Is TA Right Now as Good as He will Ever Get?!

[crownsy]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

I'll go on record and say it Nick! IMO TA won't do it in the playoffs. I think Doc agrees as well. That is why he played very little in the playoffs last year. He went down to 2.5 min a game with 14 DNP's. It is clear to everyone including Doc that TA's production out there on the court in crucial situations is a complete unknown. He isn't a bright player and is so sparadic you can't risk him being out there. I would be very surprised if Danny and Doc didn't discuss this offseason as Posey signed with NO the idea of having TA through the regular season, and hoping someone out there lets go a reasonably solid veteran they can pick up for the playoff run. That or hope he looks better and can make a trade part way through. I need to see a LOT more consistency between now and then to have any confidence in that changing. 1/4 of the way through all we see is a LITTLE improvement with more of the same inconsistency. Past performace doesn't guarantee future results, but it IS the best indicator.

come on now. He played very little in the playoffs last year because he was still hurt (by his and doc's own admission) and we had james posey, who played the 2 and the 3. and him and doc are on recored as saying so.

It wasen't a trust issue, it was a "we have someone better and non-injured" issue. Now we don't have that guy and TA isn't injured.

If they didn't trust him to do it, they would have let him walk this offseason and given posey the 4th year don't you think? the fact that they hard-balled james on years and re-signed him is a pretty big indicator on doc and danny's trust level in TA.

[EJPLAYA]

What worries me most about TA, posters talking about how he is almost back in pre-injury form. 

Wasn't that his rookie year? 


I am sure he will improve, but I don't think it will be a huge improvement at this point.  The mental mistakes are just to many for someone who has been in the league this long.

That was his first injury. The second was as bad if not worse and that was the season before last. Remember the stupid dunk after the play was over that he landed funny on and tore out his knee? I agree though. He is what he is.

[EJPLAYA]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

I'll go on record and say it Nick! IMO TA won't do it in the playoffs. I think Doc agrees as well. That is why he played very little in the playoffs last year. He went down to 2.5 min a game with 14 DNP's. It is clear to everyone including Doc that TA's production out there on the court in crucial situations is a complete unknown. He isn't a bright player and is so sparadic you can't risk him being out there. I would be very surprised if Danny and Doc didn't discuss this offseason as Posey signed with NO the idea of having TA through the regular season, and hoping someone out there lets go a reasonably solid veteran they can pick up for the playoff run. That or hope he looks better and can make a trade part way through. I need to see a LOT more consistency between now and then to have any confidence in that changing. 1/4 of the way through all we see is a LITTLE improvement with more of the same inconsistency. Past performace doesn't guarantee future results, but it IS the best indicator.

come on now. He played very little in the playoffs last year because he was still hurt (by his and doc's own admission) and we had james posey, who played the 2 and the 3. and him and doc are on recored as saying so.

It wasen't a trust issue, it was a "we have someone better and non-injured" issue. Now we don't have that guy and TA isn't injured.

If they didn't trust him to do it, they would have let him walk this offseason and given posey the 4th year don't you think?

I disagree. If it was just an injury reason he wouldn't have gotten an 11 min game and a 9 against ATL and then an 11 and 6 against LA. The key was that when he was inserted into the lineup he didn't perform. He just didn't do anything out there. I don't think he was 100%, but he was less injured than he was in the regular season. When it counted, Doc couldn't trust him. The injury comments just allowed him to save face.

[housecall]

If intangibles were counted as stats,it would be something like :
this season so far
House-100 TA-10

last season

Posey-1000
House-500
TA-injuries/50

My point is TA doesn't bring half of the little things to the team as House or Posey does.His stats may be close or better on paper at times than House or Posey but regular stats do not  show the entire picture.

