Scal’s sick, Perk’s shoulder & Baby’s “Apology”

Posted by Brian Robb on May 12, 2009 21921 commenthttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2009%2F05%2F12%2Fscals-sick-perks-shoulder-babys-apology%2FScal%27s+sick%2C+Perk%27s+shoulder+%26+Baby%27s+%22Apology%222009-05-12+18%3A01%3A58Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D2192

The Globe has a lot to report on the big man front this afternoon after the C’s morning shootaround.

“The Celtics’ frontcourt could be tested by the Orlando Magic in tonight’s Game 5 of their second-round playoff series. Forward Brian Scalabrine missed the Celtics’ morning shootaround because of illness, but could be available for the game.

Celtic center Kendrick Perkins (left shoulder) practiced at near full speed and is expected to start.”

First on the good news front, it’s great to see Perk showing no serious ill effects from the shoulder issue which flared up during the Chicago series as well. The guy is a warrior and knows during this series his team needs him now more than ever. Now if he just stopped acting like he hadn’t committed a foul after every time the refs whistle one on him, he would probably be my favorite player on the C’s.

Turning our focus to Scal here, Celtics fans can only hope that the red headed x factor missed the shootaround as a precaution for some type of minor ailment. If he is a limited tonight, it will be interesting to see if Doc decides to go small if his big men get into foul trouble rather than rolling the dice with Mikki Moore for any extended period of time.

Any small lineup could be countered with a two headed monster of Howard and Gortat by Van Gundy, which I’m actually surprised the Magic haven’t tried yet against the weakened Celts front line. We’ll see how this plays out but it will be crucial for the Perk and Big Baby to play smart tonight as the C’s depth is on an even thinner ice than usual.

Finally we have an explanation from Big Baby about his actions following the complaints about his actions after hitting the game winning jumper in game 4. Many Celtics bloggers including CH’s Brendan Jackson touched on the ridiculousness of the Orlando dad that cried foul about Baby’s actions. Baby responded today in the Orlando Sentinel:

“You know what, I’m a big guy,” Davis said. “And sometimes I can’t even feel when I’m sitting on the remote. So imagine if my emotions are going wild and I’m running by somebody and I don’t feel it. So if I’ve hurt anybody or if I’ve done any harm to anybody, please forgive me. Because my intentions were harmless.”

Davis said he didn’t even realize he had made contact with 12-year-old Nicholas Provetti.

“No, I didn’t see the kid. Like I say, I’m a big guy and I’m emotional and I didn’t see him. If I’d have seen I’d knocked him down, I’d have picked him and rubbed his head and try to make him feel better. Because I’m a big guy and I’m sorry if I hurt anyone at all.”

Very classy move by the infant, even if it wasn’t totally unnecessary. Meanwhile, the Orlando dad that caused the uproar is backing down, a day too late if you ask me.

My favorite part of the story though is this excerpt about the man:

Interestingly enough, Provetti said he was a huge Boston Celtics fan before moving to Orlando from New Jersey last year. He said Doc Rivers and Ray Allen are class acts, but thinks the NBA’s overall image is becoming more thuggish.

He planned on going to Boston for Game 7, but thinks otherwise since his facebook was flooded with nasty e-mails on Monday.

I usually would not condone these types of nasty attacks on an individual, but in this case the guy likely deserves all the criticism that heads his way.