With all of the James Posey talk I haven't heard too much about Tom Thibodeau. Thankfully the NBA works a lot like the NFL, as teams don't wait for coaches from elite teams. Can we expect another year from Thibodeau? And how about Clifford Ray for that matter? Losing one or both would not be cool. In fact all of coach Doc Rivers' assistants are free agents right now.

via assets.espn.go.com

The NFL has what apparently should be called the Paul Pierce Rule to crack down on its players using gang signs in games. Here's the Pierce story, with the much talked about image below.

via multimedia.heraldinteractive.com

James Posey is gone. Longhorn raises a good question. What's next? Great question. I'm going to think about that. While I do you should too. More tomorrow...

So that happened. As of today James Posey's next championship quest will take place with Chris Paul and company. Some thoughts/reactions:

1. Posey signed for less last year to earn a big contract. It wouldn't make sense for him to take less again.

2. Posey got the money ($25 million) and years (4) he wanted. Yet he also joined an excellent team. The Hornets are definitely on the rise and it was a nice acquisition for them.

3. All of the sudden Boston's bench is thin. The back up point guard position is still unresolved and who gets minutes behind Ray Allen and Paul Pierce? Meanwhile, you have to wonder if the C's can maintain that lightning in a bottle type aura they had last year.

4. It is interesting to see a player like Posey enter free agency, which I'd argue is still dominated by statistics. You can see why some guys shy away from hustle plays and unselfish basketball because the market does not reward that. Put it this way would you rather have Corey Maggette or James Posey? On the bright side we'll get to see how much he's worth next season.

5. I know this could and most likely would happen. However, I hoped it would not. Yet I wish Posey nothing but the best. I would not be surprised if he were productive during the 4th season of his deal. And he'd be hard pressed to make that type of money after three seasons. At least he's out West.

6. Danny Ainge has his work cut out for him.

7. Expect a significant drop in man hugs next season.

Blogs to Check Out

CelticsBlog
Loy's Place
Red's Army
The Shamrock Headband
Hornets 24/7
At The Hive
Ball Don't Lie
TrueHoop

Just as I was about to go to bed I went over to NBA.com to find out about the new Celtics championship DVD. I'm not even trying to be obnoxious right now. And BOOM the Clippers acquired Marcus Camby. The running joke will definitely be that one of the worst defensive teams in the league just went and traded the one guy that actually played defense. And citizen zhiv over at Clips Nation is on board with the deal. I have a few reactions of my own.

1. Talk about a crazy summer in LA. First Baron Davis unexpectedly signed there. Then Elton Brand unexpectedly bolted. And then the Clips unexpectedly avoided the restricted free agent (Josh Smith, Emeka Okafor) route by landing Camby for a second round pick. A second round pick? That's excellent. On top of that Camby is on a 2-year deal that runs out in that much talked about summer of 2010. Seriously look at the guys who lack restrictions that summer. LeBron, Bosh, Wade, and more. That makes me the 1,000,000th person to bring this up...today

2. I had to jump into the archives for a Q&A (I hate typing that) I did with Jeremy from Pickaxe and Roll back in February. Let's just say Jeremy is not a huge Camby guy:

"I found the calls for Camby to make the All-Star team laughable.  Camby is great at what he does, but he is an atrocious offensive player.  He has no post game.  Earlier in the season Golden State was guarding him with Mickael Pietrus.  Any self respecting center would take that 6' 6" defender in the post and light him up.  Camby never even gave it a thought.  The only thing Camby is good at on offense is driving to the basket with his right hand.

Defensively he is incredibly overrated.  Yes, he is a great weak side shot blocker and he is a very good rebounder.  He has tremendous instincts.  He cannot guard players of any significance in the post because of his frail frame and he never tries to step out and stop the ball handler in a screen and roll situation because he wants to sit back and try to block shots.  The result is an endless string of open fifteen footers or driving lanes through the paint.

