Doc's harsh assessment of Starbury's future...

[ToppersBsktball10]

Peace Stephon

[HYPE.]

I actually like Stephon and hoped he would come back next year. Already disappointed as it is. First, Garnett (fav. player of all-time) and Powe wouldn't come back; then we lose to the Magics in Game 7; and my 2nd favorite player, Marbury probably won't be coming back next year. What a bad year. 

[shiggins]

Well, what's the surprise?

I repeat a question I made in another thread: if it was Will Solomon playing the way Marbury did, would anyone consider bringing him back? I think the answer is no - and I believe that Will Solomon would play better than Marbury did.

agreed

Well thats because Marbury has upside whereas Will Solomon doesnt.  Marbury has shown he still has the athleticism and strength to get the job done.  He's shown flashes.  His passing and shooting has been on point some games and off on others, but at least it shows the potential is still there.  If he gets in the right mind state its definitely possible for him to be a fine player.

There is a difference between a player sucking but showing flashes of greatness especially when you know its in there and have seen it before versus sucking all the time and your ceiling is more suckitude.  Sorry Will Solomon.  Dont take it personal

[Thruthelookingglass]

"With Baby, it will probably come down to what he can get on the open market," Rivers said. "With Steph, it will probably come down to what we can get on the open market."

Ouch.  In other words, the Celtics are looking for an upgrade, and Starbury won't necessarily be asked back. 

Why is this necessarily a swipe at Marbury?  I think Doc's just saying he expects Marbury will have more attractive offers than the C's will be willing to make.  Saying BBD is the priority is no swipe-- with all the big contracts AND trying to ensure some sort of future, we can't afford to overpay for an older backup PG. 

I see people saying they could be comfortable with Eddie as the backup PG, but I think we've been there and found it didn't work.  I love Eddie, but I think a more consistent defender with a little more quickness is needed to guard the younger backup PGs in the league.

[Roy Hobbs]

"With Baby, it will probably come down to what he can get on the open market," Rivers said. "With Steph, it will probably come down to what we can get on the open market."

Ouch.  In other words, the Celtics are looking for an upgrade, and Starbury won't necessarily be asked back. 

Why is this necessarily a swipe at Marbury?  I think Doc's just saying he expects Marbury will have more attractive offers than the C's will be willing to make.  Saying BBD is the priority is no swipe-- with all the big contracts AND trying to ensure some sort of future, we can't afford to overpay for an older backup PG. 

I think you're reading the quote wrong.  To translate what Doc is saying:  BBD will be back unless he prices himself beyond the Celtics range.  Starbury will only be back if the Celtics can't find anything better.  Doc didn't mention money at all in reference to Starbury; rather, their preference just isn't to have him back.

All things being equal, the Celtics want BBD back, but they want to go in a different direction from Starbury.

[Thruthelookingglass]

"With Baby, it will probably come down to what he can get on the open market," Rivers said. "With Steph, it will probably come down to what we can get on the open market."

Ouch.  In other words, the Celtics are looking for an upgrade, and Starbury won't necessarily be asked back. 

Why is this necessarily a swipe at Marbury?  I think Doc's just saying he expects Marbury will have more attractive offers than the C's will be willing to make.  Saying BBD is the priority is no swipe-- with all the big contracts AND trying to ensure some sort of future, we can't afford to overpay for an older backup PG. 

I think you're reading the quote wrong.  To translate what Doc is saying:  BBD will be back unless he prices himself beyond the Celtics range.  Starbury will only be back if the Celtics can't find anything better.  Doc didn't mention money at all in reference to Starbury; rather, their preference just isn't to have him back.

All things being equal, the Celtics want BBD back, but they want to go in a different direction from Starbury.

We agree that Doc is comfortable making a run at Davis.  He's proven his utility on this team.  We also would agree that Doc seems to feel Marbury didn't prove his utility.  I think we disagree on how Doc views the market for these guys and the effect this would have on what he said.  Which is fair.   

[vagrantwade]

I'm pretty sure Doc's statement was implying that chances are they won't want to pay whatever it will cost to get Marbury, so they will probably have to go with someone on the market they can get for MLE.

Considering Doc clearly said he is positive Marbury's struggles were because he joined late in the season after being out for over a year in the playoff rush.

But of course Celtics fans are just like Knicks fans only in a different area code. Haters.

The fact that you would assess that Doc was implying they would only sign Marbury if they couldn't find anything better is ridiculous. For one, Doc would never said say. And he definitely wouldn't say that and then follow up defending Marbury.

Keep stretching Marbury haters.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm pretty sure Doc's statement was implying that chances are they won't want to pay whatever it will cost to get Marbury, so they will probably have to go with someone on the market they can get for MLE.

