Kendrick Perkins in the 2010-11 Season
September 7, 2010
By Anthony Pino of DodgingTraffic.com
What can we really expect out of Perk this season?
Losing Kendrick Perkins in Game 6 of the NBA Finals last season sucked. It can be agued that the Celtics most likely would have won the championship had Perkins been available for Game 7. The past is the past, though, and now we have to start thinking about what the Celtics are going to be able to get out of Perk this season.
A big man with a bad knee is not a good thing to have, and luckily the C’s have tried to address this issue proactively with the addition of Jermaine and Shaquille O’Neal to the roster. Neither of those two guys is the defensive presence in the post that Kendrick Perkins has been for the Celtics the past few years though. A big part of the team defense that works so well for the Celtics is the fact that they can leave Perk alone on the block against the opposing center. This allows KG to step up to meet guards coming off screens, allows Pierce and Ray to be aggressive on the perimeter, and allows Rondo to take risks that result in steals and sometimes fast break points. The question to ask now is: Will Perk be able to provide that kind of defensive presence this season, this postseason, or ever again?
It’s still questionable as to when Perk is due back on the court. I’ve heard reports as early as December and as late as March. What we can do is look at recent big men with similar injuries and see how long it took them to back into action. Two NBA big men who come to mind with recent torn ACL’s are Nene and Al Jefferson.
Let’s take a look at Big Al first since he has a connection to the C’s and Perk in particular. Jefferson tore his ACL in a game in early February 2009. He missed the final 32 games of the 08-09 season and an additional 6 games in 09-10. He was kept out of almost all parts of training camp that offseason.
Big Al went from being a workhorse in the Twolves lineup averaging nearly 37 minutes per game to 32.4 the following season. He experienced significant dips in his per game averages as well,going from 23.1 points and 11 rebounds per game in 08-09 to 17.1 and 9.3 in 09-10. It’s tough to judge this entirely based on Al’s injury because the Twolves suck and they also added Kevin Love during that time who put up 14 points and 11 rebounds per game himself. The addition of Love took the ball out of Al’s hands at times, but Al still took a significant step back the season following the knee injury.
The second player we can look at is Nene. Nene was a productive player for Denver when he tore his ACL in the 05-06 season. He played just one game that season and started just 42 games the next season. He played in only 16 games the season after that in 07-08 but that was more due to his battle with cancer than knee injury. Regardless of cancer treatment we can still see it took Nene quite a bit of time to come back to ful strength and speed on the court.
We can even see the residual effects of knee troubles on the Celtics own roster. It’s plain to see KG still isn’t the same guy who won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2008, and Tony Allen took over a calendar year to regain the speed and jumping ability he had when he went down with a knee injury.
So really what can we expect from Perk when he comes back? In 08-09 Perk averaged 29.6 minutes per game, and in 09-10 he averaged 27.6 minutes. I wouldn’t expect him to be able to contribute more than 20 minutes per game in the postseason this year. In a 48 minute playoff game we can probably expect to see Shaq, Perk, and Jermaine O’Neal for 16-20 minutes each at center. The Celtics will need little to nothing from Perk offensively this season, but depending on whether or not the O’Neal twins can keep the defensive rotations and intensity going at their age, they may need Perk to step up defensively against guys like Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh in the playoffs.
If there is anything we can hope for with Perkins at this point it’s that he doesn’t come back too early and reinjure himself, or too late and never get in shape. The C’s training and medical staff have their work cut out for them on this one.
Original Article: http://www.dodgingtraffic.com/blog/?p=5306
Tas Melas to talk hoops on CLNS tomorrow night
September 5, 2010
“Meet in the trap, it’s going down. Meet me in the mall, it’s going down. Meet me in the club, it’s going down. Anywhere you meet me guaranteed it’s going down.” – Young Joc
If I can guarantee one thing that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours or so, it is this: It’s going to be going down tomorrow night at 9pm on The Celtics Late Night Show. After already confirming Tim Povtak from AOL FanHouse earlier this week, we just confirmed that the one and only Tas Melas from The Basketball Jones will also be joining us for what is sure to be a crazy edition of The Celtics Late Night Show.
