ever done. We’ve got a bunch of guys who are competitors. We compete and it’s about winning at the end of the day. We have guys accepting their roles and they’ve done the best they can. It’s no surprise that we have this much to show for the long haul of the season.

“I’ve been trying to tell these young guys that every team is not like this. You don’t have guys that really care about you and want to help you, so they should appreciate it. It could always go the opposite way. You could always be on a team that’s very selfish and is not into winning, not into teaching and not into trying to help the next man get better. That could really be a terrible thing, especially being young.”

See? This is what Posey does. He mentors his teammates. He gives them a shot of confidence, a word of encouragement, even a hug or two.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” he says of his role. “I’m always over to them, asking and talking. I know myself for the most part and it’s the reason I’ve been in this league. I think I have a little wisdom and things to share with some of the younger guys. At the same time I’m still learning things from P.J. and Sam. It’s an ongoing thing, just learning and trying to improve myself as a person and a basketball player.”

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2008, 12:13:57 PM »

Offline PRIDE

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Give Posey what he wants. Make him a Celtic for years to come and let him  coach when hes done.

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2008, 12:15:48 PM »

Offline TrueGreen

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Wahz, this says it all as far as James Posey goes. His value to the team cannot be stated in monetary terms.

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2008, 12:19:07 PM »

Offline silvershamrocker

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Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2008, 12:23:25 PM »

Offline dooyork

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Quote
this says it all as far as James Posey goes. His value to the team cannot be stated in monetary terms

Exactly.  I feel like the people who keep saying he can be replaced must not have watched the games, and are just looking at stats.  You can't replace what he brings.  If management lets this guy go, it's going to be little consolation to me that we now have cap space in that 4th or 5th year that would not have been there if we chose to pay him full MLE for the time he wants.  Big deal, we have cap space in 2013.  Who gives a crap?  KG, Ray, and PP have a short window: 2009, maybe 2010 and 2011 at the most.  After that, we rebuild.  The time to win is now.  This is not the time to break up the core of this championship team.  Bring back Posey, whatever the cost.
Double rainbow all the way

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2008, 12:25:45 PM »

Offline wahz

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Yeah it will flat ruin my summer if we don't resign him. I am not kidding. I'll feel a lot like we had the title taken away. All the arguements have been said elsewhere and I don't want to get on the mods bad side by repeating them in a new thread. James' refernce to Eddie is telling too. I am going to HATE not seeing Eddies little boy on the sidelines next year if it comes to that. This was a special group of guys. Its too early to break them up. It'd would be enough to get Anderson, and give Pruitt more time to develop

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2008, 12:30:02 PM »

Offline P2

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I don't want players who have dollar signs on their eyes. Maggette is at least worth the money.

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2008, 12:36:41 PM »

Offline wahz

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This year he took HALF what he made the prior year and you don't think he deserves a raise back toward where he was? He isn't even asking for as much as he was making in Miami, as far as we know.
He was paid about what Scal was for Heavens sake!

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2008, 12:46:20 PM »

Offline Roy Hobbs

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The NBA is a business, and Danny can't let sentimentality overshadow his responsibility to the franchise.

There is, of course, a price to be placed on leadership, experience, and chemistry.  It will be up to Danny to determine what that price is.  I'm not sure that it's a five year, $40 million contract.

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Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2008, 12:49:06 PM »

Offline wildo05

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Roy, I could not agree with you more. The team got into this mess before because they didn't look forward enough. Danny would love to have Poz on the roster, but there is a figure they cannot touch. I think he has his eyes on 2010.

I trust Danny!
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Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2008, 01:01:59 PM »

Offline crownsy

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I don't want players who have dollar signs on their eyes. Maggette is at least worth the money.

so he's not allowed to make what he's worth once in his career? he took a pay cut to play here last year.

hate to have you as a boss, wouldn't have you as one for long...
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Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2008, 01:03:49 PM »

Offline BballTim

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Quote
this says it all as far as James Posey goes. His value to the team cannot be stated in monetary terms

Exactly.  I feel like the people who keep saying he can be replaced must not have watched the games, and are just looking at stats.  You can't replace what he brings.  If management lets this guy go, it's going to be little consolation to me that we now have cap space in that 4th or 5th year that would not have been there if we chose to pay him full MLE for the time he wants.  Big deal, we have cap space in 2013.  Who gives a crap?  KG, Ray, and PP have a short window: 2009, maybe 2010 and 2011 at the most.  After that, we rebuild.  The time to win is now.  This is not the time to break up the core of this championship team.  Bring back Posey, whatever the cost.

  I don't know that it's a given that we rebuild in a few years. They could always trade Ray for a max contract player with a longer deal.

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2008, 01:08:29 PM »

Offline Roy Hobbs

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I don't want players who have dollar signs on their eyes. Maggette is at least worth the money.

so he's not allowed to make what he's worth once in his career? he took a pay cut to play here last year.

hate to have you as a boss, wouldn't have you as one for long...

I don't begrudge Posey whatever contract he makes; it's a free market, and he is entitled to go to the highest bidder.  I don't blame him for that.

I did want to clear one thing up, though.  People make it sound sometimes like Posey has been underpaid his entire career, that he's just somehow been struggling to get by.  That's not the case.  He's earned $30.69 million in his career thus far, for career averages of 9.2 ppg and 4.9 rpg.  Before signing with Boston, he was coming of a deal that paid him $6.4 million in its last year.  Posey has been well-compensated for those skills he brings to the court.

I don't have him pushing for one final big contract, but let's not confuse this guy with Eddie House ($6,855,629 over eight seasons).

All the negativity in this town sucks. It sucks, and it stinks, and it sucks. - Rick Pitino

Portland CrotoNats:  2009 CB Draft Champions

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2008, 01:11:33 PM »

Offline crownsy

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Quote
this says it all as far as James Posey goes. His value to the team cannot be stated in monetary terms

Exactly.  I feel like the people who keep saying he can be replaced must not have watched the games, and are just looking at stats.  You can't replace what he brings.  If management lets this guy go, it's going to be little consolation to me that we now have cap space in that 4th or 5th year that would not have been there if we chose to pay him full MLE for the time he wants.  Big deal, we have cap space in 2013.  Who gives a crap?  KG, Ray, and PP have a short window: 2009, maybe 2010 and 2011 at the most.  After that, we rebuild.  The time to win is now.  This is not the time to break up the core of this championship team.  Bring back Posey, whatever the cost.

  I don't know that it's a given that we rebuild in a few years. They could always trade Ray for a max contract player with a longer deal.

they'll also have (in theroy) a great young PG and a good center with a ton off cap flexability, if danny plays out the contracts right since they end in subsequent years.

people have the misconception that suddenly we'll be a 24 win team again. i don't think thats the case between the cap flex we SHOULD in theroy have and the fact that boston has been re-energized as a FA hot spot.
“I will hurt you for this. A day will come when you think you’re safe and happy and your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth. And you will know the debt is paid.” – Tyrion

Re: A final reminder about James Posey before we possibly lose him
« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2008, 01:16:15 PM »

Offline Redz

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I don't want players who have dollar signs on their eyes.

Enjoy watching Youth League Hoops games then  ::)
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