No Ring for Posey This Year

[cordobes]

In my opinion he did a worse job on Kobe. He had trouble with James, but overall he could bother him here and there, helping with the double team and making him a jump shooter various times, but he was completely useless against Kobe in my opinion. He was great against the other Lakers in the roster though, but against Kobe? No way, he ate him up.

Really? When was Posey guarding Kobe and how has Kobe performed, do you have that data?

[Who]

I thought the Celtics best defenders against Kobe Bryant last season where Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, then Tony Allen and then in fourth place James Posey.

[RockinRyA]

Posey got his big money in the big easy. He already has two rings. Could it be that he lost 10% of his passion?

Lets move on and see what Walker can do for us.

TP I completely agree.  It's really pointless to play these what if games looking at this year and last year.

Im not saying Posey is lazy this year or has lost anything, but it is fair to point out that last year with the Celtics the man was playing for a contract.  He made it no secret that this contract he signed with the Hornets was the pay day that he wanted to head towards the end of his career with.

All these posts about the loss of Posey would be more valid if the Hornets were the best team in basketball right now, but theyre not, in our eyes we've been a disapointment, the Hornets have been even less impressive.  The funny thing is, if we had given Posey that contract and resigned him, and we still went through the rough stretch that we went through over the past month, how many people would be on here ripping that offseason move to shreds because we'd have less money and space available to fix the problem than the little bit we already have now.

Im not saying we wouldnt be better off with Posey on the team, because we would be better, but you also just cant assume that he would be playing with as much intensity and reckless abandone that he did last year now that hes got the contract and the financial security that hes wanted.....especially given his previous history with the Heat.

Last year was last year, this year is this year.

i agree.. i think people are quick to jump at every opportunity to say "i told you so". if we signed posey i dont we wouldve resigned either eddie or tony, or even both. and then if we hit a rough stretch people would say "we should signed eddie or tony"

[CoachBo]

In my opinion he did a worse job on Kobe. He had trouble with James, but overall he could bother him here and there, helping with the double team and making him a jump shooter various times, but he was completely useless against Kobe in my opinion. He was great against the other Lakers in the roster though, but against Kobe? No way, he ate him up.

Really? When was Posey guarding Kobe and how has Kobe performed, do you have that data?

Good post. People are just making nonsense up to tear Posey down, now.

Go back to the finals and you'll find at least one extended stretch - about 7 minutes, as I recall - where Posey took Kobe out of the game.

[BudweiserCeltic]

In my opinion he did a worse job on Kobe. He had trouble with James, but overall he could bother him here and there, helping with the double team and making him a jump shooter various times, but he was completely useless against Kobe in my opinion. He was great against the other Lakers in the roster though, but against Kobe? No way, he ate him up.

Really? When was Posey guarding Kobe and how has Kobe performed, do you have that data?

Good post. People are just making nonsense up to tear Posey down, now.

Go back to the finals and you'll find at least one extended stretch - about 7 minutes, as I recall - where Posey took Kobe out of the game.

So one stretch during the whole series is representative of how "good" Posey was againt him? Please.

And cordobes, and now you're interested in data to determine how good of a defender he was? Just watch the games, any observer with basketball knowledge can tell that Kobe was doing pretty much what he wanted with Posey on him. And as Who said, overall Pierce, Tony, and Ray were better on him.

[BballTim]

In my opinion he did a worse job on Kobe. He had trouble with James, but overall he could bother him here and there, helping with the double team and making him a jump shooter various times, but he was completely useless against Kobe in my opinion. He was great against the other Lakers in the roster though, but against Kobe? No way, he ate him up.

Really? When was Posey guarding Kobe and how has Kobe performed, do you have that data?

Good post. People are just making nonsense up to tear Posey down, now.

Go back to the finals and you'll find at least one extended stretch - about 7 minutes, as I recall - where Posey took Kobe out of the game.

  If Posey could just take Kobe out of his game, why didn't we just put him in whenever Kobe got hot? Why didn't he average 35 minutes a game?

[cordobes]

And cordobes, and now you're interested in data to determine how good of a defender he was? Just watch the games, any observer with basketball knowledge can tell that Kobe was doing pretty much what he wanted with Posey on him. And as Who said, overall Pierce, Tony, and Ray were better on him.

What games? Tell me what in games was Posey guarding Kobe 1on1. I have all the Finals games recorded; I just need to know where to look for.

