We had no choice in losing PJ. He wanted to retire. He was big in the playoffs, but I doubt he’ll return. The Posey loss really hurt. I would have paid him and given him the years, but then we wouldn’t have been able to sigh House, who came thru for us, and TA. It would also have reduced future options. So our only real loss that we had control over was Posey. I didn’t see any free agents, worth the money, to bring in. I would like to see Alonzo Mourning as a backup to Perk, but I doubt that will happen. So alot depends on Tony Allen and Scals coming thru for us. We don’t win another championship without a bench and as it stands now the bench has declined from last year. We just need to see how others step up. I also don’t think we are necessarily thru making additions. So let’s hope for the best.

I like Danny’s approach.

The odds are that Leon and Baby will get better, Rondo and Perk too.

Not all of OBryant, Miles, Giddens, Walker and Pruitt are going to work out – that would be too good – but maybe 3 will and maybe 1-2 will replace Posey/PJ and provide critical bench strength.

I think Eddie can handle the back up point. We’re talking back up. After Doc got on him last year he got the ball into front court much quicker. There’s only room for so many fannies on the bench and Eddie brings quality – not perfection – to his role as back up point. He’s not a lockdown defender but he works hard, thinks and helps pretty darn well.

Also, Eddie plays the passing lanes better than he’s given credit for.

This year will be a perfect answer to the question – is it the team “system”, or individual players, that gets us wins? If the coach can maximize his ability to use his puzzle pieces, and the players buy into the team defense and the coaches understand how to exploit each player’s strengths and have the right guys out there to cover up the weaknesses, then the Celts win. Team play wins.Posey was very very good, but it was because he knew his role, and the other players knew when to help out. I think the players on the roster can buy into this system that (obviously) works, SO, IMO, it is up to the coaches to make it work.

Nice commentary. Re: Eddie House, I strongly disagree that “we all fell in love with his energy and jumper in the playoffs.” House shot a porous 30% in the playoffs, and was generally outplayed by the opposing PG. Fans have fond memories of House because Cassell was the media whipping boy, and House is remembered for being the ML Carr cheerleader and diving for a couple of loose balls. Hopefully Rondo can play 40 minutes, and Pruitt will evolve into the backup PG. House has his place as a 12th man sparkplug, spread-the-floor shooter like we saw Game 4 against the Lakers.

The only key loss this year was Posey. Everything else (Sam and Pollard) wasn’t a big deal. We have 4 guys who will fill his shoes. Either one of them will step up and be the man, or the collective 4’s production will be enough.

Let’s not forget what brought us that championship ring last year – PP, KG, and Ray with a side of Rondo and Perk. The only thing that makes me nervous about repeating is an unforseen injury. The bench will be just fine.

We haven’t seen these guys in action and 3 out of 4 haven’t seen any NBA action, so to say the team has declined is a fallacy…these players are unproven, not failures…this includes O’Bryant who hasn’t seen enough NBA minutes to make an assessment-all we have is Don Nelson’s opinion, which was in direct conflict with O’Bryant’s NBADL production…he does have work ethic issues, but we don’t know what that translates into…add the fact that he’s playing for his NBA life, and I’d imagine he’ll raise his game enough to be a 10-12 minute backup…

…as for Miles, he’s been a knucklehead, but he put stats up..if he behaves and can actually play, he’ll be productive off the bench as a versatile option for this team…

Eddie House ran the half-court pick-and-roll as well as anybody on the team—his problems with PG were full-court pressure related, not running the offense in the half court…

Gabe Pruitt isn’t in a position where he must contribute and its asking a lot of him to call him a failure if he does not…most players see their greatest development between years 3 and 5…Gabe has solid competition ahead of him, so he shouldn’t be expected to win the back up job…

Leon Powe was in the uppper-echelon of ALL NBA PLAYERS in terms of offensive efficiency…he was masterful in pick-and-roll, offensive rebounds, and cuts to the basket while showing great promise in post situations…Davis faded as the season went on, but still had his share of big games…contract years for both should yield good results…

Tony Allen is a total wildcard…being healthy for two years in a row would be nice and he’s got a contract now, so that should help with his confidence…the increase in competition should hopefully bring out the best in him, but we’ll have to wait and see…

Bottom line, if this team is lacking in any area they have months and months to evaluate the situation and rectify it—there will be many acquirable vets out there…this team is still going to win 50 ball games as currently constituted, so the types of concerns we’re having are about bit players who we can get basically anytime…

A common thread being often repeated is that there is more mystery about the quality of “bench” that we have this year. Much of that doubt comes from the fact that most of us have not recently seen just how the “new additions” have upgraded their game. “In Danny we trust” is another slogan that seems to ring “hollow”. Why do you ask?

