anyone who is against this signing has to be ignorant to the team's needs
Anyone who is FOR that signing is ignorant to the team's needs.
how? A veterean rebounding big man who can score in the paint for the vet min, how can you go wrong with that? Especially when alternatives where Kwame Brown or Semih Erden.
Calling Shaq a "rebounding" big man is extremely charitable, given that he averaged 5 rebounds in 23 minutes per game in the playoffs last season. We got roughly the same production from Leon Powe, who was 6'7 and playing on two bad knees.
Well, Powe's knees were fine when he was playing for the C's. But your point is taken. Shaq has been a mediocre rebounder for a guy of his size and skillset his whole career. He is very similar to Perkins. He knows how to use his body to control a side of the backboard, but he just does not go and get the ball like elite rebounders do.
But still, he is a better rebounder than Sheed, and will fit in well in the C's system, which relies a lot more on their big men boxing out and taking up space (a Shaq specialty), so the perimeter players can come in to grab the loose balls.
The primary team need was a long, mobile defender, who can set solid picks keep the ball moving on offense, and give you solid 15 minutes per game. Pretty much everything Shaq is not at this stage of his career.
As a 1-year, vet min deal, Shaq's signing is tolerable because it doesn't set us back. But I suspect a lot of people will be underwhelmed with the outcome, based on their current reaction.
Well, you just described (a healthy) Marquis Daniels), but I agree that they still need another quality 3/4, preferably good enough to be a legit 6th man. Someone like Battier, Tayshawn Prince, Boris Diaw, or Andres Nocioni. But this deal gives them more freedom to go after guys like that using Sheed's contract, and potentially even Davis if they need to.
And if you were talking about a big man, then look no further than JO. Like it or not, he was the best long, athletic defender on the market. Those guys don't grow on trees.
I do agree that if anyone is expecting too much out of Shaq, they are going to be disappointed, but as added depth (and 6 fouls) against teams with strong front courts (Orlando, LA), and another dimension off the bench to punish teams (like say, the Heat), who don't have stout interior defenders, you cannot do any better with what the C's had to deal.
I think the C's are still one deal away from being complete (and that deal may not come until midseason), but given what they had to work with, this is an incredibly intriguing team, even if it will be hit or miss.
Topic: Shaq Signs with the Celts (Official per Celtics.com; Report: 2 years, $2.8 mil) (Read 28389 times)