[nickagneta]

Didn't Posey spend most of the Finals driving Lamar Odom crazy? I remember James on a couple of highlights guarding Kobe after a switch but I remember him guarding Odom and Radmanovic, primarily, not Kobe. Ray and Paul guarded Kobe for the most part.

[BudweiserCeltic]

And cordobes, and now you're interested in data to determine how good of a defender he was? Just watch the games, any observer with basketball knowledge can tell that Kobe was doing pretty much what he wanted with Posey on him. And as Who said, overall Pierce, Tony, and Ray were better on him.

What games? Tell me what in games was Posey guarding Kobe 1on1. I have all the Finals games recorded; I just need to know where to look for.

No clue which games specifically, so I can't pinpoint you. But look for instances in which Kobe was aggressive (instead of playing passively and acting as a decoy for his teammates) with Posey on him. Sorry can't help you more than that, I just have a couple of plays in my head where Kobe easily beats him of the dribble gets into the paint for either an easy jumper, or passing the ball for an easy bucket once someone else stepped up to help Posey out. That's what was so good about what Pierce did in the finals, he was the only one that constantly managed to play Kobe 1 on 1, though he needed help also at times.

Kobe is a magnificent offensive player. Why is it so hard to believe that Posey simply wasn't the stopper some are led to believe when it regards Kobe?

Didn't Posey spend most of the Finals driving Lamar Odom crazy? I remember James on a couple of highlights guarding Kobe after a switch but I remember him guarding Odom and Radmanovic, primarily, not Kobe. Ray and Paul guarded Kobe for the most part.

Posey did a great job on all other players he was assigned to. Kobe was simply a mismatch for him, so the notion that goes around this board that it's Posey who we need to "contain" LeBron and Kobe is completely flawed. You guys can come up with tons of valid reason why Posey should be with our team to make us better, but for guarding LeBron and Kobe shouldn't be it.

[Roy Hobbs]

The team had a positive point differential against the Lakers with Posey in there in 5 out of the 6 games.  If he was getting torched by Kobe (which I don't remember), it didn't show up in the box score.

[nickagneta]

And cordobes, and now you're interested in data to determine how good of a defender he was? Just watch the games, any observer with basketball knowledge can tell that Kobe was doing pretty much what he wanted with Posey on him. And as Who said, overall Pierce, Tony, and Ray were better on him.

What games? Tell me what in games was Posey guarding Kobe 1on1. I have all the Finals games recorded; I just need to know where to look for.

No clue which games specifically, so I can't pinpoint you. But look for instances in which Kobe was aggressive (instead of playing passively and acting as a decoy for his teammates) with Posey on him. Sorry can't help you more than that, I just have a couple of plays in my head where Kobe easily beats him of the dribble gets into the paint for either an easy jumper, or passing the ball for an easy bucket once someone else stepped up to help Posey out. That's what was so good about what Pierce did in the finals, he was the only one that constantly managed to play Kobe 1 on 1, though he needed help also at times.

Kobe is a magnificent offensive player. Why is it so hard to believe that Posey simply wasn't the stopper some are led to believe when it regards Kobe?

Didn't Posey spend most of the Finals driving Lamar Odom crazy? I remember James on a couple of highlights guarding Kobe after a switch but I remember him guarding Odom and Radmanovic, primarily, not Kobe. Ray and Paul guarded Kobe for the most part.

Posey did a great job on all other players he was assigned to. Kobe was simply a mismatch for him, so the notion that goes around this board that it's Posey who we need to "contain" LeBron and Kobe is completely flawed. You guys can come up with tons of valid reason why Posey should be with our team to make us better, but for guarding LeBron and Kobe shouldn't be it.

I think you have me mixed up with someone else. I don't think we need Posey to contain Black Mamba and the Messiah. As a matter of fact, I didn't really want Posey back, I had something completely different in mind.

I was just trying to point out that you might be mistaken about just how much Posey played against Kobe, one on one in the Finals. Posey was pirmarily on the Lakers PFs and SFs, Odom and Radmanovic and even Gasol. I only remember him being on Kobe when the Lakers ran a screen for Kobe with the player  Posey was guarding and then Posey switching over to Kobe.

The Celtics as a whole played unbelievable team defense against Kobe and yes Posey was a part of that but I think the primary one on one defenders of Kobe were Ray and Paul.

