Things I enjoyed reading over the weekend

Posted by Zach Lowe on Apr 6, 2009 12131 commenthttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2009%2F04%2F06%2Fthings-i-enjoyed-reading-over-the-weekend%2FThings+I+enjoyed+reading+over+the+weekend2009-04-06+12%3A39%3A31Zach+Lowehttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D1213

• The Herald’s got a nice story on the development of Kendrick Perkins on both ends of the floor. Amid some of the predictable quotes about stepping up in KG’s absence and the work Perk puts in with Clifford Ray, we get a nice basketball observation from Doc:

“The benefit Perk has is no one’s going to double team him. He can dribble 10 times and no one’s going to help. He’s taking advantage of that now.”

This is exactly why Perk can be a useful weapon on offense.

And Paul Pierce kicks the “Perk for All-Defense” campaign up a notch:

“So if he doesn’t make the all-defensive team it will be a conspiracy.”

• A couple of nice tidbits on our favorite subject: the development of Rajon Rondo’s jump shot.

First, a look at Rondo’s practice habits from WEEI’s C’s blog, Green Street:

Rajon Rondo spent the last five minutes of Friday morning’s shootaround in Waltham setting up behind the three-point line. He was making them at roughly a 50 percent rate.

And from Scott Souza, we get Perk’s recounting of Rondo’s three-pointer as the shot clock expired on Friday night:

“He didn’t want no pick or nothing. He just said to clear it out. He had the shot.”

Finally, the Herald gives us this worried piece about how KG recently passed Larry Legend on the all-time minutes played list (he’s over 42,000 now; Legend finished with 41,329), and how this bodes badly for KG’s future health. (Interesting note: KG’s played far more minutes than Ray Allen, who’s at about 37,000, and Paul Pierce, who’s at 33,000). Some great quotes from Larry as he discusses the toll all the extra playoff minutes took on the 1980s Celtics:

“KG played more minutes than I did in my career, so there has to be some wear and tear there. It’s going to have an impact. Look at how (Kevin) McHale walks now. You can see that he played on a broken ankle for us in (the 1987 playoffs).”

And the Magic-Bird rivalry continues:

“I have no doubt that if we had stayed healthy we would have won one more title than we did. But everyone was hurt in ’87. But our style was for everyone to just keep going. The Lakers (were hurt) too, but they got through it.”

A reminder of why the Chief lasted so long in the league:

Of the original Big Three, only Robert Parish, who discovered the fountain of youth through vegetarianism and martial arts, was unaffected by the passing years.

“But one big thing with Robert was that he never picked up a ball during the summer,” said Bird. “He did a really good job taking care of his body.”

Nice job by Mark Murphy turning what could have been a run-of-the-mill doom and gloom story into something more interesting.

• CelticsBlog has another poll out asking which team you’d LEAST like to face in the first round among the Heat, Sixers, Bulls and Pistons. Miami is winning with 57 percent (!) of the vote. Sorta surprising.

• Red’s Army has a tribute to Eddie House.