Well, we certainly missed with Gerald Green and perhaps with Gabe Pruitt as well. But consider that in BOTH cases each player was supposedly rated much higher than their draft position and Danny even acknowledged that he didn’t get the chance to really scout either player. Danny’s track record is much better when we consider players that he has had time to scout.

Thus the additions of O’Bryant , Giddens and Walker represent players that Danny has scouted. Perhaps in the case of O’Bryant, Danny may have scouted him thoroughly in Patrick’s draft year? Regardless, Danny has had time to evaluate their talent and to gauge their upside potential. It was, after all, Danny that assembled last year’s CHAMPIONSHIP team amid much second guessing too.

One thought… “NO PRESSURE TO WIN THIS YEAR”….. Can we all agree that when Garnett and Allen first came here we thought how long will it take to win it all. Many of us thought it would be 2-3 years before we saw them win.

This takes the pressure off the Big Three and they can go about playing there games. It also will allow Rivers to use these young players even more so that that the Big Three get added rest.

Jeff hit it on the head earlier with his comment that we now have 11 players with a ring on the roster. I think the goal for this team is to stay “HEALTHY” and make it to the playoffs and go from there.

Danny also will pick up someone toward the middle of the season… Wander if Reggie Miller has any second thoughts about comming out of retirement in January/February.

I’m not concerned, were going to be just fine

Is the Celtic nation concerned that the Miles signing represents another Raef-type mistake? But are the two situations comparable?

Both Lafrentz and Miles were productive players when healthy yet both sustained career-threatening injuries. Raef’s recovery left him damaged goods and reduced his NBA effectiveness. In Miles the landscape seems more hazardous in that his injury was considered “career ending”! But Amare recovered and perhaps Miles can as well.

The real difference between Raef and Miles is their contract situation. In the case of Miles it’s a “make-good” or else contract without long term implications. We’re all aware that Raef’s contract strangulated Celtic options for roster flexibility.

We should agree that in Miles’ case all we’re offering is a “formal” invite to the preseason with especially modest financial implications. Any longer term obligations come only after Miles PROVES himself, something Raef never did.

I agree with Ancient Red that the pressure is off this year. Last year at this time most if not all thought that it would take a few years to get it together and position the team to win it all. I believe that all five starters should play better this year. This should take significant pressure off the bench. No question the Cs will miss Posey, but I don’t think PJ and for sure Sam will be missed. Yes there are many questions about the new guys on the block, but I would argue that there is a reasonable chance that at least one and perhaps two will step up and provide decent minutes, while RR and Perk play more minutes than last year and the Big Three (I still dislike that term) play less. IMO, the Cs enter this season in a much stronger position than last.

POB is going to tear it up this season.

Nice Article: Summarizes the questions well. great job. Obvious omission of positives going into what will be an exciting pre-season is a bit of a downer; but understandable given the high expectations we all have for the team.

There was alot of concern about the Celtic bench last year, and it came through. This year will probably be no different, but I’d think it was unlikely this team will win 67 games, regardless of the bench quality. the East is quite a bit better, and the starters should get more rest. Giddens and Pruitt will surprise, Walker will entice but not be ready, and O’Bryant will acceptable for 10-15 minutes, and that may be enough. If Tony Allen can be who who we fantacize him to be, we’ll be lethal. We’ll miss Posey, but more in the playoffs than regular season.

We have Bill Walker, Jr Giddens, Darius Miles, and Tony Allen for backups. I’m sure atleast 1 of them can be solid. If two of these 4 are solid I’ll prolly forget all bout Posey LOL. My only concern is the backup 7 fott center

So now that Darius Miles has tentatively taken the fifteenth and final spot on the roster, who was it on this blog that most closely predicted the makeup of this squad going into training camp? Or was that contest for the start of the regular season? (The presence of Miles might not last that long.)

By the way, at the top of this posting, what’s that image seemingly attached to the top of O’Bryant’s head? In real life does he have thought bubbles you can actually see? Does he has some sort of promotional contract with YouTube?

Most of the comments about the bench being unproven, untested etc are the same as last year. The comments were that we couldn’t win without a bench. Even Posey was criticized as being over rated and over paid.

Even the optimist who thinks we have a great bench, need to wait until the season starts.
We need to see what exactly we need and if the bench can deliver.

Let’s face it, we will go as far as the Big 3 takes us. The bench just need to fit in. Now whether that is enough remains to be seen.

Blazers are stacked this season, they are going to be tough for Boston to beat.

Realistically approaching the trade deadline last year we had big questions about the bench with Pollard’s injuries and House’s struggles at the point. Post trade deadline with the additions of PJ and Cassell we had championship depth. I like giving our question marks a chance for the first half of the year. If one or two of the Miles/Giddens/Walker combo prove pleasant surprises (the way BBD and Powe did last year), we still could add the buyout vets looking for a ring (ZO/PJ possibly) and be much deeper than last year.
Jeff has mentioned Shaun Livingston on his wish list and I hope the C’s can bring he and Quinton Ross into training camp and see who is left standing going into the season

The key decision was letting Posey walk. We won’t know for 2 years (at least) if that was the right decision.

