Celtics Central

I must first say this exercise in looking at potential free agents for the Celtics is pure conjecture to begin with.

Most of the players that I have mentioned in my previous article came from strictly from looking over the available free agents.

Other than Antonio McDyess, who we all know that Danny has liked for a while, the rest are merely for conversation sake. I have no indication at all that the Celtics are interested in any of them.

But after looking over the boards and seeing a dichotomy of opinion on one player in particular, Jamario Moon, I decided to contact someone who might know a bit more than the average fan.

After a discussion with a professional, veteran NBA source who has observed Moon a lot, I will reduce and reframe my expectations and understanding of Jamario Moon. I originally wrote this about Moon:

SF: Jamario Moon – An active, long defender. He needs more discipline and would get that with the Celtics. He always defended Pierce pretty well in Toronto, and shoots the three-ball. Not nearly as clever or tough as Posey but….Posey-light? Has the length Danny likes. I like him.

Due to the candid nature of the conversation, my source will, of course, remain anonymous.

What is your take on Jamario Moon?

He’s an athletic three, who does nothing particularly well, but can defend a little, hit a three point shot every now and then.

That is a lower opening appraisal than I hoped for. But that is why I was checking for more knowledgeable information than I had previously to make an opinion. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says, such as the following….

It’s sort of like what you guys had with Gerald Green a little and what the Heat have with Dorel Wright. He’s an athlete, but is he a basketball player?

I would say that Moon has already accomplished far more than either of those players. Granted he is older, too. But I get his drift. The feeling is that Moon relies on his athleticism but does not really play the whole game well.

To paraphrase…. Moon is a poor positional defender and counts on his speed and fantastic leaping ability to make up lost ground when he gets beat by his man. He will often catch up to his man at the rim, but that is too late, as the center has already had leave his own man to commit to help on Moon’s player.

I told him that I saw Moon playing some solid defense on Paul Pierce when the Celtics played the Raptors. Response….

Yeah, he can guard Paul Pierce or if you put him on a Paul Pierce or he becomes the Celtics’ stopper, he’s also going to get a bunch of fouls.

Guys like that are guys that are fine if they’re coming off the bench, like Pietrus for Orlando, and you accept the fact that he might get three quick fouls because, you’re just not going to stop anyone one-on-one.

I think his defensive stopper-ism is a tad over rated. I think that’s who people really want him to be. But I think he’s not as positionally intelligent as like a Bruce Bowen….who has broken down individual defense to more like a science.

He went on to say that….

But probably half the people you talk to will tell you , “Don’t kid yourself. You can’t guard anyone one-on-one these days.”

Again, mostly true. But there are times when a rare few players do a pretty good job of defending one-on-one with the Pierces, Kobes and LeBrons of the league.

What if he came to a strong team like Boston?

If he is not going to be a starter, and he is going to be a 17 minutes a game guy…just like James Posey can guard 3/4s for example…..he can guard 2/3s. Just like James (Posey) can hit the corner three when you need it, you know, Jamario…not as high a percentage, he doesn’t have the big game experience…could hit three also.

But he’s not even a 6th man. He’s more like a 7th, 8th or 9th man. He’s not the guy that is going to come off the bench who will energize your guys either way. He’s not a big steals guy. He’s not a pure shot blocker defensively.

He’s a guy who’ll come off the bench and buy time for you.

In some ways that is all the team needs, if they can get him for short money. But it sounds like he would not be that good on defense on LeBron or Kobe. Would Kobe or Lebron eat him up?

They would eat him up, but what he would do is, he would keep Paul out of foul trouble. You could throw him on LeBron for 15 minutes a game and he would get some fouls. But he would make LeBron exert energy, which is what you want.

So there might be times when the Celtics can go small, let’s say when Cleveland goes small, where you could have him and Pierce on the court at the same time, and use Jamario against LeBron.

If he gets fouls, so what, at least Paul’s not getting the fouls, and you still have Paul’s offense out there. That’s what he is. He’s not the kind of guy you’re going to worry if he gets 2 quick fouls or 3 quick fouls. It doesn’t matter.

He’s not the kind of guy…the difference between him and Posey is that he’s not an end-of-game guy….. Even if the fouls aren’t bad, I think Doc would put Paul on him (LeBron) anyway, the way that Paul’s upgraded his defense…as long as Paul’s not in foul trouble and in danger of getting his 5th or 6th foul.

He didn’t see teams being overly successful with Moon on the floor at crunch time. He went on to say that players that play defense like Moon drive positional defensive coaches crazy.

That right there gives me pause. If Tom Thibodeau comes back, and even if he doesn’t, Doc Rivers would not allow a player to freelance or play undisciplined and ‘catch up’ defense out there. That is why the Cs have even gotten upset at Rondo for playing defense the very same way at times.

The one thing they are, Celtics might be as positional (on defense) as any team in the NBA.

That is true. But I might add that they are short on length and athleticism and that is missed quite a bit at times in games, as well.

What they need is an ‘athlete’ who knows the fundamentals of the game, too.

He says that you don’t need to be an athlete to be a good defender and used Bruce Bowen as an example….

The question is whether his basketball IQ is up there. Certain guys understand tactically what to do. Their footwork is spectacular. They know when a player goes left, to play him to the left. Bruce is positioning and angles, and that’s what people don’t understand. They go for (the fact) that Bruce is not a good athlete at all. But he knows what to do.

He even used Brain Scalabrine as an exemple…

(Many) thought Mikki Moore was a great pick-up right? He is a 7 footer. He’s long. He’s better than Scalabrine. But at the end of year, Brian Scalabrine, who is not really atheltic, he still fit that defensive system better than Mikki Moore did.

Of course Trevor Ariza’s name came up…..

He (Moon) is an athlete. But is he an athlete who can ever be transformed into something a little more? You know, Trevor Ariza’s come around so, obviously there is hope for everyone.

But for every Trevor Ariza who has turned his athleticism into a polished NBA player, there are 10 guys who just end up as journeymen their entire careers.

(Chuckling) Yeah, that is a good illustration. To be honest I always liked Ariza. I thought if you put him in the right situation…….

Exactly. And you put him in the triangle on offense and you get him positionally where he needs to be on defense and you can make something out of him. Maybe Jamario will find that.

So, my idea of Jamario Moon becoming a ‘Posey-light’ appears to be on the hopeful side. Yet, he could be a long shot as a Trevor Ariza type if he would acquire the discipline necessary to make that jump.

My source did not seem optimistic that would happen.

Bear in mind that even the smartest, most knowledgeable minds in the NBA will disagree on players and their potential. So I leave the door open that he may be wrong about Moon. Then again, he may not.

So I will defer. Based on that appraisal, Moon more likely appears to be a low cost pick up for deeper off the bench. In a pinch that will do, but that isn’t really what the Celtics need right now.

Danny has a tough job this summer.