As a host of the show, I can truly tell you this episode will qualify for the second or third most excited I’ve ever been to host a show. We’re bringing in the author of this past week’s most controversial Celtics article, as well as one of the most humorous and knowledgeable NBA personalities out there, all in one show! As the person responsible for scheduling guests, it’s safe to say my ego is pretty high right now.
If all goes as planned, Tim Povtak will join us around 9:15 to discuss his most recent article, in which he quoted the Celtics as being “scared to death” of the Miami Heat. We will kindly question Tim on his choice of words in the article, as well as get his take on everything going on in both Miami and Boston.
We also plan on making this show in particular more “NBA related” rather than “Celtics related”. Last week A. Sherrod Blakely helped us run through the list of questions surrounding the Celtics upcoming season, and this week we’ll be bringing in a non-biased source in Tas Melas to breakdown the upcoming NBA season. We’ll get his take on what’s going to go down in the Eastern Conference, what’s going to happen in Miami, and much more.
As always, we’ll also be taking your calls to discuss all the happenings in Celtics Nation and the NBA. Call us at 877-245-6136. You can also submit questions for either guests by sending them to our mailbag.
Tim Povtak to discuss most recent article on CLNS Monday at 9pm
September 3, 2010
Tim Povtak, staff writer for AOL Fanhouse, will be joining Brandon and Nick on Monday night for what is sure to be a very entertaining episode of The Celtics Late Night Show. Tim recently wrote an article for FanHouse about the Celtics offseason moves, and went as far as to say the Celtics are “scared to death” of what’s going on in South Beach.
We will bring Tim on the show and kindly question him about some of the things he stated in his article. If you can not listen to the episode live Monday at 9pm, it will be available on our “Episodes” page, as well as on iTunes. You are also welcome to stop by our live chat during the show on the “Listen Live” page.
With Tim’s permission, we will also be selecting a select number of questions out of our mailbag to ask Tim. So, submit those questions here and he may just answer them live on the show!
What Does the Delonte Signing Mean?
September 2, 2010
By Anthony Pino of DodgingTraffic.com
Does the addition of Delonte West to the Celtics mean a whole lot for this upcoming season? Well aside from the bonus fact that after West’s ten game suspension is served we’ll never have to see Marquis Daniels in a role other than defensive stopper again.
Since the rise of the New Big Three, Danny Ainge has spent every trade deadline trying to add a guard who can be a reasonable backup off the bench for Rajon Rondo. In 2008 he added Sam Cassell, who brought more experience and leadership for Rondo to lean on, but little in the way of on court contributions. In 2009 we had a cup of Vaseline with Stephon Marbury. It’s debatable as to whether or not Danny can be blamed for not checking out the fact that Starbury had lost his mind, but we all know he contributed very little. This past season Danny added Nate Robinson at the deadline. This has been his most successful trade for a guard yet (well aside from Ray Allen) and after the Shrek and Donkey game, Nate earned himself a new contract with the C’s. Nate still isn’t the true distributor and defender the Celtics needed to back up Rondo with the second unit, and he’s not the kind of guard you’d want running the first team offense if Rondo should ever go out with an injury. He’s a scorer first and foremost, and he’s a good addition to the team, but he’s not really a backup PG.
Danny seems to have addressed this problem early this year by signing Delonte West this summer instead of waiting until the deadline and losing a player or two in the process.
Delonte is certainly nowhere close to the caliber of player that Rondo is, but coming off the bench I think we can expect 8-10 pts and 3-4 assists per game from him. He can efficiently handle a game if the need arises from Rondo to sit from time to time or even miss a couple games. He may still play a very limited role here, and Nate may get the majority of the minutes over him, but his presence on the team is comforting in the event Rondo gets injured or even having another guard to turn to if Nate goes down.
