We haven't solved the problem

[BballTim]

BBallTim, who are you agreeing with after all? Do you think Joe Smith is an all-star or not? You said that you have already agreed with all of the people who feel that we have no shot at being a contender without Posey and PJ but who are those people? I'm a tad worried about you after reading your recent posts, I confess.

  Thanks for your concern. The poster I responded to, CoachBo, has said (more than a few times, I think)that our team without Posey and PJ had no shot at a title. Of course I don't think Smith is an all-star. Hence the "I would never make any of those comments seriously" comment I made.

I think what he said is that the roster which started the season had no shot at a title - that's a quite different thing, no? I mean, I suppose he wouldn't have a problem if Posey was replaced by Shane Battier and PJ Brown by Dwight Howard -to sum it up, that this team would need to replace their contributions better. Maybe you're distorting other peoples words to fit your argument, no? I know you have the habit of caricature what others people say, but this case is a little bit too much.

  Is this supposed to be serious? That's too wacky to bother responding to.

What part of it is wacky? That you distorted what he said? I dont' think so. Anyway, I can understand why you don't want to "respond" to this, no biggie.

  The fact that you seem to be oblivious to the meaning of facetious and sarcastic, for starters.

[CoachBo]

It doesn't really matter, I think. People would just make it up, just like the "Kobe killed Posey!" stuff.

so if you don't like it people made it up?

I see your point about it not really mattering in this case, but thats not really a conductive way to prove your point.

The fact that I don't like it or not is immaterial. There's no connection. I don't even care if people think Posey played good or bad defense on Kobe. All I want to know is when was Posey guarding Kobe, no matter your opinion on how well he did it. It's merely a factual, 100% objective question - there's no room to disagree or to agree, to like or dislike it.

Chuckle.

Well, there's plenty of fabrication going on this board, especially as it pertains to Posey. Lots and lots of making up, actually.

I have - and will continue - to criticize Ainge for his total failure to deliver a competent wing to back up Paul, a point that continues to get blurred as the anti-Posey crowd tries to reposition itself on the issue to avoid or blur being wrong.

I have also said that Posey himself isn't the point: Finding a wing who combines above-average skill and length, which includes ballhandling, rebounding, perimeter shooting, defense and most importantly, effort, should have been a priority for Ainge. Instead, we got another year of the failed Tony Allen experiment. If that's Plan B, then someone should have more carefully considered the ramifications of whiffing on Plan A.

The roster that we opened the season with wasn't going to repeat, despite all the protestations on this board. It's been amusing to watch some of the defenders of that roster now adamantly defending the acquisitions of Moore and Steph. Those motives are clear, not that they weren't earlier anyway.

At any rate, Danny clearly recognized the inferiority of the initial roster he assembled - for that I applaud him - and made a couple of changes, both on which the jury remains out. You'll notice that I've remained largely out of the Mikki Moore and Steph frays, although I lean toward Roy's assessment of Mikki: Better than POB, but who isn't? Both moves deserve some time to play themselves out.

The roster to chase a repeat is set. Whether it does or not will determine this summer's conversation on Celtics Blog, eh?

[BballTim]

So, there was no misunderstood! You reckon nobody except you was actually claiming that stuff. I'll stand by my answer then:

Really? Does that mean that nobody actually said that Joe Smith is an All-Star or that Posey will deliver the title to NO or that he should get a max contract? Because an absurd percentage of your posts are about arguing with the posters who allegedly wrote that stuff. Except that you're now saying nobody did, which means you spend most of your time arguing with..er... oh well, to each his own I guess, it's none of my business...

   Repeat your post a third time if it makes you feel better. It's still ridiculous. I never said that anyone else claimed that Posey should get a max contract. I also said that I wasn't being serious when I said that he should. I don't see how you can claim that an absurd percentage of my posts are about arguing with the posters who allegedly wrote that stuff when nobody is alleging that anybody said that stuff. Maybe you're trying to distort the situation?

[BillfromBoston]

When I see blanket baloney on this board - one of my favorites is "Posey's defense wasn't very good last year" - when the truth is closer to what Billy posted, I'm going to call a poster on it.

