Ch. 5 reports Steph on his way!

[TA42]

This definitely changes the eastern landscape in my opinion, the Cavs and Magic probably felt they had made up ground on the Celtics in terms of matching talent and level of play. By the time the Celtics add Steph this teams make over in the 96 hours it would take will be remarkable.

Bottom line is this the Celtics gained depth in key spots which was needed.

Agreed. Thanks for keeping it classy and not coming in here spewing that BS about him ruining chemistry etc.

People talk about the chemistry/cancer aspect and up until this point it's been pretty accurate. What I think people are missing is the fact that Stephon really hasn't played on a team with this kind of veteran leadership not to mention the winning aspect.

Again, it'd be pretty surprising if he doesn't seize this opportunity.

[Joekickass2008]

This definitely changes the eastern landscape in my opinion, the Cavs and Magic probably felt they had made up ground on the Celtics in terms of matching talent and level of play. By the time the Celtics add Steph this teams make over in the 96 hours it would take will be remarkable.

Bottom line is this the Celtics gained depth in key spots which was needed.

Providing this all works out?? And it dont go pear shaped...I

[DEEP3CL]

Agreed. Thanks for keeping it classy and not coming in here spewing that BS about him ruining chemistry etc.

That's not my style to ignite a verbal war, I've never come here with that. I just stick to the facts that's it.

[mr_sunshine]

Agreed. Thanks for keeping it classy and not coming in here spewing that BS about him ruining chemistry etc.

That's not my style to ignite a verbal war, I've never come here with that. I just stick to the facts that's it.

Yea I know. Most of the contenders' fans have themselves convinced that it is a fact that Starbury is going to come in and mess up this team. I'm just glad to see some objectivity here from an outside point of view is all.

[Jammer]

I don't know if Celtic fans realize that they are adding someone,
who, though he will be coming off the bench,

can play with the first unit or second unit as a PG or SG,
WHO HAS A BEAUTIFUL JUMP SHOT,
who can attack the rim off the dribble, finish,
and has a 7.8 APG average over like 800 games,
and he just turned 32.

As I try to imagine what Steph will be able to do with the open looks he'll likely see,
plus the looks he'll create for whoever is on the floor with him,
he's going to have a lot easier time than when he HAD to score.

[drj]

Good luck with Steph, if he signs with you.
Steph is an amazing talent, but can be very pig headed, and has had major trouble playing within the team concept.
This is a chance for Steph to try to reclaim his career.
I hope it works out.

[Bleeding Green]

I don't know if Celtic fans realize that they are adding someone,
who, though he will be coming off the bench,

can play with the first unit or second unit as a PG or SG,
WHO HAS A BEAUTIFUL JUMP SHOT,
who can attack the rim off the dribble, finish,
and has a 7.8 APG average over like 800 games,
and he just turned 32.

As I try to imagine what Steph will be able to do with the open looks he'll likely see,
plus the looks he'll create for whoever is on the floor with him,
he's going to have a lot easier time than when he HAD to score.

Man, I get so much more excited about basketball when I read about it in poem form. Your second stanza is just mindblowing.

My only concern: is he fat and out of shape? Probably. He hasn't played an NBA game in over 13 months.

[polishph22]

I'm not sure why everyone is so excited for Marbury. Sure his numbers on paper look great, but the guy has NEVER been a winner. This really could blow up in Boston's face, especially since Rondo is really coming into his own right now.

Perhaps Boston just wanted to get youthier??

[Bleeding Green]

Who on Boston's team last year was ever a "winner."

[Gant]

Here's the difference between Knick Marbury and Celtic Marbury:

The Knicks were stuck with him because of his contract. The Celtics will be paying him vet minimum.

The Knicks were asking him to be the main man. The Celtics are asking him to be the sixth man.

On the Knicks Marbury had to go up against frontline players. On the Celtics he'll be going against second stringers most of the time.

On the Knicks he was the first option. When he plays with the starters, on the Celtics he'll be the fourth option.

He can't hurt the Celtics. If he's not an eagle scout, they just cut him.

Plus he has all the motivation in the world to prove everyone wrong.

