Sheed Has Disappointed, So Far: SI +
by DRJ1 on Feb 5, 2010 6:29 AM EST
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PrintSI just published their review of 10 major preseason acquisitions. Here is Rasheed's:
Rasheed Wallace, Boston Celtics
HOW ACQUIRED: Free agent
CONTRACT: Three years, $18 million
PROGRESS: How does a 35-year-old joining three stars who are likewise all over 30 show up out of shape? Wallace knew he was supposed to be the missing link for a last-hurrah championship run, the guy who could ease the burden on Kevin Garnett's knees, space the floor with accurate three-point shooting and provide his customary lockdown defense in the paint. It hasn't happened. Wallace keeps chucking up treys -- he's sixth on the team in minutes and second in three-point attempts -- but has made only 30 percent. On defense, the Celtics allow five more points per 100 possessions with him on the court than when he's off it -- worse than Shelden Williams and Glen Davis, let alone Garnett or Kendrick Perkins.
VERDICT: Remember when people were bestowing Boston the mantle of Eastern Conference favorites after this signing? Remember when Wallace himself opined that the Celtics could challenge the Bulls' record 72-win season in 1995-96? Instead, Ray Allen trade rumors are rampant, Paul Pierce and Garnett are nursing various aches and pains and the Celtics look at least as old as their birth certificates. It's not all Wallace's fault, of course, but his lackluster play from the start set the tone for what has been a treacherous season in Boston.
Some stats (vs. lifetime avg):
- FG% = 41% (vs. 47%)
- 3Pt% = 30% (vs. 34%)
- Assists per game = 1 (vs. 1.9)
- Rebounds per game = 4.3 (vs. 6.8)
- Fouls per game = 2.9
Even after correcting for PT, the numbers are not up to Sheed's par. Barely adequate to keep him on the court.
When we see him play, we witness a lot of lazy play, confirming the conclusion that can be drawn from the physical condition in which he arrived (overweight and out of shape):
- His defense often consists of a basic low-level attempt to stay in front of his man, followed by a slap after he's beaten, which often leads to a foul call of course.
- He's just not there on help D... and the Cs' defense depends on that KG spot as the final line of defense.
- He still chucks too many 3s, and refuses to play the low post enough.
- He rarely jumps. That's right, he's an NBA player who doesn't like to jump. Huh? When rebounds are to be gotten, we too often see Sheed standing around either with arms down watching, or catching the ball if it happens to come right to him.
- The man never bends at the waist. What's with that?
- After his ejection, his arguments with the refs and techs improved dramatically. Now he's going back to his old ways. Fouls followed by arguments followed by techs. It seems it's too much effort for him to really change.
I have to agree with SI's assessment. Sheed has not worked out so far. The best we can hope for now is that his pride can be tapped... perhaps by KG, maybe by Doc too... to put out a maximum effort for the playoffs. There's a feeling, articulated recently by Ray, that this may be the Big 3's last real shot at another title. They need to make Sheed want it as much as they do.
But it won't be easy. The guy is playing on his last contract, and is guaranteed his money regardless of how he plays. This is a flaw in the capitalist system, not limited to Sheed of course. It's just too bad that we have to pay guys whether they earn their money or not. Nice gig if you can get it, eh?
Be respectful and keep it clean. Thanks.
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Lets look back at history
Last year the Celtics were getting destroyed by centers whenever Perk had to go to the bench, because we had no back up center to come into games for us since we had to rely on undersized Powe and Baby as back up centers.
Heading into this season the C’s needed to remedy this team weak spot of having no back up center and the need for back up insurance for KG.
Who was the best big man / center free agent available that the C’s could of signed???
It was Rasheed Wallace hands down.
With all his faults he was the best big man fee agent available so Ainge signed him as he should of to remedy our need for a back up big man..
Considering he is a 35 year old, nonathletic big man, I think he has done a decent job so far.
We also no longer have centers dominating us in the low post as was the case last year.
Rasheed with his length and bulk has done a great job against the power centers this year as proven by his play against the big ones like Bynum, Shaq and Howard this year.
He is I think our best low post defender.