The real comment is "Posey wasn't as good as you people make him out to be against LEBRON and BRYANT" which are the two players many of you are afraid of.

First of all, that is false. There are plenty of comments which refer to Posey's overall defence and overall game. Lots of comments saying Tony Allen is a better player and a better fit, that Big Davis is a better fit, etc.

Secondly, let's start with Bryant. When exactly has Posey defended Bryant? I've asked this before and all I got were a few plays, most of them resulting from switches and when Posey was recovering from helping. I remember a couple of minutes here and there in LA, but that's all. The only single time that I remember Posey guarding Kobe for extensive minutes, having the chance to get on a defensive rythmn with him, was in game 6. And frankly, I found absolutely ridiculous the suggestion he wasn't very good. He frustrated him so much that Kobe has one of the worst quarters of his entire career, scoring only 1 point. What exactly was POsey supposed to do, defend the technical free-throw? So, I'm not going to say something like ""Posey wasn't as bad as you people make him out to be against BRYANT", a line of argument I find dishonest, but I have no problems in being blunt and saying that whoever says that Posey's defence on Kobe wasn't good during the Finals is just making up stuff.

Third, what does "Posey wasn't as good as you people make him out to be" mean? Who are "you people" and they make Posey to be exactly what? Why can't the concrete arguments be discussed? I personally think that Posey's defence last season was very good, like it has been his all career. He was never a individual stopper on the perimeter (he's not some sieve either), but he's extraordinary defensively on other aspects.

This has been discussed this season ad nauseam. We're not going to get into the details of the matter every time. Various people have made the same observations, and it's not only about Kobe scoring, it's also about he being allowed to get into the lane and finding people when our defense starts helping him when they otherwise wouldn't. It's not about a player scoring, sometimes you have to notice the types of looks a player is getting and how they're getting them... players do miss shots they should make you know.

Many have made Posey to be this Kobe and LeBron stopper that he isn't (if you don't feel that way, then clearly this is not addressed to you so don't worry about it, but some do). It was first and foremost our team defense. And when Kobe was concerned, Pierce and Tony are better defenders on him, and Ray can be argued on it too (though at times he found himself overmatched). Kobe is too crafty and quick for Posey, Kobe was going wherever he wanted with him. Seriously, why are people so offended by the notion that Posey had trouble covering Kobe and LeBron? Posey did many good things out there, and sure in some stretches he did an adequate job on them, but overall he isn't the stopper many here want to believe he is when these two are regarded.

And no, people who believe Posey wasn't good on Kobe are not making stuff up. I'm not going to do your homework for you, but there were various times that Posey couldn't keep up with him, ate a jab step fake, or gave him enough space for him to either drive past him (forcing our defenders to rotate and leave someone like Paul open) or shoot an uncontested jumper. If you don't believe it to be so, then that's your option... but many have made the same observation that I have so I don't think I'm on the wrong, and I don't doubt that many get different perspectives on things, so you can believe what you want. That he was good on a game or a quarter doesn't absolve the various times he couldn't defend him well, especially in LA. It's like a boxing match, you can have some good rounds against the guy, but overall you're still getting beat. Posey was great against Odom, Walton, Radmanovic... but is it so hard to fathom that Posey simply wasn't good against Kobe (though sure had some good moments against him)... one of the most dominant players in the last decade or so?

Three paragraphs and you weren't able to answer the most simple question - and the only one I made: when was Posey guarding Kobe? Which game, which finals? It's simple, it's objective. You keep saying he wasn't good against Kobe and that many people say the same, like any educated people would buy the argument that if many people say something is because that something is true. That's a fallacy, as you certainly agree, so let's stop using that argument, okay? Thanks for understanding.

Come on, just answer that. I'm basically saying you're making up stuff - and you can disprove me simply by saying "Posey guarded Kobe for extensive minutes and possessions during Games X,Y, quarters Z and W". What's so difficult about that?

