Mar's effect on the Defense....

[winsomme]

Ok, I'm officially worried that Mar is coming to Boston.

IMO the most dangerous part of this is on the defensive end. Mar getting PT means that Eddie moves to the backup SG which makes us even smaller....not to mention the fact that Mar is not known for his defense...

this also forces Ray to play SF at times with Eddie and Mar....couple that with our already undersized backup front court (Powe and BBD) and I think we are taking a big step backwards in the defensive department.

Mar obviously is being brought in for some scoring pop off the bench, but is this a role that he has ever shown the ability to excel in. My sense is that he dominates the ball when he is in the game which was fine in his prime when he was running a team, but not so much in a supporting role....

count me very concerned about what this does to our overall ability to hang our hat on defense....especially if every time he comes into the game it becomes the Mar show.....

really hoping this is not the move that is seeming more and more likely to happen...

the one caveat I will offer here is if Danny were able to add Camby or Sheed as some rumors are mentioning he has worked for, I would be a lot less worried about Mar's defense.

Any penetration that opened up by the ol matador defense could definitely been compensated for by a serious shot blocker like Camby.

So,

Camby + Mar = Fine;

BBD (Powe) + Mar = Not Fine

[Celtic]

Yeah the defense will definitely drop, but Marbury can handle the ball and gets a lot of points by attacking the basket. I don't really mind Eddie at the two because the second unit is more of a speed unit anyways, come playoff time it may not be so successful though.

So I guess put me in the cautious category, but not concerned yet.

[Corey]

With Allen out, how good do you expect our defense at the 1/2 to be anyways? It's not like we can just throw someone in, and have them play amazing D. House isn't a good defender either, so it won't really make a difference who's playing the 1/2.

[winsomme]

With Allen out, how good do you expect our defense at the 1/2 to be anyways? It's not like we can just throw someone in, and have them play amazing D. House isn't a good defender either, so it won't really make a difference who's playing the 1/2.

honestly, at this point, with TA out, if we can't add any length in the front court, I'd rather give the minutes to Walker...

If we could add a shot blocker or sound defensive big with some size, I would be less worried about Mar....

[Corey]

With Allen out, how good do you expect our defense at the 1/2 to be anyways? It's not like we can just throw someone in, and have them play amazing D. House isn't a good defender either, so it won't really make a difference who's playing the 1/2.

honestly, at this point, with TA out, if we can't add any length in the front court, I'd rather give the minutes to Walker...

If we could add a shot blocker or sound defensive big with some size, I would be less worried about Mar....

No, I agree that Walker should be getting minutes too...But then what are you going to sacrifice? Length at the 2, or Eddie House playing the 1, and having him dribble up? Either way, you have to give up something.

[cordobes]

Pretty sure Marbury would guard SGs and House PGs. I'd rather not to have the 2 of them together out there though, for the reasons you pointed. I don't think shot-blocking is that important - it's surely not the quintessential help defence.

In all fairness, I must say I've watched Marbury playing very good defence multiple times, when he was felling like it. This is nothing that makes me feel more comfortable though.

[winsomme]

With Allen out, how good do you expect our defense at the 1/2 to be anyways? It's not like we can just throw someone in, and have them play amazing D. House isn't a good defender either, so it won't really make a difference who's playing the 1/2.

honestly, at this point, with TA out, if we can't add any length in the front court, I'd rather give the minutes to Walker...

If we could add a shot blocker or sound defensive big with some size, I would be less worried about Mar....

No, I agree that Walker should be getting minutes too...But then what are you going to sacrifice? Length at the 2, or Eddie House playing the 1, and having him dribble up? Either way, you have to give up something.

This time last year, I was concerned about Eddie as the backup PG, but I feel after last years playoff run that we can manage with him bringing the ball up (plus he plays so hard that he actually does a halfway decent job defending his position)....

The playoffs also showed me that any cracks in the defense are going to be exploited.

You're right that there is no ideal option (apparently...unless we could actually land a Raja for perimeter defense or Camby for low post D) but the better option to me would be to give a crash course to Walker instead of buying a ticket to the MAr show....

