Don't Give Up on Jermaine Yet....Remembering Back 1 Year Ago

[Jon]

No, I'm not here to tell anyone that Jermaine O'Neal will undoubtedly come back at 100% and make us forget about Kendrick Perkins.  I'm also not here to tell you he'll be back at all.  However, there's a lot of people on this board who seem to think that because Jermaine is old (he's actually only 31) and a big, there's absolutely no chance that he comes back this season. 

What people seem to be utterly forgetting is what happened to the C's last year where many people wrote of KG (and the team as a whole) for the exact same reasons.  And what happened?  KG played well enough to get us to the 7th game of the NBA Finals and at the ripe old age 34, actually improved this year from last year. 

So again, I'm not making any guarantees.  But before anyone completely writes off Jermaine and dismisses Danny's assertions that he'll be back for the playoffs as "ridiculous," let's also take a look at some of the things people were saying last year about KG and the Celtics.  Here are some links to threads last year discussing how both KG and the C's were done. 

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=36166.0

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=36090.0

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=36309.0

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=34621.0

Please note, my intention here is not to "call out" anyone or to say "look how stupid so-and-so is."  Quite frankly, I doubted this team at times.  My point is that we shouldn't write off a big man just because he has an injury: he's 31, not 81. 

[Celtics4ever]

I think Danny had to have some good reports on him to deal Perk.  I admit he looked shot earlier in the year when he played.  But I have read stuff lately like he wished he got it done sooner.  That is a good sign. 

I think he comes back strong or they would not have made this trade.  I think Shaq must be progressing too.

[Marcus13]

all i've seen from Jermaine this year is missed layups and the inability to jump for rebounds.

He needs to retire

[KGs Knee]

I gave up on JO a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago.

[Jon]

My point is that there were threads saying the same things about KG, Paul, and Sheed last year. 

Look what happened. 

Again, I'm not expecting a miracle.  But I don't see why he can't be better than he was earlier this year and potentially as good as he was last year. 

Is that great?  No.  But it'd be fine to make him part of a tag-team backup for Shaq with Nenad, which is all we really need right now. 

[Onslaught]

My point is that there were threads saying the same things about KG, Paul, and Sheed last year. 

Look what happened. 

Again, I'm not expecting a miracle.  But I don't see why he can't be better than he was earlier this year and potentially as good as he was last year. 

Is that great?  No.  But it'd be fine to make him part of a tag-team backup for Shaq with Nenad, which is all we really need right now. 

Yes, but not one of those guys missed as many games a JO has. Well, KG did the year before. But I never heard them say "bone on bone" with KG like they have with JO. He's done. And even if he's not done he won't give us much at all.

[vinnie]

all i've seen from Jermaine this year is missed layups and the inability to jump for rebounds.

He needs to retire

You forgot the missed 12-foot "jump" shots

[rondofan1255]

That "Bone on bone" description makes me cringe; I REALLY hope he comes back and contributes something.

[Fafnir]

all i've seen from Jermaine this year is missed layups and the inability to jump for rebounds.

He needs to retire

You forgot the missed 12-foot "jump" shots

He shot 40% from 12-15 feet and 31% from 16-23 feet.

That's not great, but its not far off Davis's numbers (I think he's at 36%)

He finished at the rim at 64% clip, thats more annoying that the jump shots.

[pearljammer10]

all i've seen from Jermaine this year is missed layups and the inability to jump for rebounds.

He needs to retire

Its too bad you werent able to see him play great consistent defense while blocking and redirecting many shots in his few games played. Cant wait til he comes back, he is going to be a big factor in the playoffs especially sense we now have lost an edge up front on the defensive end.

[Greenbean]

all i've seen from Jermaine this year is missed layups and the inability to jump for rebounds.

He needs to retire

In the time tha JO did play this year he was very effective grabbing boards and blocking shots.

[vinnie]

all i've seen from Jermaine this year is missed layups and the inability to jump for rebounds.

He needs to retire

In the time tha JO did play this year he was very effective grabbing boards and blocking shots.

Nine games, I think, although it may have been a few more than that.

[xmuscularghandix]

He's effectively grabbed boards on the defensive end, and blocked shots as well. I'm not too down on J.O. I think he can be effective.

[footey]

I don't think we need any offense from JO, just d, rebounds and blocked shots. I think we can still get that from him. He is not as good as Perk defensively, but he is decent, better than Shaq.

[Celtics4ever]

Gee, that is funny he average 5.3 Points and 3.8 boards in 18 minutes per game in seventeen games this year.  Not world shattering but a little more than nothing.

He definitely is in decline some.  Shooting %, boards and points are all down.  Definitely lacked lift at times.   But to be honest Perk did not jump as high as he once did nor was he as mobile since his return.  I clearly recall him missing a dunk by not jumping high enough.  That being said, Perk's recovery was nothing short of amazing and the dude worked his butt off.  I wish him the best.

This was arthritis and soreness issue, not mechanical so there is a decent chance they can scope it out.  I wish he was a little tougher and more old school though but who knows how sore it was in reality.