Let's be objective here: Posey guarded Kobe in Game 6, 2nd quarter. Kobe didn't score, except from technical free-throw. Was Posey good or not? Or are you talking about other games were Posey's bad defence on Kobe upset the good defence he played in that game? If so, once again, just be objective: which games, between which minutes?

ps - You can go on forever and forever saying "Posey wasn't a good as many believe he was bla bla bla". I don't care. Time to stop that nonsense. Again: which games are you talking about? When was Posey guarding Kobe?

Hmmm...

Game 1. Starting at the 1:26 mark of the first quarter of game one in the series - that's the first time Posey started guarding Kobe in that series. Kobe comes back in at the 8:46 mark of the 2nd quarter, Posey still guarding him until 6:46 mark when Ray Allen comes back in. 5:14 mark, Pierce comes out, Posey assigned to guard Kobe - finishes out the half. :46 second mark of 3rd quarter, Posey comes in for Pierce and guards Kobe - stint ends at 5:48 mark of 4th quarter when Pierce returns.

I can do this for every game as Posey was given the Kobe assignment at some point in every game...please don't force me to go through the remaining 5 games, your point about game 6 being basically the only game Posey was on Kobe is wrong - now re-reading your intial post Cordobes, you put so many caveats into it that i have no idea what to respond with - but Posey WAS assigned to Bryant throughout the series and while he certainly contributed to the team scheme that helped limit Bryant's efficiency their is ample video proof showing that a majority of possessions were successful because Bryant was steered toward the help - not because Posey "'balled 'em up" and locked him down.

MY point in my other post was simple this: Boston relies more on team defensive scheming and having SMART defenders than they do great individual defensive players.

 Both Bryant and James were kept under their normal efficiencies in large part due to Boston's ability to work as a unit, not because of an overwhelming volume of individual defensive possessions.

While both Pierce and Posey had possessions where their individual defensive skills rose to the challenge, neither player relied on this to find the success that the team had on both Bryant and James.  

As I told you  before, I can watch any of these games and verify what's said, don't need to rely on memory to do so. I also don't have to look at gamelogs and hope that the matchups were what they were.

Just reviewing game 1 above I have shown how frequently Posey guarded Kobe - watching the video of those possessions verifies how much Posey's defense was about taking away Kobe's primary option and then working him toward his support.

I think Boston has enough defenders, when healthy, to put different bodies on Kobe and LeBron and mitigage the loss of Posey...

[BballTim]

The roster that we opened the season with wasn't going to repeat, despite all the protestations on this board. It's been amusing to watch some of the defenders of that roster now adamantly defending the acquisitions of Moore and Steph. Those motives are clear, not that they weren't earlier anyway.

  How do we know that the roster wasn't going to repeat? Because you said so? I spent last summer hearing that we were going to struggle this season because of the job Danny did. We wouldn't be able to match last year's pace and Paul and Ray and KG were going to have to play a huge amount of minutes. When that didn't happen it suddenly switched to "just wait until the playoffs, that's where we'll have problems. This, by the way, is another example of people repositioning themselves on the issue to avoid appearing wrong. In any case, your opinion on how the team was going to perform this year pretty much disqualifies you as an expert about whether they'd succeed in the playoffs.

[BillfromBoston]

CoachBo...gonna have to ask how you "know" any of the stuff you  throw out there...ball-handling being one of the missing elements with the loss of Posey? WT...?

Anyways - you keep harping about the poor off-season, yet with injuries to the original roster the team is still looking at a 60-66 win season that any other year in memory would have this team in the lead for HCA or neck-and-neck for it.

Thin on the roster you say? The minutes of GPA were of a negligible difference from last year up until recent injuries spiked both Pierce and Allen in February...before that they were within a minute per game of last season.

Defensively, the team's metrics are barely off from last seasons pace - a pace that was HISTORIC in proportions...even with the team clearly pacing itself and taking games off against inferior opponents, the team is ranked number 1 or 2 in all total defensive efficiency rankings.

So this brings us to the major point of contention - Ainge's off-season. Despite the fact that i've tried to explain from day one of this season that the team was not done building a roster but evaluating the existent roster with ample time to adjust if necissary, the team has had almost no drop off from last season.

