A reasonable appraisal of Semih Erden

[xmuscularghandix]

What Semih needs is that off-season shoulder surgery. Then after that he can hit the weights and get stronger…

[Reggie's Ghost]

Starting caliber?  I think his ceiling is a poor man's Joel Przybilla...gotta be the best 4th string Center in the league though 

[Celtics4ever]

I think he can be a sub.  Needs to improve on rebounding a lot.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Erden has already shown a lot of improvement, he is finishing better, and has played against the best in the league. He doesn't "dog" it at all, has a great attitude, hustles, and i think he will continue to improve. He went 5 for 6 last game vs Atlanta, some really good big men on that team, and he is still pretty much a rookie, who doesn't yet fully speak the language.

  Don't go thinking the center is the easiest job here. Many others have turnovers and mistakes, rookies and pro's alike. He is also getting a beating from other teams and are fav people, the refs, who give absolutly no repsect at all...as if they get to interpet the rules instead of just appllyng them. He gets pushed full on 2 hands on rebounds, mostly offensive ones, hacked on the way to the hole, and he is still doing pretty well.

  As for being soft...he played with a broken nose, bad shoulder, and now thumb, as all bball players know, bad fingers means you are "getting in there!". Playing him now is the best thing for us / him. He could be very valuable in the playoffs. For centers we have..shaq, Erden.....JO, well when is he going to do something, erden has shown more than he. Perk, well, no one knows yet if he will be back this year, all speculation, and wait and see...no matter what you hear, till he is there, you got nothing!

[Yugocelt]

Semih will settle in, keep in mind he's probably still battling the culture shock and language barrier. 

In Europe, it's quite common among soccer players to struggle initially because they miss their families or are having trouble adjusting. 

Now add into that having to adjust to a new team and it's quite amazing to see how much he's improved since his first few minutes here.

He's a nice addition to have and you never know, he might save our butts eventually. 

[Meadowlark_Scal]

TP there yugo......that is what i am saying also...most peeps never left home so they don't know how hard it can be, diff country, diff speed game, diff language..at least he has $$$, how much are they paying the Sem..? Hope the team guys hang out with him. No one thinks about that stuff. It isn't that i just like him, he has shown a lot to like. His stock is on the way up..!

[Yugocelt]

He's definitely too soft and sloppy at times but I think he couldn't have landed at a better team to learn and correct his game, and morph it into an NBA quality style of play.

The guys will teach him and I'm willing to bet come playoff time he'll be a much different and improved player!

[Birdbrain]

Give me a player who has the desire to improve like Semih seems to have over a player with a little more skillset who is comfortable with where he's at right now any day.

Semih has a very good offensive game which will only get better. He's able to play within the offense and produce. If he can work on his strength in the offseason after taking care of that shoulder, and improve his free throw percentage, we'll have a very nice backup center that could start for a lot of teams out there.

Look at it this way, his stats are as good as BBD's were his first year. He seemed to have turned out okay… And Semih has legit NBA size at his position. (with a little more weight on his frame!)

Agreed, TP.

He'll never complain and play his heart out and his teammates appear to love to see him do well.  Which is always a sign of someone that works his butt off in practice. 

[arctic 3.0]

I like semih, he's got good hands and i think he's got more offense then he's shown.

but

its just a matter of time before doc repeats the famous line "get a freaking rebound"

[BballTim]

He doesn't post up more because the team doesn't trust him in part, and also because he lacks the strength to post up most NBA centers. The same lack of strength also is a big part of his rebounding woes.

His offensive game is probably his strong suit for me. He rolls hard and has decent touch. It his rebounding and defensive struggles that keep him from being anywhere near starting NBA caliber.

  He's also dealing with that bad shoulder that's going to be addressed in the offseason.

Very true, this could be greatly hindering his rebounding. But I doubt it'd go from its currently level to acceptable from a starting C.

His movement on defense isn't effected by his shoulder and that is also below what you want/need in a starting center.

  I doubt that it qualifies as unusual that someone doesn't display the defense or rebounding you'd expect from a starting center after the first quarter of their rookie season.

[BballTim]

He doesn't post up more because the team doesn't trust him in part, and also because he lacks the strength to post up most NBA centers. The same lack of strength also is a big part of his rebounding woes.

That is true. He lacks the strength to battle in the paint for rebounds. One of the reasons the Celtics are the worst offensive rebounding team in the NBA is because Erden is playing significant minutes.

  We were almost as bad at offensive rebounding last year. It's not Semih.

[jsingh1699]

i think he'll have a nice nba career (if hes 24 now, i see him staying in the league til about 32). in terms of his role, i see him being a 2nd string center long term. thats not a bad thing, he'll get a solid 10-20 min a night and will play hard for whichever team.

hes getting alotta minutes now and making the most of them. ainge is very good at showcasing his young people and then trading them. he might be our trade bait to get another player this season once perk and the oneals are healthy.

[LB3533]

We cannot reasonably rate Semih right now.

He's got an injured shoulder and thumb.

If those were 100% he might be able to go up stronger for boards and other offensive moves.

He might not fumble balls passed to him either.

[LooseCannon]

I could see Erden developing so that, a few years from now, if he is backing up a healthy Kendrick Perkins, he might see some 4th quarter end of game minutes when the team needs offense more than defense.

It's hard to gauge Erden playing against the Hawks when they start Jason Collins, a guy who is a worse offensive player and rebounder than Erden.  Erden may have failed to get a rebound, but Collins has ten games in his career where he had zero rebounds in 20+ minutes.

[xmuscularghandix]

I really feel like Semih will improve substantially in year 2. How do you gain upper body strength when your nursing shoulder/thumb injuries. This kid is battling for us… If KG and Shaq like a kid i’m gonna take their word on him.