One Fish, Two Fish, Stat Fish, Jew Fish

(Say it ain’t so) Starbury to the Celtics?

Josh:

John, I’d almost convinced myself that this story was dead, but yesterday ESPN reported that the Knicks had negotiated a buyout with Marbury and that he was already in talks with Boston. This makes me slightly ill to my stomach, as the Celtics are without question my second favorite team in sports. I’ll try not to go into all the my-god-what-an-asshole reasons that Starbury is an awful fit for my team, and do my best to analyze it from a chemistry perspective, which I think is really the proper analysis of why this is a TERRIBLE idea.

This is a Celtics team that is built on defensive intensity and, as is almost a given, a very tight team cohesion. This was one of the reasons I was so sad to see James Posey leave - he was both an excellent defender and an excellent teammate/glue guy. I don’t think it’s going to surprise anyone when I say that Marbury is something like the complete opposite. He is selfish, prone to fights, makes cliques in the team, and his attitude in adversity is pitiful. He’s a quitter, John, a whiny selfish quitter. We’ve also been down the KG and Marbury road before, and a combo that could have been one of the better inside-outside games of the last decade ended in a bitterness that stayed with that organization until basically last year when they cleaned out their roster. Obviously he’s not entirely to blame for the implosion of the Knicks franchise, but he is one of the people who was responsible. I do NOT want truck parties on Causeway.

There are some other arguments to make too. A lot of Celtics say that the most important player on the floor each night is Rondo, and I’m inclined to agree. The way they run their offense, it is essential for him to make good drives to the hoop, finish well and kick out well. He’s a tremendous player when his game is on; not quite at the Chris Paul/Deron Williams/Derrick Rose level, but only one small step below them. The problem is, his ego can be a little fragile. When the team is in a bit of trouble, he is not the guy who is going to have the breakout game to snap a losing streak. He’s also not the one who’s going to turn around a post season series on his own. That’s not his game. One of the most important priorities in Boston has to be keeping him confident and loose. When Sam Cassell showed up last season and started eating up Rondo’s minutes, Rondo really struggled in a way he hadn’t all season long. And it wasn’t rust, it was that his game got too tight. He forced shots, he forced passes, and it got ugly. And that was with an all around great teammate like Sam Cassell. What will it be like when Marbury starts bitching about playing time? What about when Rondo has a stinker (everyone does) and sees Marbury arguing for more playing time? Ugh. Team chemistry is SO important in winning franchises (ask the Spurs).

As for the argument that they need another PG, I do understand it, and it makes sense. Eddie House, who I absolutely love, is not a smooth ball-handler and really has trouble against a strong press. He’s a lot better as the swingman, which is where the Celtics have used him at times this year (with Rondo still at point). Also, he works with the offense running through Pierce or KG, as he is quick enough to elude most defenders and has a good enough perimeter game to make those stop-on-a-dime threes. I’d love to have a proven scorer and veteran coming off the bench to back up Rondo and put House as the 2 in the backup team; I think that puts the Celtics right back on top of the East. I just wonder about what it does to the front line of the team.

Any statistical analysis to offer? Can you make me feel better about it? Do I have to cheer if he’s wearing the green?