SHAQ SHUT DOWN AFTER RECENT WALK-THROUGH

SHAQ SHUT DOWN AFTER RECENT WALK-THROUGH

According to Jackie MacMullan of ESPN.com, one of Shaquille O'Neal first attempts at returning to action went poorly. MacMullan reports that during a recent walk-through that was supposed to be the first step in returning to action for the first time since Feb. 1, O'Neal injured Achilles tendon inflamed to the point where he was forced to immediately get a cortisone shot while then being put in a walking boot to immobilize the injury.

When asked by MacMullan if the trade of Kendrick Perkins would be considered a bust if neither one of the O'Neal's -- Shaquille or Jermaine -- could return to help the Celtics in the playoffs Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said, "I don't think so. We believe we will have both Shaq and J.O. back. Now if they don't, and Krstic can't play at the high level he was performing at when he arrived, obviously we won't have the kind of depth we want, but our recent struggles have nothing to do with the center position.''

Speaking to the Boston Herald, Ainge said he still doesn't know if O'Neal will be returning at some point in the regular season, or is simply eyeing a return in the playoffs.

“I watched him work out, and he’s starting to do things on the court," Ainge said. "We’re just still not sure of when he’s going to come back."
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Clocking ticking on Shaq's return
March, 31, 2011
By Chris Forsberg

SAN ANTONIO -- Early in the 2010-11 season, Jermaine O'Neal used to joke that him and Shaquille O'Neal were passing the health baton and, so long as one of Boston's veteran big men was able to stay on the floor, they were alright being a big of a tag-team while getting themselves right.

But as Jermaine O'Neal prepares to return to the floor Thursday night, he noted the importance of getting Shaq back as well.

"We need him back," said Jermaine O'Neal. "We need all of us to be back. We need the chemistry. We need to be in there with [current starting center Nenad] Krstic, figuring out what the rotation is going to be. We don't have much time.

"From what I understand, he will be back very, very soon -- I think maybe when we get off this road trip. But we're kinda past that stage where we need to be back. We need to be playing."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers last week pegged Tuesday's visit from the Philadelphia 76ers as a potential target date for Shaq, but Thursday admitted he's not certain if that will happen. He suggested that O'Neal could indeed be back next week, but also said that the team would be happy to just get him back before the playoffs.

And the uncertainty of that return is becoming a concern for Rivers.

"It wasn't [a concern] before, because I just viewed it as a regular-season injury," said Rivers. "Now it's getting close to bleeding into the playoffs and that becomes a challenge."

Rivers did stress that the injury is improving following a cortisone injection last Tuesday that was accompanied by O'Neal being put back in an immobilizing boot. But he wasn't so eager to throw around a timeline.

"It's improving," said Rivers. "Before it just wasn't improving. Now it is. He's feeling better. He's doing some running. So we're hopeful for the last couple of games -- maybe next week he can play -- but that doesn't mean he is."

Rivers said reintegrating Shaq, even into the starting lineup, isn't a huge concern, because he's not the focal point of the offense and what you see is what you get defensively. But he admitted that Shaq does need to refamiliarize himself with the playbook, so that Boston's starters can still run their sets and have him in the right spots.

In more dire times when the health status of both O'Neals was unclear, Rivers said he's settle for getting one O'Neal back before the playoffs. On Thursday, gets one, but he doesn't mind being greedy.

"Right now, I'd take either," said Rivers. "I'll take them both, though."

112288

No surprise.

From the time he went out I think it was reasonable to expect that was it.

He did give us some solid play early in the season so we got some help from him. I guess signing him was a net gain if you look at it that way.

If we get Shaq back for the playoffs it's a plus. If not it's probably not a major crisis. We can work with what we have just fine. Maybe we'll get a little time from JON in the playoffs; he can probably provide some limited minutes and boost rebounding and D somewhat.

I think it's kind of a "yeah, whatever" event. As Ainge points out in the interview, center isn't our problem.

