Semih Erden for Troy Murphy?

[BballTim]

We wanted to open 2 roster spots. It is impossible to know how well Murphy will play ahead of the pickup. Ainge does not have a time machine.

No, but he does have a medical report

  He had one on Erden as well. I'd say Murphy is probably as healthy as Semih.

[StartOrien]

We wanted to open 2 roster spots. It is impossible to know how well Murphy will play ahead of the pickup. Ainge does not have a time machine.

No, but he does have a medical report

At the time of "the swap" Murphy was healthy and Semih was still plagued by injuries. Ainge addressed this on his first EEI interview. He had serious concerns about Semih's availability for the playoffs.

  He had one on Erden as well. I'd say Murphy is probably as healthy as Semih.

[Roy H.]

We wanted to open 2 roster spots. It is impossible to know how well Murphy will play ahead of the pickup. Ainge does not have a time machine.

No, but he does have a medical report

At the time of "the swap" Murphy was healthy and Semih was still plagued by injuries. Ainge addressed this on his first EEI interview. He had serious concerns about Semih's availability for the playoffs.

  He had one on Erden as well. I'd say Murphy is probably as healthy as Semih.

For whatever it's worth, I don't think Murphy was ever "healthy" this year.  His poor play currently -- or prior to his ankle injury -- is more than just rust / lack of conditioning.  It looks like he never recovered from his back and leg injuries, which is what New Jersey was saying when they weren't giving him playing time.

Many people assumed that Murphy was benched due to a grudge with Avery Johnson, but it looks like it was more than just a personality conflict.

I'm not criticizing Danny here -- the upside for Murphy was worth the gamble -- but I never quite understood why fans have pointed to Murphy's health as a positive for him.

[Marcus13]

We wanted to open 2 roster spots. It is impossible to know how well Murphy will play ahead of the pickup. Ainge does not have a time machine.

No, but he does have a medical report

At the time of "the swap" Murphy was healthy and Semih was still plagued by injuries. Ainge addressed this on his first EEI interview. He had serious concerns about Semih's availability for the playoffs.

  He had one on Erden as well. I'd say Murphy is probably as healthy as Semih.

I don't think you can say Murphy was ever healthy.  There is a reason that he wasn't getting off the bench

[Chris]

For whatever it's worth, I don't think Murphy was ever "healthy" this year.  His poor play currently -- or prior to his ankle injury -- is more than just rust / lack of conditioning.  It looks like he never recovered from his back and leg injuries, which is what New Jersey was saying when they weren't giving him playing time.

Many people assumed that Murphy was benched due to a grudge with Avery Johnson, but it looks like it was more than just a personality conflict.

I'm not criticizing Danny here -- the upside for Murphy was worth the gamble -- but I never quite understood why fans have pointed to Murphy's health as a positive for him.

Yeah, I think your right on this.  He just has not looked comfortable out there, and I think its more than mental.  Physically, he just does not look right.

With that said, I still feel more comfortable with him at the end of the bench than Semi.  I am hoping having this week of practices, and another game where he can play bigger minutes, and hopefully get a little rhythm going.  Even if its purely as a decoy, having that extra shooting big man on the bench is more valuable to this team than Semi would have been. 

The problem with Semi is that he is not strong/physical enough (at least not right now) to really bang inside, but he is not skilled enough to play on the perimeter.  Plus, he is a rookie.  His hustle has gotten him a long way during the regular season, but I am not sure that translates that well to the postseason, when everyone is going that hard.

So, he wouldn't really make a difference if Shaq is out, and he also can't provide the versatile, in case of emergency PF that Murphy can potentially be. 

Either way though, I hope whoever is in that roster spot is not even dressed for the playoffs, because if they are, then this team is probably not in great shape.

[2short]

murphy is off floor has to be guarded so he spreads floor more than semi or even jermaine
he hasn't looked good though
semih i'd welcome back as a 3rd string center since he's young and did a nice job when pressed

[Eja117]

Semih Erden was awful. A very poor defender / rebounder.

