Analysis: Celtics gamble in bid to shore up depth

LOS ANGELES -- Paul Pierce could have pulled a Steve Perry and welcomed Stephon Marbury's impending arrival with open arms.

Instead the wheel of Boston reserves keeps on turning and this time the arrivals can't match the void left by those who walked out the door.

When Pierce describes the Celtics signing Mikki Moore (which happened Tuesday) and Marbury (which happened Friday), you hear a twinge of desperation in his voice.

This isn't about want. This is about need.

Tony Allen is out indefinitely after thumb surgery. Brian Scalabrine is back in Boston undergoing neurological tests following multiple concussions that have coach Doc Rivers "worried." And Garnett is sidelined for another two weeks with a right knee strain.

Boston has holes that need filling and sometimes when you can't find that champagne cork, you have to crinkle tinfoil into a ball and jam it in the spout to do the trick.

"We're injured right now, it's just the truth of the matter," Pierce said. "We're in need of some depth on the bench, especially with the injuries we've had. You lose Tony [Allen], you lose [Brian] Scalabrine, guys who have really been playing well for us ... you lose Kevin [Garnett]. So, this is an opportunity for him to come in and add a little more depth to what we're trying to do. I think he'll help me and Ray [Allen] out giving us some minutes because we're playing a lot of minutes because of the lack of depth."

Rivers praised Moore's "high motor" on Wednesday, adding, "the Mikki buyout came out of nowhere, honestly. We didn't forecast that one. That came from the heavens."

But before we wax celestial about Moore's game, remember the guy has averaged just 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in his 11-year journeyman career. Pierce didn't have any lasting memories from teaming with him back in January 2003 because, "he really didn't play too much."

As for Marbury, Pierce threw out a qualifier before he got around to any praise for the man with career averages of 19.7 points and 7.8 assists.

"You kind of have mixed feelings about it, but then you think about it, Steph is an extraordinary talent."

The Celtics' captain didn't have any of the same reservations when recalling when Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown joined the team.

"It was easy," Pierce said. "It was just like perfect complements with these guys. Being that we knew them pretty well -- I knew Sam pretty well and P.J. has been one of the nicer guys in all of the NBA -- it just worked out so well. It fit right into our chemistry with what we were trying to do."

When Cassell and Brown jumped on board for the final 18 games of the regular season last year, it was a luxury. Who wouldn't want a guy like Cassell, who already had two championship rings from his Houston days under his belt, to help a team of hurried-together parts navigate its first postseason run? And just about any roster in the league would improve by adding Brown, winner of the NBA's Citizenship Award and Sportsmanship Award and a multi-time alumnus of the NBA's All-Defensive Team, as its 10th man.

Out of all the eligible players available last season, one could argue that the Celtics got the two best.

This season, Boston courted (and failed to land) Antonio McDyess when he was released by Denver after the Allen Iverson deal. The Thunder's Joe Smith has been considered the best veteran on the market -- that is, if he can secure a buyout from Oklahoma City.

There are more brown spots on the vets they're bringing in this time to play second banana.

"You got a guy who hasn't played in a year and a half, his reputation as being a guy in the locker room who kills locker rooms, but I don't think he's ever had the type of guys, been around the type of guys that he's going to be around at this point in his career," Pierce said about Marbury.

That statement couldn't be any more truthful.

When Marbury was on the Nets back in the late 1990s, a reporter questioned his shot selection after one particularly bad night.

With New Jersey teammate Jamie Feick within earshot of Marbury (Feick's locker was a few feet away), Marbury replied, "What am I supposed to do, pass the ball to Jamie Feick?"

Imagine him trying that up in Beantown?

"He's looking at it like this is an opportunity of a lifetime, being around a team with these type of players and I don't think it's something that he's going to risk," Pierce said.

Rivers wouldn't address the Marbury speculation just yet, but he did say that his team is looking to add a guard to allow Eddie House to play off of the ball and do what he does best: catch and shoot. Rivers will also be able to cut Allen's and Pierce's playing time under the 40-minute mark so he can save their legs for the playoffs.

They had that role covered by Cassell last year, but Boston traded the 16-year vet to Sacramento to free up a roster spot because Rivers says Cassell was on the verge of moving on to coaching.

"He's actually leaning more to the coaching side, especially when we were doing sprints. He seemed to always have to go to the bathroom when we were doing sprint work."

Mostly, the C's need a boost.

After starting the season a blistering 27-2, Boston is a far more pedestrian 19-11 and is in the midst of a tooth-and-nail race with a fully healthy Cleveland squad for the No. 1 seed in the East. Every game counts. A 93-91 loss to the Clippers on Thursday illustrates that better than anything.

Rivers said the team knew it had its weaknesses from the start of the season, lamenting the length it lost from Brown, who retired, and James Posey, who signed with the Hornets. None of the off-season additions to the team have made an impact. Patrick O'Bryant was brought in for length and didn't even make it to February before being traded. Rookies J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker have just 12 games played between them.

If the Celtics are going to position themselves to be the first team to repeat since the 2002 Lakers, they need Marbury and Moore to pan out.

"I think when you got the headstrong veterans we have in this locker room and understand what we're trying to do around here, understand the culture around here, we think [Marbury's] going to be able to fit in," Pierce said. "We got guys like me, Kevin, Ray and with what's at stake, I think you have no choice."

And the Celtics have no choice but to strap on the Starbury's and hope for the best.