Regards

NY Celt, i respectfully have a different point of view.
admittedly i am influenced by Globe 10.0 with Shcuaghnessy saying he has concerns about this team, and they focus on the center position. Nenad is doing his best, but his best won't be enough to help bring us a championship.
IMHO, we need ... well, actually i think we need BOTH of the O'Neal's back to make the kind of run we'll need against teams that right now are built both bigger and tougher in the lane than we are.
delighted JON will see some action tonight. i'll be on a flight and doubt i'll be able to catch the game, but i willl be rooting for our team against a very talented, if depleted, opponent tonight. plus it's on TNT, which means we across the country who bleed green will be able to catch it - GOOD NEWS !!

Michael

Michale

At least it is TNT not espn so we don;t have to suffer listening to Mark Jackson and the little weasle Van Gundy

so I wonder which of these guys will be doing the game?

BROADCAST TEAMS

1. Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (analyst), Craig Sager (reporter)
2. Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Reggie Miller (analyst) and David Aldridge (reporter) or Cheryl Miller (reporter)

Mike Fratello (analyst), Webber and McHale will also appear as analysts throughout the season.

beat

What happened to: "If this was the playoffs Shaq would be playing"?

When you add in Shaq's age and his weight to an achilles injury, this doesn't look good for the Big Diesel. If he does come back, how much movement will he have compared to earlier this year?

I don't feel that Shaq's minutes at center will be any more productive then JO's, Krstic's or BBD's. I expect his lack of mobility to negate any benefits they get on the offensive end.

Krstic will be fine if he stops fearing that his shot will be blocked. BBD knows he could get blocked but that doesn't stop him from being aggressive and confident near the basket.

JUST HEARD THAT SHAQ MAY HAVE A PARTIAL TEAR OF HIS TENDON SO THIS MAY AGAIN FLAIR AND IF HE TEARS IT COMPLETELY, COULD BE CAREER THREATENING. ESPN BOSTON


112288

The basketball book of Job continues. Shocker, In related news Kg lost both legs in a bizzarre boating accident. Welcome to being a Celtics fan.

Michael,

Always good to hear from you; I hope you are doing well!

If you're on an airline with in-air TV you might get the game; I've caught TNT on a few of those packages.

I guess we'll see what shakes out over the next few games.

My reason for not being too concerned about either O'Neal coming back is that I believe there are only two teams that present a challenge that have a potentially dominant center; LA and Orlando.

We certainly could always use the rebounding ability either give us; no way to debate you there in my opinion. I think Krstic and Davis give us all we need to win it this year, though. If we're playing quick and sometimes uptempo teams like NY, Chicago, Indiana, Miami or San Antonio I picture Jermaine being of some use but Shaq helping us very little. There's a good chance neither O'Neal has the mobility we need against those teams.

Looking at the league overall I think it's more important to have strength at SF, which we get from Pierce and Green (who of course can swing to the 4 in our smaller lineup). I'd rather have those two available against James or Artest instead of having someone like Shaq or Perk in there against Bynum or Miami's center-of-the-moment.

I also think if you have the lineup to draw Howard or Bynum out to the perimeter, which we do, there are other ways to attack those two teams.

The league is really guard oriented and with a decent point and some good wings you can go far. Center has been an afterthought since 1983. Hulking NBA front-lines are somewhere out there with paisley ties; I don't imagine either will be coming back into style soon. With the ties I hope not.

That's my dissertation on dominant centers being passe anyway! And an explanation of why I see things as I do.

My usual disclaimer applies; 50/50 chance I'm right.

Have a good trip. I hope its pleasure rather than work.

Regards

beat wrote:Michale

At least it is TNT not espn so we don;t have to suffer listening to Mark Jackson and the little weasle Van Gundy

so I wonder which of these guys will be doing the game?

BROADCAST TEAMS

1. Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (analyst), Craig Sager (reporter)
2. Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Reggie Miller (analyst) and David Aldridge (reporter) or Cheryl Miller (reporter)

Mike Fratello (analyst), Webber and McHale will also appear as analysts throughout the season.

beat

I'll also take team 2, but I'll maintain my position of preferring ESPN and I'll always defend Van Gundy.

Jackson hollering "Hand down, man down" 200 times per game does get a little old.

NYCelt wrote

Hulking NBA front-lines are somewhere out there with paisley ties; I don't imagine either will be coming back into style soon.

there goes 1/2 my wardrobe.

