Start Posey?

[Steve Weinman]

to be fair to ray, he had a grand total of 2 plays run for him. its not like he was 0-15.

on the subject of starting posey, no i wouldn't pierce also plays good defense on lebron, including forcing 3 turnovers last night in the last 4 minutes which was huge, and since posey is pierce's sub, they both come in fresh and able to harrass james effectivly.

If you start them both, when posey and pierce need rest, you turn LBJ over to tony or ray, both downgrades.
I'd rather have him see pierce or posey in his face for all 46 minutes he plays, rather than both of them for 35

I thought Tony Allen was supposed to be a defensive specialist. Do you think Pierce is a better defender that him?

Tony has the physical gifts to be an excellent defender -- but a big part of being successful at that end of the floor is the mental side, of staying in control and harnessing that energy so as to prevent unneeded gambles and silly fouls.  TA has yet to master this -- for the most recent example, see the three-shot foul he committed on Joe Johnson in Game 5 against Atlanta.  It's one of many plays along those lines.

-sw

tp SW for this post,you said it all,in a nutshell.I guess nut is not the appropiate word here,but you know what i mean.

Thanks jayjay...don't worry, I understood ya.  As I'm sure many Celts fans can identify with, it's been a real struggle for me with TA over these last couple of years -- there's so much there, but so much missing up top.  He really could be such an asset, and I'm rooting for the kid so hard, but it's definitely been tough to watch at times.

-sw

[Jon]

I don't think we need to start Posey.  Why?  Well, I get the logic.  He could lock down James, etc.  However, why not put Garnett on him and leave the starters as they are? 

Who guards the power forward spot you say? 

ANYONE.

When Ben Wallace is in the game, you can put anyone on him.  To keep it simple, I'd probably just put Pierce on him.  Pierce gives up only an inch or two and Wallace can't score anyway. 

That way the 7+ foot Garnett can give LeBron headaches all night. 

[crownsy]

the down side to the have KG gaurd lebron angle is that it takes him out of the paint, which is a huge negative, epically when pierce and posey do a fine job so far.

no help blocks or boards for KG if he's chasing lebron out around the foul line.

Its not about guarding wallace, its about team defense.

[Steve Weinman]

the down side to the have KG gaurd lebron angle is that it takes him out of the paint, which is a huge negative, epically when pierce and posey do a fine job so far.

no help blocks or boards for KG if he's chasing lebron out around the foul line.

Its not about guarding wallace, its about team defense.

TP -- very well said, crownsy, particularly important when one notes that we gave up 13 offensive boards last night, 10 of which came to Cleveland's starting frontcourt.

-sw

[Triboy16]

the one guy i would have come off the bench is paul pierce. Maybe have him and ray allen rotate cuz james owns pierce easily

but james looked so average again'st posey

[Potapenko Boxout]

i'd say stick with the 66-win rotation but that's just me

[crownsy]

so you'd only play KG 30 minutes a night, and pierce 31?

interesting ....

[crownsy]

the one guy i would have come off the bench is paul pierce. Maybe have him and ray allen rotate cuz james owns pierce easily

but james looked so average again'st posey

really? even though paul caused 6 TO's off james and had 4 huge TO's off him in the fourth? including 2 huge charges with under 3 minutes to go?

You'll have to run it by me again how james owns pierce.

[BudweiserCeltic]

the one guy i would have come off the bench is paul pierce. Maybe have him and ray allen rotate cuz james owns pierce easily

but james looked so average again'st posey

really? even though paul caused 6 TO's off james and had 4 huge TO's off him in the fourth? including 2 huge charges with under 3 minutes to go?

You'll have to run it by me again how james owns pierce.

Indeed, just as bad as Pierce played last night, he was great on James. Those two charges were quite critical.

[jluce]

i'd say stick with the 66-win rotation but that's just me

Yeah, seriously. I can't believe people are wanting a lineup change at this point. I really hope Ray goes off next game to stop these threads.

[RebusRankin]

What's wrong with the rotation from last night? Celtics played good defense on LeBron and the rest of the Cavs. Starting Posey will not make Pierce and Allen shoot better on offense.

[Bahku]

the one guy i would have come off the bench is paul pierce. Maybe have him and ray allen rotate cuz james owns pierce easily

but james looked so average again'st posey

really? even though paul caused 6 TO's off james and had 4 huge TO's off him in the fourth? including 2 huge charges with under 3 minutes to go?

You'll have to run it by me again how james owns pierce.

Indeed, just as bad as Pierce played last night, he was great on James. Those two charges were quite critical.

Agreed ... TP's for both you guys .... James doesn't "own Pierce", nor has he ever. For many reasons, both LeBron and Kobe have very rarely done well when matched-up with Paul, and this game was no different. I'm not saying they've never won games against him, obviously, but they've had as hard a time dealing with Pierce, as he has had dealing with them, and you can't ask for much more than that. 

[Who]

James doesn't "own Pierce", nor has he ever. For many reasons, both LeBron and Kobe have very rarely done well when matched-up with Paul, and this game was no different. I'm not saying they've never won games against him, obviously, but they've had as hard a time dealing with Pierce, as he has had dealing with them, and you can't ask for much more than that. 

I don't know about that Bakhu. LeBron has the most consecutive 30 point games against the Celtics (9 games I think) since Wilt Chamberlain. He had averaged about 35ppg over the past 10 matchups. LeBron usually does very well against Pierce.

[tanner]

Posey to start? No.

The more important question in this series is how Doc juggles Posey and Pierce's time in the 4th quarter of close games. When does he bring Pierce back in the 4th?  Does he re-insert Posey earlier (for either Ray or Paul) or only on the last defensive plays?  Does Doc even re-insert Posey at all?

[Bahku]

James doesn't "own Pierce", nor has he ever. For many reasons, both LeBron and Kobe have very rarely done well when matched-up with Paul, and this game was no different. I'm not saying they've never won games against him, obviously, but they've had as hard a time dealing with Pierce, as he has had dealing with them, and you can't ask for much more than that. 

I don't know about that Bakhu. LeBron has the most consecutive 30 point games against the Celtics (9 games I think) since Wilt Chamberlain. He had averaged about 35ppg over the past 10 matchups. LeBron usually does very well against Pierce.

LeBron puts up 30-plus points on just about everybody, though I can't remember many times when he found it easy to do against Pierce, at least not one-on-one. Paul is obviously not the player that James is, very few are, but he gives him as hard a time as anyone I've seen ... Kobe included. I recall one game in particular, in 2006, I think, where LeBron had 43 points and Pierce had 50 ... if it weren't for Pierce fouling out in the second overtime, it may have gone even longer. However you see it, it's one of the best match-ups in this post-season for me, and the rivalry and intensity that the two of them bring to the game and each other is hard to beat! I can't wait to see how each responds tomorrow, and what kind of physicality erupts between these two teams ... should be some sweet competition!