Is it Time to Bench Rasheed Wallace?

Posted by Zach Lowe on May 3, 2010 787032 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F05%2F03%2Fis-it-time-to-bench-rasheed-wallace%2FIs+it+Time+to+Bench+Rasheed+Wallace%3F+2010-05-03+13%3A03%3A51Zach+Lowehttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D7870

I mentioned it in my earlier post on Mo Williams’ performance in Game 1: When the C’s put Rasheed Wallace in the game, you can bet decent money the Cavs are going to call a high screen/roll in which Sheed’s man is the screener. The Cavs think Sheed isn’t capable anymore of playing the screen/roll like an active big man—i.e. jumping out to cut off the ball-handler and then rotating back to find the screener again.

And when Mike Brown watches the film from Game 1, he’s going to see his hunch was right. We’ll examine the carnage below, but the larger question is this: If the Cavs continue to attack Sheed this way, is it time to sit him on the bench in favor of Shelden Williams? That’s certainly what a lot of commenters here and elsewhere are suggesting. (And, according to this CelticsBlog post I didn’t see until this morning—after I wrote this one—Doc has at least thought about placing Shelden in the rotation, mostly because of Sheed’s defensive problems).

C’s fans have spent all season lamenting Sheed’s shot selection, but could it be that his defense is what makes him too much of a liability to play?

Let’s look at three such screen/rolls:

Here’s an Antawn Jamison/Delonte West screen/roll from the early part of the 2nd quarter:

That didn’t go well.

To his credit, Sheed tries to play this screen/roll as if he were KG—he jumps out to cut off West’s left hand, but West makes a decent move to split the defense:

Sheed whiffs awkwardly when West makes his move, and I’m not sure a more agile big man could have done much better. But Sheed’s footwork, to my eyes, doesn’t help. In the above photo, he’s positioned in a open stance that sort of gives West an alley to the hole.

Not surprisingly, the Cavs go right back to the same play on the next possession:

As Jamison hits Ray Allen with a screen, it looks as if Sheed is going to jump out to cut off West:

But instead, he drifts back toward Jamison, leaving Ray out to dry. West has an easy lane to the basket:

The rest of the defense is compromised. Pierce is sagging way off of Jamario Moon and Perk is drifting away from J.J. Hickson on the baseline. This is dangerous. Moon’s nothing more than an average three-point shooter, but he’s been hot lately, and average three-point shooters get a lot better when they’re wide open. Hickson is a threat off the ball, and West is a skilled passer.

I already highlighted a third play in my post on Mo’s 3rd quarter outburst, so I’ll present it without commentary and direct you here if you want to read my thoughts on it:

Again: If the Cavs are smart, they are going to do this a lot when Sheed is in the game. That of course raises the question of whether Sheed should be in the game at all.

Despite vowing to turn up his play when the post-season started, Sheed has basically been a disaster in limited minutes. He’s missed 13 of 20 shots, hasn’t made a single three-pointer or grabbed one offensive rebound. His PER is 4.8, which would have ranked 329th out of 331 qualifying players in the regular season.

So why is he playing over Shelden Williams?

Simple: Offensive potential. Shelden Williams works his ass off, but he’s not an accomplished offensive player and he likely never will be. He has shaky hands and an inconsistent touch, and he has trouble finishing at the rim. He has no post-up game.

Sheed has the potential to carry the team’s offense for a five-minute stretch. He was 1-of-5 from the floor in Game 1, but three of those misses were gimmes—two bunnies and a wide-open 12-footer from the left baseline. (The fourth miss was a rushed three, which we can’t have). If Sheed makes two of those three misses, the calls to bench him would be a lot quieter today.

I don’t know what the solution is. I do know Rasheed Wallace hasn’t filled his role in the post-season, and that that void felt larger in Game 1 when Glen Davis got in foul trouble and the Celtics needed someone to step up while KG and Perk rested.

But I also know benching Sheed for Williams represents a trade-off. Are you willing to make it?