Alternate Reality : James Posey

[Casperian]

I really don`t want to beat a dead horse or make an "I told you so" thread, but before this season, the Posey debate on this forum was huge. No matter on which side you were, we all agreed that we can`t judge the Posey loss until after the season.

It`s certainly not fair to say we lost because we didn`t resign him, since we lost KG and Powe to injuries, and James Posey alone could never make up for that.

However, I`ve seen several remarks about Big Game James after tonight`s loss.

Let`s play the game and settle this once and for all:

Would this season have turned out any different? What do you think would`ve happened?

With the Pose still on the team, do you think Baby would have been able to shine as he did? Do we win game 7 against Orlando? Would we be the #1 seed?

Do you think Posey would have injured Pierce` ribcage with a man-hug midway through the season? Or do you believe he and Lucky would have had a fight during a regular-season game, making the Palace Brawl look like Woodstock 1969?

Serious or not, post your thoughts here...

[xmuscularghandix]

comic book reader?

[KCattheStripe]

James Posey... wouldn't have made a darn bit of difference.

[Casperian]

comic book reader?

[Who]

Posey would have been very useful against Orlando. Might have swung that series Boston's way.

Best defensive option against a combo forward like Lewis. He's a better rebounder than Scal or Davis (edit: sorry, comparable rebounder to Davis). Then add his three point shooting to space the floor out. I think he would have been a huge factor in the series.

[ucn33]

People really did fall for the James Posey slobber-fest that was communicated so eloquently by Van Gundy during last year's postseason.

Posey is a real good bench player for a championship contending team, but it's ludicrous that you even thought to make an "I told you so" thread about him not being re-signed. Sure, he probably would've given the Celts enough off the bench to knock off Orlando, but they still wouldn't have had much of a chance against the Cavs. Maybe he'd be good for a whole win in that series, but that's hardly worth handing him out that abysmal contract the Hornets game him (and guess how many rounds they won?).

Give it a god d**n rest already.

[johnnyrondo]

James Posey... wouldn't have made a darn bit of difference.

Disagree completely. Orlando is a perfect team for Posey at the 4 (as well as the 3). we win with Posey. We'd have won with Birdman, Joe Smith, Nocionni, or Barnes too imo. We needed one more player.

[KCattheStripe]

Posey would have been very useful against Orlando. Might have swung that series Boston's way.

Best defensive option against a combo forward like Lewis. He's a better rebounder than Scal or Davis. Then add his three point shooting to space the floor out. I think he would have been a huge factor in the series.

I don't think he would have been terribly useful against the Magic for a number of reasons. The small ball line up that would have put him against Lewis, is only useful when KG plays the 5. I disagree that Posey's strength is guarding combo forwards, I think he's better at either matching straight up against a three, LeBron, or being longer and stronger than a 2 , Kobe. When he played the 4 against the Lakers last year he played against Odom, who isn't really a combo forward as he is a tall guy who doesn't have a particularly strong perimeter or post game.

[Casperian]

People really did fall for the James Posey slobber-fest that was communicated so eloquently by Van Gundy during last year's postseason.

Posey is a real good bench player for a championship contending team, but it's ludicrous that you even thought to make an "I told you so" thread about him not being re-signed. Sure, he probably would've given the Celts enough off the bench to knock off Orlando, but they still wouldn't have had much of a chance against the Cavs. Maybe he'd be good for a whole win in that series, but that's hardly worth handing him out that abysmal contract the Hornets game him (and guess how many rounds they won?).

Give it a god d**n rest already.

It´s not an "I told you so"-thread, but it´s obviously a topic people still think about (and to be honest, me too).
If the people don´t talk about it here, they´ll do it somewhere else...

[KCattheStripe]

James Posey... wouldn't have made a darn bit of difference.

Disagree completely. Orlando is a perfect team for Posey at the 4 (as well as the 3). we win with Posey. We'd have won with Birdman, Joe Smith, Nocionni, or Barnes too imo. We needed one more player.

There is no way we win with Nocioni considering what we'd have to have given up to get him. Who knows how good Birdman would have been away from Denver. Joe Smith was never coming here. And Barnes is an overrated defender.

So for three of those, yes if they were to just magically appear on our roster, they would have helped. But when you look at the circumstances you might as well say our team would have won if it had David Robinson circa 1989.

We can disagree about Barnes until the cows come home, so hows about we just save everyone reading this the hassle and just agree to disagree.   

