Doc stop playing Jermaine O'Neal

[bfrombleacher]

27 minutes are you kidding me? He makes 1 good play for every 3 or 4 tired old plays. His size and defense is good in doses of something like 10 minutes maybe twice a game. I am very frustrated when I watch JO struggle. He just sucks all the energy out of the building.

[Celticjay]

agreed.

He just isn't a good fit.  They need an explosive athlete at the center position to balance out the older roster.  JO would be better suited for a younger athletic team..  We can't have 4 guys start that are physically shells of themselves

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Are you kidding JO had great stats tonight, the guy was beasting out there... he had 4pts and 4rbs in 27, that's amazing production!! What did Gortat have, 24 and 12 (I don't know if that's right but close I'm sure), pfft measly numbers if you ask me... Gortat is looking like he deserved to be in Howard's shadow! I'm not going to allow you guys to bad mouth JO, he's on the verge of an MVP type season! Heck, why only 27, he could have easily given us 35! I may get a JO tattoo soon, he's the greatest!

Okay, I'll stop now... but I'm really peeved that we may end up with him starting all season (if he doesn't sustain a bad injury).

[Meadowlark_Scal]

WHO is our backup Centers, I know, same question I played all night... Well, the deal is...you cannot just keep Wilcox and Steamer on the bench all year, then ( if we make it ) in the playoffs put them in and expect Miracles....I mean, Doc would do it, and expect it..but it isn't real.... If we had a real coach...Steamer would be moving into being a really good player...and what are they going to do vs Howard....Steamer is the best choice, besides, the more you play him, the better chance he MIGHT get some respect from the REFS...ugh.

[lepoooo]

C's fans are betting it all on a undrafted center who can do only one thing on the court?

It's getting sad.

[LB3533]

JO's our best big I'm afraid.

If KG was younger, Stiemsma's inexperience could be hidden well.

[Tgro]

JO's our best big I'm afraid.

Unfortunately, that part is true. However, he's not going to be enough. I do think we have to get Steamer and Wilcox more playing time in case of worst case scenarios but in reality, that part is already playing out. JO really should only be playing about 20 minutes a game and the rest divided up by whoever can do it.

It's unrealistic to think JO is going to get much better or that our bench is going to play enough patchwork to make this thing work. To me, this is our most glaring need. We have no inside presence and until we get someone who can play center, we'll struggle for the rest of the season. I think we have to make a trade if there is any hope for THIS SEASON. A trade elsewhere is probably looking at beyond this season. 

[Who]

I am at the stage where I no longer want to see Jermaine O'Neal in the starting lineup.

I want to see Wilcox or Stiemsma start alongside Garnett. Not sure which one because neither has gotten enough court time to tell who'd be a better complement to the starting unit. Wilcox brings offense and scoring in the paint while Stiemsma brings more shot-blocking and length.

I want Bass to be the main big off the bench and for JO to be the fourth big man in the rotation. I want that starting big to play around 20 minutes a night with KG hovering around 30-34, Bass 26-28 and JO playing 15-18.

[feckless]

All of the above is true and Stiemsma really is the only possible answer we have--bring back Semih--

Danny only provided us with an adequate bench the year we won>

[vinnie]

So whose fault is it that an ancient (in terms of basketball years) Jermaine O'Neal is the starting center for this team and there are no legitimate backup centers? O'Neal will give you one or two good games out of every 10.

[33_Larry Legend_33]

Every time Stiemsma gets on the floor positive things happen.  I'm sick of Doc Rivers... Either play Stiemsma more, or I wish he'd go sit in Duke gymnasium and stare at his kid all day.  Doc Rivers is part of the PROBLEM of this team, not a solution.

[feckless]

So whose fault is it that an ancient (in terms of basketball years) Jermaine O'Neal is the starting center for this team and there are no legitimate backup centers? O'Neal will give you one or two good games out of every 10.

Danny Ainge!  He can talk tough and say he will trade the big 3 but he unloaded, traded or did not pursue centers more serviceable than O'Neal who to me for the most part just reacts too slowly or is just lazy? Danny also spent our our exception money on Wilcox who seems like a decent rebounder but a weak defender.

[PosImpos]

The problem is that Jermaine is the only somewhat decent defensive center on the team at the moment . . . which says more about the sad state of that position than anything else.

[wdleehi]

JO's biggest problem is the rest of the starting lineup is not playing as as well as they could (or at least what we expected) and his shortcomings are magnified.


The bigger problem is the Celtics do not have a starting C on this team.  It is arguable they might not even have a number 2 C on the team. 


They have a rookie C from the D-league and a 3rd PF to use in place of JO. 

Not a great place to be in. 

[kozlodoev]

agreed.

He just isn't a good fit.  They need an explosive athlete at the center position to balance out the older roster.  JO would be better suited for a younger athletic team..  We can't have 4 guys start that are physically shells of themselves

Unfortunately you can't just "stop playing JO", because we don't really have an "explosive athlete at the center position" to replace him with (and no, Stiemsma is not that guy).