I know the Heat game has come and gone but I can’t stop thinking about Rasheed Wallace. The Celtics big man has been dominating my late night thoughts these past few days as I’ve been wrestling with some poignant questions; not the least of which being, “Does he get what it takes to be a team player?”
Coming into the season, I had no doubts in my mind about ‘Sheed’s ability to contribute to the greater good- both on and off the court. Yet lately, my confidence has been wavering.
Despite the intensity of Wednesday’s game and the emotional crescendo and let down which would bestow the winner and loser respectively, ‘Sheed seemed more preoccupied with talking trash with Udonis Haslem, than concentrating on how to win the game. By the looks of things, Haslem was having none of ‘Sheed’s jive.
Everything I’ve heard about Udonis is that he’s the consummate team player, knows and plays his role very well, and has nothing but a positive impact on team chemistry and the locker room. So why did he find himself in a war of words with Rasheed Wallace?
The answer is pretty simple: ‘Sheed should have been dominating both Beasley and Haslem all night and he wasn’t- and that ticked him off.
True, as you can see by the shot chart above, Wallace did take his opponent inside a few times, effectively exploiting the height mismatch with either player. He still, however, took more threes than shots within five feet of the basket.
Zach Lowe and I briefly discussed this and he noted that Wallace made two huge threes in crucial situations. Essentially, without them the C’s wouldn’t have even been in a position to win the game. A very fair point, but this also begs the question, “would the C’s been better served if Wallace stayed on the block throughout the game rather than drifted out around the arc?”
Would the C’s have been in the situation, needing ‘Sheed to hit those bombs had he exploited the mismatch all night? This is assuming that ‘Sheed could get some easy buckets in the beginning and then when this started to force the Heat to double down on him, he could effectively pass to an open man.
The problem of ‘Sheed spending too much time around the arc is one part situational and one part fitness. The C’s love the pick and roll, especially given ‘Sheed’s versatility. Still, more often than not, ‘Sheed is content to fade cut to the arc, rather than roll to the basket. It’s not hard to see why. It takes much less effort to jack a three than to get in the trenches and back someone down. Fitting in nicely with the effort level it takes to shoot versus posting someone up is ‘Sheed’s lack of being in game shape. He’s not in it, and he doesn’t have to be as long as he’s jacking threes.
What’s more troubling than his shot selection, is his inability to calm himself down and pull himself away from a referee when he’s called for a foul. Wallace did a fairly good job of containing himself throughout the game, but that all went to hell when he got whistled for his sixth foul.
Again, in our conversation Zach noted the ferocity with which Wallace left the court. Despite keeping his cool for most of the game, this outburst was especially troubling in the context of the team and in the context of the game. Wallace left the game with 1:09 to go in the fourth and with the C’s up by three. Couldn’t Rasheed have waited to get his two cents in for a minute without having to be distracted by Brian Scalabrine (another quality Scal possesses that doesn’t show up in the box score (ha!)) and being arm-screened by Tony Allen?
The best way to utilize Wallace’s gifts is to exploit the mismatch he provides against power forwards and make people pay for sleeping on his three. The only way players are going to sleep on his three is by making it less apparent that he’s going to shoot them.
Someone also needs to get inside his head and explain that the C’s are in a very tenuous position and his on-court antics are not helping in any way. Ditto for Perkins as well.
In light of my own late night thoughts, I’m eager to hear your take. Do you think things should just be business as usual for Wallace, or should there be an intervention?
How do feel about his threes and how can Doc make him go inside when it behooves him to do so? How can ‘Sheed be motivated, especiallywhen it’s not explicitly on his own terms?
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i am confused- is he in shape or out of shape? Doc was talking jokingly the other day about how he can’t even keep up with Sheed so he’s not going to do his race or whatever. so that sounds to me like he’s in better shape than he looks. do we know if Doc is telling him to go inside more or stay outside? and did we really expect him to stop getting T’d up almost every game and running his mouth? I think Danny took the good with the bad there, but I dunno. Sheed running his mouth and jacking up 3′s is still a better bench guy than Baby or Shelden (IMHO).
He can certainly be frustraiting, but we knew that would be the case and I’m sure an intervention of sorts has already been tried. If I remember correctly his wife is after him to cut it out with the T’s. As far as the 3′s, he should, and may be following the plays, but I would like to see him down low more often. I never followed him previous to this year and I was surprised at how good he is on the block, his shots just always seem to go in. This could be because he’s playing against 2nd string players but either way the C’s should be taking advantage of it.
You have to take some of the good with the bad with Sheed. Having said that, you can’t be pushing the limits with the refs with a 3 point lead and a minute left. Just think how that could have changed the momentum and the game outcome. You foul out and then give the Heat free points because you can’t stop yapping. This despite two teammates imploring you to stop. Know when to say when and don’t hurt your team, that’s all we ask.
I honestly could care less about the Ts. Him being out of shape and being too lazy to go in the paint on O, or play help D is frustrating. Did you see how many times he reached on D against the Heat!? Behind the back reaches. Ole. Move the feet.
We’d be dead now without him because of the injuries, but thinking forward about competing against top teams in the playoffs with a full roster….how much of a net positive is he really going to be? I was the biggest supporter of the signing, but my expectations for him have reduced significantly.
I thought he might be coasting because he was on the 2nd unit…..but now he’s been starting and its been the same…even against favorable match-ups. I just can’t see any changes between now and the end of the season. His ceiling appears to be a Joe Smith who jacks 3s and gets Ts.
