Thanks, glad you enjoy it !
I've just finished the Perkins February '11 trade chapter and it didn't disappoint, since it contains a huge information (for which I created
another thread, since it seems more appropriate) : the initial deal discussed by Danny with OKC was supposed to get us James Harden for Perkins.
- The chapter goes in depth about Perk's reputation among the team. Basically, all this teammates loved him (especially his BFF Rondo, nothing new here), Doc too, but Ainge didn't consider him as important as they did. For example, while Doc and Pierce are convinced that they would have won the '10 Finals had Perk not been injured (and Pat Riley believes it too FWIW), Ainge doesn't believe it : "He insisted that the absence of Perkins had been more than offset by the production of backup center Rasheed Wallace, who generated 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in 36 minutes while starting. 'It would have been nice to have Perk come off the bench but Rasheed was playing great', said Ainge, who was convinced Wallace's offense had given the Celtics their best chance to win".
I'm wondering if Danny is truly sincere here or simply defending his trade, he does have a valid point but he also conveniently forgets that Rasheed being exhausted (because he was out of shape...) at the end of the game 7 had a huge negative impact too.
- Danny and Doc admit they felt obliged to get a wing to get through LeBron after Marquis went down and since TA had signed with the Grizzlies the previous summer. Just a reminder of how huge his injury was on the team's short-term/long term evolution.
- During the '10 Cavs/Celtics series, Doc and Pierce kept telling KG he had to shoot at least 20 times a game to get advantage of his matchup but he was reluctant to do so because of his team-first mentality. Pierce wouls spend days screaming "20 shots!" at him to remind him (KG averaged 16 shots a game in that series).
- Doc was really high on finding ways to motivate his team and go beyond basketball, he was was always dropping them one-liners or inspiring quotes. To the point where Kevin Eastman, his assistant, created a computer file called "Docisms", which he filled with these quotes.
- One of them was a shot fired at Rondo, apparently : "Doc said one day : 'We may have one leader, we may have two leaders but I [dang] well know this : you've got to leard or get the hell out of the way. Because there cannot be wishy-washy leaders'. The players and coaches figured that Doc was referring to Rondo there."
- During the 07/08 season, the Celtics' practice facility had a empty spot near the 16 championship banners. This space was always lighted, even during the night, to remind the team of the ultimate goal. Rondo enjoyed seeing it lighted even when he practiced late at night.
- When the team won the title, they found an empty banner to replace the blind spot (I think most of us all know of this). And Doc made sure, during practices, that the defensive team was always facing the empty banner. He saw how KG was tired at some point, saw the banner and then got a boost of energy/motivation.
- Regarding the Perkins trade : Ainge admits he was worried about the combination of Perk/Rondo on the floor since the team went through shooting droughts because of their lack of shooting ability. Thinking about the future team, deprived of the Big Three, he thought he could live with one non-shooter but not two.
Ainge also says the team's production with Shaq made him confident, mainly the fact that statistically (as confirmed by Mike Zarren), opponents took 10 % less shots in the paint when Shaq was on the court.
- Ainge recalls offering 22 million over 4 years to Perk as as extension, which he turned down. He says : 'I could not go forward with 9 to 10 million a year, which is what I thought it would be". Ultimately, Perk got 33 million over 4 years from OKC.
- Later, Ainge goes on about how the '04 Pistons are the only team to win without stars. He said, considering the aging of the Big Three, his idea was to try "to do it like Detroit, [...] with 5 or 6 or 7 pieces because Paul's not going to score 41 in a game 7, most likely, against LeBron. And KG is not the best defensive player on the planet right now. Rondo is the most special of our players. He's the one that has the ability to take it to a special leve, more than anyone else on our team."
- LeBron and his crew were glad to learn that Perk was traded, they felt that the team got softer and lost its 'Kevin's protector" (according to Doc's ideas about their feelings). Pat Riley admits the Heat wasn't "unhappy with that trade".
- Pierce made it known he was unhappy about the trade during the rest of the season. He goes at it in long quotes but to sum it up : "[Perk] brought a swagger to our defense. Him and Kevin [were] intimidating for teams to play against. [...] That was our swagger. That was our presence. [...] That was a mental edge that we had on everybody and it was like we gave that up". He also criticizes Ainge for looking at the team from a pure talent perspective while not considering enough of the chemistry in play with Perk. And Pierce concludes the team should have waited for the summer to trade him.
- The team was playing in Denver hours after the trade deadline. The day before the game, Danny calls Doc to tell him he might get James Harden for Perkins. The day of the deadline, he calls him again to tell him the talks are dead. So Doc goes to Perk before shootaround and says : 'Hey, I know you've heard a lot of stuff, it looks like we're safe'.
But later in the morning, Doc has to leave in middle of practice to get Ainge's call. He learns that the deal is done (Perk for Nenad Krstic, Nate Robinson, Jeff Green and 1st round draft pick along with cash). When he gets back to practice, the players look at him like they know something happened. He told Perkins about it once they got back to their hotel and then he told Ray, Paul, KG and Rondo.
According to Thomsen : "Pierce and Garnett let it be known that they didn't like the trade. 'Me and Kevin were real sour on that' said Piece. 'To give up on Perk, that hurt. He was crying. It was tough on me talking to him, I really didn't know what to tell him'. I tried to lift up his spirit but he was a mess. He couldn't believe it'."
- In the locker room before the game, Doc get emotional and cried while saying to the team "we're going to miss him", and some player were also crying.
- Another interesting tidbit : "For Rondo, charged with quarterbacking a remodeled team, the loss of his one close friend left him feeling more isolated than ever".
Topic: Interesting infos regarding the Celtics from The soul of basketball (Read 2689 times)