It's official. My least favorite Celtic is...

[Cyclical]

...Rasheed Wallace.

It's actually been official for at least a couple of weeks now.

No hustle in his game. If there's a free ball he won't fight for it; A rebound? Only if it's right above his head. Defense? Instead of squaring up and doing some work he opts for slaps and reach-arounds. Slappy rarely goes for a block; rarely pushes his big frame against a post player; rarely tries to get a charge; rarely sacrifices his body. And I'm not going to get into the 3's - talked about that enough over the last few weeks. I'm not even going to go into the dumb technicals and lack of self-control.

Haven't liked his play the past 2-3 years and nothing's changed despite the green jersey.

You can't be mad at a guy like Scal - he may lack skill, but he always plays hard and smart, maximizing his lack of natural gifts. Sheed on the other hand has all the skill and experience in the world but the brain and personality aren't there.

[ValuedCeltic]

hasn't this been known about sheed ever since he's come into the league?

[chakdaddy]

I always liked him, and he's shown some flashes when he's gone inside and occasionally when 3s are falling...I was excited about the signing, but all in all he's been a disaster. Looks as lazy as he did last year with Detroit. He's a taller version of Antoine these days.

The ironic thing is that it seems like big men are more availabe as trade/buyout candidates...what if we had gotten a good backup SF with the MLE and then were able to trade for Camby this year instead?

[FeedReed]

don't even compare him to antoine, he's much worse, sheed that is.

[celticfan42487]

I like Sheed.

I like that he deflects so many passes and shot attempts on defense.

I like that he stretches the defense.

And I love that he can be dynamite in the low post.

What a great versatile big man to come off the bench.

[celtsloyalty]

Why has he finished the last two games? That's a serious question cuz i feel like im missing something...

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

I'm really sick of Eddie. He's supposed to be a shooter, yet he's shooting less than 40% and in all other aspects of the game he's a massive liability.

[Cyclical]

Why has he finished the last two games? That's a serious question cuz i feel like im missing something...

A mystery to me. I wish Doc would let that go. Our starting 5 play well together. We need Perk out there.

[Ben-N1ce]

I'm really sick of Eddie. He's supposed to be a shooter, yet he's shooting less than 40% and in all other aspects of the game he's a massive liability.

Yep. Way worse than Sheed which I'm not even a big fan of Sheed. Eddie has been 100% invisible pretty much all year.

[DubaLakers]

Cyclical chalk it up to years of smoking tree and minimal time in the gym.

Man O Man though one of my favorite players in history just born with amazing skill only cursed physically with baby hands.

Imagine that guy with great hands and a huge drive to be great.

[UGA Hayes]

What a POS he is

[cfan79]

I don't know why people are complaining about Rasheed, lately he has been better then KG. In fact he's been one of our better players.

Eddie House is my least favorite player.

[irie]

Were you expecting him to play differently than the way he's played defense the majority of his career? There are a LOT of things wrong with the Celtics right now and it's beyond just one specific player.

[threrf23]

I wouldn't complain about Rasheed until the game's matter more, personally. He's always been that type. I don't mind that.

I worry a little bit about his age. There aren't a ton of players who continue to contribute consistently around his age.

[ryaningf]

I agree, Cyclical, though House is still officially my least favorite C.

But, yeah, don't see the point of him finishing games. He might 'spread the floor', but he doesn't 'make the shots.'

And, yes, his lazy nature is so infuriating to watch. My worry is that it's infected the team. Even last year, when we lost KG, we didn't exactly lose our fire or quit playing for 48 minutes, or basically have our heart questioned...yet, those things are crippling the team this season. You have to wonder.

That said, he's still good in small doses. Unfortunately for us, we have a veteran-loving coach who can't bring himself to bench his veterans when they're not performing. It was disgusting to watch 'Sheed try to close out these last 2 games, especially when the best one-on-one defensive center in the league was sitting on the bench. Doc talks about how important defense is, but give him a 3 point shooter and suddenly defense doesn't matter. Same thing happens with House too. It's insane.

[Hemingway]

im sick of baby and tony allen, but at this point, im more sick of baby

[GreenDreamer]

Sheed has value, but I really don't like his game or his attitude. He jus doesn't seem to give a damn out there half of the time. I can really understand why the fans of the teams that he has played for have been so frustrated by him.

[SichtingLives]

And, yes, his lazy nature is so infuriating to watch. My worry is that it's infected the team. Even last year, when we lost KG, we didn't exactly lose our fire or quit playing for 48 minutes, or basically have our heart questioned...yet, those things are crippling the team this season. You have to wonder.

This is a good point and one I've been thinking about for a while now. Our identity for 2 and a half seasons has been representative of the character and leadership of the team elders. In 2008 it was the collective attitudes of Paul + our 4 new acquisitions (KG, Ray, Posey and House) which set a blue print for the hard working, balls out on every possession mentality which set us apart from the rest of the league. It was that attitude which also trickled down to guys like Rondo, Perk, Powe and Glen Davis.

The point is that the leadership of our veterans has splintered, and they're not going to be led emotionally by a guy 10 years their junior in Rondo. Not that I think Rondo is incapable of being the emotional leader of a team (although whether he can or not is still up for debate), but the probability of 4 vets of that stature following the lead of a guy who they took under their wing just 2 years ago is not very likely. I don't get the impression that Doc even has much of a say with these guys anymore.

When KG was out, The only guy on this team who visibly appeared upset and frustrated was Paul. Ray, to his credit, has never been the guy to lead with his words and you can't expect him to start now. KG still brings that attitude every night, but he can't fully back it up physically anymore.

How does this tie in to Rasheed? Well he's always had that cool big brother effect; he's the type of dude who commands a certain level of respect and attention from his peers. Let's just say he has an aura or presence much like KG but in a totally different way. Different in that the vibe he puts out isn't a positive one. It hasn't had a good effect on Perk, and I think younger or lesser players in general are going to be drawn and guided by the energy and emotion of players like Rasheed, whether it's positive or negative. He's essentially cut the positive leadership impact of Paul and KG in half with a counterbalance of poor self restraint and general laziness. I've seen this dynamic take place on teams I've played for as well as other collegiate and professional teams. It usually creates two or more different factions of players who, although they may still all get along, start developing two different mentalities about what they're willing to put forth for the team. And I don't think Sheed is intentionally trying to teach anyone to behave like him, but again, his presence alone makes it very hard for his attitude and work ethic not to rub off on other players.

It's obviously not all his fault but his poor example and influence on this team is definitely a factor and has negatively impacted the play of others on this team from time to time. Even with that said I can deal with it when he plays well. So I suppose the biggest problem isn't even his attitude but his inconsistency. For better or worse, we're stuck with him, so I'm just hoping for consistent play in the postseason and I'll stomach the techs and childish behavior.

[UGA Hayes]

Good post Dunk. This doubly concerns me bacause despite the general fan/media perception of him, I have heard he is very popular among players. purportedly because he somewhat "Anti-establishment."I'm not sure it has trickled down yet, or if it even will, but it definitely concerns me given he has another year on his contract, and had no problem starting the season as a bum and continuing the season as a bum. I'm usually proplayers when it comes to labor disputes, but when I watch a guy like Sheed, a part of me wants to see them absolutely get crushed by the owners.

[Kefa461]

Another negative post about Sheed.......well I hope that means it comes back to haunt the poster.
Sheed hits the winning shot to bring home # 18......now that would be nice.


ps.....a 3 pointer to boot.