"Defend me? Child, please."

Doc Rivers told WEEI how the Celtics will try to defend Lebron James.  Key word, try.

Rivers gave some insight into how the C’s and other teams attempt to limit James’ impact. “One is if you can force him to his left, you’d like to do that, even though he goes both ways pretty well,” Rivers said. “Two is give him a cushion. And three is if you can force him into being a jump shooter. That’s so much easier said than done. He understands that what teams are trying to do, and he won’t have it for the most part. He’ll still put the ball on the floor.

“As far as guarding him, you can just name [the C's defenders]. Marquis [Daniels] will get a chance, Tony [Allen] will get a chance, Paul [Pierce] will get a chance, Hopefully, no more than those three.”

I’m not sure how well Tony Allen can stay with Lebron.  Actually I’m not sure how any human being can stay with Lebron, but T.A. is only 6’4″ tall and 213 pounds.  That means he’s giving up four inches and about 50 or 60 pounds to his Royal Highness.

And Marquis?  While his physical traits point to Marquis being a better matchup for Lebron than T.A., Marquis has played with negative confidence for the last half a season.  Doc says Marquis will get his chance, but he’ll have to play with more confidence than he has for a long time.

When Paul Pierce goes to the bench or simply needs a breather from guarding the fastest train in NBA history, and Boston has to turn to someone else to defend Lebron, they will really miss James Posey.  The man was invaluable because he could defend a number of positions and did as good a job on Lebron as any backup in the league.

Doc on how Rasheed can make an impact

“Three things: He has to be better defensively for us, especially vs. the pick and roll. Offensively he has to be a low-post presence. And then he does have to knock down a couple of shots, because that will spread their defense.”

So, umm, basically, don’t expect to see Rasheed to have an impact.

Doc on Patriot draft pick Brandon Spikes going out with his daughter

“My boys got a lot of pleasure out of that the first time Brandon came over to the house, because I’m always intimidating my daughter’s boyfriends but I was saying, ‘Yes, sir,’ to him.”

Doc doesn’t have to be so polite.  With Spikes’ weak 4.95 40 time — Doc would probably be able to outrun the hard-hitting son-of-a-bitch.