Stephon Marbury officially joins Boston Celtics

Update: Marbury has officially signed: [url]http://www.insidehoops.com/celtics-sign-marbury-022709.shtml[/url]

Also: InsideHoops.com opinion: [url]http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=3623[/url]

[URL="http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2009/02/marbury_signed.html"]Link[/URL]

[quote]Stephon Marbury is expected to join the Celtics during a closed practice at 5 p.m. at the TD Banknorth Garden after signing a contract with the team today for a prorated veteran's minimum of $1.3 million. The team will not hold a shootaround this morning after arriving from Los Angeles yesterday evening.

It is not yet known whether Marbury will be in uniform for the Celtics tonight against the Pacers (7:30 p.m.) Marbury talked about joining the Celtics in today's Globe.
[/quote]
Q&A with the 2 time all-star.

[quote]Q: How excited are you about coming to the Celtics?

SM: "This is the happiest I've been since being drafted, man. I'm so happy that it doesn't even feel real. It feels, it just feels like, it feels different to finally be able to get the opportunity to go play for a team that's established. Everyone is on the same page. There is one goal, and that's winning a ring, winning the trophy.

"I'm walking into an environment where it's stable, controlled by the players because the players police themselves. You don't have to have the coach police what is going on. Everyone seems to have it together and it looks like a family. That's what it's all about."

Q: What would you say to your skeptics who wonder why the Celtics are signing you despite your past problems?

SM: "That's OK. That's just a perspective that has been adapted from what someone else told them. If they weren't there and weren't in that circle, then they don't know."

Q: How does it feel to go to a team that is pretty much drama-free?

SM: "You don't know how good it feels to know that it's just one thing, to have fun. [Kevin Garnett] was like, 'Basketball is going to be fun again, kid.' Man, I can't wait. I'm so excited. I haven't slept in like three days."

Q: Are you in shape? Could you play against Indiana [tonight]?

SM: "I'm a hooper. It's just like playing inside the park. You play. I came in camp at 197 [pounds] and I'm at 199 [now]. I didn't gain any weight. I made sure I worked out, I was lifting weights, shooting the ball. I shot [Wednesday]. I'm not going to say that I'm in basketball shape or can play 30 minutes. But can I go play? Yeah, I can go play."[/quote]
read the rest here
[URL="http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/02/27/marbury_answers_call/?page=2"]Link[/URL]


wooooooooo..:cheers:

:applause:

Wow, this will be exciting.

I don't care about his attitude in the past and how he's a team cancer, that won't fly with guys like Pierce and KG around. From what I saw in preseason, Steph is still in great shape, can get to the rim and draw contact like few others, and will provide a huge lift at the backup PG and bench depth. The C's can also use Marbury instead of Rondo when the D starts to slag or they need a better shooter in late game situations.

[QUOTE]Q: How do you feel about coming off the bench?

SM: "I don't care what they ask me to do. I'll play 20 minutes or I'll play 15. It doesn't matter who is scoring or who is doing what. [B]It's about one common goal: to win.[/B]"[/QUOTE]

Lets hope this is what he really believes.:rockon:

Unlucky.

What do I have to say about this?

Only...






















:banana:

Itll be intresting to see Marbury's role with the team, whether he'll be rusty or not, and everyones favorite whether he self destructs or not....


IMO, He'll contribute and be quiet for the most part. Marbury may be crazy but hes not dumb. He knows this is probably his only chance at a ring.

[QUOTE=NOHCP3]Itll be intresting to see Marbury's role with the team, whether he'll be rusty or not, and everyones favorite whether he self destructs or not....


IMO, He'll contribute and be quiet for the most part. Marbury may be crazy but hes not dumb. He knows this is probably his only chance at a ring.[/QUOTE]
Not just his only chance at a ring, but his only shot to remain in the NBA. We don't know exactly how much talent he has left, but regardless of the talent, if he does anything to screw with team chemistry, his NBA days are over. So there's a lot more riding on him than just the pressure of on-court performance. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing the guy get a second chance.

[QUOTE=NOHCP3]Itll be intresting to see Marbury's role with the team, whether he'll be rusty or not, and everyones favorite whether he self destructs or not....


IMO, He'll contribute and be quiet for the most part. Marbury may be crazy but hes not dumb. He knows this is probably his only chance at a ring.[/QUOTE]we'll he hasn't really played in 20 months so i imagine he'll be a little rusty. plus he wasn't exactly playing well when he was playing so it's going to take some time

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]Not just his only chance at a ring, but his only shot to remain in the NBA. We don't know exactly how much talent he has left, but regardless of the talent, if he does anything to screw with team chemistry, his NBA days are over. So there's a lot more riding on him than just the pressure of on-court performance. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing the guy get a second chance.[/QUOTE]


Didnt look at it that way. Absolutely right. If something bad goes down this time around I cant see many teams taking a shot at him. There were only a couple of suitors this time around.

As crazy as the Knicks saga was, its over and done with now. I think he deserved the chance to at least play along time ago. They clearly needed to part ways as soon as the Isiah era ended. I really think he could help the Cs. Not huge numbers but PG stability when the bench comes in at least.