[ucn33]

Fine, but I really don't understand why. He's a nice role player, but he's a far cry from a major impact player...particularly one that would've enabled the Celtics to remain championship contenders after KG went down. It's just a stupid hypothetical conversation to have.

[johnnyrondo]

James Posey... wouldn't have made a darn bit of difference.

Disagree completely. Orlando is a perfect team for Posey at the 4 (as well as the 3). we win with Posey. We'd have won with Birdman, Joe Smith, Nocionni, or Barnes too imo. We needed one more player.

There is no way we win with Nocioni considering what we'd have to have given up to get him. Who knows how good Birdman would have been away from Denver. Joe Smith was never coming here. And Barnes is an overrated defender.

So for three of those, yes if they were to just magically appear on our roster, they would have helped. But when you look at the circumstances you might as well say our team would have won if it had David Robinson circa 1989.

We can disagree about Barnes until the cows come home, so hows about we just save everyone reading this the hassle and just agree to disagree.   

Joe Smith might have come here, but we jumped the gun on Mikki and paid Marbury quite a bit of money too. Don't sign Mikki and use Marbury money on Joe Smith and I think he comes. He even said he wanted to come. Before AND AFTER he signed with Cleveland. Birdman wanted to come as well, so it wasn't like he would have left Denver against his will. I also forgot Mutombo and Barnes might not be that great a defender, but my point was we needed just one more quality player (whether that be a 3, a 4, or a 5). We had no depth.

Didn't have to be Posey, but Danny signed Tony, Sam, O'Bryant, Miles, Mikki, Starbury, and Miles, and drafted Giddens, Walker, and some guy overseas, and the only one who gave us anything in the playoffs was a rusty Marbury. We lost Posey, our back-up 3/4 and PJ, our backup 5 and didn't add anyone to replace them.

[Tr1boy]

both posey and the celtics lost in the end. They were a perfect match

not only did we miss his defense, three point shooting abilities but also pure heart

[Cman]

both posey and the celtics lost in the end. They were a perfect match

not only did we miss his defense, three point shooting abilities but also pure heart

.. and to finish your thought, Posey is now stuck on a team headed in the wrong direction (I have seen articles (perhaps on hoopshype?) talking about the Hornets needing to rebuild to contend in the east), instead of on a championship contender.

[KCattheStripe]

James Posey... wouldn't have made a darn bit of difference.

Disagree completely. Orlando is a perfect team for Posey at the 4 (as well as the 3). we win with Posey. We'd have won with Birdman, Joe Smith, Nocionni, or Barnes too imo. We needed one more player.

There is no way we win with Nocioni considering what we'd have to have given up to get him. Who knows how good Birdman would have been away from Denver. Joe Smith was never coming here. And Barnes is an overrated defender.

So for three of those, yes if they were to just magically appear on our roster, they would have helped. But when you look at the circumstances you might as well say our team would have won if it had David Robinson circa 1989.

We can disagree about Barnes until the cows come home, so hows about we just save everyone reading this the hassle and just agree to disagree.   

Joe Smith might have come here, but we jumped the gun on Mikki and paid Marbury quite a bit of money too. Don't sign Mikki and use Marbury money on Joe Smith and I think he comes. He even said he wanted to come. Before AND AFTER he signed with Cleveland. Birdman wanted to come as well, so it wasn't like he would have left Denver against his will. I also forgot Mutombo and Barnes might not be that great a defender, but my point was we needed just one more quality player (whether that be a 3, a 4, or a 5). We had no depth.

Didn't have to be Posey, but Danny signed Tony, Sam, O'Bryant, Miles, Mikki, Starbury, and Miles, and drafted Giddens, Walker, and some guy overseas, and the only one who gave us anything in the playoffs was a rusty Marbury. We lost Posey, our back-up 3/4 and PJ, our backup 5 and didn't add anyone to replace them.

I can't find a single direct quote from Smith, his agent or anyone with ties to Smith that says he wanted to come here. I did , however, find this: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/03/joe_smiths_arrival_sign_of_det.html
Interesting quote from Doc.

Anyway, Joe Smith would not have helped guard Rashard Lewis so the point is moot.

Birdman wanted to come to Boston , but showed up to his try out in poor shape. He has roots in Denver, and I've read that that was part of what helped him turn things around. Its hard to tell if he could have kept things together away from that support system.

Barnes was not a a player who could have put us over the top. Neither was Mutumbo, he was not going to slow down DHoward. Posey does not tip the scales in this, neither does PJ. We were a 2.5 all star team with a weak bench playing a 3 allstar team with a strong bench. That was the difference.