Semih Erden vs. Rasheed Wallace: Who brings more to the team?

[Roy H.]

Wallace can do everything Semih can do, Semih can't do everything Sheed can do, therefore Sheed > Semih. Another mystery solved.

Does Rasheed:

* Bring energy / hustle?

* Avoid picking up stupid technicals?

* Play efficient offense?

* Play offense primarily in the post, to complement our PFs (KG and BBD)?

Comparing Semih to Rasheed last year, Semih shoots a higher eFG%, grabs a higher percentage of available rebounds, and blocks as many shots.  With Semih expected to improve, and Rasheed expected to decline from last year, I'm not sure that the mystery has, in fact, been solved.

[Fafnir]

I don't think having Rasheed around to force BBD back to the interior offensively is a bad thing.

[Celtics18]

Wallace can do everything Semih can do, Semih can't do everything Sheed can do, therefore Sheed > Semih. Another mystery solved.

Not entirely.  Semih is 24 years old.  'Sheed is, I think, around 37 years old.

I'll go along with the premise that there's a good likelihood that last year's playoff level Wallace was a slightly more valuable player than this year's playoff level Erden will be.  If he is better, he'll still only be a less than 10 minute per game player in the playoffs as the 5th big.

Semih Erden has shown potential to be a very valuable NBA player for years to come.  He's even exceeded almost everyone's expectations and been a valuable contributor for most of the season on a championship contender. I'll continue to feel comfortable with him in emergency situations come playoff time.

In my opinion, cutting Erden to make room for Rasheed Wallace on this year's playoff roster would represent the height of foolish short-sightedness.

  

[mmbaby]

Erden has certainly been surprisingly good, but he is just a rookie. I don't see any comparison to Sheed at this point.

I loved what Sheed did for us last season and would love to have him back again.

[Celtics18]

Erden has certainly been surprisingly good, but he is just a rookie. I don't see any comparison to Sheed at this point.

I loved what Sheed did for us last season and would love to have him back again.

But would you cut Semih to bring him on board?

[P2]

Semih.  In a heartbeat.

Amen.

[amenhotep04]

Big Games: Rasheed
Everyday: Semih

Overall: Semih

[Steve Weinman]

At this point - with the requisite disclaimer that health is always subject to change, particularly with this bunch - I think it's reasonable to expect to go into the playoffs with Perk, Shaq, Garnett and Davis as the top four bigs.  

Jermaine O'Neal's status remains hazy, but his current plan seems to be to make an effort to be available for the playoffs.

If JO isn't available, this debate is about the fifth big man spot, which happens to be approximately the 11th overall spot in the rotation - a rotation that should probably run nine or 10 deep in the playoffs.

If JO is available, knock the importance of the Semih/Wallace spot down even further.

All of this is to say that I have a difficult time believing that there is much to be gained from bringing Rasheed Wallace back into the fold.

I could care less about who plays the minutes while Perk is getting back to full speed and Shaq is in and out of the lineup during the regular season.  But I would much rather it be the youngster with at least some degree of promise over Rasheed Wallace.

That is not to say that we're a step away from discussing a pantheon of centers of Russell, Chamberlain, Hakeem, O'Neal and Erden - but I see no risk to getting him reps now and no upside to having Wallace around again.

-sw

[RAcker]

Wallace can do everything Semih can do, Semih can't do everything Sheed can do, therefore Sheed > Semih. Another mystery solved.

Does Rasheed:

* Bring energy / hustle?

* Avoid picking up stupid technicals?

* Play efficient offense?

* Play offense primarily in the post, to complement our PFs (KG and BBD)?

Comparing Semih to Rasheed last year, Semih shoots a higher eFG%, grabs a higher percentage of available rebounds, and blocks as many shots.  With Semih expected to improve, and Rasheed expected to decline from last year, I'm not sure that the mystery has, in fact, been solved.

I co-sign that. If we get really picky with Semih, we have to do it with Sheed too.  His technicals cost us so many points and I would even argue it caused refs to call our games to our disadvantage many times.

Sheed was also an underachiever in the rebounding department whereas Semih seems to hustle more and overachieve in that area.

If we get picky on defense, yes, Sheed is a better defender it might seem, but look at number of lazy fouls (if that is a statistic we can verify) that Sheed picked up in the course of a season.  Semih blocks just as many shots and commits less fouls than Sheed due to Sheed's laziness on defense at times. 

I think their value is a lot more similar than some would argue.  I think most think Sheed is better for offensive reasons simply due to Rasheeds ability to shoot outside (at times). 

[Fafnir]

Semih fouls more than Rasheed did last year. Semih is a better rebounder, but only on the offensive end. Due to Rasheed's position on offense I'd expect our other big man to pick up the differenc on that side of the ball. (Davis picked up a lot more offensive boards last year because of this)

Rasheed was a bigger drain on our offense than Semih is because of his terrible shooting, but again the difference isn't that large because Sheed doesn't turn the ball over and Semih does (a lot!).

http://bkref.com/tiny/jOLkA

Looking at it more and more I don't see much of a difference, other than that I would trust Rasheed more to defend an offensive threat like Howard/Gasol/Bynum.

[arctic 3.0]

semih stays plays down low and fights for rebounds.
we need rebounds

[moiso]

Semih.  Aside from Rasheed's conditioning issues, he wasn't all that great in the playoffs last year.  He competed and played d on Howard, but the 6pts on 41% shooting with 3 rebounds per game wasn't very impressive.

Semih keeps improving and should be even better when the playoffs start than he is now.

[Roy H.]

Semih is a better rebounder, but only on the offensive end. Due to Rasheed's position on offense I'd expect our other big man to pick up the differenc on that side of the ball. (Davis picked up a lot more offensive boards last year because of this)

Whether you consider Semih or Rasheed to be the better rebounder depends upon whether you believe Semih will continue to get better as the season goes along.  If you compare Semih's current stats to Rasheed's from last year, Rasheed grabs a slightly higher percentage of defensive rebounds.  However, that ignores the positive upward trend that Semih's rebounding has been on.  If that trend continues, or if Rasheed declines at all from last season, then Semih's defensive rebounding stats would be better.

[Fafnir]

Semih is a better rebounder, but only on the offensive end. Due to Rasheed's position on offense I'd expect our other big man to pick up the differenc on that side of the ball. (Davis picked up a lot more offensive boards last year because of this)

Whether you consider Semih or Rasheed to be the better rebounder depends upon whether you believe Semih will continue to get better as the season goes along.  If you compare Semih's current stats to Rasheed's from last year, Rasheed grabs a slightly higher percentage of defensive rebounds.  However, that ignores the positive upward trend that Semih's rebounding has been on.  If that trend continues, or if Rasheed declines at all from last season, then Semih's defensive rebounding stats would be better.

His upward trend has been around four games, I don't have much faith in it. Especially when they've come against the Cavs/Wizards/Jazz/Kings.

[anthony83]

Please Sheed,only by experience,to play playoff Sheed.

  Need For Sheed