J.O.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'm pretty sure he was just there to make sure we had someone with a decent rating at C when you play with the Celtics in video games.

[bfrombleacher]

Doc is part of the reason why we're fighting now through all those injuries...

Not to pick out a throwaway comment, but this is very curious to me.  What injuries are Doc responsible for?

Ray twisted his ankle running up the court.

Rondo hurt his back when he fell going in hard for a layup.

Stiemsma's feet were bad even before he started playing major minutes.

Green and Wilcox' problems have nothing to do with basketball.

JO's injury was from last season (or even before).

The only injury that Doc has played the slightest bit of a role in would be Pietrus, whose bum knee flared up when he played too many minutes on a back to back to back after being out a while.  But I can hardly blame Doc for that, given that they were already so shorthanded at that point.

Concur.  I think Rivers had done an excellent job balancing winning and keeping his core fresh in spite of a catastrophic number of injuries.

I meant to say Doc's the reason we've even got a fighting chance despite all those injuries.

[Yogi]

  It's unfair that reporters with nothing better to do and gullible fans distort a players contribution.  Doc Rivers, Danny Ainge and the players when asked about JO had nothing but POSITIVE things to say about him.  He came in, he worked hard and he sacrificed his body for this team.  The guy epitomized class.  It's unfortunate that his body didn't hold up but that's hardly his fault.  His Celtics career was short, but he pretty much won the New York series for us last year.  We were struggling the first couple of games when he came in and just changed the game with his hustle and defense.  Without that we might not even have made it past that series.  
   Before making threads like this, I challenge anyone to find one negative comment about Jermaine made by Doc, Danny or any of the Celtics who would actually know something about what he did.  No reporters looking to sell papers or make a name for themselves or just plain bullies picking on an easy target.  

What exactly did you want them to say?  

I think Rivers learned a lot about player management from the results of some of his classless on-court and to the press berading of his players prior to Allen, Garnett, and Thibodeau coming on board.  There's been almost no calling out of players. Even when things have gone poorly since then.

Here's the reality, Yogi.  O'Neal started last season grossly out of shape.  Grossly.  If his rhetoric matched reality he'd have come to camp in shape and started the season in the best shape of his career.  Instead, the only case you could make for somebody who put less effort into preperation was the other O'Neal.  He clearly wasn't interested in contributing.

But we've seen how destructive it is to a team to voice garbage publicly....Orlando anyone?

Celtics management didn't need to publicly state the obvious.  It would accomplish nothing.

  First,  You are 100% wrong about JO's shape.  He was in great shape.  Everyone said so.  Doc went so far as to give him training camp MVP.  Over the big 4.
   Second, why say good things about a guy that was so bad for the team?  especially one that is not part of the future?  JO risked serious injury to his wrist to play for the Celtics this year.  He could've chosen to have surgery and get paid.  Instead he worked his butt off to play.  Doc and Danny got rid of all bad locker room guys.  Baby, West, Wafer etc. JO was here.

[thestackshow]

The best move of the season was waiving J.O. he was a flat tire that we finally replaced.

I appreciate everything J.O. did in his career, but it was just his time to retire. He had nothing left and was slowing down our team.

[bfrombleacher]

  It's unfair that reporters with nothing better to do and gullible fans distort a players contribution.  Doc Rivers, Danny Ainge and the players when asked about JO had nothing but POSITIVE things to say about him.  He came in, he worked hard and he sacrificed his body for this team.  The guy epitomized class.  It's unfortunate that his body didn't hold up but that's hardly his fault.  His Celtics career was short, but he pretty much won the New York series for us last year.  We were struggling the first couple of games when he came in and just changed the game with his hustle and defense.  Without that we might not even have made it past that series.  
   Before making threads like this, I challenge anyone to find one negative comment about Jermaine made by Doc, Danny or any of the Celtics who would actually know something about what he did.  No reporters looking to sell papers or make a name for themselves or just plain bullies picking on an easy target.  

What exactly did you want them to say?  

I think Rivers learned a lot about player management from the results of some of his classless on-court and to the press berading of his players prior to Allen, Garnett, and Thibodeau coming on board.  There's been almost no calling out of players. Even when things have gone poorly since then.