Given the loss of Posey, I like what Ainge has done this offseason. Every signing and draft pick was low risk, high reward. And if Tony Allen develops some confidence and consistency, Posey won’t be missed at all.

We can all agree Sam Cassel will not be missed.

In this excellent piece to get us thinking again, thanks Jeff, we’ve been concentrating on the playoffs and in reality winning the championship again. At least my comments lean in that direction. There is no doubt that the team as is will be in the playoffs. We may or may not be able to repeat getting the best record. The big decisions will come at the trade deadline when I think we definitely need a veteran big. O’Bryant and Miles are low pay and can be waived and paid off if need be. This wouldn’t be a financial disaster. So we really have two roster spots to work with, if needed. Maybe Pierce and Ray can go to Slidell, LA in the middle of the night and kidnap PJ Brown again.

I don’t think POB will be waived TrueGreen, we need a 7ft player, maybe waive pruitt if he doesn’t bring something this season.

Folks forget how good Darius Miles could be. I personally saw him torch Pierce and the Celtics for about 35 points a few years ago, and he defends too. Immense talent, but he lacks concentration.

Miles could be an extraordinary steal. Or, his knee could give out in the second exhibition game and that’s that. But he’s certainly worth a shot.

At the end of the day, Only two of these players matter: POB and TA. We know what BBD and Powe can do – and they will get better, so i am not counting them. POB simply has to be at least a little effective because of Perk’s tendency to commit a lot of fouls. TA has to produce on the defensive end and give Ray some time to rest.

One comfort: Hopefully this isn’t the bench we start the playoffs with.

Ugh. What a mess.

the backup group is interesting because it can go both ways- way up, or way down. they didn’t need scal hardly at all last year, and i think we will see more of him this year. i think doc will be resting the big 3 more and there will be more losses and everyone will have to be patient with the sub’s progress.there is an upside to the bbd/powe duo, but just how much? we would all like more mins.for perk and i hope he gets better at playing the ref game, and not lose the effort. doc probably will be slow getting giddens into the games and i hope it’s not an injury that forces his hand. tony will get his chances and i hope he makes the best of it.

Remember all of the hand wringing last year? Oh, it’s the worst bench in the league! Oh, it’s the worst bench ever! Oh, whatever will we do! At least if we didn’t have Allen and Garnett we’d still have a bench!

Now we’re down one Posey and up several higher-potential players and it’s: Oh, but it won’t possibly be as good as last year’s bench! Oh, if we could only have last year’s bench back again!

I guess the good news is that, again, questioning the bench is the worst problem we can come up with for the team.

Jeff,
you’ve awakened me from my slumber with this post. Danny is being true to his philosophy which is to give us a bunch of swings and hopefully one of them is a homerun. There is no question in my mind that this bench is weaker than last year’s. Add Perk’s injury to the mix and celtic fans have a legitimate reason to think that this year will not be the magic carpet ride that last year was. But that’s ok because we won the championship and anything that happens this year is gravy. In many ways I view this year as a rebuilding year. I know that sounds crazy considering the talent we have. Sure we will be in the mix for a title but I’m not expecting it; there are too many things that need to go right with this young group for that to happen. As Jeff says every one of our new players is a question mark. I agree with Wildblue that one or two of them should pan out but it’s unrealistic to think that Miles, Walker or Giddens are going to give us the leadership , defense and big shot making of Posey. It’s just not going to happen. I am really excited to see what those guys plus O’Bryant and Pruitt can do but consistency is going to be a problem. In the end this year is necessary in order to develop Pruitt, Giddens, OB etc. Danny and DOc need to find out which of these guys has a future with the team. I expect that Danny will make a move at the trading deadline once he sees what our needs are going into the playoffs. I also would not be shocked at all if PJ re-upped for another title run IF we are in the mix. New Orleans to me is the team to beat out west. With the addition of Posey I think they have an excellent shot at getting to the NBA finals. Paul is the best young player in the league and they’ve added some nice pieces. It would be great to face them in the finals but we have a long ways to go before that happens. I’m excited- let’s get it started!!

Speaking of POB, and how he’s a quetion mark. Well, last year it was Scott Pollard and it seems to me that he didn’t provide much help and we did win 66 games and the championship.

Yes, we did pickup PJ late in the season and we was HUGE in the playoffs, but like someone else said, we can see where we are at the trade deadline and if we need someone that’s probably the time to make a move.

Let’s face it, we are going as far as the BIG 3 take us. If one of them is out for an extended period or the playoffs we are in trouble. We are not in trouble because POB might be a BUST!