A night of Sheed nostalgia

I happened to not be able to fall asleep last night. I was out for a drink with some friends and back home I was too tired to close my eyes. You must have had the feeling many times as you know that you have worked hard enough during the week that you should be sleeping like the rest of the "mortals" but somehow you are unable to do it.

So here I was, at 4 a.m. drinking some hot tea while doing some tv zapping. On channel number 447 they were showing the Grizzlies-Knicks and the score is quite tied. As a Celtics fan I am far from following or enjoying NY basketball and the prospect of watching the game against Memphis wasn't particularly enticing at that time of the night-morning. Not even my countryman Marc Gasol or the likes of ex Celtic Tony Allen seemed enough to change my mood or my willingness to change channel in the near future.

Until it finally happened. With his new #36 jersey, Rasheed Wallace gets into the game in the first quarter.

I had forgotten that Rasheed Wallace had signed with the Knicks. I had forgotten Rasheed Wallace's game completely.

Boy, what a first half he had. Yes, he did shoot a three pointer not long after and yes, he is still not in game shape (will he ever be?). But he reminded me of the Sheed of the 2010 playoffs against Orlando and L.A. He defended hard against probably one of the top 3 centers in the NBA now (Marc Gasol) and he also frustrated Zach Randolph in the process. He went to the post and showed some of the good old Sheed plays. How did he call it back then in 2010, the Kraken?


The Grizzlies were unstoppable in the second half (by the way, they have a very good team in Memphis) and Sheed went back to his old habits by netting 4 fouls and a technical in a game in which NY was screwed by the referees. Sheed sat down for the last quarter and my sleep started to finally reach me.

I went to bed thinking how much I like the talent of Rasheed Wallace and how much I miss his personality. I also wondered what would have been if he had tried harder when he first came here, and what if he had not retired and helped us try and reach the Finals again. After all, we wouldn't have had the Jermaine O'Neal fiasco if he hadn't retired.

I am also happy that we moved on from those days in which our bench was much weaker, and I cherish the fact that we certainly have the most talented team since the 2007/08 season.

But for a night, between 4 and 7 a.m, it was all about the nostalgia for Sheed basketball.