2.08.2019

James Posey is Ready

 June 2008

James Posey is Ready

No single member of the Miami Heat was responsible for stopping Dirk Nowitzki in the 2006 NBA Finals.

Indeed, the Dallas forward may have had more to do with his own demise than anyone who guarded him.



But there is no doubt that James Posey, always known as a strong defender, boosted his reputation in that series as the one Miami player who could guard anyone on the perimeter. Posey also guarded Josh Howard, but what most remember is his ability to make Nowitzki back down.

``You tell yourself to just shut him out, contain him, do what you have to do by any means necessary,'' he said. ``If you have to foul him, foul him HARD.''

Nowitzki didn't know how to respond, and Posey could see it. The more hesitation the German 7-footer showed, the more Posey bore in.

He knew when his message had gotten through.

``When you know someone is coming at you all the time, you're going to think, (expletive), when is he going to let up?'' said Posey. ``But that's when he let up.''

Posey isn't the only Celtic with an NBA championship ring; Sam Cassell has two. But no Celtic has functioned so well, so recently on the big stage.

Though he has impressed everyone with his ability to have an impact on so many parts of the game, from 3-pointers to clutch rebounds, Posey's job description is still headed by his defensive credentials.

Over the last two months he has taken on LeBron James, Joe Johnson, Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups.

Starting on Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Lakers, he is naturally going to gravitate to the league MVP, Kobe Bryant.

Come gametime, Posey will probably be at the head of a conversation similar to one he chaired on the Miami bench two years ago.

``Me and Udonis (Haslem) both took (Nowitzki) at times,'' said Posey. ``But the talk was, `I want that. I want a piece of that.' ''

For as long as he can remember, Posey has wanted a piece of any scorer in the vicinity.

Where most kids were concerned with making shots and controlling the ball, Posey decided early on that he wanted to be the guy who took the ball away.

That's what he told his first youth coach, Buddy King, and high school coach, Bob Pacsi.

``I just wanted to be a winner,'' said Posey. ``I just remember telling (King) that I wanted to be a good basketball player, and to do that my biggest thing was not to let the other guy score something. That was my goal. It was with Bob Pacsi, and it was with Skip Prosser.''

Prosser, the late Wake Forest coach who brought Posey into the program when he was at Xavier, needed a player who didn't care about the ball.

Posey identified himself not with scoring, but with the big names on the Atlantic 10's other teams. Rhode Island had Lamar Odom, George Washington a punishing power forward named Yegor Mescheriakov, Virginia Tech a lean small forward named Ace Custis, and UMass center Lari Ketner.

These players couldn't have been more different, but Posey guarded them all, with relish.

``I was just trying to get as many minutes as I could,'' he said. ``I just reached for everything.''

He still is reaching, at any cost. He smiles when the fans in Chicago are mentioned. His hard fouls on a succession of Bulls during playoff series in 2006 and 2007 are still remembered, and hated.

But perhaps the biggest eye-opener occurred during the Celtics' Game 3 loss in Cleveland.

Posey was called for a flagrant 1 foul on James, and the crowd - most of whom probably didn't realize they were razzing a fellow Clevelander - hit Posey with a loud, expletive-laden chant.

At the time he was unmoved, saying, ``Oh well,'' in a rather nonchalant voice.

``It's a foul,'' he said. ``It's hometown love. It's LeBron James.''

And here's a message for the folks back home: He's not going to change.

``I play hard. I play to win,'' Posey said with a shrug. ``Unfortunately, some people look at that differently. If I'm not on your team, of course you're going to hate me.''

No comments: