Big Easy Buzz Blog - July 23, 2008

Posey brings relentless style of play to Hornets
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com

When James Posey was a rookie with the Denver Nuggets during their 1999-2000 training camp, the Xavier (Ohio) graduate immediately irked some of the team’s older players. Not because he was being disrespectful to the Nuggets’ veterans or making “rookie mistakes,” mind you.
No, what bothered a couple of Denver’s seasoned pros was the way Posey kept hurtling his body all over the practice floor for loose balls – despite the fact that it was only preseason. Basically, Posey’s reckless abandon was making some of his teammates look bad.
Nine years later, little has changed about the way the 31-year-old approaches the game. His high-energy, relentless style of play has helped make him one of the NBA’s premier reserves. It’s also been a big reason why the previously-unheralded role player has been a integral part of championship teams in Miami and Boston over the past three seasons.
“I bring hard work and a commitment to winning,” Posey described of his strengths Wednesday after his press conference at Emeril's Delmonico restaurant in New Orleans. “I’ve always been about winning. My approach to the game is doing anything and everything possible to win the game. If that’s me diving on the floor, or diving into the third row to save a ball, taking a charge, or supporting my teammates, that’s what I’m about.”