We have no centers...do we need a great one now?

[bfrombleacher]

I think we have to get as many centers as possible if we can't get a very good one to play with J.O.

Sign the footballer, Matt O'Donnell. It's stupid, so stupid it might work. We don't need much offense from him, we just need him to clog the lanes and really hurt Dwy...opposing players with his six hard fouls. He is the main man in this plan because he is stupid big and very athletic.

Re-sign Troy Murphy. He's a center too. He's cheap, he'll learn our system in camp and it's been a year since his injury.

Sign as many centers as possible from the D-League, free agency and other sources.

This way, we'd have at least 2 centers behind our main weapon, Jermaine O'Neal.


Why I think it will work
Remember Semih Erden? We actually won games with him... Is he a great center? No. Of course not.

Why it worked with Semih was because we have enormous offensive firepower, Semih fed off that. The defense also worked because our defense is team oriented, stemming from KG.

What about Krstic? He's essentially Semih fast forward a few years.
Well, we did win the first five games after getting him. What happened was he started struggling. Pile on top of that the fact that he did not know the offense or the defense very well and the fact that Doc is coaching (who will not put anyone who shows the slightest sign of struggling in the rotation apart from Baby and the Big Four). Baby became the center...



We do not need a great center. We need centers who can do the simplest of things which take some time to learn. We need to not trade our centers in the middle of the season.

So, we will have J.O., who will give us an awesome 10-15 minutes. Behind him, Matt O'Donnell. He is big but very athletic and quick for his size. We will have Troy Murphy, who can also play PF and will learn the system better. We will have Baby, who can...stay in the PF. And ideally, we will have a couple more centers behind that.

[moiso]

I'm not sure how we can be too excited with JO giving us an "awesome 10-15 minutes."  Those are backup minutes.

I think we need an actual NBA starting center because it would be foolish to count on JO staying healthy and a bunch of scrubs behind him.  Because WHEN Jermaine gets hurt, one of those scrubs is going to have to start and play big minutes.

[bfrombleacher]

They did it without Shaq half the time at the first half of the season with Semih and Baby as centers. They need chemistry, they need players to know what's going on, they need size and they need bodies.

I think Matt O'Donnell is the perfect fit. He can play a lot of time if he learns defense thanks to his athleticism and size. We don't need offense from him, maybe a few good picks. I think he is the reason this is going to work. I sound like a mad man...

[toneskeet]

I disagree, I would not waste a roster spot on somebody who hasn't played since highschool, where he wasn't that coveted. He is not the answer for our center problems. You can't compare him to Semih, Semih was a BASKETBALL player, you think just bc someone is 7 foot 340 he can help a basketball team. . . not in the NBA, you need skills. I have someone who lives in my town whose 7 foot and over 300 lbs, he pumps gas. He played in high school too, you want me to go stear him in Boston's  direction?

[bfrombleacher]

I disagree, I would not waste a roster spot on somebody who hasn't played since highschool, where he wasn't that coveted. He is not the answer for our center problems. You can't compare him to Semih, Semih was a BASKETBALL player, you think just bc someone is 7 foot 340 he can help a basketball team. . . not in the NBA, you need skills. I have someone who lives in my town whose 7 foot and over 300 lbs, he pumps gas. He played in high school too, you want me to go stear him in Boston's  direction?

He is an athlete. He might play football. He is conditioned for sports. You need skills for offense, you need determination a lot more for defense. A training camp will help a lot. This year probably being a bridge year makes it worth the risk since we're not looking to go all the way. Who else is big and athletic available to play for the center position? If he fails, just drop him to D-League.

[ederson]

They did it without Shaq half the time at the first half of the season with Semih and Baby as centers. They need chemistry, they need players to know what's going on, they need size and they need bodies.

the thing is that both erden and bbaby are prof. basketball players. I won`t argue about their ranking among the rest nba big men but in any case they are proved nba or borderline nba players.

This guy is what ?

[toneskeet]

I think your underestimating what it takes to be an NBA player, not to mention playing for one of the NBA's premier franchises and recently perennial playoff contenders. I just don't see him giving us anything productive at all.

[RAG50K]

Wow, from having one of the most daunting frontcourts last year to thinking about drafting football players who are big and strong.....

