There are always topics to ponder and opinions to take in the expanse of Boston sports. Every week, the Mass Media will talk to Alan Wickstrom, UMB’s Sports Information Director, and get his opinion on a relevant Boston sports topic.

This week, Alan tells us who will fill the void left by James Posey on the Boston Celtics roster. Posey brought veteran leadership, shut-down defense, pure grittiness and a legitimate scoring presence from beyond the three-point line.

I think collectively [the Celtics] have to play better team defense. But I also feel that Tony Allen becomes a huge factor in what they do now, on the defensive side of the ball, of course. What Tony Allen has been able to do in the preseason so far has been extremely encouraging because he’s looking more and more like the player he was before the knee injury.

I don’t think there’s going to be one person that can replace what [Posey did]. If that was the case, I think they would have herded a different free agent into that spot and there just wasn’t anybody that was going to take on that spot.

Tony Allen, I think, would be the key to replace some of those minutes and then a collective team effort from the rest of the guys. I think Tony Allen is a shutdown defender. He’s the type of player that you could put on the opponent’s best scorer.