Simmons Article On Sheed

[JohnBagleyValueMeal]

Sheed's not playing well.  We didn't need 4000 words to realize that.  We all knew that already. 

However, "Sheed is an evil that is infecting the team OMG!" is just plain dumb. A bench guy making 6 mill who plays 12 minutes a night isn't transforming a championship team with leaders like Pierce and KG. He's not a worse Celtic than Vin Baker. Come now.

The fact is that Rasheed is an easy guy to scapegoat. Lots of people can't stand him, and even though I've always liked him (I can't explain why) I can absolutely understand why he rubs people the wrong way. He does absolutely underperform.  He's not a hustle player. And disliking that is totally understandable.

However, what blaming things on Sheed does is keep us from doing something more uncomfortable--blaming players we do like, like KG, Pierce & Ray (for their health and diminished skills), Perk and Rondo (for their attitudes and inconsistencies).  Not to mention bench guys like Marquis and Big Baby have been busts on the same magnitude of Sheed.

It sucks to blame the big 3 for getting old, because it's not their fault.  It sucks to blame Rondo and Perk for their faults, because they're such exciting players and they're improving so dramatically.  And Sheed's presence gives us all an easy excuse to not deal with those.

For Simmons, I'd much rather heard 4000 words based on rooting for a team that is fatally flawed than reading a theory that treated a basketball player like he was the boogeyman. I'm a grown man, I don't need to hear about fairy tale monsters.

[Cman]

However, what blaming things on Sheed does is keep us from doing something more uncomfortable--blaming players we do like, like KG, Pierce & Ray (for their health and diminished skills), Perk and Rondo (for their attitudes and inconsistencies).  Not to mention bench guys like Marquis and Big Baby have been busts on the same magnitude of Sheed.

It sucks to blame the big 3 for getting old, because it's not their fault.  It sucks to blame Rondo and Perk for their faults, because they're such exciting players and they're improving so dramatically.  And Sheed's presence gives us all an easy excuse to not deal with those.

TP, well said.

[Overrated]

Great article, read it on the train to the game last night. Never realized how poor of a shooter he is from downtown. Kinda makes me see Sheed in a different light now, but I still like his personality. He brings a little color to the game.

[FatjohnReturns]

This team played it heart out for 2 years.
Then in comes someone like Rasheed
Has to make you wonder?

[snively]

Does Simmons write this article if Sheed was able to replicate the 35% 3pt shooting he pulled off for the 4 seasons prior to this one?

If Sheed was the exact same player he is today, only with the 35% 3-pt accuracy of the last 4 seasons, he'd be shooting a touch over 44% from the field, his best mark since he was 28 in Portland, he'd average almost a point more per game, his eFG% would be over 50% and the team 3pt% would have jumped from 17th in the league to 9th.

Sheed's definitely been disappointing on the boards and in help defense, but if he was just able to shoot from deep, I think Sheed would be viewed as a success.

[nandy16]

I really, really tried to give him the benefit of the doubt when he signed with the Celtics, but after watching him for this full season and after reading up on him and his history online including this article, I now know his true colors.

I absolutely can't stand Rasheed Wallace he is not a good teammate, he gives no effort, he doesn't hustle to loose balls, he jacks up 3's and misses most of them, he is extremely out of shape for an NBA player, he argues all his fouls, he screams "and 1" and "ball don't lie", he yells at refs and coaches and he doesn't care about the regular season even though people pay their hard earned money to watch those games. He robbed the Celtics blindly this summer. I can't believe they even recruited him like he was a superstar. He should be ashamed of himself and repay the Celtics most of his contract for his pitiful effort this year. He should retire because he is hurting the Celtics Franchise and disgracing himself in the process. I love the Celtics and support our team no matter what but Rasheed has no Celtic Pride.

[mmbaby]

Well, once again, Sheed had a great game. He was great as a starter and I hope to see him out there more.