Say ahh.

Semih Erden, the Turkish Shaggy, continues to battle through a shoulder injury that should require surgery at some point (likely after the season). But Doc Rivers isn’t convinced Erden will be able to play through the pain all year. (Boston Globe)

“There’s going to be a point when Semih can’t play,’’ Rivers said. “I don’t know that, but I believe that. I just think that with the shoulders, there’s a point where it’s going to come out and then he’s not going to be able to play.’’

Erden shows a nice basketball IQ when he’s on the court. He positions himself well (for the most part), and has been one of the rare rookies to see the light of day in Rivers’s rotation.

He has also been, according to PER, one of the league’s worst players. In fact, Ryan Degama of Celtics Hub believes it might be time to offer Luke Harangody some run. Any time a person who knows things suggests Harangody might be a solution, the problem must be a pretty big one.

Erden shows flashes of potential, and a seven-footer with good mobility and a solid knowledge of the game should be useful. But he hasn’t been effective yet. Not at all. So far this season, Erden has a negative-46 plus/minus — for a 12-4 team that sits atop the Eastern Conference. That’s not good. Erden’s putrid PER (6.88) suggests that his plus/minus isn’t just an effect of playing minutes with poor teammates. He deserves a lot of the blame himself.

Seeing that Erden is — by a few advanced measures — the Celtics’ worst rotation player, losing him to injury for a period of time shouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Then again, if Jermaine O’Neal stays hurt (and he might), Erden isn’t just the Celtics’ best option at backup center — he’s also the only option. Glen Davis can fill in at center occasionally, but he’s also the only reliable backup power forward.

I like Erden’s game. I really do. I think he’s going to help down the road, and I think he’ll help this season. He just hasn’t helped much yet. Maybe that’s because his shoulder is limiting him, maybe it’s because the transition to the NBA is difficult, or maybe it’s because he just isn’t ready.

There’s a stereotype that European players are soft. Not Semih Erden, says Doc Rivers. “I think he’s more of an Argentinian — that whole group of guys are as aggressive as you can get.”

Erden has displayed his toughness by battling through a shoulder injury, which Rivers says is likely a labrum issue. Rivers says Erden is more hurt than spectators understand, although Erden expects to finish the season before undergoing surgery. (ESPN Boston)

“He’s taken a beating this year, a typical rookie year,” said Rivers. “For a big, it probably hurts more that he has to practice with [Shaquille O'Neal], Kevin [Garnett], and [Glen Davis]. I don’t think that makes it any easier for him at all.

“We don’t know if he’s embracing it, we just know he’s getting hit. Even if he’s not trying to get hit, he’s getting hit anyway in our practices. Overall, he’s handling it pretty well. I think the language barrier helps on that, because when he complains to me about it, I don’t understand what he’s saying. So that’s good, too. I think he’ a physical player by nature, anyway.

At one point last night, Erden sat on the bench, winced, and grabbed for his shoulder. Clearly hurting, Erden is toughing out the pain to help the Celtics. With Kendrick Perkins and Jermaine O’Neal out with injuries, Erden’s toughness is more necessary than it should be. I never expected this, but the Celtics need Erden.

Not that all has been gravy for Erden this season. During last night’s first half, Erden looked like he was trying to become the fastest NBA player ever to foul out of a game. If Erden had dreads, black skin, and refused to rotate on defense, I would have sworn he was Mikki Moore. But even that spell of Moore-esque defense couldn’t hide that Erden has been a gift sent from Turkey.

“He has [exceeded expectations],” said Rivers. “This summer, his back was hurt, so in summer league, if you watched, you didn’t see much. We didn’t really know what we were getting. On film in the [FIBA world championships], he looked good, so that gave us some confidence, like ‘Wow, he can play this game.’ But you never know on our level if that’s going to translate. And it has.”

I saw the World Championships too, and Erden impressed the same way he has in Boston. Not with eye-popping statistics, but with an appreciable knowledge of the game.

It’s a good thing Erden’s a solid basketball player. After taking a shot to the nose last night from JaVale McGee, Doc Rivers noted, “He’s just not going to have a modeling career.”

I tried to translate “poster” from English to Turkish, but the results said, “poster, duvar ilanı, afiş, afiş yapıştıran kimse,” and that seemed a little too complicated. So I’ll stick to English instead. Actually, I won’t used words at all. A picture is worth a thousand of them. Read more »

The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “‘You can only say sorry so many times,’ said West, who had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 21 minutes in his season debut. ‘As a man, you have to apologize if I make a mistake, which I did. But that doesn’t reflect on my character as a person. It’s about being a little more cautious about places where I hang out and the company I keep around myself. But being on house arrest throughout the season and the playoffs, I’m just able to focus on basketball. I go here and I go home. I come back here later in the day, and then I go home. My grandma Joyce always told me, you have ups, you have downs. If you stay the same, they come back around, so here we go.’”

