Article on Erden & Shoulder problems

Celtics' Erden takes pains to shed 'soft Euro' label

November 18, 2010, 5:37 pm

By A. Sherrod Blakely
CSNNE.com

WALTHAM — You want to get a laugh out of Boston Celtics center Semih Erden?

Tell him about the perception that many have about European big men in the NBA as being soft players.

Erden may be a lot of things, but soft isn't one of them.

In fact, for a team that's loaded with banged-up and battered players at the center position, few play every night in more pain than the 24-year-old rookie, who has a left shoulder injury that will require surgery this summer.

"The thing with Semih, if he goes out, he may be out for a while," coach Doc Rivers said. "That shoulder is in pretty bad shape."

But the C's have little choice but to play him, as one Celtic big man seems to go down from one game to the next.

Erden said he has been pleased with the medical treatments he has received from the Celtics staff for his shoulder, an injury Erden said he has been dealing with all season.

"I hope [for surgery] this summer," Erden told CSNNE.com. "But if something happens, maybe [surgery] early. But I don't know yet."

Even with the pain that Erden says he endures every night, he's not about to start complaining.

"It's hard to play when you have something on your body that's painful," said Erden, who has played more than either of Boston's other rookies (Avery Bradley and Luke Harangody). "But I try to help my teammates because, they need me."

Erden is well aware that Jermaine O'Neal (left knee) is out for at least a couple weeks. And while Shaquille O'Neal has looked spry of late, there's no telling when he too might have to miss a few games with an injury.

"So I have a decision," says Erden, who motions to his right, "play with pain or . . . "

And before he finishes his sentence, he grins, " . . . no pain, no gain."

The ability to play in pain does not come as a surprise to Shaquille O'Neal, who has been pleased with the way Erden has handled himself in practice and in games.

"You have to understand who he is and where he comes from, and how [Turkish players] think," O'Neal said. "Strong person; he's a strong-minded person. Some days are better than others. He'll suck it up and play through it."

Rivers echoed similar sentiments about Erden who is averaging 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds while appearing in eight games off the bench.

"I think he's a physical player by nature," Rivers said. "The Europeans do have that [soft] label. I don't think Semih goes by that."

Even when he's playing well, he can't escape getting hurt.

In Boston's 114-83 blowout win over Washington, Erden had a powerful one-handed dunk over Wizards shot-blocking extraordinaire, JaVale McGeee.

He was fouled on the play when McGee hit him across his nose.

There was fear initially that it might be broken. Fortunately for Erden, it was just sore.

"He's just not going to have a modeling career," Rivers quipped. "That's what we talked about earlier. I think he's OK. He's taking a beating all year."

And there's no sign of it letting up anytime soon, which is OK with Erden.

"I'm used to playing with pain," said Erden, who added that he has had shoulder pain in the past. "Sometimes I feel good, but sometimes bad. I just keep playing."

That's a good thing. Because even if he complained, there's a good chance that his pleas would fall upon deaf ears.

"The language barrier helps on this because when he complains to me about it, I don't understand what he's saying," Rivers said. "So that's good, too."

There's no need to worry about Erden griping about playing too much.

He understands all too well the opportunity he has with the Celtics this season.

"I play better, every day," Erden said. "I keep focused and try my best, practice or games. So I can be better."

A. Sherrod Blakely can be reached at sblakely@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Sherrod on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sherrodbcsn

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Sounds like a great kid and he is really playing well...and MAN do we need him.

Great story

Turks are tough people, in general. I'm glad Semih is like that. As MrKleen pointed out, MAN do we need him now.

bob

.

In thinking about this, yeah we need him and thats the point we need him to NOT get hurt any worse and be out for who knows. I'd love to see Luke get a few minutes at the 4 or the 5. He'd done well and deserves a few minutes. Just seems to have a nose for the ball and will play smart position defense. No he's not big or real quick but for a few minutes here or there he can be big and quick enough. Just a thought

beat

Semih-Tough was one great draft pick, all things considered. How does Danny do it? Perk, Powe, Davis, even Rondo, were scooped up where you wouldn't expect to find gold nuggets.

If Shaq and Jermaine help win a title, and Bradley and Harangody turn into serviceable players, Danny is right up there in contention again for Manager of the Year or whatever they call it (should be renamed the Auerbach award).