[European NBA fan]

I disagree, I would not waste a roster spot on somebody who hasn't played since highschool, where he wasn't that coveted. He is not the answer for our center problems. You can't compare him to Semih, Semih was a BASKETBALL player, you think just bc someone is 7 foot 340 he can help a basketball team. . . not in the NBA, you need skills. I have someone who lives in my town whose 7 foot and over 300 lbs, he pumps gas. He played in high school too, you want me to go stear him in Boston's  direction?

He is an athlete. He might play football. He is conditioned for sports. You need skills for offense, you need determination a lot more for defense. A training camp will help a lot. This year probably being a bridge year makes it worth the risk since we're not looking to go all the way. Who else is big and athletic available to play for the center position? If he fails, just drop him to D-League.

Semih's biggest problem with the Celtics was communication and injuries, not basketball skills. He represented Turkey at the FIBA World Championship, and they have several good centers. So you can't compare him to the next 7 footer.

But I agree, that an athletic 7 footer is worth looking at more than once. If he is a fast learner, he could be a poor homeless man's version of Dwight Howard

[Jon]

I'm not sure how we can be too excited with JO giving us an "awesome 10-15 minutes."  Those are backup minutes.

I think we need an actual NBA starting center because it would be foolish to count on JO staying healthy and a bunch of scrubs behind him.  Because WHEN Jermaine gets hurt, one of those scrubs is going to have to start and play big minutes.

I think Jermaine can give us something closer to 25-30 mpg.  And I don't think that's a stretch.  He played about 20-25 mpg in the playoffs, and at times did break 30 minutes.  With a full training camp under his belt, I don't see why he can't do 25-30 mpg. 

The bigger question is how many games he can actually play in. 

Personally, I think we need at least one other center who has already proven himself a rotation guy.  It doesn't have to be Dalembert.  In fact, it probably won't be someone of that caliber since Danny will probably resist offering a long term MLE level contract.  But someone who is a pretty good backup (think a Kurt Thomas or P.J. Brown type, and I don't mean those guys in their primes). 

Other than that, if we bring Green and either Baby or Murphy back, we'll probably be OK, as we'll probably see some lineups with KG at center. 

[Overrated]

If the Cs plan to make another run, they need a reliable center who's last name is not O'Neal. It doesn't have to be the next greatest center - just someone who can board and body-up with the big guys.

I say just get someone in free agency (or in the draft) for this season, and then focus on getting Dwight Howard for 2012/2013. They gotta make a stab at him.

[bfrombleacher]

Semih's biggest problem with the Celtics was communication and injuries, not basketball skills. He represented Turkey at the FIBA World Championship, and they have several good centers. So you can't compare him to the next 7 footer.

But I agree, that an athletic 7 footer is worth looking at more than once. If he is a fast learner, he could be a poor homeless man's version of Dwight Howard
[/quote]

Haha homeless man.

Semih had great potential but he was not used to the pace of the NBA game I think. He was getting killed by the more "learned" players. I'm very annoyed that Danny traded the guys other than Perk.

Of course being in the NBA is hard. I'm not undermining the effort these people put in. But Matt O'Donnell is one of the best bets at getting a legit, healthy big. He does not need to be great at all. He has a lot of catching up to do. Perk had zero offense as well and was fat when he first came - why not give an athletic 7 foot giant, which is what we need, a chance? If not him then who? Marc Gasol? Big Al? We cannot afford them. Everyone is either injured or out of our league.

Another thing I'm trying to convey is: we can never have too many bigs on this roster right now. We need to throw hard fouls at the Heat. We need guys to eat up minutes. If Matt O'Donnell turns out to be a bust, he will be 6 hard, painful fouls and minutes off O'Neal.

[vinnie]

I cannot believe we are still talking about signing a football player. Man, this is going to be a long, long, long offseason.

[bfrombleacher]

I cannot believe we are still talking about signing a football player. Man, this is going to be a long, long, long offseason.

This is not just about the footballer. If we can get a big big, then obviously don't sign the footballer. We need a lot of bodies at the C and we need them now.

[Celtics18]

I cannot believe we are still talking about signing a football player. Man, this is going to be a long, long, long offseason.

This is not just about the footballer. If we can get a big big, then obviously don't sign the footballer. We need a lot of bodies at the C and we need them now.

There are at least a half dozen bigs in this year's draft who have a chance of contributing in the NBA next season.  A number of them should be available with the 25th pick, and some may even be available at 55.  No need to go with the side show freak.