When the Experiment Ends

by jbuell719 on Jan 29, 2010 11:28 PM EST

Well we have all watched the first 45 games of the season and have seen the ebbs and flows of the NBA basketball season. The question now becomes when have we seen enough to end the Rasheed experiment? While we most likely will have to wait for after this season for things to be reevaluated the question is is it too soon? Let me make a couple of points as to why to pull the plug now and options in fixing the situation:

1.) When we brought Rasheed in we thought at the very least he would give us some much needed length off the bench and also a post presence that was so badly needed after the horrible Mikki Moore era. While there have been glimpses of the length and presence we needed it hasn't even been close to enough. I don't think we can call Rasheed an above average defender anymore and i also don't believe he will ever force himself into being a post player and has resigned himself to stand out by the three point line and become a jump shooter.

Solution: The first thing I would do to bring us some length that wants to bang bodies underneath would be to give Shelden Williams some more minutes and try to let him regain the confidence he had at the beginning of the season. By no means am I trying to even think that Shelden is the more talented or more accomplished player obviously, but i believe at this point in both men career Shelden is much more likely to want to bang bodies and protect the rim better than what Rasheed is willing to do right now. Now before March 1st I would bring a Tony Battie like player into the team to just bring bodies off the bench and allow for somebody to step up out of our big rotation, maybe this will inspire Rasheed to do what is really needed for him to do (doubtful that will ever happen but you never know.)

2.) This i believe is the biggest down factor to what Rasheed brings to the basketball team and that is his personality. While I believe this doesn't affect some players such as our big three or even rondo seeing that he is obviously an all star caliber player. i believe it has had an enormous impact with Perk and that is troubling. Kendrick Perkins has always been a hard worker since the big three came together and also has been a team to player to a "T" but now i can see the frustration in his eyes that he is no longer playing the crunch time minutes for his team. During the hawks game tonight ( January 29th) he seemed to be so disappointed in the fact that he was not able to go out there and battle with his team. Perkins tonight was a +5 while Rasheed was a -13 and the fact that he was not on the court at the end of the game to me is extremely troubling. With three hall of famers and an all star point guard is it really necessary to have a six foot eleven power forward stand out by the three point line and practically do nothing else? What we need right now is Perk's toughness and defensive IQ while he may not have the name recognition outside of Boston it is becoming more and more clear that he is the one who deserves the crunch time minutes not Rasheed!

Solution: After the Lakers game on Sunday I would call a team meeting between Doc, Danny, and all of our bigs and discuss a plan for the rest of this season. I would tell Rasheed that while he will still be a part of what were trying to do Perk will be the guy we will go to down the stretch. He is the guy who has won a championship for them and is the guy who deserves with his play to be playing the minutes.

In no means is that a reactionary article to the past two days where we have been sub par and not playing to our potential it is simply stating that Rasheed is hurting more than helping. There is absolutely no justification for Wallace to be getting big minutes over Perkins, Perkins has played better than Rasheed and has more of a connection with his current teammates. While I am sure that Wallace is popular with his teammates it has become clear that the Sheed experiment has not worked and that we need to go back to what made us successful!

Be respectful and keep it clean. Thanks.

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Rasheed was the best big man / center we could get last off season .....

I wish we could of gotten a younger more talented back up center , but lets not forget he was basically the best and only big man / center available this past off season that we could sign.

If you recall at the time we were in dire need of a big man/center (after going through all last year with out one) and needed insurance for KG and it is for those raesons I think it was a wise move that the C’s signed him.
Again who else was available at the time that we could of signed that would of been better as a back up center then Rasheed???

Using 20-20 hindsight, yea you could say it would of been better not to sign him and use his 5 plus million salary to get a better center at the trade deadline coming up, but c’mon realistically did we really want to start the season with out a legit back up center and no insurance behind KG?

I think of course not and that is why we had to sign him at the time and it was wise move.

As frustrating as Rasheed can be at times on the floor I think we are lucky to have him because if we did not we would have Baby and Williams as our back up centers this year and they would be over powered by other centers as Baby and Powe were last year due to being undersized to play the center position.

Rasheed is what he is a aging always slow a foot big man that was signed simply to add some length and size coming off the bench for us that again we sorely missed last year very much.

He is basically taking Mikki Moores slot on the roster which is a big time upgrade and I think he is more talented offensively and defensively then PJ Brown was for us in 08 when he was our backup center at that time.

He is our best low post scorer (though he must get on the block more often) and he is our best low post big man defender (e.g. look at the defense he played on Howard the other day during the Orlando game when he shut him down when defending him).