[crownsy]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

I'll go on record and say it Nick! IMO TA won't do it in the playoffs. I think Doc agrees as well. That is why he played very little in the playoffs last year. He went down to 2.5 min a game with 14 DNP's. It is clear to everyone including Doc that TA's production out there on the court in crucial situations is a complete unknown. He isn't a bright player and is so sparadic you can't risk him being out there. I would be very surprised if Danny and Doc didn't discuss this offseason as Posey signed with NO the idea of having TA through the regular season, and hoping someone out there lets go a reasonably solid veteran they can pick up for the playoff run. That or hope he looks better and can make a trade part way through. I need to see a LOT more consistency between now and then to have any confidence in that changing. 1/4 of the way through all we see is a LITTLE improvement with more of the same inconsistency. Past performace doesn't guarantee future results, but it IS the best indicator.

come on now. He played very little in the playoffs last year because he was still hurt (by his and doc's own admission) and we had james posey, who played the 2 and the 3. and him and doc are on recored as saying so.

It wasen't a trust issue, it was a "we have someone better and non-injured" issue. Now we don't have that guy and TA isn't injured.

If they didn't trust him to do it, they would have let him walk this offseason and given posey the 4th year don't you think?

I disagree. If it was just an injury reason he wouldn't have gotten an 11 min game and a 9 against ATL and then an 11 and 6 against LA. The key was that when he was inserted into the lineup he didn't perform. He just didn't do anything out there. I don't think he was 100%, but he was less injured than he was in the regular season. When it counted, Doc couldn't trust him. The injury comments just allowed him to save face.

Right, they made up the story about him tweaking his knee in practice playing one on one with sam, sat him for the next two series and then barley played him in one blowout in game 6 for nine minutes to protect his feelings. honestly  .

And then, because they couldn't own up to the fact that they made a mistake in the draft, they hardballed james posey on years and resigned TA to a two year deal to keep up the facade rather than admit the don't trust TA.

To complete this conspiricy, they will now bring up Walker to ride the pine, and doc will declare him "not as good as TA" Thus thier complicated scheme to protect TA's opnion of himself will be achived.

Face it, YOU may not belive in TA, heck, I don't belive in TA. But the front office and the team does, and they make the decisions. He is going to be a big part of our bench come playoff time unless some much better 2/3 combo guy gets bought out.

[winsomme]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

i think we are going to need better bench play in the playoffs than we are seeing right now...

Pierce is really getting beat-up right now in part because of the bench not really playing well. since TA doesn't fit the Posey role, we have actually had to tweak our rotations and whereas last season Paul and KG were rotating in and out together, this year PP is having to step in with the bench unit. that puts a lot more wear and tear on him.

[BballTim]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

I'll go on record and say it Nick! IMO TA won't do it in the playoffs. I think Doc agrees as well. That is why he played very little in the playoffs last year. He went down to 2.5 min a game with 14 DNP's. It is clear to everyone including Doc that TA's production out there on the court in crucial situations is a complete unknown. He isn't a bright player and is so sparadic you can't risk him being out there. I would be very surprised if Danny and Doc didn't discuss this offseason as Posey signed with NO the idea of having TA through the regular season, and hoping someone out there lets go a reasonably solid veteran they can pick up for the playoff run. That or hope he looks better and can make a trade part way through. I need to see a LOT more consistency between now and then to have any confidence in that changing. 1/4 of the way through all we see is a LITTLE improvement with more of the same inconsistency. Past performace doesn't guarantee future results, but it IS the best indicator.

  Doc went with a tightened rotation in the playoffs. At PG he went with Cassell. When he faltered, he went to House. He went back to Sam vs Detroit and back to House at the end. For bigs, he went with Leon and then switched to PJ. At the wing defender he went with Posey. Since Posey never A) hit a matchup he couldn't play aganst and B) didn't play poorly enough to get taken out of the lineup, Tony never got much play in the playoffs. That's why Tony hardly played in the playoffs, and I'm pretty sure that Doc said so more than once last summer. It wasn't that Doc didn't think that Tony couldn't play, but didn't think that he'd play better than Posey.