Here's the reality, Yogi.  O'Neal started last season grossly out of shape.  Grossly.  If his rhetoric matched reality he'd have come to camp in shape and started the season in the best shape of his career.  Instead, the only case you could make for somebody who put less effort into preperation was the other O'Neal.  He clearly wasn't interested in contributing.

But we've seen how destructive it is to a team to voice garbage publicly....Orlando anyone?

Celtics management didn't need to publicly state the obvious.  It would accomplish nothing.

  First,  You are 100% wrong about JO's shape.  He was in great shape.  Everyone said so.  Doc went so far as to give him training camp MVP.  Over the big 4.
   Second, why say good things about a guy that was so bad for the team?  especially one that is not part of the future?  JO risked serious injury to his wrist to play for the Celtics this year.  He could've chosen to have surgery and get paid.  Instead he worked his butt off to play.  Doc and Danny got rid of all bad locker room guys.  Baby, West, Wafer etc. JO was here.

I'm not really hating on JO at all. It's not the guy's fault he's old. I'm just really curious as to why the hell Doc played him so much. I keep saying JO should play no more than 5-10 minutes a go.

Doc has done everything else right except, in my opinion, this. I'm just perplexed by Doc's decision to give JO major minutes.

In an Orlando game, JO got either injured or fouled out (one of the two, can't remember) and played limited minutes (probably was injured). He was so effective in small doses.

I guess the tone in my initial post was a bit negative towards JO but it was frustrating watching him struggle. Doc was asking too much of JO. Is it just me who's been seeing that? Was I wrong?

[SHAQATTACK]

The start of the season was a bad dream,  JO moved like grandma Moses . the whole team except Rondo was moving at half speed... eventually KG < RAY AND PP speeded up their game, but JO just dragged tail to the point it was sicking.

I just love seeing AB , Moore , Rondo and Bass run the floor....and Williams and Hollins move more in 5 mintues than JO did in 35 minutes. JO was a freaking statue.

[thestackshow]

The start of the season was a bad dream,  JO moved like grandma Moses . the whole team except Rondo was moving at half speed... eventually KG < RAY AND PP speeded up their game, but JO just dragged tail to the point it was sicking.

I just love seeing AB , Moore , Rondo and Bass run the floor....and Williams and Hollins move more in 5 mintues than JO did in 35 minutes. JO was a freaking statue.

Yea seriously, our team was so old and slow, Rondo now has a running partner in Bradley so hes no longer a one man fast break, and KG at center makes us quicker as well as most centers outside of Howard arent as quick or as athletic as KG.

[chambers]

I concede that I was wrong on Doc...except for the Jermaine O'Neal part. I still maintain that JO sucked.

JO sucked, JO sucked, JO sucked.

He contributed as much as Hollins. Maybe even less.

Sure he was not an offensive threat. But seriously? An NBA player who can't finish gimmies?

You're obviously not tuned into the defensive side of the court if you're going to shoot through with low blows like that. JO is a BEAST on the defensive end. He was never meant to be our starting center. He won the job because we ran out of players and Krstic signed to play in Russia during the lockout and couldn't come back.
Guy has sacrificed his body night in and night out and this is the thanks he gets. He can't help being old. He's injured. The guy has the heart of a warrior and would do anything for his team mates- even pull out a gun in a street shoot out. Just ask Stephen Jackson. We'd be a better team right now if we could bring him off the bench with Steimsma because of his defense.
Why do people view basketball as a basically single faceted game of offense? At his age with one leg JO could still shut down guys like Dwight Howard and he destroyed Perkins in their match ups.
Fair enough if you think his injuries hindered our team but at least give him a fair shake for his effort. Guy was a warrior for us in 2010 playing with a broken wrist and countless other injuries.`Took more charges than anyone this year too.
This makes me angry.

[Chris]

Doc is part of the reason why we're fighting now through all those injuries...

Not to pick out a throwaway comment, but this is very curious to me.  What injuries are Doc responsible for?

Ray twisted his ankle running up the court.

