Preseason: Boston 96, New Jersey 92

The NBA Preseason: Where Marquis Daniels nailing a game-sealing three-pointer happens.

[recap] [box score] [highlights at Red's Army]

The big thing I took from this game is that as things stand now, Shaquille O'Neal should not be our starting center except in emergencies, for a number of reasons.

For one, he's a defensive liability. I knew that, but it's worse than I thought. In the first quarter last night, he gave up an easy bucket on the pick and roll, allowed something like nine quick points to Brook Lopez, and picked up three fouls in just over four minutes (though as Mike Fratello pointed out during the broadcast, the officials tend to call more fouls in the preseason than they do once the games start to count).

With the other positions on the starting unit solid defensively, opponents would attack Shaq. In addition to easy buckets, this would likely lead to foul trouble for the big fella, which throws the rotation out of whack and puts the Celtics in the penalty early. If Shaq comes off the bench, he'd be going up against the other team's second-string, which is typically less capable of exploiting defensive weaknesses.

Second, he fits well with the second team, or at least I think he does, because I haven't actually seen him play with the second team. But he's still a force to be reckoned with offensively (he backed down Lopez for about 12 feet on one first-quarter basket) and I imagine he'd wreak even more havoc against second-stringers. Moreover, with Nate Robinson and Delonte West the likely backcourt off the bench, we've got some real shooters to surround Shaq in the post.

Third, he doesn't fit perfectly with the starting unit. One of the things we heard coming out of training camp is that Kevin Garnett seemed to have a new commitment to working in the post, which is something we all want to see from him. But he can't really do that with Shaq in the game, since the other team isn't going to pay attention to Shaq unless he's near the basket. In contrast, a KG-JON high-low (in either permutation) is something for the other team to worry about.

I still think Shaq was a great signing and will be a valuable player for us this year. But I think Jermaine O'Neal should be the starter, once he gets healthy.

Some bullets:

• One caveat to what I said above about Shaq with the second team is that the current bench unit seems to have a very nice chemistry with each other. As I mentioned before, Robinson and West are shooters, but they aren't just spot-up guys, and Marquis Daniels' value is in his movement without the ball. There's room on the court for all of them and Shaq and Glen Davis; we just need to be conscious about getting too stagnant on O.
• I still have concerns about their size, but I hope Doc plays Robinson, West, and Daniels to start the second and fourth quarters (once Delonte gets back from his ten-game suspension to start the season, of course). They seem to play well together, and just as importantly, it'd save Paul Pierce and Ray Allen a significant amount of minutes over the course of the season.
• Garnett really does look better. His shot isn't falling, but watching him run up and down the court, you can just tell that his leg isn't bothering him the way it was.
• Semih Erden didn't have as good a game against the Nets as he did against the Sixers, but I really like what I've seen so far. He moves well enough, understands the game, and has skills. Most importantly, he's comfortable on the court, despite his youth and relative inexperience. I still don't expect to see a whole lot of him unless injuries hit, but I feel a lot more comfortable about the team if injuries to the big men do become a problem.
• Davis showed some decent variety in his offensive game.
• Pierce looked good attacking the basket.
• None of the guys vying for the 15th spot on the roster did anything to distinguish themselves in a positive way.