Has anyone ever seen anything about Danny's draft philosophy? I remember he had this guru who had some secret way of determining a player's potential upside. Maybe he's just on the phone all day long talking to people, the way Red used to do. Of course, it takes more than that, a little luck certainly: it seems as though there must have been a lot of hard work that led to this success.

Red used to say something about the importance of coming up with one good player a year. Danny's taking Red's advice to the bank.

beat wrote:In thinking about this, yeah we need him and thats the point we need him to NOT get hurt any worse and be out for who knows. I'd love to see Luke get a few minutes at the 4 or the 5. He'd done well and deserves a few minutes. Just seems to have a nose for the ball and will play smart position defense. No he's not big or real quick but for a few minutes here or there he can be big and quick enough. Just a thought

beat

beat,

I'm liking what I've seen of Luke so far. I loved him in summer league (ok, that's no big woof) and I liked what I saw in the 5 minutes against the Wiz, but he is NOT a 5. If he plays 4 then that will mean that Davis will have to play 5 exclusively. He's done it before but that's not his natural position either.

IMO, Semih needs to hang in there and take one for the team until JON and Perk comes back. Then, if he wants, he can have season-ending surgery. I'm no doctor but it seems to me that a shoulder so damaged from dislocation it needs surgery is not a 4-6 week rehab. I could be wrong though. If I am, and it is a 6 week rehab or so, then he can have the surgery in late January/February when Perk comes back and still be available (or almost available) for the playoff roster if we need him.

bob

.

rickdavisakaspike wrote:
Semih-Tough was one great draft pick, all things considered. How does Danny do it? Perk, Powe, Davis, even Rondo, were scooped up where you wouldn't expect to find gold nuggets.

If Shaq and Jermaine help win a title, and Bradley and Harangody turn into serviceable players, Danny is right up there in contention again for Manager of the Year or whatever they call it (should be renamed the Auerbach award).

Has anyone ever seen anything about Danny's draft philosophy? I remember he had this guru who had some secret way of determining a player's potential upside. Maybe he's just on the phone all day long talking to people, the way Red used to do. Of course, it takes more than that, a little luck certainly: it seems as though there must have been a lot of hard work that led to this success.

Red used to say something about the importance of coming up with one good player a year. Danny's taking Red's advice to the bank.

spike,

You're referring to Dr. Jon Niednagel, aka "The Brain Doctor".

http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2006/08/behind-scenes-brain-doctor.html

bob

.

bob

He's big enough IMHO, no not to start out on centers defensively but on switches ect he could hold his own. Plus on the end he presents a challenge to the 5 on the other team. Again I'm not saying put him out there for long minutes but work him into the rotation to take a little stress of Erdin's wing and make sure Shaq is fresh too.

Not to compare him with a certain red head form the 70's but the same was said of one Dave Cowens too. I think Luke could hadle it especially against other teams benches.

beat

bobheckler wrote:

beat wrote:In thinking about this, yeah we need him and thats the point we need him to NOT get hurt any worse and be out for who knows. I'd love to see Luke get a few minutes at the 4 or the 5. He'd done well and deserves a few minutes. Just seems to have a nose for the ball and will play smart position defense. No he's not big or real quick but for a few minutes here or there he can be big and quick enough. Just a thought

beat

beat,

I'm liking what I've seen of Luke so far. I loved him in summer league (ok, that's no big woof) and I liked what I saw in the 5 minutes against the Wiz, but he is NOT a 5. If he plays 4 then that will mean that Davis will have to play 5 exclusively. He's done it before but that's not his natural position either.

IMO, Semih needs to hang in there and take one for the team until JON and Perk comes back. Then, if he wants, he can have season-ending surgery. I'm no doctor but it seems to me that a shoulder so damaged from dislocation it needs surgery is not a 4-6 week rehab. I could be wrong though. If I am, and it is a 6 week rehab or so, then he can have the surgery in late January/February when Perk comes back and still be available (or almost available) for the playoff roster if we need him.

bob

.

Bob,

When Doc says,

"The thing with Semih, if he goes out, he may be out for a while," coach Doc Rivers said. "That shoulder is in pretty bad shape."

I take that as season-ending surgery. I'm not a doctor either, but I stayed in a mud hut 15 miles above sea level just to catch the sunrise.

Oh wait, that was you!

I agree on another thing, I'd like to see a little more of Luke as well.

I take that as season-ending surgery. I'm not a doctor either, but I stayed in a mud hut 15 miles above sea level just to catch the sunrise.
Oh wait, that was you!
LINE of the day!! LMAO

beat