Starbury Minutes

Let's take all of the drama aside, all of how Starbury makes teams worse, all of how he's a locker room cancer, let's assume that he's put all that behind him, and he's able to bring to the floor everything that the C's need and want him to.  I don't care if Adrian Wojnarowski calls him a loser, let's talk basketball.  The more I look at this, the more I realize that this might not work out too well.  Really..

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one to notice that the Celtics have a really small reserve squad.  Ok, ok, now they have Mikki Moore, a 7-footer who Tom Ziller has already likened to Mark Blount, this is coming from a guy who likes Mikki Moore mind you.  I don't know about you, but I personally don't find Mark Blount comparisons to be very flattering.  Regardless, the three key free agent signings last season that led to success were: James Posey, PJ Brown, and Sam Cassell.  Now I've a friend that says Sam Cassell was brought on more as a mentor to Rajon Rondo, who's matured enough to make Sam Cassell expendable.  Regardless, the big question is where will Starbury get his minutes.

Inevitably, Doc Rivers will ultimately have to play small ball, playing House at the 2 slot and Tony Allen at the 3 slot.  As good as Tony Allen is defensively, he's only 6-4.  Posey, as you might remember was a bit taller at 6-8.  Tony Allen will have a lot of trouble sizewise guarding LeBron, and you have to go through LeBron before you meet Kobe.  Honestly, having a reserve squad of Marbury, House, Allen, Davis, and Powe just doesn't really seem ideal.  I know Marbury was brought in to be a scoring touch off the bench, but were the C's really that desperate for scoring?  First things first let's recall Marbury's game, sure he liked to take it to the hole, but he's also fond of the 3, averaging 3.7 attempts per game in his career.  Certainly I'd rather have the ball in Starbury's hands on offense then say Tony Allen's or Big Baby's but still, how well can the Celtic's reserve backcourt, standing at 6-2, 6-1, and 6-4 (and these are listed heights so they're probably pretty generous) stand up to say the Cavs? (Daniel Gibson is 6-2, Sasha Pavlovic is 6-7, Wally Szczerbiak is 6-7) or the Lakers? (Jordan Farmar is 6-2, Sasha Vujajic is 6-7, Trevor Ariza is 6-8)

Ultimately, I think Starbury would basically end up taking the minutes and shots of Eddie House, is that some the Celtics really want?  Granted I understand that they probably went with the best free agents available, but are we sure that they couldn't have done better?  From the looks of things it doesn't look like Joe Smith or Drew Gooden are getting bought out, so maybe Mikki Moore was the best available, but honestly, and while Stephon Marbury gives a more legitimate backup to Rajon Rondo than say Gabe Pruitt or Eddie House, but was Eddie House really doing that bad of a job?  Was replacing Sam Cassell that much more urgent than replacing James Posey?  I don't think the Celtics were wrong in not throwing that hefty contract at Posey, but Tony Allen is no James Posey.  Granted the most appealing names on the free agency list would possibly be someone like Michael Gelabale, Bonzi Wells, or Ruben Patterson, not exactly the most talent-filled list.

It's one of those things that definitely sounded good at first, and certainly I think the Celtics lockerrooms is one of the few places that could possibly keep Starbury in line.  However, from a basketball standpoint, does it really make sense?  Is Doc going to play small?  If he doesn't, where do his minutes come from?  Where do his shots come from?  I'm sure it can work out with some smart roster juggling throughout the games, so it'll be interesting to see how this pans out.  I won't hold it against Starbury if the C's can't make it this year, I definitely don't think he's the ideal solution, so regardless of the lockerroom antics, regardless of whether or not Starbury is a loser, the question still remains, does Starbury really address the needs of the Celtics?  They've "replaced" Sam Cassell and PJ Brown, will that be enough?  or are they still missing a James Posey?