We haven't solved the problem

[Bankshot]

This is where we miss having a guy like Posey who can defend the 3/4 position.  And how long is Tony Allen going to stay hurt?  He does this every year.  We should have given up on him from the start and gotten a real SF backup instead.

I think most of us knew that crunch time of the season is when we would miss Posey or a guy like him.

[xmuscularghandix]

if Scal wasn't hurt we'd be talking about how smart he plays and how well he plays team defense, intead we're talking about this... come playoffs time at least TA or Scal will be back. thats our backup wing.

[Who]

This is a very big problem for the Celtics. The team has a good bench, but not an elite one, and a hole like this on the wing could hugely lower their impact.

The rookies need to start playing right now. Every game that they don't get experience from is a wasted opportunity, and will only increase the odds of a disaster in the playoffs.

I'm more worried about Giddens because he has looked nervous in regular season games. How's he going to handle playing the Cavs in the playoffs if he's nervous now? He needs games, minutes, touches. He's not comfortable in this league yet.

[Spfldkid]

Artest and Battier did a good job on Lebron.....Walker may be able to do some good. PP cannot play Lebron and score....doesn't really happen. Tony A should be back...he can slow him down. It isn't just Lebron though, we need to make sure Clevelands other guys don't score.... No one ever bodies up on Lebron or Kobe, a little physical stuff can help...ask Artest...! Although we have some height, don't expect Doc to play them the right way, or run a play for them.....he is lost on big men...a lot of post plays can get other teams big men in foul trouble...one thing that NEVER happens when playing against the Celtics, because Doc doesn't know how to go at them....!

[Fafnir]

This is a very big problem for the Celtics. The team has a good bench, but not an elite one, and a hole like this on the wing could hugely lower their impact.

The rookies need to start playing right now. Every game that they don't get experience from is a wasted opportunity, and will only increase the odds of a disaster in the playoffs.

I'm more worried about Giddens because he has looked nervous in regular season games. How's he going to handle playing the Cavs in the playoffs if he's nervous now? He needs games, minutes, touches. He's not comfortable in this league yet.

Honestly until our playoff seed is locked, I doubt we'll see both rookies. Doc will pick one at best, and judging by past play time, it will be Walker.

[celticinorlando]

IF doc had been woring the rooks in all season...we wouldn't be having this discussion

[CoachBo]

This is where we miss having a guy like Posey who can defend the 3/4 position.  And how long is Tony Allen going to stay hurt?  He does this every year.  We should have given up on him from the start and gotten a real SF backup instead.

I think most of us knew that crunch time of the season is when we would miss Posey or a guy like him.

Indeed.

Plus, I have my doubts that we'll see Scal again this year - or should.

[housecall]

 Lebron is better at shooting the 3pt shot this season...making him work harder on the defense end would help.

[angryguy77]

Dont forget about Marbury. We may have a weakness at the wing, but we are looking at this as pre-marbury team. Not "if" but when he get used to our style he will be a very big help to our scoring problems off the bench. His driving and ability to stretch the floor are going to be big for us.

[Who]

IF doc had been woring the rooks in all season...we wouldn't be having this discussion

Very true

That's the difference between the C's rookies and other top teams playing youngsters, those other guys already have 50-60 games of experience and have already been matched up against elite talents. For example, Courtney Lee has been Orlando's stopper and has defended the best opposing player for months.

Giddens and Walker are coming into this with no NBA experience. That is a massive concern. If this were the start of the season and the C's were giving this a go, I'd be a lot more optimistic about those players being able to contribute during the playoffs.

[Fafnir]

Lebron is better at shooting the 3pt shot this season...making him work harder on the defense end would help.

Not by much. He hit 31.5% last year and is hitting 33.3% this year. Pretty much in line with his career average of 32%

You want him jacking up threes. Yes if he gets hot he'll burn you bad. But with a player as good as he is you have to pick your poison.

[billysan]

I think many of us have lost sight of two important facts regarding Lebron James and the Cavaliers:

1-James Posey and Paul Pierce played well against Lebron last season, but it was our team defense that won the series IMO. No individual player in the league is going to shut him down, it will continue to be team defense. We need to shut down the driving lanes and make him a jump shooter. Lebron is going to get a certain number of points, but he cant beat us by himself. We just need to limit the amount of support  Mo Williams and Big Z can give him.

2-If Paul Pierce is forced to expend a large amount of energy guarding Lebron James (as he should) then we shouldnt be looking at him as our primary scorer and clutch shooter for this series. I dont see a problem with Paul sacrificing Offense for Defense if we win. We have several other players including Ray Allen, KG and now possibly Stephon Marbury that are very capable of putting up big scoring nites to pick up the slack.  

If we stop worrying about who will play defense on Lebron James and make the Cavaliers step up and play defense on us, we will have excellent results. We should just run away offensively with this game if we abuse the matchups. Delonte is going to slow down Ray Allen? Z is going to stop KG? I just dont see it and they cannot afford to double team us or we will kill them. Let Paul be a decoy and just have him drive to the hoop every time he gets the ball on offense. The kick-out shots will be there, trust me.

[CoachBo]

Good points about Posey and Pierce's defense, Billy - not that this board gives Posey much credit for anything last year.

[KungPoweChicken]

Good points about Posey and Pierce's defense, Billy - not that this board gives Posey much credit for anything last year.

Well I think it's about time Posey has gotten his due here on Celticsblog. It has been a long time coming.

[MVP]

I agree that Doc should play the rookies.

However, there's no chance that Bill Walker can contain Lebron in the playoffs.  Lebron abuses starting small forwards.  I doubt very much that he'd be even slowed by Walker.

To beat Cleveland in the playoffs, we're going to need to play Pierce heavy minutes, to both contain Lebron and to score on the offensive end.  For him to be effective in those minutes, he needs rest now.  The key to giving him that rest is to find more time for the rookies.

What is missing is this analysis, is that the main reason we did so well against LeBron during the playoffs last year was mainly due to our big men rotation. We often put 3 bodies between LeBron and the basket, often with KG and Perk.

Containing LeBron for a full series is really tough, but our main success against him started with our bigs, not our man defense on him.

Put Walker on Lebron, and see what happens.  When you're releasing Lebron with a full head of steam towards the basket, he's either going to score or pick up a foul, I don't care how good your bigs are.  The guy playing man defense on Lebron needs to have the strength, skills, and experience to guide Lebron to the right spots, and to slow him down on his drives.  Pierce did that masterfully last year in the playoffs, especially in the first two games.

It's not like Walker is a good physical matchup for Lebron.  He's somewhere between 6'4" and 6'5", and weighs around 220.  Lebron is at least 6'9", and weighs well over 250.  Lebron is bigger, faster, and stronger.  I doubt he even slows Lebron down at this stage of their respective careers.

Walker is almost as good as physical matchup as you can get. Of course Lebron is in a league of his own in terms of physical ability, but Walker is similar in similar to Pierce in terms of height, length, strength (he is pretty strong for a rookie). We haven't seen him really during the regular season so I don't know how he can play defense period, nevermind Lebron James. The concern that I have from watching D-League box scores is that Walker was very foul prone...him being a rookie and guarding Lebron he could get 6 fouls in two minutes.

I think that Tony Allen will do a good job on him if he's healthy though. Lebron can shoot over Allen, but that's what you want him doing - shooting jumpers. Allen has very good lateral quickness so he can do a decent job of keeping Lebron from attacking the paint. We would need to double team when Lebron posts up, but for 3-4 minute stretch each half, I think TA can do a good job. The question is how he'll be on the other end of the court. He has to make wide open jumpshots.