Who would help us more, a healthy Rondo or a healthy Shaq?

[Roy H.]

Obviously, neither one is going to be anywhere close to healthy this post-season.  That said, if you could have one of them back at 100% full strength (with the other playing at their current level) who would you take?

[PosImpos]

Have to go with Rondo.

Even fully healthy, Shaq would be good for 10-12 pts and 4-5 rebounds at most per game.

A fully healthy and engaged Rondo is clearly capable of more.  Plus, it's fair to wonder if Shaq could even produce very much without a healthy Rondo to feed him inside.  A healthy Rondo is obviously more integral to the team's success.

That said, I think having both healthy would be necessary to reasonably expect a long playoff run from this team.  Unfortunately, we're all seeing the result of having neither of them even mostly healthy for the entire post-season.

[wiley]

Obviously, neither one is going to be anywhere close to healthy this post-season.  That said, if you could have one of them back at 100% full strength (with the other playing at their current level) who would you take?

great question.  I would definitely take a 100 percent healthy Shaq and the current Rondo over Healthy Rondo and no Shaq.  But both scenarios would be an awesome upgrade over current mode!

[JSD]

I'll go with Shaq.  His inside presence on both ends provides nothing the Heat could match up with.

[Roy H.]

A healthy Rondo is obviously more integral to the team's success.

I don't know if it's that obvious.  Yes, Rondo is more valuable if you had to choose which one would play.  However, if your choice is "healthy Shaq + 65% Rondo" or "100% Rondo + no Shaq", I think I probably lean toward the former.

As much pain as he's in, Rondo has actually looked pretty decent the past two games.  He's clearly limited, but he's still a pretty good player.  If you couple that player with the Shaq we saw earlier in the year -- when the team was dominant -- I think you'd actually have a more dangerous team.

Shaq inside would help our offense, rebounding and depth, and would make us less of a jump-shooting team.  We'd have somebody to punish the weak Heat defenders inside.  A limited Rondo wouldn't be as good at making touch passes, but he could still get to the hoop and score.

That being the case, I think I'd go with Shaq.

[Who]

Rondo ... and it's not close.

[Chris]

That being the case, I think I'd go with Shaq.

I'd go with Shaq as well.  As was shown early in the series, Rondo's relative inneffectiveness is not only because of his injury.  The Heat's defense has done a lot to take him out of his game.  They are too good at getting back in transition, their length keeps him from consistently scoring at the basket, and they are terrific at clogging up passing lanes.  To be anything more than average (at best) when the Heat are playing well and focussed, Rondo really needs to be playing extraordinary.

A healthy Shaq on the other hand is something the Heat would have no answer for.  He would allow the C's to go big, because when he is healthy, he has the ability to make them pay for going small against him, which makes it worth the risk defensively.

I really think a healthy Shaq, playing at the level he played earlier in the year changes this series more than anyone else could (and that includes Perkins).

[the_Bird]

If we're talking a healthy, in-decent-shape Shaq, a guy who can play 30-35 minutes, I'm taking him.  

If Rondo isn't able to play effectively, I'll take my chances with Delonte and Pierce initiating the offense - especially if that offense is centered around tossing lob passes into Shaq down low and destroying Bosh and Jo-Elle Anthony.

Even before he got hurt, Rondo was playing fairly inconsistent ball (maybe because of the Heat's D).  A fully healthy Rondo's still only a 50/50 chance to be a dominant performer.

[PosImpos]

A healthy Rondo is obviously more integral to the team's success.

I don't know if it's that obvious.  Yes, Rondo is more valuable if you had to choose which one would play.  However, if your choice is "healthy Shaq + 65% Rondo" or "100% Rondo + no Shaq", I think I probably lean toward the former.

As much pain as he's in, Rondo has actually looked pretty decent the past two games.  He's clearly limited, but he's still a pretty good player.  If you couple that player with the Shaq we saw earlier in the year -- when the team was dominant -- I think you'd actually have a more dangerous team.

Shaq inside would help our offense, rebounding and depth, and would make us less of a jump-shooting team.  We'd have somebody to punish the weak Heat defenders inside.  A limited Rondo wouldn't be as good at making touch passes, but he could still get to the hoop and score.

That being the case, I think I'd go with Shaq.

That's a fair argument, but if we're talking 100% healthy vs. 100% healthy, I still have to take Rondo.

I'm skeptical that Rondo has been 100% healthy at all this postseason, considering how much worse he's been in this post-season versus the last two post-seasons (when he regularly took over games as the Celtics' best player).  He's yet to have a single dominant performance.  I think if Rondo were 100% healthy -- and here I take 100% healthy to mean "2009 / 2010 playoffs Rondo" -- the Celtics would be a much better team than they are now, better than they'd be with one-armed Rondo and 100% 39 year old Shaq.

[Mr October]

100% Shaq without question.

But of course at his mileage, he'll never be 100%...

[mgent]

Shaq.  He's what we're missing the most.

I don't think we've even seen him 100% at all this season.  A fully healthy Shaq would have 14ppg, 6-8rpg, 2-3apg, and at least a block on this team.  Dang that would help.

[Roy H.]

Shaq.  He's what we're missing the most.

I don't think we've even seen him 100% at all this season.  A fully healthy Shaq would have 14ppg, 6-8rpg, 2-3apg, and at least a block on this team.  Dang that would help.

Yeah, when I say "healthy Shaq", I'm talking about the guy we saw in November.  He averaged around 13/8 in 24 minutes.

[Papatrichs]

We won Game 3 with a one-arm/banged-up/adrenalized Rondo. A healthy "switched" Rondo would do wonders for us.

[Chris]

We won Game 3 with a one-arm/banged-up/adrenalized Rondo. A healthy "switched" Rondo would do wonders for us.

We also had KG going for 28 and 18 (or something like that) in that game.  I personally think that offensive presence in the paint was what really won the game.

[pearljammer10]

Very tought. Id have to say Rondo right off the bat but I guess we dont really know, and never will know, how hurt he actually is...

Shaq's presence would be pretty intimidating. I think I undervalue what Shaq has done for this team since I have gotten so used to the idea of him not playing.

In the end i have to go with Shaq.