The other 1/2 are plaid pants..........with cuffs

beat

NYCelt wrote:I'll also take team 2, but I'll maintain my position of preferring ESPN and I'll always defend Van Gundy.

Jackson hollering "Hand down, man down" 200 times per game does get a little old.

I thought I was the only person who thought Jeff Van Gundy is okay. The guy who needs to go is Mark Jackson, and I think some people don't like Van Gundy because he's always in conversations with Jackson. Jackson comes across as arrogant, in love with the sound of his own voice, and in love with catchphrases that (like NYCelt points out) get old.

Of the TNT options, I'll take Harlan, Reggie, and Aldridge any day. Of the Marv/Kerr/Sager team, the only one I like is Kerr. Marv's okay I guess, but I find myself too often thinking, "Marv Alpert's broadcasting." With guys like Breen, Harlan, and Mike Tirico, they do a fine job of play-by-play but take the approach that the game is the main thing, not them. But to each their own.

Outside

Outside,

Since you and I have been comparing NCAA tournament notes here's the update;

The bracket pool I play in is already done!

The final four is such a surprise this year that no matter what combination and who took the title there wasn't going to be any change in standings so they declared the winner.

I took second, and missed the win by 4 points. I did tie for the most upsets picked with 7. Small consolation prize was nice at least.

Regards

NYCelt,

Nice job. Since I last wrote about it, my gleaming hope for redemption got smothered mercilessly. My bracket pool is similar to yours -- everyone's picks are out, so the scoring is over -- except one guy who picked Kentucky, who could wind up the big winner (he's currently sixth). I wound up eighth out of 20, a miserably middling showing.

The brackets were so brutal this year. Our pool uses the cbssports.com bracket manager, where you get increasing value each round for a win plus the value of the seed, so that my first round pick of Richmond over Vanderbilt was worth 13 points (1 point for a first round win plus 12 points for Richmond being a 12 seed). You get rewarded big for correctly picking upsets. I'd like to say I lost because three of my Final Four picks lost, but I really lost it early by doing poorly in the first round 8-9 and 7-10 matchups. Those are really tossup games, and if I'd picked three of those better, I'd be in first. But such is life in the brackets.

Congrats again on the second place finish. And getting the upsets right is not only nice in its own right, it's also a big reason you did so well. Good work.

Outside

NY Celt -
always good to hear from you too, and thanks for your reasoned analysis for your point of view.

told you i was influenced by Shaughnessy on Globe 10.0 ! <LOL>

still think we need a higher-caliber center than Nenad starting for us. to me, he's a big help if he's coming off the bench. not so sure what, if anything Shaq can bring us, or Jermaine either for that matter - but together they give us more offensive and defensive options, more skills, and more bodies and fouls. and i suspect we're going to need all of the above !

sorry, all - HATE Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson worse
... caught the final 8 minutes of the game last night. from the stats it looked like RR is (finally) really back. hoping it lasts more than the one game. him playing at a high level makes EVERYBODY look better !!

oh, BTW, i'm fine - just visiting my brand new grandson (and son and daughter in law) in minneapolis for the weekend ... this grandpa thing is pretty cool !!

Michael

Michael

Speaking of family........last eve Marcus got his permit. I drove out of the City and got to a rural road and let him go at it home. He did OK, got it up to 60 when I told him he ought ot slow down. Had not met a car for several miles and then here comes an 18 wheeler. Marcus's words were "Oh Shit!" we went by it with no problem.

After we got home he told his mother there is so much to do and think about...........how in the world can people text and drive?

PS I totally agree on Van Gundy. He's like the little brat in school that knows it all and crowds in front on of you in the lunch line and has to get the last word in on everything.

PSS Aside from Rondo making all play better it certainly is refreshing to see a good % of our open shots drop too.

beat

beat wrote:Michael

Speaking of family........last eve Marcus got his permit. I drove out of the City and got to a rural road and let him go at it home. He did OK, got it up to 60 when I told him he ought ot slow down. Had not met a car for several miles and then here comes an 18 wheeler. Marcus's words were "Oh Shit!" we went by it with no problem.

After we got home he told his mother there is so much to do and think about...........how in the world can people text and drive?

PS I totally agree on Van Gundy. He's like the little brat in school that knows it all and crowds in front on of you in the lunch line and has to get the last word in on everything.

