Celtics sign Marbury

[benji]

Yesterday Jalen Rose was praising the move no end on ESPN

And he knows a thing or two about being an overpaid overrated bum!

[Andrew]

He's also stated that LeBron and Bosh will definitely be Knicks in 2010 citing "inside sources", if nothing else I admire the boldness of his predictions.

[shadowgrin]

I thought the great Antoine Walker was back with the Celtics when I saw a pic of Celtics player with jersey number 8. It was only Starbury. Meh.

[Hoyasaxa]

Heh. Antoine Walker. Interesting how certain NBA players tend to fade so fast.

[Lamrock]

I know. His loss shares number has plummeted the past few years!

[Palos]

If Boston wins another title this season, all the issues/speculations regarding Stephon will end but if they losses, all the blame to Stephon instead.

Lets see until may or pehaps june.

[Andrew]

I don't know if they'll end, though they may be at least temporarily allayed.

[Cleveland wins]

This is a terrible move that will likely be the difference that helps the Cavs and/or Lakers over the top this year. Just because he was good a few years ago and was available does not a good signing make. It won't make a huge difference, but Marbury's presence is just enough to muck up the superb guard rotation.

Don't let an incendiary 8 points in 13 minutes performance fool you.

I hope you're right, especially about the cavs being over the top this year, and yeah andrew you're right about rondo being more valuable. Yes, stephon probably is an experiment, they probably need to boost their bench. Lakers could win it all, it sure does look like they're player the best basketball this year?

[NovU]

It's funny many have doubted Rondo early in last season but now he's almost right up there with big three. If Marbury was with the Celtics from the beginning of last season, I bet he could have gotten a nod in starting role.

[Hoyasaxa]

Really though if Marbury's a limited bench contributor people would be stupid to point the blame to him for the Celtics' woes. He's not getting blamed for much, he's really taking on a quiet role as his career winds down...

[Andrew]

If the Celtics don't end up winning the championship or even getting back to the Finals, the blame shouldn't be on Marbury and if he acts up they can cut him or "banish" him as the Knicks were doing earlier this year. It's the suggestion that he makes the Celtics favourites ahead of anyone else and the assertion that Marbury is a changed player that I'm not so sure about.

[Lamrock]

Marbury has been an awesome signing so far. 2.9 points and 2.9 assists on 28.8% shooting with 0.9 PER and negative win shares. Poor man's Antoine Walker.

[Andrew]

On the plus side, there's no reports of him poisoning the locker room/clashing with anyone so it seems that won't be an issue. That's probably the best you can say about the move though, thus far he hasn't been that "x-factor" some/Jalen Rose suggested he would be.

[NovU]

Nobody really expected him to play at high level as a Celtic, but this ugly? That's surprising. Is it the style of basketball Celtics plays that's keeping him off, or is it him that's getting old?

[Doobie]

Nobody really expected him to play at high level as a Celtic, but this ugly? That's surprising. Is it the style of basketball Celtics plays that's keeping him off, or is it him that's getting old?

I think it's more him not playing basketball for about a year.

[Andrew]

Also consider he's playing just under 17 mpg, getting around 4 shots per game. I'm not trying to justify 28% shooting or his other numbers per se, but anyone expecting him to put up great numbers in limited minutes on a team where he's not the focus is certainly expecting too much, regardless of how long he's been out (though that can't help matters).

For his career, he's a 38 mpg player and with those kind of minutes he can rebound from a slow start. With his current playing time if he starts out 0/4, that could be what he ends up shooting for the game because he doesn't have that opportunity to turn around and make his next five and end up with 20 something on a decent shooting percentage. That's not to disregard the weaknesses in his game that have been highlighted throughout his career but the opportunity to do great things isn't really there.

But again having said that, it's certainly not the great move some had it pegged to be and the best you could probably say about it is that he hasn't ruined the team, which is a pretty backhanded compliment to pay a player.

[Matthew]

Marbury has been an awesome signing so far. 2.9 points and 2.9 assists on 28.8% shooting with 0.9 PER and negative win shares. Poor man's Antoine Walker.

What exactly were you expecting?