[NES 247]

didn't actually think he would be bought out, personally I think this is a great move. Marbury will just shut up and play because he should be happy to get out of NY and get a chance to play, and if he's a good citizen with the C's and plays well with the role he's given, he'll have better oppurtunties next year. I don't see how the C's can lose from this. KG is devoted to winning now and that was long in the past, both guys can co-exist because they know whats at stake. Even if Marury is a malcontent, the C's can just cut him. This signign was really neccesary b/c now we have a backup PG who can handle the ball during the playoffs and guy who can add some scoring off the bench.

[DEEP3CL]

Here's the difference between Knick Marbury and Celtic Marbury:

The Knicks were stuck with him because of his contract. The Celtics will be paying him vet minimum.

The Knicks were asking him to be the main man. The Celtics are asking him to be the sixth man.

On the Knicks Marbury had to go up against frontline players. On the Celtics he'll be going against second stringers most of the time.

On the Knicks he was the first option. When he plays with the starters, on the Celtics he'll be the fourth option.

He can't hurt the Celtics. If he's not an eagle scout, they just cut him.

Plus he has all the motivation in the world to prove everyone wrong.

Gotta agree with Gant here all the way. Plus here's something else to ponder............Steph lost his dad which was probably a very humbling experience.Guys mature at some point in life, two no matter how you look at how his deal went with the Knicks, they clearly were the bad guy you can't spin it any other way.Steph never complained.

And for the first time in his career he's only being ask to be one of the guys not the " guy ".

[sully00]

I think that is the biggest point of all as far as Marbury goes, we are simply going to ask him to be Steph. Go out there pound the hell out of the thing and score and dump it off to teammates. This situation reminds me of Nick Van Exel in Dallas, of course we want NVE year two and not year one that is the scary part, can he jell and get his touch back. The really big part of this is we could finally be in a position to rest the 3 together instead of needing one of them on the court to facilitate the offense.

Now the big issue is that SF spot. I think TA is fine but if he can't go we need to either get someone else in hear or we need to get Billy up to speed (I actually really like that idea).

[NES 247]

Your gonna trust Bill Walker to cover LeBron James in the playoffs when Pierce is out? No one can really stop LeBron for the most part but you can get guys to slow him down, to Allen's credit can he still play some defense and could prove to be some sort of nuisance for LeBron, but he could be lost for the year. I've noticed though that the backup SF postion has been an issue overlooked because of this teams desperate need for bigman help

[billfromBoston]

This team has enough punch now - I say get Billy Walker some time and see what he can do...

Unfotunately, I think Doc is more comfortable using Ray Allen as Pierce's backup and using the GUARD depth to get the two stars their rest - its hard to argue with that logic seeing how productive Ray has been at the 3...

Marbury will inevitably get some minutes at the 2 and with Eddie in tow, it looks like Rondo/Marbury/Eddie will get all the PG/SG minutes and Ray will play 12-15 minutes as a SF to rest Pierce, (Ray currently averages 11 minutes at the 3.)

Billy's time will come, but I grow skeptical that it will arrive this year - he's played fairly well in garbage time and that has earned him excactly 3 minutes of real PT thus far...

[greenbeans]

Outside of Paul Leon has gotta be the closest thing in size we have to currently match up with Lebron, that's scary.

[armageddon]

Awesome pickup. Although Marbury hasn't been able to win in his career, he has never been a trouble maker. He treats people respectfully and gives back to charities. He's actually a pretty classy guy but has developed a reputation from being obstinate and stubborn, hopefully this has lessened with maturity.
Give him a month, he'll be destroying the other teams' backups. Also, there's no guarantee that Rondo will never get injured.

[bawstin]

Outside of Paul Leon has gotta be the closest thing in size we have to currently match up with Lebron, that's scary.

I'm getting totally OT here but I can never get over the fact that LeBron is literally the same height and weight as Karl Malone was.

[GreenGrizz]

We need to let Lebron think that he must play alone. Just isolate him from his teammates. That's where he would lose his composure. His weakness has been exposed during his last game against the Lakers.

[BillessuR6]

I hope we get him! That would be a huge addition!