Start Posey?

[celts55]

Let me start by saying I've always been a huge fan of Ray Allen. I think I was more excited when the Celtics got him than I was about Garnett, but I'm thinking lately that having him come off the bench might not be a bad idea. It appear that age or whatever are catching up to him. He has become a streaky jump shooter. He's not adding much in the rebound, assist or defensive game. So I'm thinking Posey can knock down an open jumper, runs the floor pretty well, and seemed to do a desent job of guarding Lebron. This move would also give the Celtics a scorer off the bench to take away some of thr scoring presure off Cassell. Cassell, Ray, Powe, with Brown, Davis, TA thrown in would be a pretty good bench.

Anyway, don't kill me, it's just a thought.

[Donoghus]

No, don't start screwing with the starting lineups now.  Ray is a jump shooter.  Jump shooters are streaky.  Keep him in with the starters and the confidence will come back and the shots will start going down.  Posey has been a great sparkplug off the bench all season.  No need to mix it up now.

[Petro]

Intresting Idea but Doc will never do that

[screwedupmaniac]

i was actually thinking the same thing last night. with the big starting lineup that cleveland runs, it wouldn't hurt me at all to see posey at SF and watch paul not have to exert so much energy on the defensive end...all he would be guarding would be wally's jumpshots, giving him more energy in return on the offensive end. i love ray as well, but the numbers don't lie, and man, he has not had a great post season thus far. i'd have it that ray and powe were the first two people off the bench...ray would sorta be our manu ginobli.

then again, ray will probably come out of the gate firing on all cilinders on thursday, making us look like fools haha.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I really detest these types of reactionary threads, especially when they seemed somewhat misguided.  I like how everyone is going off on Ray, when the worst player last night was Paul Pierce.  Would you be willing to suggest that we start Posey instead of Pierce? I doubt it, and I wouldn't either.

We're fine as we are.

[BASSTHUMPER]

naw...posey is what we need off the bench..when paul is in foul trouble or jus tired posey keeps it movin..

[CT34]

I really detest these types of reactionary threads, especially when they seemed somewhat misguided.  I like how everyone is going off on Ray, when the worst player last night was Paul Pierce.  Would you be willing to suggest that we start Posey instead of Pierce? I doubt it, and I wouldn't either.

We're fine as we are.

Couldn't agree with you more.  The Celtics +/- rating when Paul Pierce was on the court was a -12.  The Celtics +/- rating when Ray was on the court was a -2.  Mind you Ray Allen played the 2nd most minutes last night to.  So clearly Paul Pierce was the worst player last night for the Cs.

My question is what is Ray to do when he only got 4 shoot at the basket. Are we all watching the same game??

[PointGaurd]

That's a good idea, but honestly at this point in Posey's career, I'd rather see him fresh gaurding a slightly tired Lebron, and also started puts him at the risk of getting in foul trouble.  But he would bring a toughness and defensive mindset to the starting line up.  and with Rondo scoring more lately I don't think Ray's scoring will be missed as much.

[reggie35]

I'm a huge fan of Ray Allen as well, but I think this is a great idea and thought they should've done that much earlier in the season. I proposed TA at the time but Posey makes more sense now. I wouldn't do that kind of thing now though.

Next season, I think it's time to make RA the 6th man. There's no shame in that. I think it would help focus the offense through him more if he's the main scorer. This will help him get in rhythm and make plays.

[Roy Hobbs]

Ray Allen has consistently proven himself all season long, and before the end of this series, he will be exploiting his matchup against Wally.  We need him in there.

Posey should definitely see heavy minutes in this series, due to how well he matches up with Lebron.  However, I would not recommend starting him.  It makes no sense to start changing players' roles at this stage of the year.

[wdleehi]

No.


Pierce is doing a good job on James at the begining of the game. 


Having Ray out there also forces James to have to guard Pierce.  He is forced to expend energy on both ends of the floor. 




Posey is good to bring off the bench.  A fresh guy to put on James after 8-12 minutes of tough, hard played basketball. 

