Positive Thinking: Jermaine O'Neal to have a big year

[theswitch]

Why? Because he is defensively about Perk's equal, not quite matching Perk in 1 on 1 defense, but vastly surpassing Perk with his shot blocking. He's obviously miles ahead of what Shaq gave is defensively last year. Offensively, people overlook his midrange game, which is quite good and something that will be deadly if he is left alone. And while he's not quite Shaq around the basket, he's a much better finisher than Perk. And we all saw last year how many easy baskets there are to NE had playing with the Core Four.

I'm a big JO fan and I think he's going to have a solid year, but he's really going to have to follow up on his talk about improving offensively. Last year he was more or less a non-factor, with the Heat frequently just throwing small forwards or whoever on him in a small lineup because he couldn't do anything. He has all the talent and definitely is a better finisher, but he needs to put it together this year. Guess we'll find out soon enough what we've got in JO offensively.

[action781]

While I am concerned about JO missing games, I think people equate his fragility with a decline in talent, and I don't think that had happened nearly as much as some people still to think.

I truly believe that when you count both ends of the court, he can still be a top 10 center in the league. And I'll go a step further and say that he can have the best year this year that any Celtic center of the new Big Three Era if he is miraculously relatively healthy.

Why? Because he is defensively about Perk's equal, not quite matching Perk in 1 on 1 defense, but vastly surpassing Perk with his shot blocking. He's obviously miles ahead of what Shaq gave is defensively last year. Offensively, people overlook his midrange game, which is quite good and something that will be deadly if he is left alone. And while he's not quite Shaq around the basket, he's a much better finisher than Perk. And we all saw last year how many easy baskets there are to NE had playing with the Core Four.

Again, missing games is still very much a concern, but I think when on the court JO can still play at a very high level.

I agree with you and a lot of others.

As others have said, I emphasize, we NEED him for every single game during the playoffs.  That's a 16-28 game stretch that he needs to be on the floor every night giving us an average of somewhere between 24-30mpg.  I'm not worried about his numbers or production.  I'm confident that if he gives us those minutes and is playing in the games, the production will be there.

In order to have him healthy for that 16-28 game stretch, I would ideally like to see him only appear in 60-80% of our regular season games.  While HCA is important, health is more important than seed and we're going to get in regardless.

Never play him in back-to-backs.  We're unlikely to get that situation in the playoffs, so it's not like he won't be prepared for that situation.  Give our other center options other opportunities to get experience there just incase JO does go down and we need them to step into that role.

[jv2764]

Jermaine O'Neal is only 33 years old and even though he has a lot of miles on his legs and body, it is still possible that he could emerge, with a healthy comeback year. Let's face it, its a contract year, he barely played last year, and he had one of the longest off seasons ever to recuperate, train and rejuvenate himself. He also has almost no competition for the starting center position.

All this could very well mean something that I think almost no Celtics fans will be expecting this year, a huge comeback year for Jermaine O'Neal. No, I'm not talking about a return to 20 PPG, 10 RPG and 2.5 blocks per game. But if O'Neal could return to being a 14 PPG, 7 RPG, 1.8 BPG center in about 30 MPG, like he was over the three seasons before coming to the Celtics last year, that would IMHO, be huge.

It would be huge for him in re-establishing his market value and earning one last contract before retiring. It would be huge for the Celtics as a team as they desperately need an under the basket presence on both ends of the court at the center position. It would be huge for the Big Three as they strive one last time for a championship before their window is closed by their age and by Danny Ainge's need to begin the rebuilding process next year.

I don't think asking O'Neal for 30 MPG, a season of health, and similar production on a per game and per minute basis as he had in the three years prior to becoming a Celtic is out of the question. Yeah, people like to bag on O'Neal because of his injuries and the amount of time he takes off while having collected over $150 million in his career. But I think he could be primed for one of those Comeback Player of the Year type years and it could come at a better time.

You're kidding right?  Step away from the car ASAP.  Cmeback Player of the Year?  30 MPG?  Wow.  Dude I got to have what youre having. In fact you should share it with all of us.

