Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 19, 2006 17:04:30 GMT -5
'This is our future'
By Gary Dzen
With 40.6 seconds remaining in the game last night, and the Celtics holding a six-point lead, Kevin Garnett talked some trash to second-year player Kendrick Perkins. It was tough to tell exactly what KG told Perk, but it’s a safe bet to assume that he wasn’t spitting out the fourth-quarter stats: 10 points for Perkins, 2 points for Garnett.
Perkins and Al Jefferson combined to score 35 points and grab 14 rebounds against the Wolves, marking the first time they have both been in double figures in the same game. At one point in the fourth, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, who was sitting right in front of me, turned to one of his business partners and said, “This is our future.”
To be sure, the youngsters had their moments in the game, but one of the biggest moments for Perkins may have come at halftime, when he told team captain Paul Pierce (who scored five first-half points) to pick it up.
Kendrick Perkins told Paul Pierce to step it up; then he stepped up himself. (Globe Staff Photo/Jim Davis)
“It’s the first time (I’ve called him out),” said Perkins. “He’s called me out a lot.”
The captain (20 points after the break) and the young big men both responded in the second half.
“I was really proud of Perk and Al,” Pierce said in the locker room after the game. “They stood up to him (Garnett) and didn’t back down against a former MVP.”
“You just gotta go out there,” said Perkins, who received more media attention after the game than he has had all year. “He’s not gonna back down, but you can’t back down either.”
Perkins, who is not used to being the focal point of the offense, said he felt comfortable in the scorer’s role.
“I’m getting more confidence,” he said. “It takes some time to get back into it when you don’t play a lot of minutes. I pretty much sat on the bench for two years, but hard work pays off.”
Other notes from behind the scenes at the game:
Doc Rivers on the Mark Blount trade rumors:
“We (Rivers and Blount) had a really good conversation today. I don’t know if it was affecting him or not. I wasn’t going to take that chance. I go all around with that. In some cases I don’t say anything.”
Doc acknowledged that the rumors were bothering the Celtics somewhat.
“It affects your team. There’s nothing you can do about it. Everyone starts thinking, ‘is it me too?’ But we haven’t addressed it as a team. I don’t want to know every trade rumor from the GM. It clutters your mind. When it gets close enough to ‘should we or shouldn’t we’, that’s when I want to know.”
Then, sounding like he believed a trade would happen, Doc continued.
“I believe as a coach, (if he gets traded), I should be the one who tells him.”
Blount left the arena shortly after the game without talking to the media.
Paul Pierce speaks out:
I caught up with Pierce in the locker room before the game, eating chicken soup. Some of his comments:
On the playoffs: “Every game is crucial for us. Despite our struggles, we’re a couple of games out of the eighth (playoff) spot. We're still fighting. We're still coming to play. We feel like we can turn this around every second. We've got to be able to make plays at the end of the game. “
On possibly playing Detroit in the first round: “Maybe we’d be better getting the seventh spot. At least we would get to go to Miami.”
On losing now compared to earlier in his career: “It hurts all the same, but I don’t let it affect the people around me (now). I don’t go into a shell.”
On turning things around: “I don’t think we’re that far off. Toward the end of the year, these close games, we’re gonna start winning.”
Tony Allen injury update
Before last night’s game, Allen worked on one end of the floor on his lateral movements, catching the ball, making quick cuts, and going up for jumpers. He did not look to be in pain.
“One day it (the knee) feels good, the next day it feels sore,” Allen said prior to the game. “I just gotta fight through this year, let it rest this summer, and come back for next year.”
When asked what was still missing from his game, Allen replied, “I ain’t got my bounce. I've got to get my bounce back.”
Allen has played in only seven games so far this season.
By Gary Dzen
With 40.6 seconds remaining in the game last night, and the Celtics holding a six-point lead, Kevin Garnett talked some trash to second-year player Kendrick Perkins. It was tough to tell exactly what KG told Perk, but it’s a safe bet to assume that he wasn’t spitting out the fourth-quarter stats: 10 points for Perkins, 2 points for Garnett.
Perkins and Al Jefferson combined to score 35 points and grab 14 rebounds against the Wolves, marking the first time they have both been in double figures in the same game. At one point in the fourth, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, who was sitting right in front of me, turned to one of his business partners and said, “This is our future.”
To be sure, the youngsters had their moments in the game, but one of the biggest moments for Perkins may have come at halftime, when he told team captain Paul Pierce (who scored five first-half points) to pick it up.
Kendrick Perkins told Paul Pierce to step it up; then he stepped up himself. (Globe Staff Photo/Jim Davis)
“It’s the first time (I’ve called him out),” said Perkins. “He’s called me out a lot.”
The captain (20 points after the break) and the young big men both responded in the second half.
“I was really proud of Perk and Al,” Pierce said in the locker room after the game. “They stood up to him (Garnett) and didn’t back down against a former MVP.”
“You just gotta go out there,” said Perkins, who received more media attention after the game than he has had all year. “He’s not gonna back down, but you can’t back down either.”
Perkins, who is not used to being the focal point of the offense, said he felt comfortable in the scorer’s role.
“I’m getting more confidence,” he said. “It takes some time to get back into it when you don’t play a lot of minutes. I pretty much sat on the bench for two years, but hard work pays off.”
Other notes from behind the scenes at the game:
Doc Rivers on the Mark Blount trade rumors:
“We (Rivers and Blount) had a really good conversation today. I don’t know if it was affecting him or not. I wasn’t going to take that chance. I go all around with that. In some cases I don’t say anything.”
Doc acknowledged that the rumors were bothering the Celtics somewhat.
“It affects your team. There’s nothing you can do about it. Everyone starts thinking, ‘is it me too?’ But we haven’t addressed it as a team. I don’t want to know every trade rumor from the GM. It clutters your mind. When it gets close enough to ‘should we or shouldn’t we’, that’s when I want to know.”
Then, sounding like he believed a trade would happen, Doc continued.
“I believe as a coach, (if he gets traded), I should be the one who tells him.”
Blount left the arena shortly after the game without talking to the media.
Paul Pierce speaks out:
I caught up with Pierce in the locker room before the game, eating chicken soup. Some of his comments:
On the playoffs: “Every game is crucial for us. Despite our struggles, we’re a couple of games out of the eighth (playoff) spot. We're still fighting. We're still coming to play. We feel like we can turn this around every second. We've got to be able to make plays at the end of the game. “
On possibly playing Detroit in the first round: “Maybe we’d be better getting the seventh spot. At least we would get to go to Miami.”
On losing now compared to earlier in his career: “It hurts all the same, but I don’t let it affect the people around me (now). I don’t go into a shell.”
On turning things around: “I don’t think we’re that far off. Toward the end of the year, these close games, we’re gonna start winning.”
Tony Allen injury update
Before last night’s game, Allen worked on one end of the floor on his lateral movements, catching the ball, making quick cuts, and going up for jumpers. He did not look to be in pain.
“One day it (the knee) feels good, the next day it feels sore,” Allen said prior to the game. “I just gotta fight through this year, let it rest this summer, and come back for next year.”
When asked what was still missing from his game, Allen replied, “I ain’t got my bounce. I've got to get my bounce back.”
Allen has played in only seven games so far this season.