I guess this means Pruitt will drive off a bridge now.

Imagine this lineup 6-7 years ago:

Stephon Marbury
Ray Allen
Paul Pierce
Kevin Garnett
Random Center

Looks like an all star team.

[QUOTE=gts]we'll he hasn't really played in 20 months so i imagine he'll be a little rusty. plus he wasn't exactly playing well when he was playing so it's going to take some time[/QUOTE]


Right, It'll take time but I think he'll be able to ease his way in. Early on he wont be asked to do much. He looked like he was in good shape, but even if hes not he wont be playing huge minutes until the playoffs really.

Will he become a starter?:confusedshrug:

[QUOTE=Grinder]Imagine this lineup 6-7 years ago:

Stephon Marbury
Ray Allen
Paul Pierce
Kevin Garnett
Random Center

Looks like an all star team.[/QUOTE]

Same thing could be said about when Malone and Payton played for the Lakers.

Payton/Fisher
Bryant
Fox/Bryon Russell/George
Malone/Horace Grant
Shaq

[QUOTE=gts]we'll he hasn't really played in 20 months so i imagine he'll be a little rusty. plus he wasn't exactly playing well when he was playing so it's going to take some time[/QUOTE]

His last two seasons with the Knicks there was something clearly wrong with his right ankle / knee with it being much worse last year. Part of what would go wrong with him is he mopes when he's not healthy and he'd play 10 good games then start to get limited and it would spiral. I guess we'll know soon if that was an isolated injury that wouldn't heal or deterioration due to age.

[quote=Meticode]Same thing could be said about when Malone and Payton played for the Lakers.

Payton/Fisher
Bryant
Fox/Bryon Russell/George
Malone/Horace Grant
Shaq[/quote]

Hell even the current Suns if everyone was in their prime. :lol

Steve Nash
Jason Richardson
Grant Hill
Amar'e Stoudemire
Shaquille O'Neal

or the 05-06 Heat could play lineups of:
Gary Payton/Jason Williams
Dwayne Wade/Eddie Jones
Antoine Walker
Alonzo Mourning
Shaquille O'Neal

The only thing i don't like what he said is that the players police themselves, not the coaches. He's a career malcontent who behaves everywhere he goes, and he's happy to move to an enviorment that has less coaches watching him. FIne, sure...

waiting for the first celtic fan to say something bad about the knicks as if his whole career screwups are there fault - he misbehaved in minnesota, new jersey and phoenix too.

has he collected enough karma to prevent the Celtics from getting a ring?

Nevermind.

[QUOTE=JJ81]Will he become a starter?:confusedshrug:[/QUOTE]

nope

Eh, I'm calling hogwash on his comments until we see a handful of games, INCLUDING 1-2 against contending teams.

[QUOTE=MK2V1GP]nope[/QUOTE]
He might not become a starter, but come playoff time, Rondo's actual amount of minutes played are not guaranteed to him. We saw how Doc was willing to sit him on the pine in favor of Cassel and House during significant stretches and even 4th quarter minutes. That said, Marbury would definitely have to earn that kind of trust.

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]Not just his only chance at a ring, but his only shot to remain in the NBA. We don't know exactly how much talent he has left, but regardless of the talent, if he does anything to screw with team chemistry, his NBA days are over. So there's a lot more riding on him than just the pressure of on-court performance. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing the guy get a second chance.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, right. :rolleyes:

As long as GM's believe he still has talent he'll get a job. It's a historical given. Look at the Dallas Cowboys, Latrell Sprewell, Michael Vick (the 49ers have already been rumored to be interested), etc.

Mathius

I was bored and I thought Starbury's logo was cool. So I put it inside the Celtics cloverleaf. So to anyone who likes Starbury and who are Celtics fans and like the arrival of Starbury here's an avatar out of my boredom even though I'm a Cavs fan who is a photoshop noob...

[IMG]http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc28/Meticode/celtics_starbury.gif[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Mathius]Yeah, right. :rolleyes:

As long as GM's believe he still has talent he'll get a job. It's a historical given. Look at the Dallas Cowboys, Latrell Sprewell, Michael Vick (the 49ers have already been rumored to be interested), etc.

Mathius[/QUOTE]

Actually look at Latrell Sprewell. Couldn't you see the situation simlar with Marbury, of cousre a ton of teams would give him a chance, but maybe ar 2-3 a year rather than the 20 he got. I could easily see him not playing. He's not one of these players (as far as i know) who spent all his money.

[QUOTE=Mathius]Yeah, right. :rolleyes:

As long as GM's believe he still has talent he'll get a job. It's a historical given. Look at the Dallas Cowboys, Latrell Sprewell, Michael Vick (the 49ers have already been rumored to be interested), etc.

Mathius[/QUOTE]
I was actually about to mention Latrell Sprewell ironically. How many teams were jumping at the opportunity to sign him? He never officially retired, you do know that right?

