All things being equal, Shaq should start

[Rondo_is_better]

My money is on the young man.

[ben]

Shaq starting is fine. If Sheed comes back we'll have a great rotation

Shaq/Sheed
KG/JO
Pierce/Daniels
Allen/Wafer
Rondo/Robinson

epic.

Where will Baby fit into the rotation?

he won't

[Witch-King]

Shaq starting would be a great idea; almost like having insurance at the beginning of a game/half.

[Rtpas11]

1st of all good morning to you all! Now... Perk's injury will keep him out of rotation until comes playoff time (i believe). With a roster like this i'm Doc will not rush Perk back in to playing if he is not needed(you saw what happened to Paul and K.G. playing hurt).

2nd... I agree Shaq should start. Only because Jermaine is better at creating his own shots, extending him game, and could be a excellent post present surrounded by (shooter) nate and (shooter) wafer.

3rd... with Rondo's speed and quickness and ability to create, thte Celtics will be extremely difficult to defend. Shaq requires a double, Ray can't be left @ the 3 point line, nor should Paul. K.G. could also step pout and hit a 15 footer or post up (requiring double teams @ times. Shaq should start because of Rondo abilities, nate is not a good creator (which Jermaine doesn't need.

[thebirdman]

I disagree, actually. One thing that Shaq brings to this team is post game. Something we haven`t had off the bench. We tried to go to Powe when he was here and that worked to some extent but with Shaq this opens up a whole new dimension.

Whenever our bench was in we were perimeter oriented and that hurt us in the past but when you can throw the ball down low, it just gives us a completely new look.

You put Shaq at center and put shooters around him will do wonders for the second unit. I like a lineup of Shaq, Davis, Nate, Wafer and PP or Ray a lot. We don`t need to force anything by trying to create something from the guard positions, we can just go to the post and when Shay gets double teamed he can find an open man. This really balances our second unit and allows us to use different offensive schemes, IMO...

[LooseCannon]

agreed. by the way, how funny is it that orlando is paying gortat, who should be a starter somewhere, a starter's salary to play backup to dwight, their best player. what a stupid move on their part. should've let him go

They reportedly matched the offer sheet from Dallas because they thought that Gortat was signed to a very affordable deal that made him a trade asset.  We'll see what they can get for him in January.

[nickagneta]

Couldn't disagree more with this premise. Shaq has already proven that he is a lane clogger as can be referenced by the major drop off of free throws last year for LeBron when Shaq was in the game as compared to when he was out.

He is immobile down low and not laterally quick enough to move out of the box or over to a side to set picks and get out of the way of a person driving the lane. He takes up too much space down low once he is there and makes it easier to guard slashers to the basket. Also, he's a horrible pick and roll player from the top of the key and beyond where the Celtics like to create some plays for their bigs. He's just too slow to set that pick roll to the basket and receive the shot because he is open and still make a play going to the basket.

Because of this he will hamper the offensive effectiveness of Rondo, Pierce and Allen and then on top of that be a defensive liability on the other end of the floor. This will cause the other starters to have to work extra hard just to be as effective defensively as they want to be as the others starters make up for the deficiencies in Shaq's defensive game. We want the starters working less hard and putting in less strenuous minutes during the regular season while winning so that they are fresh for the playoffs, not more.

Jermaine O'Neal is not perfect, but his mobility, good mid range game on offense, block shot capabilities and good weak side defense are a better overall match for what the other 4 starters need to be more successful as a total starting unit than what Shaq brings to the table.

People need to stop looking at Shaq with the reverence of the player that he used to be and start seeing him for the player he is. He is a good low post, offensively oriented backup center that can get you rebounds due to sheer size but will be a major liability within the structure of the type of team defense the Celtics like to play.

[Birdbrain]

It's something I've pondered the past few days as well.  The Op pretty much covered every angle and may have actually swayed my opinion towards shaq from JO.  Very solid reasons for him starting.

Less defense more post scoring w/ Shaq.
Less post scoring more defense w/ JO.

There is one thing in back of my mind that makes me lean towards JO though and is more superficial than anything and sort of plays into the whole will Shaq fit on the C's category.  I almost want JO to start to see how Shaq deals w/ what will be a limited role on C's.  Will he complain about it or will he realize his diminished skills are best suited as a role player for the betterment of the team.  That dichotomy would be interesting to hash out early in the season.

But, as someone mentioned whomever wins the job in Doc's eyes (or whomever he thinks will be best via rotation) is fine with me.

TP for interesting discussion.

[nickagneta]

There is one thing in back of my mind that makes me lean towards JO though and is more superficial than anything and sort of plays into the whole will Shaq fit on the C's category.  I almost want JO to start to see how Shaq deals w/ what will be a limited role on C's.  Will he complain about it or will he realize his diminished skills are best suited as a role player for the betterment of the team.  That dichotomy would be interesting to hash out early in the season.

Excellent point and very germane to the discussion. TP4U.

I also agree that starting Jermaine O'Neal just to see if Shaq can be a good camper and fill a bench role would be an intelligent move

[Redz]

I think Doc will let whomever earns it to start.

This is how I see it unless JO was actually promised a starting job with that MLE cash.

If he wasn't, then it's basically open competition.

I just can't envision  either of the O'Neal engaging in a dog fight for the starting job.  That's not to say there won't be a choice to be made I guess, but I don't see there being a competition for a starters position. 

[Roy Hobbs]

I like Shaq off the bench.  Right now, between Nate, BBD, and Wafer, we have a lot of jump shooting off our bench.  Marquis, however, is the only guy who gets a lot of inside baskets.  I think putting Shaq with that unit would be a better fit, giving the bench a focal point to run the offense through. 

I see the arguments both ways.  Shaq's defense could be better masked playing with the starters, certainly, and the team could use his rebounding.  However, his offense would be largely muted, as we generally run our offense through Rondo and Pierce, and I can't see that changing.  Conversely, J.O. is a jump-shooting big, which hurts our offensive rebounding, but which should open things up for Rondo and Pierce driving to the hoop.

It's something I expect to stay fluid.  J.O. will probably start the majority of games, but on nights when the team can't hit a jumper, I'd expect to see Shaq mixed in with the starters a lot, etc.