Nope.  That's what he said about BBD.  He said the exact opposite about Starbury.  Why do you think he distinguished between the two, if your claim is that Doc sees the two players as being the same?  (i.e., coming back unless they're too expensive?)  Also, why do you insist that Starbury will get more than the MLE?  There's absolutely no shot of that happening.  Zero.  If the Celtics want Starbury back, they can afford him; they just don't want him.

But of course Celtics fans are just like Knicks fans only in a different area code. Haters.

Or, Celtics coaches are just like Knicks coaches only in a different area code.  Doc wants to go in a different direction. 

[vagrantwade]

Everyone has been saying since Marbury signed, that the likelihood of him being back after this year was small because he would probably not get offered more than the minimum again this year, and that he would obviously get offered more.

And considering that the Lakers were the other team along with Boston who were talking to Marbury about signing for the end of 09, it is ridiculous to think otherwise.

Doc was CLEARLY implying that if the Celtics could get a decent backup pg for the minimum, they were going with that and not signing Marbury.

I'll keep this bookmarked for when Marbury inevitably signs for more than the minimum for the 09-10 season.

[bruinsandceltics]

Everyone has been saying since Marbury signed, that the likelihood of him being back after this year was small because he would probably not get offered more than the minimum again this year, and that he would obviously get offered more.

And considering that the Lakers were the other team along with Boston who were talking to Marbury about signing for the end of 09, it is ridiculous to think otherwise.

Doc was CLEARLY implying that if the Celtics could get a decent backup pg for the minimum, they were going with that and not signing Marbury.

I'll keep this bookmarked for when Marbury inevitably signs for more than the minimum for the 09-10 season.

Go get them vigilante!

[Rondo_is_better]

Everyone has been saying since Marbury signed, that the likelihood of him being back after this year was small because he would probably not get offered more than the minimum again this year, and that he would obviously get offered more.

And considering that the Lakers were the other team along with Boston who were talking to Marbury about signing for the end of 09, it is ridiculous to think otherwise.

Doc was CLEARLY implying that if the Celtics could get a decent backup pg for the minimum, they were going with that and not signing Marbury.

I'll keep this bookmarked for when Marbury inevitably signs for more than the minimum for the 09-10 season.

Yes, well, good luck with that. 

[Atzar]

Everyone has been saying since Marbury signed, that the likelihood of him being back after this year was small because he would probably not get offered more than the minimum again this year, and that he would obviously get offered more.

And considering that the Lakers were the other team along with Boston who were talking to Marbury about signing for the end of 09, it is ridiculous to think otherwise.

Doc was CLEARLY implying that if the Celtics could get a decent backup pg for the minimum, they were going with that and not signing Marbury.

I'll keep this bookmarked for when Marbury inevitably signs for more than the minimum for the 09-10 season.

"With Steph, it will probably come down to what we can get on the open market."  Count me among those who interprets this as "We're looking elsewhere, and if we can't get what we want we'll take Marbury."  That could mean there's one or two players the Celtics would rather have, or that there's a bunch they'd rather have.  I don't really think Doc would have been that blunt about it if there was a good likelihood of him returning.  

Nobody's hating on Marbury here.  It's just a fact that Marbury came in and left much to be desired with his performance.  That's no disrespect, that's truth.  I'd be absolutely shocked if Marbury got more than the minimum next year, because between his history and his lackluster performance in the last few months, he has no bargaining power.

[PosImpos]

I wouldn't mind keeping Steph for the minimum, but it's possible we might be able to get something better for the same, and it's also possible he might not accept the minimum for a whole year and prefer to retire (or find something elsewhere, who knows).

I think that's mostly what Doc was saying.


I really think Steph did a pretty good job at doing what we needed him for, which was to provide decent minutes backing up Rondo doing what a decent point guard does...handling the ball, running the offense, passing etc.  Stephon generally speaking did those things well.  We didn't acquire him to have a great scorer off the bench (we have Eddie for that).  We acquired him because Eddie is not a good pure point guard.  To Steph's credit though, he did come up big in one particular game scoring 12 points in one quarter which sparked a comeback in a playoff game.  You can't say Steph wasn't valuable.

That said, I think we could definitely potentially find some one better on the FA market for around the minimum.  I'm not sure exactly what the list of vet. PG's will be, but I imagine there will be at least one option that looks potentially more appealing than Marbury - even if Marbury will show improvement playing with the team for more time and getting into better basketball shape.

In any case, we do need to be wary about having a decent backup PG and not just get one midway through the season because otherwise if Rondo is ever injured we'd have nobody except Gabe Pruitt to fall back on, and that's a scary thought indeed.

[greenwise]

Well, i think it's pretty clear by Doc's words that they would like to find someone different first. That doesn't mean that Starbury has played his last game in green, though.

It also means that either side of the potential negotiation to return to the Celtics has to explore the different options, that's all. 

[celticmaestro]

He tried for this team, and he definitely didn't kill this team. However, the Celtics can do better and hopefully they will.