[celts55]

I really detest these types of reactionary threads, especially when they seemed somewhat misguided.  I like how everyone is going off on Ray, when the worst player last night was Paul Pierce.  Would you be willing to suggest that we start Posey instead of Pierce? I doubt it, and I wouldn't either.

We're fine as we are.

Sorry to be the object of your detest, but I don't think it's a reactionary thread. I am not "going off" an Allen. I like Ray alot, but I can't see why if he came in off the bench it would be so misguided. I agree that Pierce was the worst player for the Celts last night. Maybe he might have played better if Posey was guarding Lebron and he was on Wally? I'm just thinking about match ups in this series. Maybe it would help Ray get his touch back. I really don't see the negitive in it, other than brusing Ray's ego a little. I still see him playing a lot of minutes, just a different rotation. And for what it's worth, it's not a reaction to this one game, I've been thinking it for a while.
Again, it's just an idea. Don't have to get so defensive.

[screwedupmaniac]

I really detest these types of reactionary threads, especially when they seemed somewhat misguided.  I like how everyone is going off on Ray, when the worst player last night was Paul Pierce.  Would you be willing to suggest that we start Posey instead of Pierce? I doubt it, and I wouldn't either.

We're fine as we are.

come on man, reactionary? he hasn't done much at all this post season...paul has. anyone who knows ray allen, knows that he has not been the same player he was in seattle at all this past year. this isn't reactionary to one game...did you watch the atlanta series? the problem is the same problem that san antonio has...so many good players, and only one basketball. so you start of early by pounding it inside to your star big man, and getting your other players open mid range shots and 3's early. you get the opponent a little tired and broken down, and then bring in the third best overall player and best shooter on your team as the sixth man, and tell him to look for and take his shots.

it's easier for ray to defend someone who has already exerted some energy from the start of the game anyways, so he wouldn't have to use quite as much energy on the defensive end, and could focus more on what he has made a name for himself with in this league in the first place, sharp shooting. it just doesn't seem right to me that he only gets 4 shots last night, while our role players get 7 or 8 looks. obviously you have to go with the flow of the game, but it often feels like ray is going too far out of the way to get others involved, and as a result not doing what he's known for and best at: taking and making his own shots when he wants them. he has to do it, especially when he's out there with the bench plyers. cassell can take his shots without any issues, why can't ray?

probably a change we wouldn't do this year, but i wouldn't be closed to it next year at all.

[Roy Hobbs]

come on man, reactionary? he hasn't done much at all this post season...paul has. anyone who knows ray allen, knows that he has not been the same player he was in seattle at all this past year.

1) Ray and Paul have virtually shooting stats thus far in the post-season (and Pierce has twice as many turnovers);

2) Ray actually had a significantly better season shooting the ball than he did in Seattle last year, and had his fourth best shooting season ever.

I'm going to keep repeating these things until they sink in.  Both Paul and Ray will play better; it's silly to judge them based upon a slump.

[screwedupmaniac]

come on man, reactionary? he hasn't done much at all this post season...paul has. anyone who knows ray allen, knows that he has not been the same player he was in seattle at all this past year.

1) Ray and Paul have virtually shooting stats thus far in the post-season (and Pierce has twice as many turnovers);

2) Ray actually had a significantly better season shooting the ball than he did in Seattle last year, and had his fourth best shooting season ever.

I'm going to keep repeating these things until they sink in.  Both Paul and Ray will play better; it's silly to judge them based upon a slump.

my analysis isn't based on shooting percentages...it's based on how many shots he's taking. i think there's a broad line between him playing "ubuntu" basketball, and then just being passive and not taking his shots. it was great that sam made his second half shots, but why isn't ray taking those?? that's what we brought him in to do. it just baffles me a bit, due to the fact that paul looks for his shot, and kevin looks for his...he's our team's best shooter! there's no way he can get in a rhythm with so few looks at the basket.

and probably the reason that paul has so many turnovers is due to the fact that he's always taking it to the hole...sometimes it's stripped on the way, and sometimes they call a steal or a block instead of a foul...perfectly natural for him to have turnovers with the type of game he plays.

PS: at least he didn't have the king james 10!