Sheed as Older Wilt

With apologies to L.A., Cleveland and Orlando, the Boston Celtics improved the most over the off-season by signing Rasheed Wallace away from the Detroit Pistons. ‘Sheed, a primarily defensive player, joins a primarily defensive team.

--D.S. Williamson via Red's Army

It really is tough not to picture these two beasts--Sheed and the Ticket--underneath, working together, swatting balls out of the paint. Having familiarized myself with the 1971-72 Lakers, I was struck by the fact that one reason they were so good was that Wilt converted himself into a defense-first post player, a la Bill Russell. As much as we like to picture Sheed hoisting up three-balls late in the fourth quarter against the Ls, there won't be any need for him to do that if the Ls can't get past him, KG, and Perk during the first three quarters.

We don't need Sheed to score more than 6-14 points a game for us. We do need him to assert himself on D. From what I understand, he's been looking for a team to utilize him in this manner since he came into the league. Apparently, Sheed never wanted to be "the man" on offense. But he's always enjoyed playing D.

He's also starting to sound a little bit like a 7-foot James Posey.