I think the C’s signed Rasheed also mainly with a eye on the playoffs, since he has a history of playing great defense on Cleveland’s Shaq and Orlandos Howard which will be a big factor if we meet them in the playoffs.

Though many have a beef about some aspects of Rasheeds game (I do also) I think his positives out weigh his negatives and I am happy he is on the club.

by fordescort on Jan 30, 2010 1:40 AM EST reply actions

There are two things Sheed needs to pick up on...

First, he needs to have a better shot selection.

Before I explain that though, I must say that Sheed does seem to play well in big important games, especially on national TV. As Ford Escort and others have said, he really shines in the playoffs.

Given that, he is what he is. I don’t necessarily think he doesn’t care. I think he just likes to scout out what is possible shot-wise, without putting in the largest amount of effort. And that takes this back to…

shot selection: Sheed, when he knows it’s important, takes it down to the block. Against the Magic, he played very, very well offensively. His work down low paid off dividends when he was left open for 3’s, which he made for the most part.

I DON"T think Sheed has ever been overly concerned with playing well against the Hawks in the early season. Like it not, Hawks games are not big ticket games, and because of that, he won’t play like it’s a playoff game. Looking back, he has not played well against the hawks in all 4 games against them.

The second part to Sheed is his defense. Against Orlando, his D was great…very disruptive…but he fouls unnecesarily!!! Too many stupid fouls. Against Atlanta, this really backfired because often he would give slaps on the wrist that would simply result in 3 point plays. He needs to stay in front of Horford or Smith and just MAN UP!

We all know he is capable of doing that. But!!!…it is very tiring to do. And let’s face it, the bench’s offensive production has sucked, meaning he has to pick up the load. This is effing tough to do. In Orlando, it worked well…not enough for a win, but that really was an overall team choke. Against Atlanta on ANOTHER (why the hell do we always play Atlanta on awkward back to backs randomly?…oh yeah i know why….because AGAIN Atlanta games are not big televised important games) back to back game, we will stumble due to fatigue. That goes especially for Sheed.

Sheed will be a huge factor against Shaq and Howard. He will give them hell. He also will be a huge offensive factor later in the season. Remember, it’s only been 4 games since KG’s come back, meaning he is getting acclimated to being a bench contributor. He needs to go inside first, and THEN out. That is the only way it seems to work with him.

I watched Sheed for years, as have all of you. He doesn’t give a shit early in the season, especially with changing rosters. He is a changed man in the playoffs though. He does not play stupid like he did today. Against the Cavs and Magic he is a huge asset. As for how he matches up against Atlanta, it has been seen that he has trouble. The best thing he can do is gel with the bench and create a solid offensive identity that doesn’t revolve around going 2 of 7 from beyond the arc, and then getting T’d up. Instead, with Marquis back eventually, House will regain his solid 3 shot contributions….Baby will get open looks down low from Marquis slashes…and Sheed will be able to roam without just standing someplace without moving. I’m confident it will happen.

For now though I say to Sheed: tisk, tisk…what the hell was that crap performance today? I mean, I know the Hawks secretly relish sweeping the Celtics this year…and that really we will step it up against them if we see them in the playoffs (wipe their snotty asses when it REALLY matters), but seriously your trigger-happy 3 point nonsense is killing the bench offense. PLEASE go inside out, so that others around you can get open looks, and then every Celtics fan will allow you to take 2 or 3 3’s later in the game if you’ve been good. Till then, do what KG does, and post up with your back to the basket…look for the open man slashing to the hoop/the open man behind the perimeter, and then just you know, i don’t know, uh…ROTATE!!! No Sheed, don’t step behing the three point line yet….maybe in the second half!!! Not yet.

Okay, you get the picture. I love Sheed. I think he was a great catch, and he was the reason for many of our previous victorious. With that said, I know he will step it up in the playoffs when it really matters. For now, he just has to give leadership to the bench.

Rajon Rondo

by ducksawce on Jan 30, 2010 2:28 AM EST reply actions

Anybody really think that at this stage of his career, Rasheed is going to get “inspired” to play down in the blog and fight for rebounds, etc, etc. etc.? He is going to continue doing his thing and Doc does not have any leverage with him. What you see is what you will continue seeing as long as he plays in the NBA. But the top brass knew this when he was let go by Detroit – and the top brass looks very happy with him so let it go.

by Reyquila on Jan 30, 2010 7:34 PM EST reply actions