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1 day ago

Greg Stiemsma’s Contract To Become Fully Guaranteed

The C’s gave their 26-year-old rookie a vote of confidence before Tuesday’s game. By not waiving the seven-footer, Stiemsma’s contract will become fully guaranteed on Friday, allowing the shot blocker to breath a little bit and perhaps unpack some boxes for good in Beantown. Here’s Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston with some reaction from Stiemsma and [...]

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2 days ago

5 Questions With Kemba Walker

I had a chance to talk with Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker prior to the Celtics game against Charlotte on Tuesday night.  Here is what the UConn star, who is averaging 12.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game had to say. 1. How much communication have you had with Michael Jordan this year? Walker: [...]

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3 days ago

I Am Awesome!

Yes. This is a “pat myself on the back” post because a) I’m a jackass and b) I predicted something correctly. Back on January 8th, I predicted that the next ten games will tell us everything we need to know about this Celtics’ team. If they struggled, it was time to blow it up. If [...]

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3 days ago

Pierce Wins Eastern Conference Player Of Week

One day before he’s scheduled to pass Larry Bird for second on the Celtics’ all-time scoring list, Paul Pierce won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. Pierce averaged 22 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds in four Boston wins, playing point forward in Rajon Rondo’s absence. Pierce is only 9 points behind Bird [...]

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4 days ago

Garnett’s Wondrous 3-point Rant

Via ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg, who knows a great, playful rant when he hears one, here’s Kevin Garnett discussing his not-so-newfound aptitude for three-point shooting after the C’s took down the Grizzlies. “When I walk around the streets, y’all stop acting like y’all shocked that I can shoot 3’s. Everybody in Boston, everybody in the [...]

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4 days ago

5 Questions With O.J. Mayo

I talked with Memphis guard O.J. Mayo prior to the Celtics-Grizzlies, Super Bowl Sunday game at the Garden.  Here is what the 4th year man out of USC, who is averaging 12.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2 assists per game had to say. 1. You started every game your first two years in the league, [...]

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The Forecast Continues…

…or should I say “Fors-cast”?  Our friend Chris Forsberg over at ESPN Boston has been collaborating with the local blog writer’s to come up with some answers to this offseason’s most poignant questions.

Brian Robb has already prognosticated the Celtics total number of wins, the East’s playoff seeding, and how the season ends for the C’s.   Yesterday, BRobb lent his expertise to the starting center conundrum:

“This topic shouldn’t even be a debate. The Celtics pride themselves on their defense, and, at this stage of his career, Shaquille O’Neal is a flat-out defensive liability on the perimeter. You don’t get to start for the Celtics when Doc Rivers is trying to figure out how to account for your lack of mobility within the team’s defensive scheme. On the other hand, Jermaine O’Neal is no world beater, but he can still hold his own on the defensive edge at this stage of his career, and he is a capable shot blocker. Offensively, both guys are upgrades over Perkins, but Jermaine’s shooting ability also plays into the Celtics’ offensive goal of keeping the floor spread. Put it all together and Jermaine O’Neal is the guy in the middle on opening night.”

Of course BRobb is right.  Jermaine O’Neal should start for the Boston Celtics to start the season.  The rest of the local experts did not completely agree.  The voting broke down like this:

Jermaine O’Neal: 14 votes

Shaquille O’Neal: 4 votes

Chris Forsberg perhaps provided the single best argument in favor of starting Shaq:

“The Celtics will ultimately decide to mask Shaq’s defensive deficiencies by starting him alongside Kevin Garnett, and an accompanying benefit is immediately integrating Jermaine O’Neal into the second-unit role he’ll occupy after Perkins returns in the new calendar year.”

It would be nice to have Jermaine fully integrated into his new role when Kendrick Perkins returns from the horrific knee injury he sustained in Game 6 of the Finals.  That said, just like with all horrific knee injuries there is no guarantee that Perkins will come back at all let alone be effective when/if he does.

We posed this question to you guys out there in Celtics Fan Land and most of you said Shaq.  After reading the reasoning, have any of you changed your mind?

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