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17 hours ago

Avery Bradley Likely Done For Season

On the back of a horrific game six performance, Gary Washburn of the Globe piled on with more bad news: Avery Bradley is almost certainly done for the season. Washburn: A source close to Bradley told the Globe that it’s in the “high 90s” percentile that Bradley will be shut down and will perhaps need [...]

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2 days ago

Game 6 Will Be Wednesday Night at 8pm on ESPN

After the Thunder finished up their series by routinely dismantling the Lakers last night to send them packing in five games, a time has been announced for the C’s-Sixers Game 6 on Wednesday night. It will tipoff shortly after 8pm on ESPN. Looking ahead in the postseason, if the C’s do win Game 6, and [...]

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3 days ago

Highlight: Rondo Leads The Break

I love this decision-making from Rajon Rondo. While leading the break, you can see him eyeballing Ray Allen, who runs the wing and spots up on the arc. The Sixers have a 1-2 disadvantage but are mostly concerned about Allen’s three balls, which allows Mickael Pietrus to make an unmolested baseline cut behind the defense. [...]

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3 days ago

Celtics-Sixers Game 5 Tips off at 7pm

A note to all you local C’s fans out there that may be attending the game tonight at TD Garden. The game will start just after 7pm and will be broadcast nationally on TNT. However, unlike most TNT regular season games during the season, the tip will not come 15-20 minutes after the scheduled start [...]

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11 days ago

(Video) Rajon Rondo Continues To Dominate In Postgame Interview

Rajon Rondo is a tremendous player, but he tends to have a little bit of an issue scoring the ball late in games. I won’t go as far as saying he is scared, but he does pass up shots and defer to teammates in crunch-time….well a lot. Last night though may have been his coming [...]

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12 days ago

Video: Full Kevin Garnett Reaction After Game 1

Garnett followed up his season-best effort against Atlanta in Game 6 with a new season-high in points and another sensational double-double, as well 60 percent shooting (12-of-20) from the field. Over his past two contests, Garnett is averaging 28.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, two steals and four blocks a game. After the game, KG was candid [...]

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20-25 Minutes for Shaq?

It’s only the second day of training camp and already we have a Glen Davis v. Doc Rivers faux-controversy (we’ll get to that later today) and now this:

“Shaquille O’Neal said he would have no trouble adjusting to his role with his new team, saying he expected to play 20-25 minutes a game.” (AP via ESPN.com)

I have  a hard time believing Shaquille O’Neal is going to be playing 20-25 minutes a night.  Last season, he only played in 53 games and averaged 23.4 minutes as a starter.  Shaq is also not likely to be the first guy off the bench, especially when Kendrick Perkins returns from injury.  If the Celtics follow a similar model to last year’s rotation, they will opt for a stretch four off the bench a la Rasheed Wallace.  This will likely end up being Jermaine O’Neal or Glen Davis.

To put Shaq’s prediction in perspective, last season Rasheed Wallace averaged 22.5 minutes a game, Glen Davis averaged 17 minutes a game, and Jermaine O’Neal averaged 28.4 minutes a game.  That’s a lot of minutes for Doc Rivers to manage and  when it is all said and done, Shaq will average around 18 minutes a game (all numbers provided by Basketball-Reference.com).

It may seem like a small distinction but with a locker room with so many egos needing to be managed, it’s not something to take lightly.  Luckily, while I believe Shaq will play less than he wants,  he’ll also be a valuable contributor against the league’s larger bodies.

What do you guys think?  How many minutes do you see Shaq playing?  Do you see minutes as being a point of contention throughout the season?

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