Its time for Shaq to suit up...no more "rest"

[cman88]

shaq will have plenty of time to rest his ailing achilles/calf if the Celtics get swept out of the playoffs...its time for shaq to suit up and offer us that big body in the paint we need to deliver hard fouls to wade/lebron and grab rebounds..

hopefully he suits up saturday and I fully believe he will...IF shaq can give us 80% of the production he did the beginning of the year, that makes us a whole different team with a 5th weapon on the floor...his presence alone in the paint should open up our shooters when he gets double teamed

as good as JO has been defensively, hes not the offensive threat that shaq still can be

[GreenFaith1819]

shaq will have plenty of time to rest his ailing achilles/calf if the Celtics get swept out of the playoffs...its time for shaq to suit up and offer us that big body in the paint we need to deliver hard fouls to wade/lebron and grab rebounds..

hopefully he suits up saturday and I fully believe he will...IF shaq can give us 80% of the production he did the beginning of the year, that makes us a whole different team with a 5th weapon on the floor...his presence alone in the paint should open up our shooters when he gets double teamed

as good as JO has been defensively, hes not the offensive threat that shaq still can be

I think you have just summed up my thoughts exactly. I did not want to overlook how huge JO has been for us, especially defensively.

But our offense just flowed like water when Shaq was playing.

[Chris]

It all depends if he is physically able.  I don't buy this has anything to do with "rest".  If he could play, he would have been playing already.  

I think some people are underestimating how hard it is to play through lower leg injuries for such a big guy.  

[Who]

It all depends if he is physically able.  I don't buy this has anything to do with "rest".  If he could play, he would have been playing already.  

Exactly

[cman88]

It all depends if he is physically able.  I don't buy this has anything to do with "rest".  If he could play, he would have been playing already.  

I think some people are underestimating how hard it is to play through lower leg injuries for such a big guy.  

true, im just going by docs comments that shaq looked "phenominal" during a stretch of practice...and was a "game time" decision to sit him on tuesday...sure he was sore afterwards, but put the guy out there for 10minutes cant hurt

at this point, with us being down 0-2 what do we have to lose?

[PseudoElite]

Part of me thought earlier in the season that the Celtics were "saving" Shaq for the playoffs.

It's becoming more and more obvious that Shaq really IS old and injured.

Why would you save your starting center and be down 0-2 in the 2nd round? Against NY I understand but pretending like we don't need a healthy Shaq against the Heat is daft.

I really don't think his body is going to hold up, and I really think it's time for Shaq to retire.

Danny and Doc were stupid to place all of their hopes on the O'Neal bros. Sure JO has been playing decently but he's hardly a dominate center, and it wasn't even guaranteed he would come back. What if he got injured too? Our starting center in the playoffs would be Kristic? Really?

So stupid.

[Chris]

It all depends if he is physically able.  I don't buy this has anything to do with "rest".  If he could play, he would have been playing already.  

I think some people are underestimating how hard it is to play through lower leg injuries for such a big guy.  

true, im just going by docs comments that shaq looked "phenominal" during a stretch of practice...and was a "game time" decision to sit him on tuesday...sure he was sore afterwards, but put the guy out there for 10minutes cant hurt

at this point, with us being down 0-2 what do we have to lose?

But you are only listening to half of what Doc is saying.  He said he looked phenomenal during a stretch of practice, but could barely walk by the end of it.  He also showed up at the arena on Tuesday with a noticable limp, and told a reporter at that time that he was not playing.

This is not about what we have to lose, this is about whether he can physically go out there.  He has practiced what?  2 times in 3 months.  And both times has not recovered well.  I don't think its a stretch to not assume that he will be physically able to step on the court on Saturday and play basketball.

[PosImpos]

Since Game 3 is an absolute must-win, I'll be surprised if Shaq doesn't at least make an attempt to play.  It's basically the end of the season if he doesn't.

[hpantazo]

Sherrod Blakley just said on his Twitter that the chance of shaq playing in game 3 is about 50%

[Spilling Green Dye]

What really annoys me is this:  Doc said that Shaq looked great before practice.  After a full practice he was sore...too sore to play Game 2.

Why was Shaq going through a full practice??!!

Shaq knows the plays, and having him for 10 minutes during Game 2 (despite him not having played in awhile) is 50x better than having Davis play.  I cannot imagine 10 minutes of play time would make him anywhere near as sore as a 2-3 hour full practice.

I think this is a major coaching mistake b/c the alternative to Shaq is abysmall.  We need him on the court GAMETIME, not practice!

[hpantazo]

maybe Shaq lost all his motivation to play now that Kobe is about to get knocked out of the playoffs

[Chris]

What really annoys me is this:  Doc said that Shaq looked great before practice.  After a full practice he was sore...too sore to play Game 2.

Why was Shaq going through a full practice??!!

Shaq knows the plays, and having him for 10 minutes during Game 2 (despite him not having played in awhile) is 50x better than having Davis play.  I cannot imagine 10 minutes of play time would make him anywhere near as sore as a 2-3 hour full practice.

I think this is a major coaching mistake b/c the alternative to Shaq is abysmall.  We need him on the court GAMETIME, not practice!

Last time he didn't practice at all, came into the game, and was out for another month within 5 minutes.  I think the practice time is critical, not only to getting the team on the same page, but helping him to get at least a little bit of basketball conditioning before stepping on the floor.

[PseudoElite]

Hey Guys I have a GREAT IDEA!!!

Let's trade our starting center because 39 year old Shaq is playing well, no way he can get injured!!! YEAHH!!!! This is the best idea since Hitler invading Russia.

[cman88]

Since Game 3 is an absolute must-win, I'll be surprised if Shaq doesn't at least make an attempt to play.  It's basically the end of the season if he doesn't.

exactly what im saying...I just dont see shaq sitting down in a suit while his team gets knocked out of the playoffs. game 3 and 4 are both our game 7's right now. we lose 1 of those and the seasons over

[17wasEZ]

It all depends if he is physically able.  I don't buy this has anything to do with "rest".  If he could play, he would have been playing already.  

I think some people are underestimating how hard it is to play through lower leg injuries for such a big guy.  

Correction: I think some people are underestimating how hard it is to play through lower leg injuries for such a very big guy.

Even if he lost 50 lbs. his legs would still have to carry around roughly 290-300 lbs. which is still a heck of a lot of weight.