ED-DIE!
Yesterday morning when I woke up and found out that the Nate Robinson for Eddie House talks had intensified, my first reaction was that I didn’t like the trade and didn’t want the Celtics to do it. After thinking about it for a little while, I admit that I kind of changed my mind. I thought about how Nate Robinson fell out of D’Antoni’s rotation for whatever reason, and after logging consecutive games where he didn’t see one minute of playing time, D’Antoni had a change of heart, brought him in off the bench and he dropped 41 on the Hawks. On a Celtics team that has at times struggled to put points on the board and has lacked energy, especially in the second half of games, the prospect of a guy who could come in off the bench and do that is intriguing. I also felt like the Celtics needed to shake things up- they have seemingly been plagued by complacency and could do with a burst of energy and some new blood, and Nate Robinson is definitely filled with energy and could definitely shake things up. Add on to that, that for the majority of this season, Eddie House hasn’t been that guy coming in off the bench, providing a spark and putting points on the board. He’s a two guard in the body of a point guard, and on this team, he has been saddled with too much ball handling, which has taken him off of his game- his shooting. As a result of having to the play the one, he’s turned the ball over a bunch and has had difficulty defensively keeping up with other point guards. So I thought it might be a good idea to go ahead and make that move.
Then, when rumors started to swirl that the talks had continued to progress, I had second thoughts again. Nate Robinson, listed at 5’9”, is not 5’9”. He’s probably more like 5’7”. He will not be any more of an effective defensive presence than Eddie and could potentially be a real liability defensively because of his size. Nate Robinson, like Eddie, is a streaky shooter. Yes, he found his rhythm quickly after not playing and scored 41 on the Hawks, but he’s also just as capable of going 2 for 12 and scoring 5 points. And this is what has caused me have the most doubt- after losing James Posey I think we all learned how important chemistry guys are. Trading Eddie House for Nate Robinson probably won’t be a downgrade in terms of skill and could potentially provide the Celtics with a much needed spark if it works out… But Eddie House is irreplaceable because of the kind of guy he is: the creator of the crazy, personalized, pre-game handshakes for the starting five. He is the constant cheerleader on the sidelines and the guy teeming with intensity on the court on every single possession, even if he’s not connecting from downtown. He comes in, busts his butt to do his job and doesn’t complain about anything. Even if Nate Robinson comes in excited and ready to go, which he better be because he’s been begging for a trade to a contender for months, and even if he immerses himself in the Celtics system and does his best to get along with everyone, which again, he better do- it won’t change the fact that he wasn’t there for the championship run and Eddie was.
When you think of the Celtics championship run, the first thing that comes to mind is the Big Three, and rightfully so because it was an amazing run and it was their first season together. But everyone knows they wouldn’t have won it without the role players- this was before the emergence of Rondo and Perk as superstars in their own right. They did their thing, but a lot of credit also has to go to James Posey, Leon Powe, Glen Davis, PJ Brown and Eddie House. The only guy remaining from that list is Glen Davis. But it’s a business- guys leave for more money, they retire and they get traded. I just think it’s too bad that more of them couldn’t have been retained. At least, this year, unlike last year, the Celtics have equipped with more role guys- Marquis will be huge down the stretch, Rasheed will hopefully continue to come along and Glen Davis has been playing great basketball as of late. Hopefully Nate will find his place.
P.S.: A big HAHA at me for thinking I’d shrug it off as just business if the Celtics traded Ray Allen.
