‘Sheed, T’s, and Threes, Oh My!

Posted by Brendan Jackson on Jan 8, 2010 525012 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F01%2F08%2Fsheed-ts-and-threes-oh-my%2F%27Sheed%2C+T%27s%2C+and+Threes%2C+Oh+My%212010-01-08+14%3A29%3A24Brendan+Jacksonhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D5250

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?