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July 16, 2008
Posey Embraces New Orleans
James Posey has found a new team to embrace before each game.
The New Orleans Hornets will be receiving nightly inspiration before each tip off as James imparts his whispered words of wisdom and motivation to each starter as they access the court in addition to adding his own spirited play highlighted by tenacious defense.
We will now find out what James Posey meant to the Celtics.
The 6' 8" versatile forward just signed a hard earned 4 year contract with the New Orleans Hornets, another title contending team with arguably the best point guard in the league, Chris Paul. He will get about $25 million over 4 years. Is he worth it? Time will tell, but numbers are deceiving with a player like Posey.
The Celtics were offering three years at the Mid Level Exception (approx. $5.6 mil.) and were prepared to let him walk away. Walk he did, right into a nice pay-off for helping the three Celtic stars bring home their very first championship and James' second. A situation like this brings to the forefront that basketball is a business, at times a hard business. Danny Ainge just made a tough decision and time will tell if it was the right one. One might add, the same goes for James Posey.
I have enjoyed watching James Posey play as a Celtic. Yet, I feel the team can and will be able to move on from this decision. Yet, I don't want to minimize James' contributions to ubuntu and the Celtic's run to the championship. He played a huge role and he will be missed.
James' game isn't about the numbers, except the number of ways he would help a team win. His defense was steady and often stellar. He got under the other team's skin. He drew charges with the best of them. He could hit some big time shots and did so a number of times in the play-offs. He is the wily veteran every top team needs, it seems.
Besides his smart approach to each game, he consistently provided composure under pressure. He would seem to always make pressure-filled foul shots. James would relieve Pierce, Allen and even Garnett of tough defensive assignments at times during games, just to give them a break.
It must have been a tough decision because he liked playing for Doc Rivers. It came out late in the year that Doc personally called him to make a strong pitch to get him to sign with the Celtics. Doc also had three other players call right after him. Eddie House called to convince him to accept what was understood to be a lower salary to come to the Celtics and help him make them a championship contender. He came because he felt wanted. He ultimately left because he didn't fee wanted, or let us say that he felt more wanted by New Orleans.
But James wasn't always in such demand. Though he could have probably signed with the Nets last season for more than what the Celtics offered, he was in the Pat Riley doghouse with Antoine Walker the year before for being out of shape. It was said by some that he wasn't as motivated to play in year two in Miami. If true, he wasn't alone on that team.
He was a great role player who did far more for this Celtic team than I thought he might. But make no mistake. This team begins and ends with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. Posey's defense was excellent, but truthfully, we must understand that everyone looks a little better with Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett behind them and total commitment to team defense that the Celtics had last season.
So, how do you judge James Posey? Personally, I think he played some of the best ball of his career this past season. You just won't be able to prove it by the stats. His play was intense, smart, and exactly what this team needed. Will he do it again? That is hard to say, but things won't be quite the same in New Orleans.
New Orleans will definitely be improved by Posey. He will take minutes from Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson.
The Hornets beat Dallas in 5 games and took San Antonio to 7 games. If they had James instead of Peja in game 7, maybe things would have ended very differently. Peja produced a Posey-like 7 points on 3-11 shooting, 1-5 from downtown with 4 rebounds. Big Game James most assuredly would had done as much offensively, but would have really helped in all other departments, something Peja is not equipped to do. Will James be a game changer on New Orleans?
Brett Martell AP SportsWriter on Yahoo Sports.....
“It was a really tough decision for him,” Bartelstein said. “Boston was an incredible experience for him every way you look at it. If he was going to leave Boston, he wanted to make sure it was for a team that would compete for a championship immediately and the Hornets certainly are in that world.”
The hardest thing to determine on a team like the Celtics is how much the three stars helped the other players, including James, versus the other way around. We will answer that question this season.
This means the Celtics have the MLE to offer someone (or two) else.
Ryan Gomes and Josh Childress are 2 versatile forwards who are still on the market who could come in and help right away. Both are restricted free agents which means that Minnesota and Atlanta could match any offers. Golden State's Matt Barnes is still out there. Posey can't be duplicated but he will be replaced.
It is also possible that Danny and Doc will give Glen Davis and Leon Powe more playing time this season. Glen is just beginning to tap his potential and has been staying in Boston in the off season to get in the best shape of his career. Leon is a bear around the hoop, takes charges as well as Posey did, and his defense and passing should improve.
So, the Celtics will look a little different next season. 'Going small' won't mean quite the same thing it did with Posey at the 4. He could hit that three. Neither Davis nor Powe can. It is not assured that Eddie House will return either.
The ball is in Danny's court. Things get interesting now. Let's see what he serves up.
Posted by Tom on July 16, 2008 10:15 PM
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Comments
Nice to have you back tT - and it good to be skeptical over the loss of Posey, but one thing you can add is his propensity to get it done in the clutch. He may have been one of the top guys on that team when it came to delivering in crunch time, or hitting the three with the shot clock dwindling. I'll definitely miss those moments, and the charges he took, key steals, just a fun player to have on the team. But in reality, he was just a role player, a very good one at that.
-ManchvegasBob
Posted by: ManchvegasBob at July 17, 2008 4:19 PM
Yeah it's one of those 'mixed feelings' kind of moments.
But being realistic at this point, there will be other ways to win a championship.
Thanks for the thoughts Bob!
T
Posted by: Tom Halzack at July 17, 2008 8:42 PM
