Shaq Out Vs. Detroit, Jermaine To Start: Where Does It Leave C’s Rotation?
Posted by Brian Robb on Nov 1, 2010
The news comes courtesy of the ever reliable Chris Forsberg over at ESPNBoston.com. First the latest on Shaq who reports have not making the trip to Detroit earlier today after missing practice for the second straight day after suffering a knee injury in a collision with Amar’e Stoudemire Friday night:
He spent another day in the pool, keeping his wind up by swimming alongside Kendrick Perkins and strength and conditioning coach Bryan Doo. Shaq’s waiting for the soreness to subside before diving back into action.
“It feels a little better,” he said. “It’s a little sore to push off. Once it gets to the point where I can push off with little or no pain, then I’ll be ready. As you get older, it takes time for your body to replenish the chlorophyll. I heard that yesterday on the Planet Channel, so I just wanted to throw that out.”
Shaq’s first expected absence just three games into the year leaves the door wide open for Jermaine O’Neal to making his starting debut after a lackluster (to put it kindly) first two games.
“I’m going to play whatever Doc wants me to play,” said Jermaine O’Neal. “I haven’t bee able to get a lot of minutes in the preseason and I’m not playing a lot so far in the regular season, so I am a little itchy. But it’s a long season and that’s something we talk a lot about here, it’s not about how you do at the beginning of the year.”
So where does this leave the C’s rotation for tomorrow night? A couple things to keep in mind here.
1) Being Cautious With The O’Neals:
Doc has made it clear his worst fear is having both guys at any juncture unavailable for the same game. With that in mind, the C’s are clearly taking it easy with Shaq right now with the knowledge that both he and Jermaine are both vulnerable to re-injury.
They can get away with having just of the two right now and winning, but probably not with missing both. Jermaine is the healthier of the two right now, so he’s getting pushed to the front of the line, while the C’s ease off on Shaq, likely until later this week, if not next week. I’d say the odds of him staying out longer increase with how well Jermaine looks tomorrow night which brings me to my second point.
2) A Chance For Jermaine To Get Comfortable
We all know the former member of the Heat hasn’t had a smooth transition to town thus far. When Ryan Hollins lures you into fouling out in just 12 minutes of action, well things probably can’t get any worse. So what’s the deal? Is Jermaine a bust? Were we better off spending the mid-level exception elsewhere? Let’s hold our horses here.
The key right now when watching Jermaine has to be patience. The guy is in a complete new role, new defense, new supporting cast, with a truckload of nagging injuries to go along with it. He has looked more like the guy that Kendrick Perkins owned in those five playoff games last year than the player who had one of his best regular seasons last year in a long while.
So how long do we have to be patient? 5 games? 10 games? 20 games? I’m not so sure what the exact answer will be. I do know though there will need to be progress though.
Playing with as talented a supporting cast than he has ever had in his career will likely help ease the transition, but more than anything else Jermaine needs to stay on the floor this week, so he can get a rhythm going. He needs to avoid the foul trouble and continue to work hard on defense, while letting the offense come to him. If not, this guy gets an opportunity…..
3) Ease off the Semih Train….and don’t forget about Harangody
I’ve seen it everywhere in the blogsphere today. Even misguided reports that Erden would be the guy to start, if both O’Neals were unable to go Tuesday night. At this point, it’s likely the guy will make his NBA debut tomorrow night in some form, but I think we need to ease our expectations of this guy, just three games into his NBA rookie season.
Doc doesn’t really trust his rookies and when he does, they are polished college players with a nose for getting the ball in the hoop (Leon Powe, Ryan Gomes, Big Baby). Erden is an international player who doesn’t have that skill yet).
Let’s listen to Doc for further clarifications (Via Forsberg)
Rivers said there isn’t one part of his game that stands out above the other right now.
“Defensively, he’s OK at knowing our stuff,” said Rivers. “Offensively, he’s a great picker and roller, but he needs to learn how to finish better. He’s really struggling offensively at the basket. But he’ll get that.”
So let’s be realistic tomorrow about seeing Semih out there. To be perfectly honest, against a smallish Detroit front line, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Luke Harangody out there for some run before we see Erden.
Obviously a Baby-Harangody front line leaves you a bit exposed (a 3 man Baby-KG-Jermaine rotation is more realistic) but Luke impressed me just as much as Semih did in the preseason and is clearly capable of the scoring right now that Semih lacks. Will be curious to see who (if either) gets their opportunity tomorrow against a winless Detroit team desperate for a win. Gody though may be the guy more ready to be thrown into the fire.
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