The only tangible difference anyone can point out is the losses to LA and SA - both statistically improbable if you go by the "more points than minutes to play" statistic quoted in the NY Times piece regarding Darryl Morey.

I see 4 of the 5 starters playing superior basketball to last season - with Pierce over the last 2 months becoming better than at any time during the regular season last year.

Basically, I have no freaking clue what you are attributing your gripes about Ainge and the current team to...I fail to see how acquiring Marbury and Moore is proof of anything other than the point I originally made about the team being patient and filling needs as they arose.

A 60+ win team is all you can ask for out of a regular season - unless you think signing Posey or some other wing would have led to a win total in the high 60's - at which point i'd have to argue that the cost of signing Posey or taking up a roster spot with a marginal veteran would not be worth the cost considering past history would put the current win projecting smack tab in the "likely" column for HCA.

Bottom line - this team is poised to defend their title - nothing that's happened this year should indicated otherwise. They've addressed their top 2 areas of need in Moore and Marbury, who with a healthy KG should provide the needed depth necissary to contend.

Losing Scal and TA was far more [dang]ing than not signing another backup wing player IMO, based off the impact Posey's 12 minutes of PT at the 3 would have provided...this team is stronger in other areas and substantially so...once they've got all their players healthy i'd expect them to push Cleveland or LAL to the limit....

...doesn't mean they'll beat either team, but that will have very little to do with who Ainge passed up this past summer...

[cordobes]

When I see blanket baloney on this board - one of my favorites is "Posey's defense wasn't very good last year" - when the truth is closer to what Billy posted, I'm going to call a poster on it.

The real comment is "Posey wasn't as good as you people make him out to be against LEBRON and BRYANT" which are the two players many of you are afraid of.

First of all, that is false. There are plenty of comments which refer to Posey's overall defence and overall game. Lots of comments saying Tony Allen is a better player and a better fit, that Big Davis is a better fit, etc.

Secondly, let's start with Bryant. When exactly has Posey defended Bryant? I've asked this before and all I got were a few plays, most of them resulting from switches and when Posey was recovering from helping. I remember a couple of minutes here and there in LA, but that's all. The only single time that I remember Posey guarding Kobe for extensive minutes, having the chance to get on a defensive rythmn with him, was in game 6. And frankly, I found absolutely ridiculous the suggestion he wasn't very good. He frustrated him so much that Kobe has one of the worst quarters of his entire career, scoring only 1 point. What exactly was POsey supposed to do, defend the technical free-throw? So, I'm not going to say something like ""Posey wasn't as bad as you people make him out to be against BRYANT", a line of argument I find dishonest, but I have no problems in being blunt and saying that whoever says that Posey's defence on Kobe wasn't good during the Finals is just making up stuff.

Third, what does "Posey wasn't as good as you people make him out to be" mean? Who are "you people" and they make Posey to be exactly what? Why can't the concrete arguments be discussed? I personally think that Posey's defence last season was very good, like it has been his all career. He was never a individual stopper on the perimeter (he's not some sieve either), but he's extraordinary defensively on other aspects.

This has been discussed this season ad nauseam. We're not going to get into the details of the matter every time. Various people have made the same observations, and it's not only about Kobe scoring, it's also about he being allowed to get into the lane and finding people when our defense starts helping him when they otherwise wouldn't. It's not about a player scoring, sometimes you have to notice the types of looks a player is getting and how they're getting them... players do miss shots they should make you know.

Many have made Posey to be this Kobe and LeBron stopper that he isn't (if you don't feel that way, then clearly this is not addressed to you so don't worry about it, but some do). It was first and foremost our team defense. And when Kobe was concerned, Pierce and Tony are better defenders on him, and Ray can be argued on it too (though at times he found himself overmatched). Kobe is too crafty and quick for Posey, Kobe was going wherever he wanted with him. Seriously, why are people so offended by the notion that Posey had trouble covering Kobe and LeBron? Posey did many good things out there, and sure in some stretches he did an adequate job on them, but overall he isn't the stopper many here want to believe he is when these two are regarded.