Still, love the guy as a character. Funny as.
I go back and forth on Sheed. We’ve seen some games where he’s been fantastic, offensively and defensively. Helping off the ball, fighting around screens. Then seemingly as if he just decided to flip the switch and call it a night, the next game he’s jacking up lazy, contested 3s, getting caught under screens, and failing to move into help defense (oleing reaches at the poster above me put it accurately.)
I can’t figure it out, I really can’t. I still think he’s a useful contributor to this team, on both ends of the floor, but it’s incredibly frustrating to watch him in those “off days”… not to mention the antics. Entertaining yes, but for god sakes, in a close game where 1 or 2 points can make the difference, keep your damn mouth shut… can we only imagine if he’d gotten T’d against Miami, and that 1 free-throw he gave him was the difference maker? We weren’t far from it…
What I don’t understand is why they don’t run more sets with him down low. Some of that is going to be a reluctance to go down inside, but still other times I see them running action with him being near the perimeter. When he comes in the game, they should immediately run an offense that requires him to be on the block. Try and take away his option of floating around on the block.
It looks like they use him to space the floor for other players, when I think it should be the other way around. Let him post up with Ray or House near and have TA cut if/when his man slacks off. I would much prefer this to seeing him set high screens for Ray or Pierce and have nowhere to go other than to the three point line since everyone else is already closer to the basket due to the set.
I didn’t have a problem with Rasheed in Miami. He threes were pretty much in the flow and I thought were good shots. Also keep in mind that he filling the role of KG at the moment so the plays naturally take him away from the hoop. That being said I agree that they should call his number more on the box. His turnaround is unstoppable. he is long and reminds me of McHale, not in style but because when he extends no one can get to the ball.
What doesn’t necessary show up in stats with Sheed is his length. He bothers a lot of shots & acts as a deterrent in the lane. His experience means a lot too. He is no dummy on the court & does some really smart things (excluding 2 glaring exceptions). He also tries to use psychological warfare, but you have to be careful with the mental games because it motivates some people (LeBron, Kobe, Horford, etc) to play harder, not more reckless. He does look smooth down there in the post, much smoother than KG. He takes his time. He sizes things up and is very deliberate with his moves (years of practice-it’s like a basketball ballet when he is down there). Notice he also keeps those arms extended & the ball high in the air on the shot. He even has a nice bank shot, but I think he actually gets bored playing down there & wants the 3 because it’s more challenging, less being fouled with no calls, & more rewarding–1 point more.
I think you can get him in the post for awhile, but eventually he is going to drift out. Some nights he is on with the 3, but some nights it is the double whammy of can’t hit it & I have no conscience. That is when you have to stop blaming Sheed & use strategy to get him back into the post. The other 4 guys have to be sensitive & not pass it to him at the 3 pt line. If he gets tired of not touching the ball standing out there then he might go back inside. Then, you can start passing it to him again where he is the most effective.
Sheed is the opposite of Scal in terms of intangibles…that hurt a team. Screaming at the refs all the time is a loser’s mentality. If anyone has ever played at a competitive level and played with someone that had this mentality they know how it hurts the team. Especially in close games.
Arguing with the refs is futile and a loser’s mentality for many reasons, 1) you can’t control it, if anything you become a target and hurt yourself and team by b*tching and moaning. 2) Your focus becomes anger towards the ref and it is not on how to beat your opponent the next possession or stop your opponent on the next possession. This should not be underestimated how much it hurts a team and a player. 3) It is a disease and is the opposite of responsibility which anyone who knows anything about success knows you have to take control of you destiny by controlling it with assertion and accountability. Whining at the refs breeds the opposite.
At best, Sheed has been a wash in terms of helping this team. I hope he can start shooting a decent percentage and provide something for this team but in my opinion it is sixes at best.
Hey Brian, I’m also confused about the in-shape, out-of-shape comments? I’ve read this in other places, but don’t understand…now that we’re 30+ games in, how can he not be in shape?
I remember the conference finals vs. the Pistons in ’08. Sheed was the guy who was either going to mail it in or torch you, it seemed. In that series, we got the former. Guess you have to take the good with the bad, as many others have stated.
We are lucky to have Sheed despite his flaws. We all knew what we were getting into w Sheed and to this point he has exceeded my expectations, despite the frustration on a day-to-day basis. He also has an important role when playing w the starters to clear the paint for Rondo/Pierce with his J, similar to KG’s (but 3 ft back!). If Doc wants to call plays for Sheed to back players down I’d love to see it, but if Doc had a problem with his jacking he would say it (i.e. the mid-November “chill out Sheed” referendum).
Frustrating and sometimes counter-productive? Yes. A great bench contributor filling the shoes of a HOF player well? Absolutely!
Good post Tebucky, I think we’d all agree with you. Actually I haven’t seen anyone make an argument that’s he’s not a huge bench contributor, and obviously a vast improvement over last years bench big men. Let’s be honest, even when they were healthy, as much as I love Baby and (loved) Powe, they can’t do the things Sheed can. They just don’t have the length to be the shot altering guy in the paint we missed so sorely last year.
Sheed’s a huge addition to the team this year, offensively and defensively. I’m willing to take the good with the bad… and the Ts/antics I can deal with, I just wish we saw more consistency in his play.
Bottom line, when he’s good, he’s great. When he’s bad, he’s still pretty ok.