PSS Aside from Rondo making all play better it certainly is refreshing to see a good % of our open shots drop too.

beat

hey beat, glad you're chiming in ... yes, our shots dropping instead of rimming out was a most pleasant outcome. RR getting the ball to the right person at the right spot is obviously part of that synchronicity !

great that Marcus has the sense to see that driving is consuming enough to make texting at the same time ludicrous and dangerous. must have his Dad's common sense !! and glad the 'experiment' went so well. the great whooshing of air from an 18-wheeler roaring past in close prximity can rattle even experienced drivers a little ...

Michael

bigpygme wrote:sorry, all - HATE Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson worse

Van Gundy is probably one of those polarizing guys -- either you like him or you hate him. Trust me, from what I've read, you have plenty of company in your opinion.

bigpygme wrote:oh, BTW, i'm fine - just visiting my brand new grandson (and son and daughter in law) in minneapolis for the weekend ... this grandpa thing is pretty cool !!

Congratulations! I'm not in the "grandpa" situation yet, but I've always thought it would be nice to enjoy the plusses of a baby without having to change diapers or get up at night. Truth be told, I'm also looking forward to a small bit of payback, smiling wryly when my kids have to deal with their kids doing the things they did. I guess I've seen too much Bill Cosby. But however you get your grandpa kicks, enjoy!

Outside

THANKS, Outside ...

i think maybe Van Gundy and Jckason manage to bring out the worst of each other - wonder how they'd be split with different partners.

love and loved Bill Cosby - no such thing as "too much" Bill Cosby !

the grandpa thing is very cool, for the reasons you outline among others. the little guy isn't similing in response to faces yet ... i'll be back to see that. right now he's only smiling in response to a good fart or feed ! <LOL> but he has wonderful young doting parents (and grandparents too) who can see the whole world in his eyes ...

Michael

Beat,

So if our July round of golf with BobC works out as planned is Marcus driving?


Michael,

My parents consider my son and my brother's daughters to be as good as it gets. They get unconditional love without having to apply discipline for misdeeds. They also get to see paybacks and get a good laugh when their grandchildren even the score for them on something one of us did years ago. I'm sure you'll be having the same type of experience. I keep hearing grandparents say if they knew how much fun grandkids were they would have had them first!


Outside,

Even when our picks get crushed, I'm not sure there is a more enjoyable event than this tournament. I think whoever came up with the idea to combine college hoops with a single elimination format was a genius.

I think you're right about Van Gundy being polarizing.


For anyone debating the merits of Van Gundy...

Since we're having fun debating announcing crews I'll admit to actually preferring ESPN over anyone not named Mike and Tommy. Although I'm not a Jackson guy I like Breen and Van Gundy.

I'll also admit my bias as I have here before. Although I don't really know Jeff Van Gundy personally we have a mutual friend that is a close friend of his and Jeff was a college classmate of my wife. To spare the boring details from what I hear second hand he's a great guy. A good friend of mine's neighbor is a former NBA player by the name of John Wallace. Although he was never a huge NBA star (all O, no D) he played for Van Gundy with the Knicks and has nothing but good things to say about him. I've also had the opportunity to work with members of the Van Gundy family on the charitable end of a huge annual high school tournament I help sponsor and I've seen what Jeff continues to do on behalf of every kid that plays high school basketball throughout the state.

If you remember two of the funniest stories from his days with the Knicks Van Gundy's not much when a brawl breaks out and didn't know where to park his Honda Civic at the airport either!

Regards

NYCelt wrote:Beat,

So if our July round of golf with BobC works out as planned is Marcus driving?

If he drives a car as well as he "can" drive a golf ball.....................well time will tell. Driving day 2 this evening after practice.

beat

NYCelt wrote:If you remember two of the funniest stories from his days with the Knicks Van Gundy's not much when a brawl breaks out and didn't know where to park his Honda Civic at the airport either!

Van Gundy hanging on to Mourning's leg was about the funniest thing I've ever seen in the middle of a relatively serious situation. Whatever you want to say about him, he's a spunky little guy.

I'd forgotten about the airport story, so thanks for that reminder.

In case anyone is interested