I don't understand all this praise he has been getting.

He seems a lot better in our memory since Chris Johnson has been the 2nd best big man on the team since Semih left

[jdpapa3]

Agreed with Roy regarding Murphy. Gotta be the injuries. Guy was a PER/rebounding warrior before this season and it's all fallen apart. Not at a typical age to have your skills diminish. Gotta be an injury.

Also agree with WHO regarding Erden. Played a decent enough stopgap guy, but he is probably a worse player than Shelden Williams. Could be the injuries for him as well. I was impressed with him in the FIBAs(not really to the point where I thought he could get actual important playoff minutes with us), but it was obvious he couldn't really rim protect against NBA players.

[aporel#18]

Murphy didn't look like a good pickup even when there were reports of half the league interested in him. I'm sorry for the kid, and even more for the Celtics, but he's BBD insurance. Not more. And unfortunately, he's also injured. Hopefully he can use tomorrow's big minutes to get back into some game shape.

Semih is injured, and was injured when he was playing... and he's better than Murphy defending the paint. Still he had three problems: lack of muscle, language issues, and his injuries. He could be playing injured right now if he was still a C, but there's not much he could do in the playoffs behind the O'Neals and Nenad. I hate that he went to Cleveland, but that move could have brought Corey Brewer, who knows...

I'd still would like Sheed over an injured Semih and a healthy Murphy. He's good at D, and lethal on the post, although he'd rather chuck 3's. But he must be injured and he's not going through that door.

It's time to root for Troy, he's a Celtic and we need all the help we can get from him.

Go Celtics!!!

[gar]

If the Nets and Warriors gave up on him have to wonder what Danny was basing his assessment on. Erden was great, he got along and was part of the family. He gave his all and bothered a lot of shots. His rebounding was not bad and he was pretty solid around the rim. As a young big have no idea why they gave up on him for Murphy.

[PosImpos]

Semih Erden was awful. A very poor defender / rebounder.

I don't understand all this praise he has been getting.

He seems a lot better in our memory since Chris Johnson has been the 2nd best big man on the team since Semih left

[Celtics18]

If Troy Murphy's getting regular minutes in the playoffs, then we are in trouble.  I guess the same could be said for Erden, but he's a rookie still learning the NBA game and the English language.  I saw upside.  Good body, good mobility, and some decent skills.

People seem to be theorizing that Murphy never recovered from his injury.  But, he's been officially cleared to play for months, and earlier in the season he said that he didn't understand why Johnson wasn't playing him, and that he felt he was in good game shape. 

Either it's a chronic injury that he can't recover from, or he's got some other motivational issues. Maybe it's a combination of the two.  At any rate, he's no good to us right now.       

[jambr380]

Once upon a time, Murphy was better than Perkins (and so were Shaq, JO, even Krstic got close). I definitely understood the gamble at the time, but I think I could give better minutes for the Celtics right now...seriously.

Who knows, it's not impossible that he could give us a good game or two in the playoffs, but only if we have serious foul trouble or injuries.

[jdpapa3]

If the Nets and Warriors gave up on him have to wonder what Danny was basing his assessment on. Erden was great, he got along and was part of the family. He gave his all and bothered a lot of shots. His rebounding was not bad and he was pretty solid around the rim. As a young big have no idea why they gave up on him for Murphy.

The Nets and Warriors are rebuilding and would give the minutes to the younger player under contract for a bunch of years even if Murphy was outplaying them. Murphy was 29/30 and on the last year of his contract.

Disagree on Erden. If given the choice, I think Doc would rather play Pierce at C than him in a huge playoff game.

[LooseCannon]

I think that Troy Murphy was signed with the idea that he might recover sufficiently that Boston would have the inside track on getting him for a bit of a discount next season in order to address concerns about bench rebounding.

If Murphy could bring his 3-point shooting closer to his 38.9% career mark while providing above-average offense and below average defense as a PF/C off the bench and was OK with playing 20mpg or less, how useful would that be for Boston next season?