To get the answer, I Googled up his name along with the words "team chemistry." Got tons of hits, too.

But all of them came from skeptical fans, bloggers, and assorted other distant observers who have not spoken with the Celtics Big Three, which pleaded with Sheed to make it a Bigger Four.

Wallace is coming to Boston. I, for one, think this is a good thing.

There are three reasons for this. One, he's very good, even at 34.

Two, team chemistry is often misunderstood and occasionally overrated.

And three, Wallace's problems have been primarily with one segment of the population, the referees. This can be a distraction, but it is not a team-wrecker.

The Celtics tinkered with chemistry last season when they signed Stephon Marbury. He was a good soldier, but had small impact.

Marbury was in Boston at the team's behest. Signing Wallace is a commitment, which will require the team to live with his temper tantrums.

The surface image of Wallace is that of a crazy man, good for ill-timed technical fouls and suspensions.

The surface image, though, is incomplete. Wallace doesn't really have problems with teammates, unless you put stock in the thinking that he quit on the Pistons in this year's playoff series against the Cavaliers.

I don't know. Going ballistic is his history, but quitting is not.

His weakness is the officiating. No wonder Dallas wanted him; Sheed and Mark Cuban could swap stories about getting shafted on calls.

Kevin Garnett loves the guy. That's good enough for me.

If Wallace doesn't fit the image of a "true Celtic," we have to ask what that is.

Bill Russell practiced when he felt like it, and he was one of the greatest true Celtics of all time.

Wallace is no Russell, and he would seem to present a test for coach Doc Rivers, who, like all men of reason, operates more comfortably when reason is practiced around him. Sheed doesn't always do that.

Rivers will probably not have to discipline Wallace, though. The NBA will take care of that.

The Celtics are now pursuing Grant Hill. Talk about good-cop, bad-cop.

The same blog-world calling Wallace a cancer because he's too explosive is calling Hill a loser, presumably because he's too nice.

We should not delude ourselves into thinking Wallace will arrive a changed man. Rivers can counsel him, Garnett can try to keep him in line, but Sheed is Sheed.

Very good, but a little cuckoo sometimes.

Brace yourself for plenty of technicals and words your kids should not hear, but a better chance to face the Lakers next June.

Ron Chimelis can be reached at rchimelis@repub.com