He is also our best low post scorer and considering that this team lacks low post scorers its nice to have Rasheed on the roster.
Rasheed is also our best shooting big man from outside after KG (Well ok behind Scal also if you want to count him) which is a great weapon (even when he has off shooting nights) because big man have to go out and defend him, which draws opposing centers away from the low post (as was the case last week with Howard and Bynum) thus allowing the C’s a free lane to the basket ( especially for Rondo who used it quite well).
Yes Rasheed has his faults, he does not defend against quick centers well, he is lazy at times, he is out of position for rebounds when outside on the perimeter etc. but he does serve usefull purpose to this team .
Do I and many wish the C’s had signed a younger, more athletic back up center last summer of course, but again as mentioned he was the only and yet best big man / center that was available and that we could of got and I think though he is far from perfect he is doing his job.
Also keep in mind Ainge probably had the intent to sign Rasheed with a eye on the playoffs to help us get by the Cavs and Orlando since Rasheed has a history of playing so well against Shaq and Howard.
So is Rasheed perfect of course not, far from it, but for all the above reasons and until the C’s can acquire a better back up center I for one am glad we in the mean time have the big fella.
Is good enough good enough to win the ring?
I can’t really argue with most of what you say… we did need to fill in that spot last summer, and he probably was the best available (I don’t remember exactly, but it’s probably true.) He scores “well enough”, his body is big enough so he can sorta defend ok when he feels like it (especially opposing bigs), same for rebounding, etc. But can we really win it all with such half-efforts from our #1 backup big? Don’t forget how in our system, we need that big to step up and help on the penetrators… Sheed’s just not reliable about that. And his rebounding actually stinks. And he shoots way too many 3s. Etc., etc. (it’s all in the piece).
Corrections: Sheed is not our best low post defender. Perk and KG are both way ahead of him. Also, at 30%, a lot of teams are happy to let him blast away from the 3 line with no more D than a quick closeout attempt. ANY pressure on Sheed while he’s shooting a 3 results in a miss.
Bottom line: I think Sheed as he’s playing now is good enough to get us a decent reg season record, but not good enough for the ring we’re looking for.
And don’t forget the unknown: What effect is having a guy who is CLEARLY not putting out a full effort having on the team as a whole? I don’t KNOW this, but the guys must recognize that he’s a 3-chucker, and that he’s not playing as hard as he can. What does this do to the chemistry and unity of the team? I don’t know… it’s never happened before in the Big-3 era.
I can only hope that he wakes up for the playoffs, as you mentioned. He has done that before, so hope remains.
He is not our best lowpost defender or the best low post scorer
Those accolades belong to KG and Perk respectively. And in both of those categories, KG and Perk 1 and 2 respectively.
You make valid points DRJ1
I agree with you that Rasheed:
Must step up with more effort and live on the court since he is our #1 back up big.
Must take less 3’s, though he has done a better job lately then compared to early on in the season, I think a ratio of 60% low post shots to 40% 3 point shots would be a nice shot selection mixture for him.
Must rebound better (I think he can, if Doc gets him to stay under the basket more instead of staying out in the perimeter).
Must help out defensively on penetrator’s.
Like I said he is far from perfect, but he was the best that was available big we could sign last summer.
I just think for a 35 year old player,who was a non nonathletic big man to begin with he is not as bad a player and as useless as some portray him to be since as mentioned Rasheed does help the team since he :
- Has remedied our back up center problem that was a big problem last year.
- Is our best low post scorer which is a big team weak spot.
- Is I think our best low post power defender against big powerfull front court players, since KG does not have the bulk to do the job and Rasheed has a tad more length and bulk then Perk (e.g. When Howard was giving Perk trouble last week and Rasheed came into the game and neutralized him).
Also the playoffs is where I think we will see the real value of Rasheed come to play.
I heard Glenn Ordway (ex Celtic radio broadcaster) last week say Wallace may just be pacing himself through the regular season until we get to the playoffs, lets hope he is right.
Just as Shaq was brought in by the Cavs to help get them defeat Orlando in the playoffs since Howard beat up their bigs last year , I think Ainge got Wallace for the playoffs, after seeing Howard over power Baby (our back up center at the time) last year in the playoffs.
