Back breaker
He will do what it takes to help his team win, including breaking your back with a 3 or with a cheap-shot. Opposing fans hate him, but he’s the kind of role player you like to have on your team: meet James Posey. Just don’t get too close to him or he might draw an offensive foul on you.
While everyone is talking about Pierce’s Finals MVP, Garnett’s DPOY and Ray Allen’s record tying seven 3-pointers, it’s time to give props to a guy who plays more villain than hero: James Posey. At various times during the finals Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen failed to deliver in the crunch. But he kept stepping up and making big plays. He was completely unfazed by the importance of the moment - a thing that comes with experience and with having already won a title (with the Heat in 2006).
It seemed that every time the Celtics needed a back breaking 3, Posey was lurking in his corner. Except for game 1, he was 58% from the 3p line. Pierce and Ray Allen got a lot of credit for their defense on Kobe, but people forget Posey played great defense on Kobe as well. His team defense was just as good as he kept drawing charges when the Lakers tried to take the ball to the rim. When the Celtics fumbled the ball (usually on a defensive rebound) he always was in the right place to secure the ball and avoid a costly turnover. In fact, except for game 1 when he played poor and had 2 TO, he only had 0.6 TO per game.
True, many times he acts like a thug - just ask the Bulls fans, he cheapshoted Hinrich, Deng and Tyrus Thomas. Also on most of the offensive fouls he draws he’s actually undercutting the offensive player and he should be just called for the blocking foul instead. He does flop but to be fair, he doesn’t attempt to “sell the foul” a la Ginobili, Parker or Vujacic. The guy is old school tough: he does hit others, but when he gets hit, he keeps playing like nothing happened.
Overall with the big 3s, the defense, the little things that he does to help his team win and with the toughness that sometimes spills into thuggery, Posey reminds me a lot of Robert Horry. And after winning a title with the Heat, he’s now with the Celtics who may have 2-3 years of high level play in them, so expect to see his 2 colors mouth guard a lot in the playoffs and don’t be surprised if he ends up with 4 or 5 rings won with 3 or 4 different teams.