[BballTim]

If intangibles were counted as stats,it would be something like :
this season so far
House-100 TA-10

last season

Posey-1000
House-500
TA-injuries/50

My point is TA doesn't bring half of the little things to the team as House or Posey does.His stats may be close or better on paper at times than House or Posey but regular stats do not  show entire picture.

  Posey brought more intangibles to the team than TA but I don't know that House really does.

[EJPLAYA]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

I'll go on record and say it Nick! IMO TA won't do it in the playoffs. I think Doc agrees as well. That is why he played very little in the playoffs last year. He went down to 2.5 min a game with 14 DNP's. It is clear to everyone including Doc that TA's production out there on the court in crucial situations is a complete unknown. He isn't a bright player and is so sparadic you can't risk him being out there. I would be very surprised if Danny and Doc didn't discuss this offseason as Posey signed with NO the idea of having TA through the regular season, and hoping someone out there lets go a reasonably solid veteran they can pick up for the playoff run. That or hope he looks better and can make a trade part way through. I need to see a LOT more consistency between now and then to have any confidence in that changing. 1/4 of the way through all we see is a LITTLE improvement with more of the same inconsistency. Past performace doesn't guarantee future results, but it IS the best indicator.

come on now. He played very little in the playoffs last year because he was still hurt (by his and doc's own admission) and we had james posey, who played the 2 and the 3. and him and doc are on recored as saying so.

It wasen't a trust issue, it was a "we have someone better and non-injured" issue. Now we don't have that guy and TA isn't injured.

If they didn't trust him to do it, they would have let him walk this offseason and given posey the 4th year don't you think?

I disagree. If it was just an injury reason he wouldn't have gotten an 11 min game and a 9 against ATL and then an 11 and 6 against LA. The key was that when he was inserted into the lineup he didn't perform. He just didn't do anything out there. I don't think he was 100%, but he was less injured than he was in the regular season. When it counted, Doc couldn't trust him. The injury comments just allowed him to save face.

Right, they made up the story about him tweaking his knee in practice playing one on one with sam, sat him for the next two series and then barley played him in one blowout in game 6 for nine minutes to protect his feelings. honestly  .

And then, because they couldn't own up to the fact that they made a mistake in the draft, they hardballed james posey on years and resigned him to keep up the facade rather than admit the don't trust TA.

To complete this conspiricy, they will now bring up Walker to ride the pine, and doc will declare him "not as good as TA" Thus thier complicated scheme to protect TA's opnion of himself will be achived.

Face it, YOU may not belive in TA, heck, I don't belive in TA. But the front office and the team does, and they make the decisions. He is going to be a big part of our bench come playoff time unless some much better 2/3 combo guy gets bought out.

Not saying that TA was 100%. What I am saying it is kind of interesting the guy played 32 min against NJ the last game of the season and averaged 21 min per game in the final month, yet all of a sudden can't play in the playoffs. I distinctly remember TA in multiple games last year making a bone headed play or missing a wide open layup all of a sudden start limping down the floor and reaching for his knee like it was to blame. A couple plays later he's running around fine. If we believed in TA so much we wouldn't have waited until there were really no other options to give him a contract. They were hoping someone else would grab him, or at least knew no one would. When all else failed we give the guy a cheap deal. Not a bad one by any stretch, but not the moves of a team who "believes" in TA.

It's kind of like heading off to prom with the girl who isn't that cute because you waited too long to ask someone. It's better than not going at all, and maybe she'll put out a bit...

[crownsy]

right, but right after the atlanta series, the team reported he tweaked his knee playing 1 on 1 with Sam, and was questionable for the next series.

Also, as i said in my first post, Posey was a much better option at the 2 AND the 3. The third guy off the bench doesn't get many minutes come playoff time.

[BballTim]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

i think we are going to need better bench play in the playoffs than we are seeing right now...