In the last game before the all star break against Orlando Camby had to sit out most of the fourth quarter because he could not guard Dwight Howard inside not could he guard Rashard Lewis or Hedo Turkoglu on the perimeter.

Camby is very good for the Nuggets because they have Kenyon Martin and sometimes Nene to guard the big post scorers of the NBA, but if Camby had to guard every post scorer on his own, he would never, ever be in consideration for the Defensive Player of the Year."

Other Blogs to Check Out:

ClipperBlog
Nugg Doctor

I was a little down about not having access to any of the Fiba 2008 Men's Qualifying Tournament games. However, summer league is a good alternative, even if the Celtics did not field a team. That sentiment was only strengthened earlier today when I caught the Knicks/Cavaliers game. I was psyched for two reasons:

1. Out of nowhere Robert Traylor was on the court. I couldn't believe it. Apparently I missed the memo the first time around. That's right Tractor Traylor is in Vegas. How does this fit with his probation? As far as I can tell he should still be in the electronically monitored stage.

2. How often do you get to hear someone say, "Stephon Marbury has joined us here at the broadcast table..."? To be fair his new tattoo is much higher up on his head than I originally expected. It works for him. And Marbury said all of the right things. I was impressed. As a side note Danilo Gallinari looked good. He's a lot taller than I realized.

It's been a long strange ride for Marbury over the last couple of years. And yet much like Mike Tyson, who went through a series of bizarre, albeit more outlandish, events, Marbury appears to have reached the point of no return with his face tattoo. I've got nothing against tattoos. However, Marbury's most recent one caused me to look back over the tumultuous events of his last couple of seasons. And to be honest I probably missed a few.

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CelticsBlog
Following up Knicks-Clips Talks: Greed Abounds. Green Bandwagon Note - I agree with the argument that any deal that sends Zach Randolph out of town and does not bring back huge, long term contracts is a good deal.
Loy's Place
Sunday's rumors and updates Gerald Green Still Dunking. Green Bandwagon Note - I'd say the fact that we don't have the opportunity to get carried away about J.R. Giddens throwing down a monster dunk is the biggest downer of the C's not having a summer league team.
Red's Army
It's Us Vs. New Orleans.
Intentional Balk
Adios Patrick O'Bryant. Green Bandwagon Note - There's one person not broken up about the move.
Celtics 17
Filling six spots: one down, five to go.
The Shamrock Headband
Yup.
Boston Herald
A champion on the green. Green Bandwagon Note - I respect Ray Allen's approach. He focuses throughout the season, works hard, and does not relax until the season ends.
Ray stays in Posey's court.
Boston Globe
After win, missing the green.
MetroWest Daily
For Pierce, there's peace.
O'Bryant workout revisited two years later. Green Bandwagon Note - Great use of the archives.

Because the rest of the league is going to hate him. When he's not busy getting positive news about his knee injury, which as you recall some believed was faked, Pierce is out telling the Knicks to drop Marbury. Of course Pierce is on the record for loving the 2005/2006 soap opera that was the New York Knicks. My response to all this news? I'm happy The Truth will bounce back from the sprained MCL and the bone bruise. And oh yeah, see below:

First off I don't necessarily buy the whole "strong veteran presence is the cure for everything" type of thinking. For example in the past Paul Pierce alluded to his frustration with trying to bring Gerald Green along and how a guy has to want it to be successful. Of course this is an entirely different team nowadays with a stronger veteran core and young guys - Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe, and Rajon Rondo - known for working hard. Seriously if O'Bryant doesn't bring it in practice Powe will eat his lunch. Overall I like Boston's mix of veterans and youth and I'm on board with the gambles - J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker (knee), and now O'Bryant - Danny Ainge has taken. And since it's been pretty slow around here I've decided to put together 10 reasons O'Bryant in green and white makes sense. Worst case someone on the Celtics (Paul Pierce?) can put some popcorn on his Christmas tree.

JRich pranks teamate Patrick O'Bryant (via hotsizzle869)

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