[dark_lord]

Jermaine O'Neal is only 33 years old and even though he has a lot of miles on his legs and body, it is still possible that he could emerge, with a healthy comeback year. Let's face it, its a contract year, he barely played last year, and he had one of the longest off seasons ever to recuperate, train and rejuvenate himself. He also has almost no competition for the starting center position.

All this could very well mean something that I think almost no Celtics fans will be expecting this year, a huge comeback year for Jermaine O'Neal. No, I'm not talking about a return to 20 PPG, 10 RPG and 2.5 blocks per game. But if O'Neal could return to being a 14 PPG, 7 RPG, 1.8 BPG center in about 30 MPG, like he was over the three seasons before coming to the Celtics last year, that would IMHO, be huge.

It would be huge for him in re-establishing his market value and earning one last contract before retiring. It would be huge for the Celtics as a team as they desperately need an under the basket presence on both ends of the court at the center position. It would be huge for the Big Three as they strive one last time for a championship before their window is closed by their age and by Danny Ainge's need to begin the rebuilding process next year.

I don't think asking O'Neal for 30 MPG, a season of health, and similar production on a per game and per minute basis as he had in the three years prior to becoming a Celtic is out of the question. Yeah, people like to bag on O'Neal because of his injuries and the amount of time he takes off while having collected over $150 million in his career. But I think he could be primed for one of those Comeback Player of the Year type years and it could come at a better time.

You're kidding right?  Step away from the car ASAP.  Cmeback Player of the Year?  30 MPG?  Wow.  Dude I got to have what youre having. In fact you should share it with all of us.

my thoughts exactly. i hope OP is right, but i cant for the life of me think that will happen.  my gut says he will get hurt or be a disappointment....or both

[nickagneta]

Jermaine O'Neal is only 33 years old and even though he has a lot of miles on his legs and body, it is still possible that he could emerge, with a healthy comeback year. Let's face it, its a contract year, he barely played last year, and he had one of the longest off seasons ever to recuperate, train and rejuvenate himself. He also has almost no competition for the starting center position.

All this could very well mean something that I think almost no Celtics fans will be expecting this year, a huge comeback year for Jermaine O'Neal. No, I'm not talking about a return to 20 PPG, 10 RPG and 2.5 blocks per game. But if O'Neal could return to being a 14 PPG, 7 RPG, 1.8 BPG center in about 30 MPG, like he was over the three seasons before coming to the Celtics last year, that would IMHO, be huge.

It would be huge for him in re-establishing his market value and earning one last contract before retiring. It would be huge for the Celtics as a team as they desperately need an under the basket presence on both ends of the court at the center position. It would be huge for the Big Three as they strive one last time for a championship before their window is closed by their age and by Danny Ainge's need to begin the rebuilding process next year.

I don't think asking O'Neal for 30 MPG, a season of health, and similar production on a per game and per minute basis as he had in the three years prior to becoming a Celtic is out of the question. Yeah, people like to bag on O'Neal because of his injuries and the amount of time he takes off while having collected over $150 million in his career. But I think he could be primed for one of those Comeback Player of the Year type years and it could come at a better time.

You're kidding right?  Step away from the car ASAP.  Cmeback Player of the Year?  30 MPG?  Wow.  Dude I got to have what youre having. In fact you should share it with all of us.

my thoughts exactly. i hope OP is right, but i cant for the life of me think that will happen.  my gut says he will get hurt or be a disappointment....or both

Can't say I completely disagree with you guys, as a matter of fact, I have great reservations regarding JO's ability to do anything but sit on the sideline in a suit and collect a paycheck. Doesn't mean one can't hope and write a "wishful thinking" post every now and again.

[manl_lui]

im gonna forget that threat he made earlier few days ago

I'm gonna be optimistic and hes going to play at least 50 out of 66 games and come back ready for the playoffs...

when he plays, he plays hard and I like that...

[crafty213]

O'Neal is a major factor on the defensive side still.  Even when he struggled offensively last year his defensive metrics were solid.  The key numbers to me are 25-30 MPG & 60-66 games.  This would be a huge boost to the Celtics.