Jessica Camerato, CSNNE – “West felt a surge of emotion when he took his first step on to the court since serving a 10-game suspension. Then he was hit by reality. ‘I was anxious,’ he said after the Celtics victory over the Washington Wizards. ‘I was wondering how the crowd was going to respond. They showed me a lot of love. I almost had a tear in my eye. Then Nick Young gave me like four buckets in a row and then the tears dried real fast. I remembered I’m back in the NBA.’ … ‘I just thank the Lord that the ownership here and coaching staff and [director of basketball operations] Danny Ainge, they know what I’m about,’ he said. ‘They knew the difference between a bad decision and a bad person. I’m just blessed to have this opportunity to do what I love to do.’ … ‘Last night I stayed up til 3, 4 o’clock in the morning trying to put a nice ensemble together, laying my clothes out on the floor,’ he said. ‘I realized, hey get some sleep.’ But West doesn’t have to rummage through his closet anymore. The outfit that suits him best is hanging in his locker.”

Peter May, ESPN Boston – “‘I thought after halftime that he got his legs a little bit and he was just terrific,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of West. ‘Obviously, he gives us offense. But he gives us another tough guard on the floor, and that’s good for us.’ It’s huge. West can back up Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. He can play with Rondo and Nate Robinson. He is relentless, competitive and knows that after everything that transpired last summer, he is on a very short leash. ‘The Lord gave me a second chance,’ he said. ‘I want to make the best of it.’ Or, as former and current teammate Shaquille O’Neal noted, “I think he’s just misunderstood at times.’ Eleven games down for the Celtics. The rest of a season remains. The Celtics might not have missed West in the past few weeks, but they feel they can sure use him going forward. The feeling is mutual.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘It felt great,’ West said. ‘For a minute there in the summertime, I thought I wasn’t going to see an NBA court again. But I just thank the Lord that the ownership here and the coaching staff and (GM) Danny Ainge, you know, they know what I’m about. They knew the difference between a bad decision and a bad person, and I’m just blessed to have this opportunity to do what I love to do. The Lord gave me a second opportunity, and I’m going to make the best of it.’ The Celtics are counting on it.”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “That he is because now the Celtics have a complete backcourt. West was the missing piece to that puzzle and now it’s coming together fully. It will take time, of course. Not every team is going to play ‘defense’ like the Wizards played, but the next one will get easier, and the one after that. ‘Glad I got it out the way,’ West said. ‘Now you guys can go back to bothering them and leave me alone.’ He was joking. After so much that’s happened, it was good to laugh.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “As Rivers noted, ‘Players — they have memories.’ Garnett responded Wednesday by connecting on 9-of-11 shots for 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds over 23 minutes as the Celtics atoned with a 114-83 thrashing. Garnett also limited Blatche to 10 points and three rebounds. ‘This team gave us problems last year, and we haven’t forgotten that,’ Garnett said. ‘I haven’t. Paul [Pierce] and I got here and could hear [former Celtic turned Wizards assistant coach] Sam Cassell [boasting] about how young they were and how they are going to come at us, but this team gave us problems last year. We made note of it.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Semih Erden, whose reward for working out against Shaquille O’Neal every day is a damaged left shoulder, admits that the joint eventually will require surgery. ‘After the season, yes,’ said the rookie, who plans to work through the season with the injury, despite the cringe-inducing diagnosis. ‘It’s a partial dislocation,’ Danny Ainge said. ‘He actually played with it in the summer. A lot of guys play entire careers with it. But he could go the way of (Kendrick Perkins) and eventually have surgery on it.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “In addition to plenty of fourth-quarter rest, O’Neal’s effort helped pave the way for the season’s first in-game appearance of Gino, the American Bandstand JumboTron dancer. Garnett and O’Neal stood shoulder to shoulder, laughing throughout the sequence as the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing” blared through the arena. ‘[Shaq] asked what was that? And I told him that any time we get up by a lot, it’s the Gino Show,’ explained Garnett. ‘Paul and I took him through, clip by clip. They got some new clips up there that we haven’t seen in a minute, we had to blow the dust off of Gino tonight. But we were testing him because Shaq’s a 70’s kid, he knows some of [the dance moves], The Bump, The Wap — some of those weird dances. Not all this weird, Dougie-ing and all that. So he recognized some of the moves, The Robot and all that. He enjoyed that, so hopefully we can get some more Gino up in here.’ O’Neal claimed to be aware of the Gino phenomenon, but had never been able to enjoy it from the opposing bench. ‘I’ve seen Gino before, he’s cool,’ said O’Neal. ‘I’ve seen Gino, [while] playing on other teams. I’ve been here 20 years, baby.’”

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.

The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

Peter May, ESPN Boston – “Monday was the four-month anniversary of the procedure, which was performed by Celtics team physician Dr. Brian McKeon. Perkins walks without a brace, can do shooting drills and, to the untrained eye, looks like he could step in at starting center Wednesday night against the Wizards. ‘He is looking great,’ McKeon said. ‘He’s keeping his weight down. He’s sticking to the proper diet. But it was a major surgery, and I always tell athletes that it could be 18 months before it’s the best that it can be.’” Read more »

Shaquille O’Neal will likely make his return to the Celtics lineup tonight, according to Chris Forsberg. Jermaine O’Neal probably won’t, and could sit out the rest of the C’s road trip, which concludes Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

In other news, Doc Rivers admitted that Semih Erden will need shoulder surgery at some point in the future. But for now he’s healthy enough to play, and would likely start if neither O’Neal can play. Rivers prefers to bring Glen Davis, and his never-ending energy, off the bench.

The best news about all this injury nonsense? Whichever center the Celtics put in the game should be better than Joel Anthony.