Cassell to Sign Contract With Celtics Next Week!!!

ddb · Post #21 » by **ddb** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:45 pm

If this is true then I like it. Sam Cassell has another year as a backup PG left in his tank and I like his veteran savvy around the kids. Here's a few reasons why I like Sam coming back.

#1- KG, Pierce, and Ray LOVE Sam. You always want to make sure to do everything you can to keep your superstars happy.

#2- I LOVE Rondo but it never hurts to have a couple Veteran PG's around (Rivers, Cassell) to mentor.

#3- Depth. It's a long and grueling season. We saw what happened to Tom Brady last week. I'm not comparing Rajon Rondo to Tom Brady AT ALL but what if Rondo went down with an injury? Do you really feel good with House and Pruitt running the point for an extended period of time? I don't.

#4-He's funny as hell! With Pollard gone we need someone to loosen up the locker room and play around with the media. Cassell's value goes beyond the basketball court.

and finally.......give him a preseason to learn the system and figure out his role. He'll be better then what we saw in the playoffs. O, and btw.....Didn't we win the championship? He couldn't have been that bad.

tombattor · Post #22 » by **tombattor** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:04 pm

ddb wrote:If this is true then I like it. Sam Cassell has another year as a backup PG left in his tank and I like his veteran savvy around the kids. Here's a few reasons why I like Sam coming back.

#1- KG, Pierce, and Ray LOVE Sam. You always want to make sure to do everything you can to keep your superstars happy.

#2- I LOVE Rondo but it never hurts to have a couple Veteran PG's around (Rivers, Cassell) to mentor.

#3- Depth. It's a long and grueling season. We saw what happened to Tom Brady last week. I'm not comparing Rajon Rondo to Tom Brady AT ALL but what if Rondo went down with an injury? Do you really feel good with House and Pruitt running the point for an extended period of time? I don't.

#4-He's funny as hell! With Pollard gone we need someone to loosen up the locker room and play around with the media. Cassell's value goes beyond the basketball court.

and finally.......give him a preseason to learn the system and figure out his role. He'll be better then what we saw in the playoffs. O, and btw.....Didn't we win the championship? He couldn't have been that bad.

#1 - KG, Ray and Paul LOVE winning more than Sam. Sam does all he can to lower our chances at winning with his selfish play.

#2 - I LOVE Rondo too and don't want some selfish mother **** teaching him how to put himself ahead of the team.

#3 - Depth. It is a grueling season and having Sam on the team will only make it more grueling. Sam is good here only if all the players can give him their injuries. However, since the injuries aren't transferable, he is useless. If Rondo goes down, I'd feel much better about having someone who can actually guard a chair or even try to guard that chair (House, Pruitt, TA or me) than someone who will call his number every posession.

#4 - If he's funny as hell, he should become a comedian. He's certainly got the face that would make people laugh or throw up. Cassell's only value is beyond the basketball court, unless you are rooting against the Celtics.

Dogen · Post #23 » by **Dogen** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:04 pm

Good points, ddb. If Sam signs here, I'd like to see him take on a player/coach mentality more, being more concerned with mentoring than getting his minutes and shots. The team thus far has gone from having Brown/Posey/Cassell/Pollard to POB/Giddens/Walker/Miles. I think the new guys have talent, but we are lacking in the experience that was so valuable last season. Yes, it's true that Cassell's play was atrocious at times, but we don't know about the value he has for the team off the court, and what he'll do with some training camp time.

Basically, I think it's best to add a few new pieces, but also keep some of the experienced bench that got us to #17.

dwestside · Post #24 » by **dwestside** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:20 pm

tombattor wrote:
ddb wrote:If this is true then I like it. Sam Cassell has another year as a backup PG left in his tank and I like his veteran savvy around the kids. Here's a few reasons why I like Sam coming back.

#1- KG, Pierce, and Ray LOVE Sam. You always want to make sure to do everything you can to keep your superstars happy.

#2- I LOVE Rondo but it never hurts to have a couple Veteran PG's around (Rivers, Cassell) to mentor.

#3- Depth. It's a long and grueling season. We saw what happened to Tom Brady last week. I'm not comparing Rajon Rondo to Tom Brady AT ALL but what if Rondo went down with an injury? Do you really feel good with House and Pruitt running the point for an extended period of time? I don't.

#4-He's funny as hell! With Pollard gone we need someone to loosen up the locker room and play around with the media. Cassell's value goes beyond the basketball court.

and finally.......give him a preseason to learn the system and figure out his role. He'll be better then what we saw in the playoffs. O, and btw.....Didn't we win the championship? He couldn't have been that bad.

#1 - KG, Ray and Paul LOVE winning more than Sam. Sam does all he can to lower our chances at winning with his selfish play.

#2 - I LOVE Rondo too and don't want some selfish mother **** teaching him how to put himself ahead of the team.

#3 - Depth. It is a grueling season and having Sam on the team will only make it more grueling. Sam is good here only if all the players can give him their injuries. However, since the injuries aren't transferable, he is useless. If Rondo goes down, I'd feel much better about having someone who can actually guard a chair or even try to guard that chair (House, Pruitt, TA or me) than someone who will call his number every posession.