[winsomme]

Pretty sure Marbury would guard SGs and House PGs. I'd rather not to have the 2 of them together out there though, for the reasons you pointed. I don't think shot-blocking is that important - it's surely not the quintessential help defence.

In all fairness, I must say I've watched Marbury playing very good defence multiple times, when he was felling like it. This is nothing that makes me feel more comfortable though.

yeah, shot blocking is an option of last resort, but it might mitigate some of the penetration that surely would result from a back court of Mar and Eddie....

Perk could play more, but how much more quickly is he going to get in foul trouble with the increased drives to the hoop.

It could be a ripple effect....really just hoping something else is in the cards at this point...

if not, then i guess we hope for the best.

[Corey]

With Allen out, how good do you expect our defense at the 1/2 to be anyways? It's not like we can just throw someone in, and have them play amazing D. House isn't a good defender either, so it won't really make a difference who's playing the 1/2.

honestly, at this point, with TA out, if we can't add any length in the front court, I'd rather give the minutes to Walker...

If we could add a shot blocker or sound defensive big with some size, I would be less worried about Mar....

No, I agree that Walker should be getting minutes too...But then what are you going to sacrifice? Length at the 2, or Eddie House playing the 1, and having him dribble up? Either way, you have to give up something.

This time last year, I was concerned about Eddie as the backup PG, but I feel after last years playoff run that we can manage with him bringing the ball up (plus he plays so hard that he actually does a halfway decent job defending his position)....

The playoffs also showed me that any cracks in the defense are going to be exploited.

You're right that there is no ideal option (apparently...unless we could actually land a Raja for perimeter defense or Camby for low post D) but the better option to me would be to give a crash course to Walker instead of buying a ticket to the MAr show....

Well, since Marbury's going to go for the minimum anyways, why not just sign him and see how he does? We can still use Walker as insurance, and still see how he does at the 2 with Eddie at the 1, but why not give Steph a chance anyways? Never know what he can do in a new system and some motivation.

[winsomme]

With Allen out, how good do you expect our defense at the 1/2 to be anyways? It's not like we can just throw someone in, and have them play amazing D. House isn't a good defender either, so it won't really make a difference who's playing the 1/2.

honestly, at this point, with TA out, if we can't add any length in the front court, I'd rather give the minutes to Walker...

If we could add a shot blocker or sound defensive big with some size, I would be less worried about Mar....

No, I agree that Walker should be getting minutes too...But then what are you going to sacrifice? Length at the 2, or Eddie House playing the 1, and having him dribble up? Either way, you have to give up something.

This time last year, I was concerned about Eddie as the backup PG, but I feel after last years playoff run that we can manage with him bringing the ball up (plus he plays so hard that he actually does a halfway decent job defending his position)....

The playoffs also showed me that any cracks in the defense are going to be exploited.

You're right that there is no ideal option (apparently...unless we could actually land a Raja for perimeter defense or Camby for low post D) but the better option to me would be to give a crash course to Walker instead of buying a ticket to the MAr show....

Well, since Marbury's going to go for the minimum anyways, why not just sign him and see how he does? We can still use Walker as insurance, and still see how he does at the 2 with Eddie at the 1, but why not give Steph a chance anyways? Never know what he can do in a new system and some motivation.

That does make sense, and i will definitely hope it works out...I mean, the guy can score and hopefully will gel quickly...

The problem i could see, however, with the "give him a shot" approach is that the problem could only really show up under the bright lights of the playoffs.

That is to say, he could actually look great in the last month or so of the season and then when the pressure really turns up in the playoffs and everything is about match ups and a teams ability to stick together and really buckle down on defense, at that point we could see the problems with him in a key role....and at that point, what do you do other than just keep doing what you are doing....

you can't go to Walker at that point.....

[Corey]

True, but who's to say what Walker's going to perform like in the playoffs? He's still a rookie (And fairly unproven at that)..My point is, would you rather have Marbury or Walker in the game in the playoffs?