[nickagneta]

As a matter of fact Posey was playing Odom so much that by Game 6 Odom got so frustrated that he tried to get into it with Posey on a couple of occasions.

That's my remembrance of it anyway though my memory has been known to be a bit sketchy.

[BudweiserCeltic]

And cordobes, and now you're interested in data to determine how good of a defender he was? Just watch the games, any observer with basketball knowledge can tell that Kobe was doing pretty much what he wanted with Posey on him. And as Who said, overall Pierce, Tony, and Ray were better on him.

What games? Tell me what in games was Posey guarding Kobe 1on1. I have all the Finals games recorded; I just need to know where to look for.

No clue which games specifically, so I can't pinpoint you. But look for instances in which Kobe was aggressive (instead of playing passively and acting as a decoy for his teammates) with Posey on him. Sorry can't help you more than that, I just have a couple of plays in my head where Kobe easily beats him of the dribble gets into the paint for either an easy jumper, or passing the ball for an easy bucket once someone else stepped up to help Posey out. That's what was so good about what Pierce did in the finals, he was the only one that constantly managed to play Kobe 1 on 1, though he needed help also at times.

Kobe is a magnificent offensive player. Why is it so hard to believe that Posey simply wasn't the stopper some are led to believe when it regards Kobe?

Didn't Posey spend most of the Finals driving Lamar Odom crazy? I remember James on a couple of highlights guarding Kobe after a switch but I remember him guarding Odom and Radmanovic, primarily, not Kobe. Ray and Paul guarded Kobe for the most part.

Posey did a great job on all other players he was assigned to. Kobe was simply a mismatch for him, so the notion that goes around this board that it's Posey who we need to "contain" LeBron and Kobe is completely flawed. You guys can come up with tons of valid reason why Posey should be with our team to make us better, but for guarding LeBron and Kobe shouldn't be it.

I think you have me mixed up with someone else. I don't think we need Posey to contain Black Mamba and the Messiah. As a matter of fact, I didn't really want Posey back, I had something completely different in mind.

I was just trying to point out that you might be mistaken about just how much Posey played against Kobe, one on one in the Finals. Posey was pirmarily on the Lakers PFs and SFs, Odom and Radmanovic and even Gasol. I only remember him being on Kobe when the Lakers ran a screen for Kobe with the player  Posey was guarding and then Posey switching over to Kobe.

The Celtics as a whole played unbelievable team defense against Kobe and yes Posey was a part of that but I think the primary one on one defenders of Kobe were Ray and Paul.

Didn't mistake you with anyone, I only quoted you because it was a topic I wanted to address. I was addressing the board as a whole. I know why the confussion happens since I like to use the phrase "you guys", but it doesn't mean that the quoted person is included in the "you guys".

Roy, as nick has pointed out, Posey did a great job on other Lakers which were his main assignments most of the time. So that the team had a good +/- with Posey on the floor doesn't really mean much as it regard guarding Kobe himself.

And as you say nick, Posey did a great job defensively throughout the series. I'm just trying to shot down the notion that we need him specifically to stop guys like Kobe, which is a popular belief around here wether you share the sentiment or not.

As you say, Posey didn't play Kobe as often as it's believed here, and for good reason in my opinion.

Might my memory of the events be failing me? Sure, but I think I got the situation correct, and many have shared this opinion during the finals and now, so I can't be that far from the truth.

[cordobes]

Posey was matched up on Kobe mainly during most of the 2nd quarter of Game 6, when Ray was in the locker-room with the eye injury (plus the final minutes of the 1st). That stretch was roughly 12 minutes. It' easy to look for the game and check how things went.

People can't just make up stuff. If one wants to argue Posey can't "stop" Kobe, that's okay (nobody can stop Kobe and Posey's main strenght as a defender isn't exactly 1on1 perimeter defence); but there's no need to rewrite history.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Posey was matched up on Kobe mainly during most of the 2nd quarter of Game 6, when Ray was in the locker-room with the eye injury (plus the final minutes of the 1st). That stretch was roughly 12 minutes. It' easy to look for the game and check how things went.

People can't just make up stuff. If one wants to argue Posey can't "stop" Kobe, that's okay (nobody can stop Kobe and Posey's main strenght as a defender isn't exactly 1on1 perimeter defence); but there's no need to rewrite history.

One game with unique circumstances due to injury... what about some of the games over in Los Angeles? If not mistaken, it's in the 2nd half usually when Kobe goes in offensive mode.