Celtics Sneak By Raptors

That ‘looks different’ …

Luke will never be a player in the NBA.

The 15th spot is open, and the Celtics would be owing Wafer something where they cut him or not. (And you wouldn’t imagine Mario West could get the spot if Doc won’t even play him.)

I’m not sure what Lasme is known for, if not for his defensive abilities. After all, for what it was worth, he was a D-League Defensive Player of the Year.

Has shot 12 of 17 from the field and yes, most of his attempts have been layups – all 5 misses were. About half his made shots also were layups. About half his made shots were dunks. That’s not saying much – he’s made one or two dunks and one or two layups each game.

As for whether he can dunk the ball from jumping off of two feet right under the basket, I guess you missed this shot:

http://www.nba.com/games/20101007/BOSNJN/gameinfo.html#nbaGIlive

Click on the ‘Shaq Thrown Down’ video.

Again – it seems you are being a bit pessimistic about Mr. O’Neal’s vertical leap.

And then, of course, you move the argument to other topics.

As to whether he ‘should have … kept himself in better playing shap’, well, most reports I have heard tell me that Shaq IS in great playing shape. Jackie McMullin, who most folks think of as one of the very few serious, technically astute basketball reporters, raved about how fit Shaq is just last week on CSN. She also recently penned this column:

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/columns/story?columnist=macmullan_jackie&id=5620537

in which you’ll find the following quote:

Here’s what the Celtics have learned about O’Neal. He is trim, focused and hungry to begin.

Looking at him play, the eye test doesn’t show me anything to suggest he isn’t playing at a high level the whole time he’s on the floor so far. He doesn’t look to be out of shape – he looks as ‘trim’ as he has in years. The eye can be deceiving, of course.

As to whether he ’can’t play defense’ – well he certainly doesn’t play man-to-man perimeter defense on any point guards and he’s not going to be able to keep up with the faster guards coming around on the pick & roll. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t play defense. His very presence in the post is shot-altering and to suggest otherwise is, well, not supported by the facts. Last year, playing with Cleveland, he posted a very respectable defensive rating of 102 pts per 100 possessions. He also blocked 1 of every 25 shots taken by his opponents while on the floor. Just last night, one of the earliest highlights of the game started where Shaq’s defense in the post caused Bargnani to deviate to try to go around him, exposing his dribble to KG, who snagged it and started a transition break, resulting in a KG basket.

http://www.nba.com/games/20101010/TORBOS/gameinfo.html#nbaGIlive

Click on the ‘Defense to Offense’ vid.

Yup, his free throws still suck. Otherwise, your criticisms sound a bit exaggerated at this point.

He’s actually a very good 4, but the way the rotations look, he’s more valuable to us as a 5, whether starting or off the bench, until Perk comes back.

The only reason to have him at the 4 is if KG or BBD get hurt in which case Erden would take JO’s minutes at 5 and we would shift JO over to PF.

Erden and Harangody have guaranteed contracts. They’re not getting cut.