Pierce is really getting beat-up right now in part because of the bench not really playing well. since TA doesn't fit the Posey role, we have actually had to tweak our rotations and whereas last season Paul and KG were rotating in and out together, this year PP is having to step in with the bench unit. that puts a lot more wear and tear on him.

  Pierce is playing more of his minutes with KG than he did last year.

[winsomme]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

i think we are going to need better bench play in the playoffs than we are seeing right now...

Pierce is really getting beat-up right now in part because of the bench not really playing well. since TA doesn't fit the Posey role, we have actually had to tweak our rotations and whereas last season Paul and KG were rotating in and out together, this year PP is having to step in with the bench unit. that puts a lot more wear and tear on him.

  Pierce is playing more of his minutes with KG than he did last year.

well i'm not sure that is necessarily the same thing....but Paul is playing with TA (TA at the SG, PP at the SF) and last year RA was playing with Pose (with RA at the SG and Pose at the SF).

RA was anchoring the second unit last year and this year it seems to me that PP has had to take on that job.

we also were able to play another unit entirely that we can't really play this year with Pose at the 4 (and PP and RA on the wing).

[BballTim]

  Sure. As long as we also stop with any "Tony probably won't do well in the playoffs talk". On this blog, the naysayers always rule in the offseason. Any negative statement about any or all of the Celts is seen as a fact until proven otherwise.

That's fine with me. I never said that Tony couldn't do it in the playoffs, just that he hasn't yet, though you are right some have said such things. This will really be Tony's proving year. If he can play smart basketball in the playoffs and be a positive factor there and not a negative one then he will have made up for a bunch of what we lost in James Posey, but until then, he really hasn't.

i think we are going to need better bench play in the playoffs than we are seeing right now...

Pierce is really getting beat-up right now in part because of the bench not really playing well. since TA doesn't fit the Posey role, we have actually had to tweak our rotations and whereas last season Paul and KG were rotating in and out together, this year PP is having to step in with the bench unit. that puts a lot more wear and tear on him.

  Pierce is playing more of his minutes with KG than he did last year.

well i'm not sure that is necessarily the same thing....but Paul is playing with TA (TA at the SG, PP at the SF) and last year RA was playing with Pose (with RA at the SG and Pose at the SF).

RA was anchoring the second unit last year and this year it seems to me that PP has had to take on that job.

we also were able to play another unit entirely that we can't really play this year with Pose at the 4 (and PP and RA on the wing).

  Paul is playing the same percentage of his minutes with TA this year that he did last year. You're probably right that we haven't gone to a complete 2nd unit as much, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Pierce is playing about 1.5 minutes a game more this year and KG's up a couple but Ray's minutes are down so the big 3 averaged about 105 minutes a game and are at 106 minutes this year. For comparison in 2006-2007 they combined for about 117 minutes a game.

[housecall]

If intangibles were counted as stats,it would be something like :
this season so far
House-100 TA-10

last season

Posey-1000
House-500
TA-injuries/50

My point is TA doesn't bring half of the little things to the team as House or Posey does.His stats may be close or better on paper at times than House or Posey but regular stats do not  show entire picture.

  Posey brought more intangibles to the team than TA but I don't know that House really does.

You don't have to take my word for it,but i pay attn to those type of things moreso than regular stats and House is ahead of TA in the intangibles dept.this season.

[BballTim]

If intangibles were counted as stats,it would be something like :
this season so far
House-100 TA-10

last season

Posey-1000
House-500
TA-injuries/50

My point is TA doesn't bring half of the little things to the team as House or Posey does.His stats may be close or better on paper at times than House or Posey but regular stats do not  show entire picture.

  Posey brought more intangibles to the team than TA but I don't know that House really does.

You don't have to take my word for it,but i pay attn to those type of things moreso than regular stats and House is ahead of TA in the intangibles dept.this season.

  Measuring intangibles. Oh, the irony...