Brian Scalabrine Is A Lost Asset
On countless occasions over the past year, I have given this guy the greatest compliments over what he secretly brings to the Celtics. Unfortunately it looks like I may have jumped the gun, or something is going wrong with him. See I have been very on and off with the red head during his time with the C’s. Early last year I thought he meant less to the team than Patrick O’Bryant. Then as the season went on, KG left the lineup, and Scal filled in and played some very good minutes, so I started to gain respect back for him.
I carried that newfound respect over into this year where he started off the year pretty good after coming back from injuries. His first game back against Phili he only played 5 and a half minutes but put in 5 points. He followed that up a few games later with a decent game that really helped the struggling Celtics in New Jersey. In that game he had another 5 points on only 3 shots, and also had 3 steals, which showed his defense which was the most impressive part about this game for him. Since that time, he has been very on and off, mostly off.
In his last 66.5 minutes of floor time, he has not scored a single basket. He hasn’t taken many either, as he has only taken 7 shots, 4 of which were threes. Does this show he is hesitant about taking his shots? I think so. He seems very uncomfortable with what shots he should and should not be taking. I thought Nick Gelso from North Station Sports brought up a good point in one of our podcasts that he is especially hesitant at home. Nick didn’t know but if maybe this was a cause and effect that the home crowd has. Of course the crowd is always on him to shoot it, therefore he may question himself shooting it: 1- because all eyes are on him to, and 2- just because the crowd is saying it does it really mean it is a good shot? This was a good point brought up by Nick because I can’t help but imagine how difficult it would be for me to have everyone telling me to shoot even with a guy right in my face.
He has carried this over onto the road as well, though. There is just no rhythm to his offensive game whatsoever. I have seen him take fadeaways which he is especially not known for, and threes without his feet set. That is not his game. He is a catch and set your feet style of shooter. He has thrown up some very unorthodox shots.
Scal is going to have to bring me back because he has lost a little bit of my trust that he gained last year. I no longer look forward to him coming into the game, which I actually did like at one time because he gave the team a boost (no sarcasm). Of course only floor time will allow him to gain my trust back, however, for the time being, it hurts to say, I would rather not see him on the court.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)