I think Rasheed worth to the C’s will really show when the game becomes a power 1/2 court game in the playoffs when we will need him to go up against Howard along with Shaq.
Lets though in the meantime hope Rasheed along with the rest of team all step up their play since they need solid contributions from everyone if we want a shot in the playoffs.
Best low post defender
ya right , Perk is probably in the top 2 or 3 low post defenders in the league, Rasheed isnt even close
by Perkinsschool4blind1 on Feb 5, 2010 1:08 PM EST reply actions
Sheed is not a disappointment
Just because we had lost a couple of games you start to think sheed is a big disappointment rasheed had a huge impact on the celtic bench. just because your a celtics fan means that that the celtics are gonna win everytime we got to stay and support the celtics instead to pointing fingers saying the players on are team are not good enough or this and that non of that is gonna help the team, i’d say support to gonna help the celtics, so i’d say stop whining like a little girl and rasheed is still important to the celtics !!! IN THE NAME OF LUCHA LIBRE !!!
You gotta decide
Are we whining like little girls or like ex-wives? ‘Cause there’s a big, big difference there.
He`s much worse than advertised....
When the Celts were shamelessly groveling at Sheed`s feet {begging him to sign with them}…it would have nice had he done the honorable thing by telling them what he was willing {& unwilling} to do to earn his salary .
For instance, he is clearly :
1} Unwilling to do the work necessary to get in decent physical shape
2} Unwilling to engage in physical contact in the paint
3} Unwilling to even “pretend” that he cares about the team`s success
4} Unwilling to hustle
5} Unwilling to play inspired ball
6} Unwilling to play defense
7} Unwilling to do anything EXCEPT launch air-balls from the arc
We've been all over this in another thread
You guys can talk all you want about how you THINK his attitude is this and his attitude is that and how you don’t like the way he stands or talks to refs and blah blah blah.
But when the rubber hits the road, in basketball its all about TWO THINGS: Points scored. Points prevented.
And the numbers say you are just plain wrong.
Sheed’s job is to be the first big off the bench, subbing for KG. His job, by definition is to try to fill KG’s role as best he can when. He’s close.
The Celtic’s top 5-man units with thier offensive and defensive efficiencies:
Unit Min Off Def
1 Rondo-R.Allen-Pierce-Garnett-Perkins 661.1 1.12 0.97
2 Rondo-R.Allen-Pierce-Wallace-Perkins 167.1 1.12 1.09
3 Rondo-R.Allen-Pierce-Garnett-Wallace 84.6 1.05 1.20
4 House-R.Allen-Daniels-Williams-Wallace 71.8 1.27 0.93
5 Rondo-T.Allen-R.Allen-Garnett-Perkins 71.7 0.96 0.80
6 Rondo-R.Allen-Pierce-Scalabrine-Perkins 66.6 1.22 1.16
7 House-Daniels-Pierce-Williams-Wallace 57.2 1.01 1.16
8 Rondo-R.Allen-Pierce-Davis-Perkins 38.2 0.99 1.18
9 House-T.Allen-R.Allen-Davis-Wallace 30.5 1.12 0.79
10 Rondo-Daniels-Pierce-Garnett-Perkins 24.3 1.11 1.18
The important things to note are the numbers in bold.
Off == offensive efficiency in points per possession.
Def == defensive efficiency in points per possession.
That tells us – and the scoreboard don’t lie – that our starters are just as effective on offense with Rasheed in as for KG and slightly worse on defense.
If Sheed were truly the big disaster that you armchair psychologists and wannabe-head coaches are saying, there is no way those numbers would look like that. Maybe he does a little bit more than just “launch air-balls from the arc”? Or maybe defenses DO respect his 3PT shot enough that it is helping out his teammates to score? Maybe some of you don’t know as much about how basketball works as Doc does? (shocking!)
Sheesh! This whole discussion reminds of all the Red Sox fans who think that J.D. Drew is a lazy bum who doesn’t do anything and has a bad ‘attitude’ because his ‘body language’ just doesn’t look like he’s hustling to their (oh so highly trained) eyes - when the truth is Drew is one of the elite defensive right fielders in the game and one of the best hitting RF in the game and has contributed a ton of value to the Red Sox.