Rondo hurt his back when he fell going in hard for a layup.

Stiemsma's feet were bad even before he started playing major minutes.

Green and Wilcox' problems have nothing to do with basketball.

JO's injury was from last season (or even before).

The only injury that Doc has played the slightest bit of a role in would be Pietrus, whose bum knee flared up when he played too many minutes on a back to back to back after being out a while.  But I can hardly blame Doc for that, given that they were already so shorthanded at that point.

Concur.  I think Rivers had done an excellent job balancing winning and keeping his core fresh in spite of a catastrophic number of injuries.

I meant to say Doc's the reason we've even got a fighting chance despite all those injuries.

Ah, gotcha.  Then I agree.

[CelticHooligan3]

No one is gonna comment on how this guy asked for a buyout so that he could rejoin the Heat in the postseason? This guy is the biggest injury milker in the history of the sport. Hes an absolute disgrace and im ashamed he wore a Celtics jersey.

He manipultaed the media here for years until the finally saw through his schtick on his way out the door and called him out for it. Theres no wonder why his teammates hated him. They went to bat for the guy to get him here and he came up with ever excuse in the book to not play. Ainge even called him out for it.

[pearljammer10]

JO was very great defensively for us and really didnt get the credit he deserved for it. I mean he was hurt for pretty much his entire stint as a Celtic. I was always rooting for him and the few games he was healthy he played very well for us. He just couldnt stay healthy and it sucks that people give him such crap for that. Its not his fault. Still hurt or not, his defense for us was greatly over looked.

[Celts Fan 92]

No one is gonna comment on how this guy asked for a buyout so that he could rejoin the Heat in the postseason? This guy is the biggest injury milker in the history of the sport. Hes an absolute disgrace and im ashamed he wore a Celtics jersey.

He manipultaed the media here for years until the finally saw through his schtick on his way out the door and called him out for it. Theres no wonder why his teammates hated him. They went to bat for the guy to get him here and he came up with ever excuse in the book to not play. Ainge even called him out for it.

the 1st bolded co-sign i cant believe people are defending him his contract was worth $6 mil nd he didnt play even close to the worth of his contract.

2. Bolded who? u got any links to dat?

[Fafnir]

No one is gonna comment on how this guy asked for a buyout so that he could rejoin the Heat in the postseason? This guy is the biggest injury milker in the history of the sport. Hes an absolute disgrace and im ashamed he wore a Celtics jersey.

That report was denied by him immediately and personally, what makes you think it was true?

Considering he had season ending surgery not long after that report I doubt he could play for anyone.

[CelticHooligan3]

No one is gonna comment on how this guy asked for a buyout so that he could rejoin the Heat in the postseason? This guy is the biggest injury milker in the history of the sport. Hes an absolute disgrace and im ashamed he wore a Celtics jersey.

That report was denied by him immediately and personally, what makes you think it was true?

Considering he had season ending surgery not long after that report I doubt he could play for anyone.

And it was confirmed by Danny Ainge, Jackie MacMullin, and numerous others in the know in the Boston Celtics scene. He deneied it when they told him flat out no.

[CelticHooligan3]

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The Celtics really dislike Jermaine O’Neal, according to Bill Simmons

 





From the perspective of a Boston Celtics fan, there were a lot of reasons to dislike Jermaine O’Neal. He said he put himself through a boot camp before this season, but he came back looking slightly chunky, just like he had last year. He couldn’t really move, either laterally or vertically, and his tendency to miss shots around the rim got frustrating really fast. He made $12 million for his time in Boston, $244,898 per regular season game he played, or in other words, way too much.

The former All-Star also carried a few redeeming qualities, like his willingness to try blocking any shots, even dunk attempts, and the sacrificial way he took charges, even with an injured wrist. He played during the playoffs last season with what was called a broken wrist, and he normally said the right things to the press, including that his only goal was to win his first championship.