And no, people who believe Posey wasn't good on Kobe are not making stuff up. I'm not going to do your homework for you, but there were various times that Posey couldn't keep up with him, ate a jab step fake, or gave him enough space for him to either drive past him (forcing our defenders to rotate and leave someone like Paul open) or shoot an uncontested jumper. If you don't believe it to be so, then that's your option... but many have made the same observation that I have so I don't think I'm on the wrong, and I don't doubt that many get different perspectives on things, so you can believe what you want. That he was good on a game or a quarter doesn't absolve the various times he couldn't defend him well, especially in LA. It's like a boxing match, you can have some good rounds against the guy, but overall you're still getting beat. Posey was great against Odom, Walton, Radmanovic... but is it so hard to fathom that Posey simply wasn't good against Kobe (though sure had some good moments against him)... one of the most dominant players in the last decade or so?

Three paragraphs and you weren't able to answer the most simple question - and the only one I made: when was Posey guarding Kobe? Which game, which finals? It's simple, it's objective. You keep saying he wasn't good against Kobe and that many people say the same, like any educated people would buy the argument that if many people say something is because that something is true. That's a fallacy, as you certainly agree, so let's stop using that argument, okay? Thanks for understanding.

Come on, just answer that. I'm basically saying you're making up stuff - and you can disprove me simply by saying "Posey guarded Kobe for extensive minutes and possessions during Games X,Y, quarters Z and W". What's so difficult about that?

Let's be objective here: Posey guarded Kobe in Game 6, 2nd quarter. Kobe didn't score, except from technical free-throw. Was Posey good or not? Or are you talking about other games were Posey's bad defence on Kobe upset the good defence he played in that game? If so, once again, just be objective: which games, between which minutes?

ps - You can go on forever and forever saying "Posey wasn't a good as many believe he was bla bla bla". I don't care. Time to stop that nonsense. Again: which games are you talking about? When was Posey guarding Kobe?

Hmmm...

Game 1. Starting at the 1:26 mark of the first quarter of game one in the series - that's the first time Posey started guarding Kobe in that series. Kobe comes back in at the 8:46 mark of the 2nd quarter, Posey still guarding him until 6:46 mark when Ray Allen comes back in. 5:14 mark, Pierce comes out, Posey assigned to guard Kobe - finishes out the half. :46 second mark of 3rd quarter, Posey comes in for Pierce and guards Kobe - stint ends at 5:48 mark of 4th quarter when Pierce returns.

I can do this for every game as Posey was given the Kobe assignment at some point in every game...please don't force me to go through the remaining 5 games, your point about game 6 being basically the only game Posey was on Kobe is wrong - now re-reading your intial post Cordobes, you put so many caveats into it that i have no idea what to respond with - but Posey WAS assigned to Bryant throughout the series and while he certainly contributed to the team scheme that helped limit Bryant's efficiency their is ample video proof showing that a majority of possessions were successful because Bryant was steered toward the help - not because Posey "'balled 'em up" and locked him down.

MY point in my other post was simple this: Boston relies more on team defensive scheming and having SMART defenders than they do great individual defensive players.

 Both Bryant and James were kept under their normal efficiencies in large part due to Boston's ability to work as a unit, not because of an overwhelming volume of individual defensive possessions.

While both Pierce and Posey had possessions where their individual defensive skills rose to the challenge, neither player relied on this to find the success that the team had on both Bryant and James. 

As I told you  before, I can watch any of these games and verify what's said, don't need to rely on memory to do so. I also don't have to look at gamelogs and hope that the matchups were what they were.

Just reviewing game 1 above I have shown how frequently Posey guarded Kobe - watching the video of those possessions verifies how much Posey's defense was about taking away Kobe's primary option and then working him toward his support.

I think Boston has enough defenders, when healthy, to put different bodies on Kobe and LeBron and mitigage the loss of Posey...

