source: By Mark Murphy / Celtics Notebook
NEW YORK — The offense, as always, is a secondary requirement for Jermaine O’Neal.
His sole basket yesterday was a postscript, compared to his six rebounds and a block.
Overall, the Celtics [team stats] center — who steadily worked up to speed after knee surgery — averaged 1.5 blocks and 3.5 rebounds in roughly 19 minutes per game in four against the Knicks.
“I’m enjoying this because it’s been a rough year,” O’Neal said after yesterday’s series-clinching 101-89 win. “It’s been a rough year for me personally, and it was good to get out there and feel comfortable late in games.
It may not always show up on the stat sheet, but I feel that I can really help this team on the defensive end. I can make guys guess when they go to the cup. You almost see guys just looking. But it’s a great group of guys — a brotherhood.”
It can especially feel like a brotherhood when the player concerned is holding up his end of the equation.
“I feel good,” he said. “My place with the team is to cover a lot of ground (on defense), and I’m starting to cover a lot of ground. It’s contesting every shot at the basket. Making a guy miss is just as good as blocking a shot.
“Me and Kevin are really starting to get things going on the back end, and the perimeter guys know we’re going to be there. I feel healthy, and our defense is going to be the anchor to winning this championship.”
NEW YORK — The offense, as always, is a secondary requirement for Jermaine O’Neal.
His sole basket yesterday was a postscript, compared to his six rebounds and a block.
Overall, the Celtics [team stats] center — who steadily worked up to speed after knee surgery — averaged 1.5 blocks and 3.5 rebounds in roughly 19 minutes per game in four against the Knicks.
“I’m enjoying this because it’s been a rough year,” O’Neal said after yesterday’s series-clinching 101-89 win. “It’s been a rough year for me personally, and it was good to get out there and feel comfortable late in games.
It may not always show up on the stat sheet, but I feel that I can really help this team on the defensive end. I can make guys guess when they go to the cup. You almost see guys just looking. But it’s a great group of guys — a brotherhood.”
It can especially feel like a brotherhood when the player concerned is holding up his end of the equation.
“I feel good,” he said. “My place with the team is to cover a lot of ground (on defense), and I’m starting to cover a lot of ground. It’s contesting every shot at the basket. Making a guy miss is just as good as blocking a shot.
“Me and Kevin are really starting to get things going on the back end, and the perimeter guys know we’re going to be there. I feel healthy, and our defense is going to be the anchor to winning this championship.”