If there was one thing that bothered me tonight it was the fact that people did not praise James Posey enough, despite Jeff Van Gundy's best efforts, following the Celtics victory. Even Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and KG did give the man enough credit. To review:
- Posey took a short term, less than market deal to play for a team that he thought had a shot.
- He showed up with championship ring and helped set the tone. Hint it's on his left hand:
- He quickly established himself as a versatile defender, a heads up basketball player, a limited, yet effective offensive player, a clutch rebounder, and a guy who did not seem the slightest bit concerned about his individual stats.
- Posey also worked in all sorts of hugs, which were uncomfortable but strangely important.
- He made me dream of a Posey/Eddie House talk show. It would be fantastic and definitely on delay. House is like KG in that regard.
- And in the playoffs Posey showed up.
Shortly after the Celtics added Posey I got all fired up after researching him a bit. I even said, "Teams win games with guys like Posey." A prominent blogger, who will go nameless but whose identity should be easy to figure out because I included his team said, "Except when the Bulls beat the Heat's ass last year." Well turns out Posey helps team win games and championships. And he's the classic guy you love to play with/hate to play against. Think about all of the annoying things he does:
1. He picked up on the KG never let a shot fall after the whistle. He even did it on a Laker free throw in Game 4 after it was whistled dead just before the release.
2. As Jeff Van Gundy pointed out, Posey always stops players from making it to the hoop after the whistle. Translation - he hits them. Reminiscent of FSU football playing to the echo of the whistle.
3. He takes charges. I'm convinced he'll step in front of anyone.
4. He has incredibly quick feet that help keep him in great defensive position, while he pokes at the ball. Seriously name another guy in the league that you would have guard Kobe and Lamar Odom.
5. At one point in Game 6 Jordan Farmar tried to box out Posey by literally throwing himself at the former Xavier stand out. Posey moved and watched Farmar tumble into the crowd. Few players have a better body awareness than Posey. I wouldn't say he's Bruce Bowen dirty. But he's clever and definitely walks that line.
6. Posey is not afraid to get in an opponent's face. He's the definition of an agitator. And he usually does it in a calm, collected way, with a smile.
7. It's always nice to have a guy that will hit back breaking 3s coming off the bench. Enter Posey.
So congrats to Posey and the rest of the Celtics. Tomorrow I'll talk about Pierce's assists, Rondo's fantastic game, P.J. Brown pulling the chair out on Pau Gasol, Ray Allen raining down 3s, Glen Davis' dunk, Tony Allen's reverse ally oop throw down, and everything else that was great about this team. But right now I need some sleep. Just don't forget about Posey.