So, when was Posey torched by Kobe, after all? If you can re-watch the game 1, do it and count how many times Posey played bad defense and was break down by Kobe. Quite simple, no? Every one can do it, the game can be dowloaded easily: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4224933/NBA.2008.Finals.G1.Celtics_Lakers-XVID-s-h-tm

I can also upload the remaining ones easily if someone needs them.

The way you stop dribble drives when playing wing defence is by forcing the players towards the help, that's not exclusive from the Celtics. There are several ways of doing this, depends on the situation, but once the wing entry pass is not denied, you basically have two options: either force the guy baseline or to the middle. The C's had a long tradition of giving the middle, since Red, Pitino was the first one to change that.  There are some coaches who like to play straight up, by sagging off - Dick Bennett from Wisconsin comes to mind - but that's real uncommon in the NBA, as it demands lots of switches and a more stationary defence.

Anyway, like most NBA teams these days - the Raptors being a notable exception till recently - the C's primary option is to force baseline, steering towards the corner and helping there. And this happens with every single wing player who drives, be it Kobe, Lebron, Salmons or whoever else. So, there's nothing special on how Pierce, Posey or the C's defended Kobe or Lebron. When they were able to force them to where they wanted (mostly the corner), they did a good job. If this is what people mean by "team defence" and "work as an unit", that's kind of weird.

We already had this conversation and I'll have to repeat myself: our defensive scheme is based on the perimeter defenders not being broken down on drives and cuts from their opponents - precisely due to how much, how soon and where we help. So, saying that the individual defender is not really that important because we have a good "team defence" is nonsensical. No team defence can work without good individual defenders - except when it consists of stuff like zones, but the C's use a fairly conservative defensive system. It simply doesn't work the other way around.

I have a feeling that must people dont' really understand the concept of "team defence", that overvalue what "team defence" can do for a team and how the C's "team defence" work. I'll write a post about this later.

[cordobes]

BBallTim, who are you agreeing with after all? Do you think Joe Smith is an all-star or not? You said that you have already agreed with all of the people who feel that we have no shot at being a contender without Posey and PJ but who are those people? I'm a tad worried about you after reading your recent posts, I confess.

  Thanks for your concern. The poster I responded to, CoachBo, has said (more than a few times, I think)that our team without Posey and PJ had no shot at a title. Of course I don't think Smith is an all-star. Hence the "I would never make any of those comments seriously" comment I made.

I think what he said is that the roster which started the season had no shot at a title - that's a quite different thing, no? I mean, I suppose he wouldn't have a problem if Posey was replaced by Shane Battier and PJ Brown by Dwight Howard -to sum it up, that this team would need to replace their contributions better. Maybe you're distorting other peoples words to fit your argument, no? I know you have the habit of caricature what others people say, but this case is a little bit too much.

  Is this supposed to be serious? That's too wacky to bother responding to.

What part of it is wacky? That you distorted what he said? I dont' think so. Anyway, I can understand why you don't want to "respond" to this, no biggie.

  The fact that you seem to be oblivious to the meaning of facetious and sarcastic, for starters.

Oh, I'm not oblivious to the meaning of sarcastic. That's why I wrote this:


Really? Does that mean that nobody actually said that Joe Smith is an All-Star or that Posey will deliver the title to NO or that he should get a max contract? Because an absurd percentage of your posts are about arguing with the posters who allegedly wrote that stuff. Except that you're now saying nobody did, which means you spend most of your time arguing with..er... oh well, to each his own I guess, it's none of my business...

Again, so many of your posts are based on sarcastic remarks and exaggerations of what others say that I wanted to check if they were actually concious efforts of sarcasm or you were actually convinced other were making the arguments you so often try to refute. Sometimes in the internet it's hard to say what others actually mean. But again, none of my business, as I said it's just a matter of personal preference.

[BballTim]

Again, so many of your posts are based on sarcastic remarks and exaggerations of what others say that I wanted to check if they were actually concious efforts of sarcasm or you were actually convinced other were making the arguments you so often try to refute. Sometimes in the internet it's hard to say what others actually mean. But again, none of my business, as I said it's just a matter of personal preference.