#4 - If he's funny as hell, he should become a comedian. He's certainly got the face that would make people laugh or throw up. Cassell's only value is beyond the basketball court, unless you are rooting against the Celtics.

Woah, easy homie. Rational thoughts ...

#1 - Sam is indifferent to losing? The guy that has how many championships?

#2 - It's really unfair to crown him selfish without qualification. Give it some thought. Did he play like this before he was with the Celtics? Not really ... It's my interpretation that Doc gave him the message that he'd be expected to take charge offensively in the 2nd unit. No that doesn't excuse him from hoisting up jumpshots when Pierce and Garnett were in the game, but perhaps it's not as simple as 'he all of a sudden turned into a selfish player because of the uniform he's wearing, just to piss you off. Canman's right, a year of training (and maybe even an offensively proficient 2nd unit) will help tremendously.

#3 - Lots of players have weaknesses and that doesn't keep them off the bench for sparse minutes. Gary Payton couldn't defend for Miami anymore but they made that work.

#4 - Throw up face? Stay classy San Diego.

tombattor · Post #25 » by **tombattor** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:41 pm

dwestside, Sam's always been a selfish player with huge ego. He's always thought of himself as some sort of a super star. This is why I've been against his coming to Boston from the very beginning. And his play last year has done nothing to prove me wrong. He's actually been much more selfish and me-first than I had thought.

On a team where defense and ball-movement is so important, Sam does exactly the opposite. Haven't you seen this last year? He brings up the ball and without passing the ball once, takes a shot with a guy in his face, while everyone else stands around. Thank God, he came to Boston towards the end of the season because had he been with the team all year, we would never have seen guys like Leon Powe explode for big games because he wouldn't have gotten the ball enough with the 2nd unit to do his thing.

The bottom line is, Sam Cassell is the worst thing that can possibly happen for this team. He'll destroy any confidence the young players can potentially because he'll come in with the 2nd unit and just hog the ball. All he does is jack up shots and flop to draw non-existent fouls. How many more bricks does he have to jack up in his pathetic attempt to draw a foul on his pump-fakes?

At this point, all he has is his name-value and it seems like too many people are still holding onto his past, but his time passed about 4 years ago. Let's move on.

Rocky5000 · Post #26 » by **Rocky5000** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:14 pm

What in the -world- is Danny thinking? The dude sucks now. Yeah, I remember him being awesome when he was younger, but as we saw, he pretty much sucks now. This means that we need to cut someone. I'd say Pruitt, and Miles are the two most likely to be on the chopping block. Also Eddie House signed the contract thinking he was going to be the backup pg, he wouldn't have signed if he thought he was going to be the 3rd string point guard on this team and get less playing time than last year. The only way I like this move is if Scal decides to quit.

Oh one other thing - I thought we might be waiting on the Knicks to dump Marbury, which still seems likely. Marbury said he wants to play in Boston and he'd be hard to turn down for the minimum. With Cassell here, I don't know what we'd do.

bruno sundov · Post #27 » by **bruno sundov** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:39 pm

underneathtoDJ wrote:I know Sam was pretty bad for us last year, but I think that was about as bad as he can play. I think there were times he was trying to live up to being a clutch veteran and was trying to do too much. With some familiarity with the offense and an entire preseason to get comfortable with the guys around him, I'm ok with Sam coming off the bench for 15 minutes a night. I've yet to see anything in Pruitt that shows he can get the job done, despite his potential. We're trying to win championships and it's tough to do with such a young/inexperienced backup PG. Hopefully Sam can get back to his big shot, testicle dancing ways and hopefully Doc let's him know that if he dribbles the ball up court and jacks a 3 with 15-20 seconds left on the shot clock (like he did so many times last year) he will find himself 'coaching' from the bench a lot sooner than he expected.

I can see you don't have a lot of post. One thing we don't take kindly to is on this board is commonsense, or being rational. So please tone it down for the love of god.

greenbeans · Post #28 » by **greenbeans** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:48 pm

I'll take the same wait and see approach with this as I am the Cassel situation down Foxborough.
Danny/Bill are in the position they are for a reason, and were typing on an internet messageboard for a reason. They have enough goodwill built up with me, thats for sure.

GuyClinch · Post #29 » by **GuyClinch** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:06 pm

Say it's not so... this is the worst move Danny has ever made.

Post #30 » by **ParticleMan** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:15 pm

I'll believe it when I hear it from Ainge.

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

tombattor · Post #31 » by **tombattor** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:29 pm

bruno sundov wrote:
underneathtoDJ wrote:I know Sam was pretty bad for us last year, but I think that was about as bad as he can play. I think there were times he was trying to live up to being a clutch veteran and was trying to do too much. With some familiarity with the offense and an entire preseason to get comfortable with the guys around him, I'm ok with Sam coming off the bench for 15 minutes a night. I've yet to see anything in Pruitt that shows he can get the job done, despite his potential. We're trying to win championships and it's tough to do with such a young/inexperienced backup PG. Hopefully Sam can get back to his big shot, testicle dancing ways and hopefully Doc let's him know that if he dribbles the ball up court and jacks a 3 with 15-20 seconds left on the shot clock (like he did so many times last year) he will find himself 'coaching' from the bench a lot sooner than he expected.