If you don’t like Sheed – that’s cool. You don’ t have to like all the Celtics. But he has definitely been a great signing. He’s worth every penny of his contract.
And his teammates don’t seem to have any problem with his ‘attitude’. Until they do, I’m not worried about it.
Well...
Sheed’s defensive performance is 12.4% worse than KG’s… not an insignificant number.
Also, his FG% and 3Pt% (41% & 30%) are inarguably much worse than his lifetime averages, and one of the worst in the league. His failure to help on D and his lazy effort on rebounds are very clear. His rebounds per game are down 37% from his lifetime average. And the other night, he threw a pass (over his shoulder) to Scal that was absolutely disgusting… apparently too lazy to even TURN AROUND.
There is no argument that Sheed’s performance has been “adequate”. Where we apparently disagree – we who fancy ourselves “armchair shrinks and wanna-be coaches” (or, alternatively, we who pay attention to the players’ actions on the court, as opposed to just their stat lines) vs. you – is in whether this level of input from Sheed represent something close to the best he can do, or something very far from that level. That… you cannot tell from a stat line. That you have to gauge by watching the player play.
Injuries have been the problem, not Rasheed
We were fine until KG (again) went down, then it got worse when Daniels went down. Fatso is being paid LARGE dollars to play, got in a foolish fight, did not play, and then after missing a zillion games comes in with a big rubber tire. Take Lebron out, Kobe out, Howard out of the lineups, along with two others of the 9 man rotation and see what their records would be.
Good point
About Kobe, Lebron, and to a lesser extent, Howard. The two teams that will give us the hardest time are Lakers and Cavs. But each is extremely dependent on one guy. Take that one guy out of either team, and you have nothing left. That’s their serious flaw. Of course, it’s only a problem if something actually happens to that one guy……
Except that that also means that shutting down that one guy will help you win. Kobe can be shut down. We’ve proven that. Lebron is another kind of beast altogether. He’s a freakin freak of nature… like a freight train, he can’t be easily stopped. Which is why the Cavs are the ones that worry me the most.
But still, as you say… take that one guy out and they got nothin. And ya never know….
But the problem is that
Even if you do shut Kobe off, they have players that can keep them in the game, and in the end of the game, Kobe goes to another level, where only a few players in the history of the game have been able to go. LeBron on the other hand has a mediocre supporting cast, and if his jumper isn’t falling, he becomes one demensional (not saying it is easy to prevent him from driving, its actually practically impossible to do one-on-one). I think the Lakers are a better team and much more dangerous than the Cavs. Although both of them are very scary, because, anytime you play against either one of them, you know that the have possibly the best player in the game, and both of them are hard to overcome if their teammates are playing well.
i think he has been a huge diasappointment
sheed is extremely skilled, but he hasn’t been using his skills. Instead of scoring inside one of his top talents, he settles for threes low percentage threes. Also you think he would be motivated to put himself in the best condition possible. The Celtics give him a very generous offer with 3 years. 3 years for a 35 year old. And how does he say thanks well he shows up out of shape and because of that, the C’s csnnot play him against powerforwards because they are all quicker than him. I just think it seems like he doesn’t care. he is limiting himself. He is playing fine, but with his skills he should be. That doesn’t mean he is not a disappointment because he could be way better if he played with more effort. The Celtics need Sheed to be Sheed, the passionate, talented, Sheed. Not the lazy Sheed.
sheed
The thing to remember here, is he is 35 and we didnt pay much for him. He clogs up the middle, and he can still shoot the three. How many centers in the leauge can do that. And he blocks shots, three in the last game, and he makes steals, not to mention how many shots he has altered. With KG ailing, and Perk averging about 10 points a game, we need him, and lets face it, there are very few good back up centers in the game.
sheed is a secret agent working for phil jackson
i see alot of stupid stuff on the court that stat number dont see .. its the little things
can be the smallest thing dat can turn around a game .. i dont see the effort in sheed
he has to be working for someone else not the celtics
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