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]He might not become a starter, but come playoff time, Rondo's actual amount of minutes played are not guaranteed to him. We saw how Doc was willing to sit him on the pine in favor of Cassel and House during significant stretches and even 4th quarter minutes. That said, Marbury would definitely have to earn that kind of trust.[/QUOTE]

Yes, Casell refusing to pass at times and looking like an old man worked really well with extended minutes, much better than Rondo looks now. :applause: I'm all for Marbury getting as many of Rondos' minutes as possible. Hell, bench Rondo and start Marbury.

of course i absolutely 100% don't want the celtics to win a title... :lol

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]I was actually about to mention Latrell Sprewell ironically. How many teams were jumping at the opportunity to sign him? He never officially retired, you do know that right?[/QUOTE]

it's cause of the salary he wants. he gets small money inquiries, and he refuses to play for that money. it's not a case that teams wouldn't sign him.

This could be really good news. Or really bad news for the Celtics.

Naturally this gives the C's a huge edge when it comes to 2nd units on the floor. Marbury brings that instant offense and defense (stop laughing!!) to the C's. Hopefully Marbury will be happy with his minutes.

Good luck, Celtics.

I wonder if it is too late to get on the Celtics bandwagon? Oh never mind. One day my Timberwolves will be back in the playoffs.....I hope.

[QUOTE=niko]Actually look at Latrell Sprewell. Couldn't you see the situation simlar with Marbury, of cousre a ton of teams would give him a chance, but maybe ar 2-3 a year rather than the 20 he got. I could easily see him not playing. He's not one of these players (as far as i know) who spent all his money.[/QUOTE]

I thought the article said Marbury got 1.3M? Of course nobody is going to pay him high dollar, but haterofhaters was saying that he wasn't going to get another chance if he proved a chemistry problem on the Celtcs. That's absurd, given the history of sports.

Marbury is what? 33? He wasn't going to get 20 mil at age 33 after not playing for what? Over a year?

Mathius

[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G7BlyXNlCg&eurl=http://redsarmy.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/boston-here-i-come/&feature=player_embedded"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G7BlyXNlCg&eurl=http://redsarmy.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/boston-here-i-come/&feature=player_embedded[/URL]

Video of Marbury thanking the Knicks for everything..and then ripping his shirt off and having a Celtics shirt underneath. :cheers:

[QUOTE=Mathius]I thought the article said Marbury got 1.3M? Of course nobody is going to pay him high dollar, but haterofhaters was saying that he wasn't going to get another chance if he proved a chemistry problem on the Celtcs. That's absurd, given the history of sports.

Marbury is what? 33? He wasn't going to get 20 mil at age 33 after not playing for what? Over a year?

Mathius[/QUOTE]
Yes, that is exactly what i'm suggesting. If Stephon Marbury doesn't find a way to gel and be cohesive with the defending champion Celtics, people are going to look at that and say "hey, this guy might have some talent, but I don't need him ****ing up our team chemistry so i'll pass." Even now he only had a few teams interested in him, and they considered it a risk taking him on.

[QUOTE=TruthKGRay3412][URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G7BlyXNlCg&eurl=http://redsarmy.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/boston-here-i-come/&feature=player_embedded"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G7BlyXNlCg&eurl=http://redsarmy.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/boston-here-i-come/&feature=player_embedded[/URL]

Video of Marbury thanking the Knicks for everything..and then ripping his shirt off and having a Celtics shirt underneath. :cheers:[/QUOTE]
Badass avy:pimp:

[QUOTE=niko]it's cause of the salary he wants. he gets small money inquiries, and he refuses to play for that money. it's not a case that teams wouldn't sign him.[/QUOTE]
and Marbury hasn't proven to be money driven in the past?:confusedshrug:

To summarize, it looks like Celtics fans are cautiously optimistic about Marbury while all other fans (and especially contender's fans) are very concerned about the impact on team chemistry :lol

[QUOTE=Mathius]I thought the article said Marbury got 1.3M? Of course nobody is going to pay him high dollar, but haterofhaters was saying that he wasn't going to get another chance if he proved a chemistry problem on the Celtcs. That's absurd, given the history of sports.

Marbury is what? 33? He wasn't going to get 20 mil at age 33 after not playing for what? Over a year?

Mathius[/QUOTE]

i mean next year, do you think marbury would come back for a small salary to be a role player or would he just stay home. of course this year he'd come back, he's actually getting 20 million this year, not the small amount.

if things worked out well for the celtics maybe, but i wonder how appealing a 2 million a year bench role is for marbury long term.

Easy deal.

It's a win and win situation for the Celtics; they are a great team without Marbury, and he could possibly make them a better team. He will be coming off the bench no doubt about that, however if he plays like the old Marbury, he could possibly start. I know that is a long shot, but it is worth mentioning.

Nice post b the OP. It sounds like the C's might have a great catch in this current version of Marbury. I think I might watch more of their games just to see how they are doing.

[QUOTE=Foster5k]Easy deal.

It's a win and win situation for the Celtics; they are a great team without Marbury, and he could possibly make them a better team. He will be coming off the bench no doubt about that, however if he plays like the old Marbury, he could possibly start. I know that is a long shot, but it is worth mentioning.[/QUOTE]

He wouldn't start even if he was averaging 20PPG if he was able to start. His job will be to provide scoring off the bench which is what they need. Him driving to the lane and kicking it out to house fits well on paper at least.