The Herald got it right from Rondo’s agent. According to his agent, Bill Duffy, the Celtics point guard has been named to the Eastern Conference All-star roster, presumably to replace Joe Johnson, the injured Atlanta Hawks guard. This would be Rondo’s third all-star appearance. Nice birthday present for RR, who probably should have been selected [...]
We apologize if your comments are being deleted (provided that they are not offensive). We are looking into why this is happening. We also want to apologize for the lack of a game thread for last night’s game. We had a premonition that the Celtics would play that poorly and thought if we pretended the [...]
I talked with Detroit star forward Greg Monroe prior to the Celtics-Pistons game on Wednesday night. Here is what the 2nd year big man out of Georgetown, who is averaging 16.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game had to say. 1. Just your 2nd year in the league, but playing so well, were you disappointed [...]
Readers! Last week’s responses to the 5-on-5 questions were really, really great. We had way more qualified answers than we were able to use. So we’re going to keep doing it! FOREVER. Here are this week’s questions: 1. Are you concerned about Rondo’s media boycott this week? 2. The trade deadline is less than a [...]
I talked with Chicago starting guard Ronnie Brewer prior to the Celtics-Bulls game on Sunday. Here is what the 6th year man out of Arkansas who is averaging 7.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists had to say. 1. You guys have a lot of the same players back from last year’s team which was [...]
I talked to Los Angeles back up big man Josh McRoberts prior to the Celtics-Lakers game Thursday night at the Garden. Here is what the former Duke Blue Devil, who is averaging 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in his first year in LA, had to say. 1. How have you guys been able to deal [...]
After the shootaround, his agent, Bob Myers, called and told him of the possibility of a deal. Perkins had no clue.
“I was pretty surprised,” Perkins told ESPNBoston via telephone. “I had no idea. I talked to Doc [Rivers] and he said he wasn’t pushing it, that he was trying to stop it.”
Rivers said he did stop it. That was Perkins Deal No. 1, according to the coach.
“At the time I talked to him, it was a different deal and I did put a stop to that one. But I also told him that something might still happen,” Rivers said.
Soon, Perkins Deal No. 2 came along and Rivers then had to say goodbye to a player he had, he said, come to regard as a son.
“It was the most difficult thing I have had to since I’ve been in the league,” Rivers said. “It was like sending one of your kids along the way. It can be very hard to separate the basketball from the personal and this one was definitely that for me. Perk had great spirit. He had the intangibles you look for. We all decided to make the trade, but, for me, it hurt. It hurt a lot.”
Perk has adoped a mature approach to the trade:
“Obviously, I am going to miss Boston a lot,” he said. “I talked to Danny [Ainge] on the phone the day the deal was done. It was hard for both of us. We go back a long way. But I understand that this is the business part of it. “I look back and I have to be pleased with everything they did for me, from bringing me there from high school. I am grateful for all the experiences, to be able to be a part of a championship team. It was all great. No complaints. I was blessed to be there for eight years.”
Perk and the Thunder took down the Heat last night, but not before Dwayne Wade threw down this jam:
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RONDO’S HEALTH
Is Rajon Rondo hurt or not? We’ve been speculating on that topic around here for a few days now.
Here’s the CliffsNotes version: Kevin Garnett said Rondo is playing hurt; Coach Doc Rivers said it’s a slump and that KG is misinformed; Captain Paul Pierce said to go ask Rondo; Rondo didn’t address the media Wednesday. You dig?
“Rondo’s playing hurt,” said Garnett. “He’s giving us everything he has and he’s grinding. I think the nights where he’s playing countless minutes for us, and he’s not playing washed up guys. He’s playing [Indiana's Darren Collison] and [New Jersey's Deron Williams] and all these guys and they’re coming at him. He knows that, so he’s just a little focused in. But everybody’s banged up at this point and [Rondo] is no different from that.”
While the Celtics get their stories straight on Rondo’s injury or lack thereof, Paul Pierce gets to the heart of the matter on Rondo’s up and down play over the last couple of weeks:
“I thought he played a good floor game today,” said Pierce after last night’s win. “But I think he could be a little more aggressive offensively with shots and going to the hole.”
That’s exactly it. When Rondo doesn’t break down the defense off-the-dribble, his game becomes a pass or shoot proposition from the perimeter. He can be effective from that position, finding players cutting along the baseline but it removes what makes him a unique player on offense: his ability to shift the defense and take advantage of emerging angles to create good shots for his teammates.
Feel free to sit and wonder if it’s an injury that’s reduced Rondo’s aggressiveness towards the basket or a fear of being sent to the line for free throws. Either could be the culprit.
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MIKE AND TOMMY
The Celtics celebrated the 30-year partnership of Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn last night at the Garden. Julian Benbow reports from the Boston Globe:
One of their keys is knowing not to take themselves or their jobs too seriously. It still strikes Gorman that for most Celtics fans, he’s been the only voice they’ve known, because to him that voice is Johnny Most.
But he and Heinson developed a chemistry from Day 1, when, as Gorman tells it, Gorman came with a library’s worth of notes and Heinsohn told him he wouldn’t be needing them.
Gorman had worked on a network level with two-hour production meetings, laundry lists of anecdotes and tidbits.
Planning, planning, planning.
“So often you’ll see, especially on a big network game,” Gorman said. “It’ll take them half the game to catch up with what’s really happening because they have these preloaded lists.”
That’s how Gorman learned it covering Big East basketball.
“He’s so smooth,” Heinsohn said. “And he’s GQ.”
Describing Heinsohn’s approach, he flips the night’s game notes across the table, “Tommy is like, Just sit down and go wherever the game takes you.”
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