Rasheed Bites Raptors

If I were a Raptors fan, I’d be appalled. They had a chance to get to .500 and make a modest statement (that they could be competitive with a Celtics team missing 3 starters and a key reserve), and they play with near-zero effort.

Just lacking in fundamentals such as rebounding position, shot selection, or even simply putting you body between the guy you’re guarding and the bucket.

It was nice to see Sheed having his way, Perk owning the Rapts bigs as well, Lester and JR playing well (but no Walker – why?) but seriously, the Raptors couldn’t be softer…

The east is just amazingly weak this season. Look for the Heat to drop below .500 in their next (6-game) west road trip, and the east will have just 4 winning teams…

One positive out of the KG knee rest is Sheed getting some time to stretch out those old man legs and learning to play with his new teammates. Sheed is going to be keystone between the starters and the rest of the bench.

Off-topic: How the f is Arenas not suspended right now by the Wiz or the NBA? Doesn’t bringing multiple guns to work against some rule?

Sheed is shooting less than 30% from three point land. He has the worst 3-point shooting % on the team of any player who has taken more than 5 3-pointers…..

He shoots less than 40% overall from the field. In fact he has the worst shooting % on the team of any Celtic player except Scali…… per my perusal of the stat line.

He has played more minutes on the team than other non-starter. His minutes almost double those of Sherwin Williams yet he has fewer rebounds than Sherwin overall when you look at per minutes on the floor for each rebound grabbed by about 33%.

So…..in terms of scoring and rebounding he is doing OK but not fantastic…..Is his defense good? Yes…. Team defense combined with his long arms and his 14 years worth of court awareness has helped him contribute nicely. However, his one on one defense because of his lack of any real lateral movement sucks. I don’t look at it as laziness, but rather he is 35 years old and people blow by him and he cannot keep up.

Whatever good he has done for this team thus far, (and yes I think he has done good for this team!!!!) has been partially offset by

poor one on one defense,

poor outside shooting

and some really poorly timed 3 point shots in a few games that hurt us down the stretch.

His technicals have hurt us on a couple of occasions,

and his early refusal to ever touch the paint left me scratching my head as to why a 14 year veteran had to be told to quit shooting so many threes and get in the paint!!!

While he has played good against the Raptors, he has a lot more to prove in my opinion before he is anointed “one of the best defensive PF in the game”…. sorry Greg I just disagree with that argument.

Ask me again at the All-Star break….. but he is 6’11" and he is getting over 5 million per year and is supposed to bring Veteran leadership and stability to the floor as a sixth man…..he has done SOME of that but not all Give me about 8 or 9 rebounds per game and up that shooting %, move your feet more (if you can) and then we can talk.

I say to Sheed

STAY IN THE PAINT
STAY OUT OF FOUL TROUBLE
STAY CONSISTENT (besides with the Raptors)
STAY ON THE GLASS
STAY ON YOUR MAN as best you can

Peace

I consider and have been calling him the 2010 version of the Bill Walton on the 86 Celtics championship Club all year long.

Sheed just like Walton is a old vet past his prime but will play a big role coming off the bench as the main big man and I think will be huge for us come playoff time.

We are going to have to go through either or both the Cavs and Magic to get to the finals and Sheed has a history of playing very well against Howard and Shaq, so it will be nice to have his big beefy, length body and defensive skills to throw at both of them behind Perk.

Keep in mind we won the title in 08 with PG Brown as our back up center I think Rasheed who is younger is also a much more talented player on offense and defense then PG and is a upgrade at the backup center position compared to that year and will be huge for us come playoff time as PG was for us.

Rasheed needs to calm down taking 3’s (as he has over the last 20 games) and strive to take as many if not more low post shots then 3’s since he I think is our best low post scorer.
This again will be huge for us in the playoffs when the game becomes more of a 1/2 court power game.

Rasheed I think is a good rebounder, but does not have good numbers since he is most of the time posted next to the 3 point line and is not in position to rebound.
This can be adjusted by Doc, which I think can then allow Rasheed to roam closer to the basket to help us more on the boards.

I think Rasheed was one of the biggest signings in the off season by contender teams and for us especially considering we did not have back up center last year and will pay big dividends come playoff time in our hunt for title #18.