It’s hard to fault somebody for a body that breaks down out of his own control, but Bill Simmons reports that O’Neal was the most hated Celtic (by people within the organization) since Vin Baker, and that the club feels he “stole money” from them. (Grantland via Jimmy Toscano)


Jermaine finished his Celtics career as the team’s least popular player, internally, since Vin Baker. The general feeling is, “He stole money from us.” Just dumping O’Neal from the trainer’s room so the players didn’t have to disgustedly look at him anymore and wonder things like, “Wait a second, isn’t his LEFT wrist the wrist that’s hurt? He can’t play with that? Isn’t he right-handed? He’s really that big of a Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.?” was probably worth a few extra wins already. It’s hard to understand why one of the league’s most thoughtful players — a real warrior once upon a time — felt good about finishing his career with his last set of teammates and coaches believing he was something of a fraud. Just know that, on the slight chance that this Celtics team wins a title or comes close, Jermaine shouldn’t expect a full playoff share.

Maybe everything I ever thought about Jermaine (to begin with) was right. I came to think he put off surgery (twice, once in each of his two seasons) because he wanted to stay on the court as long as he could, but maybe he was just soft, like I originally believed. After all, he did leave the court for the locker room almost every game to check out some new injury. He played 49 regular season games during two seasons in Boston. He hasn’t been seen around the team once (from what I know) since he decided to have surgery, a sign that perhaps he never liked being there in the first place. Hell, Jeff Green comes back far more often than O’Neal and he’s a Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.n free agent with no affiliation to the Celtics whatsoever right now.

I got a text from one of my buddies yesterday saying, “I wish the Celtics had cut Jermaine rather than Wilcox, just because.” I simply nodded my head. Wilcox would have run through a wall for his team. If O’Neal ran through a wall, he’d either injure himself or leave for the locker room, holding his shoulder or wrist or knee or ankle and pretending he felt horrible. Everything I suspected to begin with now looks to be true. Jermaine O’Neal was an overpaid, out of shape, training camp MVP who didn’t deserve one-fourth of the money Boston paid him.





 



Related posts:
1.Ugh: On Jermaine O’Neal and the Boston Celtics centers
2.Sign up to help Bill Simmons with Celtics chants
3.Jermaine O’Neal considering season-ending surgery
4.Jermaine O’Neal to have season-ending surgery
5.Jermaine O’Neal out two weeks, will need surgery at some point



 Celtics Blog | Jay King | April 13, 2012


8 Responses to “The Celtics really dislike Jermaine O’Neal, according to Bill Simmons”





 paul says:

 April 13, 2012 at 11:46 am

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.










Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike: 1  7

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 Justin says:

 April 13, 2012 at 2:15 pm

Have you ever read a Simmons Celtics article??? He skewers Ainge more than just about any other writer. He is definitely not an Ainge fan-boy…

Like or Dislike: 1  0

 Reply




 Austin says:

 April 13, 2012 at 1:27 pm


You just have to take whatever Simmons says with a grain of salt. I think he’s hilarious, just not really that accurate most of the time.

Well-loved. Like or Dislike: 4  0

 Reply



 James says:

 April 13, 2012 at 1:44 pm

How about we hear from a teammate before we buy into this? Go Cs…

Like or Dislike: 3  0

 Reply



 Dianne says:

 April 13, 2012 at 2:41 pm

What’s with your buddy? Wilcox had to get a heart operation – he wasn’t cut by the Celtics.

Like or Dislike: 0  1

 Reply


 Jay King says:

 April 13, 2012 at 2:46 pm

He was released after the heart operation to open a roster spot for Ryan Hollins. That was the transaction my buddy was talking about.

Like or Dislike: 3  0

 Reply




 CELTICPRIDEUFC says:

 April 13, 2012 at 6:17 pm

Agreed. JO turned out to be a dud. IMO, the only players who deserve a championship ring are those who play for it, or made substantial contributions throughout the year. Shame about the two O’Neal’s. Neither one of them turned out for us. That’s the way the cookie crumbles I suppose.

Like or Dislike: 2  0

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 Fisken says:

 April 15, 2012 at 8:01 am

despite the fact that it sucks, its not his fault. I remember he said in an interview that he couldn’t pick up his son anymore due to the wrist injury, and he was still only considering operation. he has heart, and for us to tare him down because of injuries is wrong.

Like or Dislike: 1  0

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