  Ok, I'll agree that sarcasm can be difficult to detect over the internet, but I normally assume that my sarcastic comments are exaggerated to the point that it would be obvious. In general, when I exaggerate someone's opinion in a response it's because I'm trying to get them to clarify a part of their post or the motivation for their post. For instance, if somebody says that Ainge had a disastrous summer I might say "We now have no shot any more titles!" in order to find out that, no, the poster still thinks we have a good chance at winning the title and we didn't kill our long term viability (which IMO means that the offseason wasn't a disaster).

   I could ask them what damage Danny did to the team, and then follow up by asking them how much less our chances of winning are, followed by a few questions about the long term impact of not signing Posey but it would generally take a lot of questions to get to the same point I get to with one sarcastic remark.

[winsomme]

Again, so many of your posts are based on sarcastic remarks and exaggerations of what others say that I wanted to check if they were actually concious efforts of sarcasm or you were actually convinced other were making the arguments you so often try to refute. Sometimes in the internet it's hard to say what others actually mean. But again, none of my business, as I said it's just a matter of personal preference.

  Ok, I'll agree that sarcasm can be difficult to detect over the internet, but I normally assume that my sarcastic comments are exaggerated to the point that it would be obvious. In general, when I exaggerate someone's opinion in a response it's because I'm trying to get them to clarify a part of their post or the motivation for their post. For instance, if somebody says that Ainge had a disastrous summer I might say "We now have no shot any more titles!" in order to find out that, no, the poster still thinks we have a good chance at winning the title and we didn't kill our long term viability (which IMO means that the offseason wasn't a disaster).

   I could ask them what damage Danny did to the team, and then follow up by asking them how much less our chances of winning are, followed by a few questions about the long term impact of not signing Posey but it would generally take a lot of questions to get to the same point I get to with one sarcastic remark.

BBall, honest question, do you think that we could put together a bench of players from the NBDL or unsigned players out in the ether and still had a shot at the Title?

[Beat LA]

To stop LeBron we have to make sure our team defense is top notch, making sure we give his defender tons of help especially when he tries to drive the lane.  If we can keep him out of the lane, but clogging it and helping a lot when he makes a move, we can try to keep him as a jump shooter.  He is not as dangerous a shooter as when he is getting his way to the basket an getting foul calls.  That's the best chance we have, and we have done it before.

While all of the above is true, I believe everyone (including the coaching staff) is looking at this situation the wrong way.  As we all know, when the Bad Boys were beating Jordan in the postseason, the only thing they concentrated on (aside from the brutality and mind games) was how to stop Michael through their team defense; what they failed to do however, was make MJ play defense for the entire game and thus wear him out.  I think that for the Celtics to win, our team defense must be excellent on everyone (do not over help or let the other players get off).  Instead of letting him rest on the offensive end, Boston needs to attack James relentlessly for 48 minutes and hopefully get him into foul trouble.  Now, I know that everyone will say that you can't get LeBron in foul trouble because of who he is; I understand this argument, but I do think it is possible to put James on the bench with 2 personals - plus, even if we don't get the correct calls from the officials (which never has, and never will happen), we are at least sapping his strength from having to defend many different players.  I say we have Pierce, Leon, Rondo, Marbury, Ray, and everyone else attack him relentlessly.  Take him in the post (Leon, Paul), take him off the dribble (Paul, Marbury, Rondo, Ray), make him chase Ray Allen all over the court, try Giddens (athleticism and great length) and/or Walker on him (this is where having Bonzi Wells would really help - get to it Danny), and I think we have an excellent chance to win (even without KG).  Remember, you don't have to worry about defending LeBron if he's on the bench.  And oh yeah, run the hell out of Big Z, Joe Smith, Floppy, and Wally.   Attack, attack, attack.

[cdif911]

I cooked Lebron's meal before the game, so I think we're gonna be oookay...if ya know what I mean

[Tnerb02]

I cooked Lebron's meal before the game, so I think we're gonna be oookay...if ya know what I mean

Is this what you mean?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6CWVkPhzRw&feature=bz301