[winsomme]

True, but who's to say what Walker's going to perform like in the playoffs? He's still a rookie (And fairly unproven at that)..My point is, would you rather have Marbury or Walker in the game in the playoffs?

yeah..good question.

I guess with those being the choices i would look less at the player and more at what i hope to get out of the player because both seem like huge question marks for very different reasons (Walker because we don't know what he will do and Mar because we know what he might do)...

so in that case I would look at what i hoped to get out of the player, and for Walker that would be energy, defense and rebounding and for Mar that would be instant offense...

and I guess i choose defense....

[Who]

Mar?

Why do that to the man's name?

Pretty sure Marbury would guard SGs and House PGs. I'd rather not to have the 2 of them together out there though, for the reasons you pointed. I don't think shot-blocking is that important - it's surely not the quintessential help defence.

In all fairness, I must say I've watched Marbury playing very good defence multiple times, when he was felling like it. This is nothing that makes me feel more comfortable though.

Yep, Marbury would defend the opposing two guards and he's capable of doing a good job there too. He's got enough strength to hold his ground against most shooting guards and more quickness than most shooting guards. The Knicks used him a fair bit against opposing two guards a couple of years ago and he did fairly well there.

[winsomme]

Mar?

Why do that to the man's name?

Pretty sure Marbury would guard SGs and House PGs. I'd rather not to have the 2 of them together out there though, for the reasons you pointed. I don't think shot-blocking is that important - it's surely not the quintessential help defence.

In all fairness, I must say I've watched Marbury playing very good defence multiple times, when he was felling like it. This is nothing that makes me feel more comfortable though.

Yep, Marbury would defend the opposing two guards and he's capable of doing a good job there too. He's got enough strength to hold his ground against most shooting guards and more quickness than most shooting guards. The Knicks used him a fair bit against opposing two guards a couple of years ago and he did fairly well there.

what qualifies as "fairly well" for you....My sense of Mar's defense is to go for the steal which puts a huge amount of pressure on the rest of the defense...especially if he is playing with no shot blocker...

Our D is based on staying in front of your man, and that IMO is not something he has ever really had to do...certainly not the with the amount of consistency he will have to in our defense...he's always been a gambler on D.....

Rondo does that too (although less of late), but Rondo is also a great help defender which makes up for his gambles...

[Who]

Mar?

Why do that to the man's name?

Pretty sure Marbury would guard SGs and House PGs. I'd rather not to have the 2 of them together out there though, for the reasons you pointed. I don't think shot-blocking is that important - it's surely not the quintessential help defence.

In all fairness, I must say I've watched Marbury playing very good defence multiple times, when he was felling like it. This is nothing that makes me feel more comfortable though.

Yep, Marbury would defend the opposing two guards and he's capable of doing a good job there too. He's got enough strength to hold his ground against most shooting guards and more quickness than most shooting guards. The Knicks used him a fair bit against opposing two guards a couple of years ago and he did fairly well there.

what qualifies as "fairly well" for you....My sense of Mar's defense is to go for the steal which puts a huge amount of pressure on the rest of the defense...especially if he is playing with no shot blocker...

Our D is based on staying in front of your man, and that IMO is not something he has ever really had to do...certainly not the with the amount of consistency he will have to in our defense...he's always been a gambler on D.....

Rondo does that too (although less of late), but Rondo is also a great help defender which makes up for his gambles...

Fairly well = mediocre or slightly above average

Marbury doesn't do it consistently but he's capable of it and has done it intermittently. Also, I think he defends the two better than the point, he has a lot less trouble denying dribble penetration there and his strength helps offset his lack of height/length.

For the most part I'd rate Marbury's defense as decent. Not good, not average, but not bad enough to wipe out kill you or wipe out his positive contributions.

Defensive effort is the big thing with Marbury. He's been inconsistent throughout his career with it, and has had poor spells, decent spells, and solid spells defensively as a result. I think it's impossible to tell which one would show up in Boston when surrounded by these type of teammates.