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JAMES POSEY "Savvy warrior" |
MIAMI - Celtics forward James Posey recently displayed a reminder of the Heat's good days by wearing his mammoth, diamond-studded 2006 NBA championship ring. But in just two years, those good days are gone for the Heat, as they have gone from champions to the Eastern Conference's worst team.
The Heat, who host the Celtics tonight, are 9-33 after ending a 15-game losing streak by beating Indiana Saturday.
"It's tough just coming a couple years from being a championship-caliber team and the direction they were going in," Posey said. "It seemed very positive just the other season. There has been a lot of injuries, though, and new guys and things."
Posey was a key member of the Heat the last two seasons. The 6-foot-8-inch, 217-pounder averaged 7.5 points from 2005-07, playing in 138 regular-season games and 26 playoff games. While the Heat had interest in re-signing him, it wasn't for more than the $6.3 million he netted during the 2006-07 campaign, and the belief was he wanted a raise to stay.
The Celtics offered a chance to play for another championship-caliber team with the likes of Paul Pierce and newcomers Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Posey ended up taking a pay cut to come to Boston; he is making $3.2 million this season with a player option for $3.4 million for 2008-09.
Heat owner Mickey Arison told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "Not signing Posey was probably a mistake."
The Heat also lost sharpshooter Jason Kapono (Toronto) and swingman Eddie Jones (Dallas) in free agency. They traded forward Antoine Walker, forward-center Michael Doleac, forward Wayne Simien, and a conditional first-round pick to Minnesota for guard Ricky Davis and forward-center Mark Blount Oct. 24.
"There is a business side of things," Posey said. "They did what they thought was best for the organization. By that, they let me, 'Toine and Kapono go knowing what you have, what you're getting from guys, compared to not knowing what you're getting from guys. I think they sacrificed a lot, for the most part, when you look at the things they are going through now, the guys they have and the chemistry."
Walker, an ex-Celtic, blamed Heat president and coach Pat Riley for the franchise's current struggles.
"Honestly, the Miami situation is something Pat Riley put on himself," Walker said. "You can't change the team like that. All the good teams, the teams contending for championships, look at Detroit, San Antonio, they have been teams that have kept their core guys together for three, four, five, six years. For some apparent reason, Coach felt like he needed a change.
"You got myself, Pose, all of us are 31, 32 years old, still can play. Still are valuable pieces. Last [season] we won 44 games. Even though we lost in the first round of the playoffs, Shaq missed [39] games, D-Wade missed like [30]. So you have to factor all those things in."
The biggest problem for Miami has been injuries to their two superstars, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal.
Wade missed the first seven games of the season while recovering from left knee and left shoulder surgeries. He hasn't consistently been back to his stellar form, and also has been suffering from a bruised right shoulder, bruised right shin, and jammed right pinky finger.
"The injuries are hard for him," said Posey. "But he's playing through them, for the most part."
O'Neal started the season with lingering left knee problems, has had right hip and left thigh ailments this season, and is out tonight with acute inflammation of the left hip and quadriceps. He recently dispelled rumors about shutting it down for the season and retiring with two years and $40 million left on his contract after this season. The Heat also lost veteran center Alonzo Mourning after he had patella and quadriceps tendon surgery Dec. 20.
Posey said he didn't think O'Neal was on the downside.
"For the most part, he is still a threat and can give it to you," Posey said. "I've been on the floor with him and see the abuse he takes night in and night out. It's not fair, for the most part.
"That abuse leads to injuries and time off for him, which is sad. But I know what he's capable of doing, and even when he's not 100 percent, he's still a threat."
Posey is averaging 7.2 points and 4.3 rebounds and shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range in 22.7 minutes per game. In Sunday's loss to Orlando, he had 16 points, nailed 4 of 6 3-pointers, and grabbed 6 rebounds in 26 minutes after missing three games with a sprained right index finger.
"He's an all-purpose, just savvy warrior," said Riley. "He's a cold-blooded shooter. At the end of the game, he's going to make them if he's open. And he rebounds. He does a lot of great things."
Kevin Garnett, who missed the Orlando game with an abdominal strain, is listed as day-to-day, but coach Doc Rivers said Sunday he doubted that Garnett would play tonight. Posey (finger), forward Brian Scalabrine (flu), guard Tony Allen (eye), and guard Rajon Rondo (ankle) are expected to play . . . Rivers gave the Celtics yesterday off.
The Grizzlies officially bought out veteran point guard Damon Stoudamire yesterday, according to his agent, Aaron Goodwin. The Celtics, Spurs, Raptors, and Suns all have interest in Stoudamire, who will become an unrestricted free agent at 6 p.m. tomorrow if he clears waivers as expected. "Obviously, Damon has expressed interest the last couple of weeks in playing for the Celtics," Goodwin said. "We'll talk to the Celtics to see what can happen." The Celtics are viewed as the front-runner in the Stoudamire sweepstakes if they want the guard. But they will likely have to move quickly to keep him from moving to another team. Rumors continue to persist that the Celtics have interest in Clippers guard Sam Cassell, but they seem to have no viable way of acquiring him via trade.
Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
