In this space each week we’ll try and take a look at hoops throughout New England – basketball at all levels. For the first edition, we’ll focus on the World Champion Boston Celtics.

I went into the conversation with Boston Celtics boss Danny Ainge with a firm grip. The loss of James Posey

EVERYBODY ELSE: The Celtics roster is nearly set for the 2008-09 season. Here is a look at what the other Eastern Conference contenders have done in the offseason. Detroit- Joe Dumars didn’t wait long to pull the plug on the Flip Saunders era, replacing him with former Pistons forward Michael Curry. The club also signed former No. 1 overall pick Kwame Brown to a two-year deal. Cleveland- The Cavs continue to tinker with the roster, making a deal for Mo Williams last week. Cleveland lost Joe Smith and Damon Jones in the three-team (Milwaukee, Oklahoma City) trade. Delonte West is looking for a new deal and has threatened to sign with Dynamo Moscow. Orlando- The Magic found a starting shooting guard, signing Mickael Pietrus to a deal. That forced them to trade guard Keyon Dooling to the Nets. Although much has been made about the club’s desire to land a “true” point guard, all signs lead to Jameer Nelson quarterbacking the team in 2008-09. They also added Courtney Lee (Western Kentucky) with a first-round pick. Atlanta- The team that nearly took down the champs took a big hit in July; losing key swingman Josh Childress to the Greek club Olympiakos of the Euroleague. They filled that void with the free-agent signing of Maurice Evans. The Hawks also added Flip Murray and matched Memphis’ $58 million dollar offer sheet to keep the explosive Josh Smith. Washington-  Abe Pollin (no, not this guy) opened his wallet in the offseason, spending a total of $161 million to ink Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison to long-term deals. They drafted the promising Nevada big man JaVale McGee with the 18th overall pick.

Philadelphia- Could we be heading towards a renewal of the Sixers-Celtics rivalry? Philly made the biggest free agent splash of the summer, luring Elton Brand away from the West Coast with an $82 million dollar deal. They also re-signed forward Andre Iguodala to a six-year contract and guard Louis Williams to a five-year deal. First-round pick Marreese Speights (16th overall) could be a solid reserve in 2008-09.

hurts and no one was going to convince me otherwise – especially Ainge.

C’mon, Posey was the ultimate glue guy. He helped shut down LeBron, contain Kobe and even had that cool pre-game love fest with K.G. and the rest of his teammates.
 
Posey’s numbers hardly tell the story of his impact on banner No. 17 arriving in Boston. He averaged a modest 7.4 points per game, made less than 42 percent of his shots and was an above-average shooter from beyond the arc.

His postseason scoring numbers actually dipped to 6.7, but let’s face it, the 6-foot-7 forward was critical in terms of making key plays on both ends of the floor when the game was on the line.

You can’t just replace intangibles like the ones he brought to the table.

There’s no way that Tony Allen or rookies J.R. Giddens or Bill Walker can step in for Posey. Not on the

court or off of it.

Allen is a high-level athlete with plenty of toughness and is the most likely immediate defensive replacement for Posey.

Paul Pierce couldn’t defend LeBron and Kobe throughout an entire game and the C’s will need another shut-down defender this season because it’s unreasonable to run Pierce into the ground each and every night by putting him on the opposing team’s top wing scorer.

``We think Tony’s our best defensive player and he gives our offense something different we missed last year,” Ainge said. “He’s a slashing, up-tempo type of guy who can get to the basket.”

But I just can’t seem to get THE PLAY out of my mind. You know which one. The one where Chauncey Billups made Allen look like a kindergarten kid grasping for a lollipop. The one when he bit on Billups’ up-fake at the end of a regular-season game, which led to a couple of game-winning free throws with 0.1 seconds left.

I mean, everyone in the new Garden knew exactly what Billups was going to do – yet Allen was unable to keep his feet on the ground.

Ainge counters with numbers – and they don’t lie.

Boston went 9-2 in the 11 games that Allen started last season. I found that the Celtics were also 43-11 in games in which Allen logged more than 15 minutes a year ago.

Impressive, but I’m hardly sold.

``He was a factor in games in which he played a lot,” Ainge said. “In fact, he was fantastic – and more importantly, our team was fantastic.”

Allen, who is still making his way back from knee surgery less than two years ago, won’t need to be fantastic. He’ll just need to be consistently productive because there is certainly a void – one that likely won’t be filled between now and the beginning of October when training camp begins – at the wing spot coming off the bench.

It’s realistically the lone void that needs to be addressed on the team. Everyone else is back other than P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell – who will both be collecting social security anytime now. 

``Most people judged Tony when he was the 10th or 11th man,” Ainge said. “He struggled in that type of role, but he’s proven that when he does get time, he plays very well – and our team plays well.”

There was the game right before the New Year when he logged 42 minutes against the Lakers at the Staples Center and finished with 16 points and four assists. Or the 20-point, 6-assist performance at Miami a month later.

But he’s still not Posey.

I love Posey and what he did for the team as much as anyone, but I wouldn’t have emptied the vault and given him four years at about $6 million per season, either (that’s what Charlotte gave him). That would have put him at 35 at the end of the contract and then the franchise would likely have returned to an irrelevant, rebuilding state in four years – when Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are all at or near the end of the line.

Ainge made his pitch and while I’m not quite buying that Tony Allen is the answer, I’m also not pretending that Posey was an irreplaceable part that will stand in the way of the C’s defending their crown.

Jeff Goodman is a senior basketball writer for FOXSports.com. He can be reached at jgoodman@weei.com