I can see you don't have a lot of post. One thing we don't take kindly to is on this board is commonsense, or being rational. So please tone it down for the love of god.

You make me laugh. What common sense are you talking about here?

That he HOPES that Sam can get his big shot back? And HOPEFULLY doc will let him know that Sam can't just jack up the shot? Seems like a lot of hoping when we saw that he did neither last year.

Maybe I should empty out my savings and buy lottery tickets because HOPEFULLY i'll win a $250 million jackpot. By your logic, that would be using my common sense, right?

Bad-Thoma · Post #32 » by **Bad-Thoma** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:59 pm

I'll believe this when I see it also, but I do think Sam would/will be more productive with a full year with the team and a training camp under his belt. *Sigh* I also thought he was going to be a great pick-up last year, and other than a few good moments was pretty blah. I guess time will tell, if it's even going to happen.

GreenGrizz · Post #33 » by **GreenGrizz** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:10 pm

If Ainge trades someone for a pick, I am ok with it.

Havlicek17 · Post #34 » by **Havlicek17** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:27 pm

If signing Sam I Am causes the Celtics to have some competition at the PG position, so be it. I like it when the competition decides who makes the team...

Jammer · Post #35 » by **Jammer** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:46 am

I really think that Sam is done, but there is one way that this makes sense, and the NET gain to the Celtics is a second round pick.

If the Celtics have concluded that Gabe Pruitt will likely spend all season INACTIVE or in D-League,

and IF SAM Cassell is willing to SPEND THE ENTIRE SEASON INACTIVE
except when Rajon Rondo or Eddie House is injured,
then

Gabe Pruitt can be traded to a team with a trade exception for a second round pick,
and Sam will become the "insurance" point guard.

Gabe makes $711k, which is about what Sam would cost the Celtics, since over $400k of the veteran minimum is reimbursed by the League office for a 15 year man like Sam.

The only way signing Sam makes sense is if they trade Pruitt for a pick, and
Sam agrees in advance to not bitch if he is INACTIVE all season.

The net gain for the Celtics would be the 2nd round pick that they'd get for Pruitt, and
not having to tell Gabe how he doesn't figure into their long term plans.

The biggest problem with this is getting Sam not to not b*tch about being inactive all year, except when Rajon or Eddie might miss a game.

3pt % · Post #36 » by **3pt %** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:04 am

I loved Sam's attitude and the testicle dance.

That said he was flat out terrible last year. As in no redeeming arguments at all.

I hope he ends up as an assistance coach and not a player.

Jammer · Post #37 » by **Jammer** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:30 am

More likely, though, I think it is simply Sam shooting off his mouth out of desperation.

Earlier this summer, in July, when the Celtics showed him no interest after signing Tony & Eddie;
Sam practically begged Denver for a contract, and a coaching gig the following year (irrational since he already had an offer from the Celtics, did Sam not respond in time, has the offer been rescinded ???).

Anyway, there were no takers for Sam The Whore as he lay waiting for a date.

Last week Danny said that the Celtics weren't chasing anyone, WEREN'T PLANNING ON SIGNING ANYONE, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't sign someone.

The only offers that had been extended to players that were still available were the minimum contract offers in early July that Doc & Danny made to Mutombo & Mourning.

So, methinks that there is a better than 50% chance that Sam is screaming for a prom date, by saying that he already has a prom date, thinking someone's gonna escort him to the dance, even if it's an unguaranteed vet minimum contract that let's him go to camp.

If the Celtics do sign Sam, though, my previous post stands (see immediate above post).

Post #38 » by **canman1971** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 11:30 am

Well, it looks like Cassell wasn't just talking out his butt. Here is Ainge confirming it.

"Sam made a comment that he would like to coach someday, and I already knew that," Ainge said. "But we are working on a deal to bring Sam back as a player. There is nothing done yet, but we could get it done soon.

"We always bring four point guards to training camp. We love where Gabe [Pruitt] is and we also have Eddie House. Rajon [Rondo] is our starter and they are fighting for the backup spot."

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... h_celtics/

BillessuR6 · Post #39 » by **BillessuR6** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:03 pm

I think Pruitt is done...I guess Danny and Doc don`t see much in Gabe if they think we need Sam back...

I really like Pruitt so I would be sad to see us give up on him so early but Danny knows best...

buckner1976 · Post #40 » by **buckner1976** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:53 pm

Well I'll be damned. What do I know? First move this offseason I do not agree with. I can't imagine eddie being happy with this. It looks like he's gonna get his job stolen from him again. And he had better offers elsewhere to play. After he shut his mouth and played the good soldier and played well when Doc finally remembered he was on the team. Now he's gonna squeeze Eddie again. Plus I have serious doubts as to whether or not Sam will even look to include any of the kids when he's on the floor. This just has "bad idea" written all over it to me.