Celtics do not need to sign the biggest FA name.

Wide Load — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:00:41 -0000

I think sometime we get to caught up in the big names out there. Wallace, Mcdyce, Grant Hill... Names that create excitement. Names that create buzz. Former all-star coming to Boston to help win number 18 and get their rings (or second ring)

But the Celtics do not need the big name.

Three names: Posey, House and PJ Brown.

via weblogs.newsday.com

Celtics won a title using a bench built around three FA that were not the big names in FA that year. When looking at different rankings of that FA class, I see lists where 25 or more guys are listed ahead of them that year.

Hollingers ranking

And here is the funny thing, the big names the Celtics did sign were flops. Former all-star PGs that never came close to living up to what we had hoped. Sure they had their moment, but Cassel and Marbury were both disappointments in the end.

What worked though is that they were the fit the Celtics needed. Guys that fit the system (something that is often overlooked in the NBA). Guys that were role players. Role players that knew what their job was in the NBA and were comfortable with it. (where a guy like TA is not comfortable or good in the role the Celtics needed him to play) Guys that went from being "how do the Celtics expect to win with such a weak bench" to "Celtics need to open their wallets and keep this bench intact."

The fit is the reason that House and Davis should be retained. Powe, if he can recover, also should be retained because he has a role he fits in.

So, who are the players that fit the role of need? I honestly an not sure. When they won the title, I never figured before the season that it would be House and PJ (though I did say a couple of times I wanted to see Posey on the team)

So if we see some big names sign elsewhere, don't panic. If we see the Celtics bring in some vets we were not so high on, give them time to prove themselves.

But if the Celtics start the season with a bench of project again, well, they will deserve just about any and all criticism that comes their way.

When The Win Streaks Grow, The Volume Of Talking In Here Drops

Wide Load — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:51:47 -0000

A sad statement about all sport fans I think. As our beloved teams do well, we have less to talk about among our fellow fans of the team.

We have so much more to say when there is an issue with the team. Problems we can analyze and discuss ways the team can fix them. We discuss what we would do different or who should be the one doing it. When the Celtics were lotto teams, there were so many different discussion going on, you could not follow them all. But the long time CBers know, this great blog is much more quiet now.

Every hard core fan of every team does it. As the team does better, there is less chatter between fans of that team (though more chatter grows between the these fans and fans of other teams, something we don't have a lot of on here). It is the sport fans' nature. Just listen to sports talk radio. Problems and issues seem to be the rating draws.

Of course, there are only so many "such and such is great" talks you can have. The discussion doesn't last long if everyone is agreeing with you. How many different ways can you say "Pierce's play is good" or "Rondo is stepping up" ? Fans can trash talk players on other teams, but what good is that if fans from those teams are not going to respond.

Now the only exception to this seems to be a sport like football. Of course that sport has so much time between games and there is a lot of things that can be broken down. Therefor, you can probably say that the longer between games for a sport, the less this happens.

The effect of this has also created a large non-Celtics discussion block. Face it, we like to talk on this site and we have come to enjoy each other responses. Most posters now can find another topic on this site besides the Celtics that they are interested in.

Now let me make this clear now, I am not writing this because I want the Celtics to be bad so we have something to talk about. This is just some observations I am making.

But let me add this, I would like to see more talk on here. That's why I am grateful we have many posters who have ideas and thoughts on the Celtics that are very different then the majority. I think we are to hard on them to often and do not appreciate that they give us jumping off points for discussion we wouldn't normally have. I am also glad there are a few posters that are fans of other teams that do contribute. I wish there was more because as long as the are as respectful as we are, they add to the discussion.

So, if there are any Piston fans out there that might read this, Celtics are going to beat you tonight. Feel free to come here and try to argue they won't.

SB Nation User Blog: Wide Load

Celtics do not need to sign the biggest FA name.

When The Win Streaks Grow, The Volume Of Talking In Here Drops