Today started the second week of the ever so popular Celtics Summer Forecast on ESPN Boston. Today, a panel of experts from eight Celtics blogs outlined their expectations for the newest Celtics big man, Shaquille O'Neal.
The average of the group came out to be around 11 points and 7 rebounds per game. Jon Duke of Celtics Stuff Live was the most optimistic of the bunch saying that Shaq would put up 15 points and 8 rebounds a game in 24 minutes of action.
Our buddy Nick Gelso over at North Station Sports had the lowest expectations for The Big Shammrock, saying that Shaq would put up 8 points and 6 rebounds a game in 22 minutes of action.
I happened to be right about in the middle of those two.
Brandon Paul, Gino's Jungle (20 minutes, 12 points, 8 rebounds)
My expectations for Shaq are probably a lot higher than those of many others. The way everything went down this offseason, I expect Shaq to come out a lot stronger than he did last season. Being on the Celtics he can get revenge on LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in one season by winning another title. Let's say 20 minutes, 12 points, and 8 rebounds per game -- and a whole lot of missed free throws.
I guess you can say I have higher expectations than most of the gang, but I was kind of shocked to see that the average came out as high as it did. Boston has more faith in those 38-year old legs than I thought!
The way I look at it, Shaq's going to have to focus on one thing: getting rebounds. If he can enter games. bang around the opposition, and grab 7 or 8 rebounds a game, his veterans minimum contract will end up being a bargain.
The two things Forsberg didn't ask us to predict for Shaq were free throws missed and number of times beaten on the pick and roll per game. If he can keep it under two in each of those categories he'll be doing good.
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