Jermaine O'Neal for MVP!!!

[Jon]

Give it time.  It was like night and day when he was in the game during last year's playoffs.  They were so much better defensively when was in the game. 

Last night was doubly unfortunate, as he played a quick team and the refs got him into early foul trouble with that BS offensive foul call that even the LeBron-loving TNT crowd thought was terrible. 

He's much healthier than last year.  I think he can be more effective. 

I'd also like to see them run plays for him.  This was a 20 ppg scorer a few years ago.  Most teams only have one elite defender at the 4/5 (if that) and they usually put that guy on KG.  If we can make JO a threat, we can exploit a lot of teams. 

[clover]

I'm thinking JO must have looked like the training camp MVP scrimmaging against Stiemsma.

That would also explain Doc's not turning in that direction for even a couple of minutes with injury and foul trouble in the guys ahead of him.

[chambers]

while the original post is a total overreaction to two games, I will agree to the extent that JO has looked so far like a player who ought to play at most 10 minutes a game.

i think these two games have been some of the worst matchups for JO. you have a Dantoni offense and then the Heat who run all over the place

JO will be fine against slower pace teams

and when the C's do face the Knicks or especially the Heat in the playoffs, JO will barely play

the three best teams in the East are the Knicks, Bulls, and Heat, all of which are fast paced teams.  Even the Hawks, Sixers, and Pacers move a lot more than the Celtics. 

The Celtics are an old slow team.  The years of title contention are over.

Don't really understand your logic here.
Were the Celtics a fast, young team when we won in 08? Were the Lakers an older, slower team when they won in 2010?
What about last years Mavericks?

The past 5 years of NBA championship winners certainly disagrees with your notion.

Just because Miami is fast, doesn't mean you can't beat them.
Dallas beat them quite easily after making a simple defensive adjustment being down 2-0.

[BballTim]

while the original post is a total overreaction to two games, I will agree to the extent that JO has looked so far like a player who ought to play at most 10 minutes a game.

i think these two games have been some of the worst matchups for JO. you have a Dantoni offense and then the Heat who run all over the place

JO will be fine against slower pace teams

and when the C's do face the Knicks or especially the Heat in the playoffs, JO will barely play

the three best teams in the East are the Knicks, Bulls, and Heat, all of which are fast paced teams.  Even the Hawks, Sixers, and Pacers move a lot more than the Celtics. 

The Celtics are an old slow team.  The years of title contention are over.

  Put PP on our team and Pietrus behind him and the Knicks aren't one of the three best teams in the east. And the playoffs are more grind it out. How many fast break teams win the title?

[snowball]

Heat, Knicks and Bulls are our top opponents
in the East. We don't get anywhere without getting
through them, and we need a backup Center or to move
J.O. for some athleticism FAST.

[Moranis]

while the original post is a total overreaction to two games, I will agree to the extent that JO has looked so far like a player who ought to play at most 10 minutes a game.

i think these two games have been some of the worst matchups for JO. you have a Dantoni offense and then the Heat who run all over the place

JO will be fine against slower pace teams

and when the C's do face the Knicks or especially the Heat in the playoffs, JO will barely play

the three best teams in the East are the Knicks, Bulls, and Heat, all of which are fast paced teams.  Even the Hawks, Sixers, and Pacers move a lot more than the Celtics. 

The Celtics are an old slow team.  The years of title contention are over.

Don't really understand your logic here.
Were the Celtics a fast, young team when we won in 08? Were the Lakers an older, slower team when they won in 2010?
What about last years Mavericks?

The past 5 years of NBA championship winners certainly disagrees with your notion.

Just because Miami is fast, doesn't mean you can't beat them.
Dallas beat them quite easily after making a simple defensive adjustment being down 2-0.

You can be old and slow, you can be old, or you can be slow.  All of the teams you identify were not old AND slow, nor did they play that way.  The Celtics play that way. 

[clover]

"Get ya vetrans, get ya vetrans heya now!  We've got plenty a vetrans right heya in Boston!!!"

[vinnie]

How does an almost 7-foot guy score no points and get one rebound in 22 minutes? I don't care if he is playing against the 86 Celtics, a guy that size has to give you more than that. And while he did look better against the Knicks, he only had 6 points and 2 rebounds in 17 minutes. So far, in 39 minutes, the guy has THREE rebounds. That is horrendous.

And, if he is too slow to play against Miami, then what does that say about the Celts' chances against Miami.

[guava_wrench]

We aren't going to do any of these panic moves when they likely won't make a difference. If our current group of guys can't get it done, then they can't get it done. There is no silver bullet. We try to get the most out of this season and then try to build NEXT season. We aren't going to sacrifice the future on panic moves for this season.

Especially since we lost 2 competitive ROAD games WITHOUT Pierce.

Considering that the Heat hit pretty much all their early shots, there were even many rebounds for any Celtic to pull down in the early first quarter. Rebounds for a single player are unimportant anyway. What is important is the % of available defensive boards and % of available offensive boards that the team pulls down while the player is on the court. If the % when they are on is consistently lower than the % when they are off, then I will worry about the player. Otherwise, maybe they are more concerned with boxing out than with padding stats. It is also possible that they aren't getting rebounds because they are defending penetrators who beat their own man.

JO is not impressing, but we really don't need much from him and he is useful for taking up minutes at the 5.

Shane Battier had comparable numbers last night to what JO had against the Knicks. Basketball isn't just about numbers. We can be fine with a well below average center, so long as our better players do their thing.

Clearly our chances against Miami look pretty good considering how competitive the game was without Pierce, who is a vital part (perhaps the most) of defending the Heat.