Rondo is a small guy, and he takes a big beating most nights. The way he is treated by opposing big men is reminiscent of Allen Iverson, and Iverson was hampered by injuries at certain points in his career. A smaller guy can only take so much abuse. I think Danny made a good move adding another guard to the mix, even if it’s just an insurance policy.
Is there anything a team of aging vets needs more than insurance? Also it doesn’t hurt that Delonte’s ugly mug will be looking across the court winking at Lebron’s mom when the C’s come up against Miami in the playoffs this spring.
Original Article: http://www.dodgingtraffic.com/blog/?p=5242
Brandon to guest on “A Little Bit Of This” tonight at 8:15
September 1, 2010
“A Little Bit of This”
Tonight
at
8:00 PM
It’s been a while since one of us on The Celtics Late Night Show/Gino’s Jungle have worked our way onto another sports talk show, but tonight I plan to take my talents to “A Little Bit of This”, a show hosted by our good friend AEM. The title of his show says it all, we’ll talk a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.
He has given me a small preview of what we will be talking about. That list includes Sheed, LeFraud, and for some odd reason the Lakers. All three of those topics I have not liked at one point or another, so it should be interesting. You can listen to the show by going to this page here.
Oh, by the way, if it sounds like Dick Vitale talking, then you’ve tuned into the right place. Enjoy!
CLNS is back tomorrow night at 9pm!
August 29, 2010
After a two-week hiatus, The Celtics Late Night Show will be back tomorrow night (Monday) at 9pm EST. We will be joined by A. Sherrod Blakely from Comcast Sports Net New England. Since we last talked a lot has gone down in Celtics Nation (I just have to brainstorm all of it before tomorrow night). I’m sure we’ll talk a little Shaq, a little roster talk, and we may even start some preseason predictions.
Of couse, we’re not just going to be talking between ourselves and Sherrod, even I get sick of hearing Nick’s voice sometimes. So that means that we’re going to need YOU to call in! The phone lines will be open once we let Sherrod off the hook, and will stay open as long as the calls are coming in.
Call us toll free at (877)-245-6136
The Celtics Late Night Show would also like to ask a big favor from all our listeners. Today, we created a quick ten questions survey in hopes of helping us make the show better and more enjoyable for you. If you could take five minutes out of your time to take the survey it would be greatly appreciated. You can fill out the survey below!
CLNS is on vacation!
August 23, 2010
We at CLNS are sorry to inform that we will not be broadcasting live tonight at 9pm EST. Although we strive to work hard to bring you top notch Celtics entertainment, sometimes these brains, fingers, and voices need a little rest.
Nick is drinking wine somewhere in Cape May, New Jersey while I sit here typing this and working on scheduling some top notch guests for the month of September. Must be nice, huh Nick? Anyways, we will be back next Monday at 9pm with A.Sherrod Blakely from Comcast Sports Net. You can guarantee that we will be back and we will be better than ever, as long as Nick isn’t still hungover from vacation.
In the meantime be sure to check out all of our network sites for all your Celtics news and notes. Here’s a quick rundown if you happened to forget all 10,000 five of our network sites: Gino’s Jungle, North Station Sports, Celtics 24/7, NBA Primetime and Dodging Traffic.
We can’t wait to get back at it and hear from you next week! Be sure to check the CLNS site often for all the latest news regarding upcoming shows, guest appearances, and much more. At the same time, be sure to subscribe for text message updates regarding show information. We won’t spam you!
CLNS Tonight: A Sheed-Tastic and Shaq-Tastic Show
August 9, 2010
The Celtics Late Night Show will be live tonight!
9PM EST on Blog Talk Radio and CelticsLateNightShow.com
Tonight’s special guest will be Gary Washburn from The Boston Globe!
Earlier today Gary broke the story that Rasheed Wallace WILL be retiring, according to his agent. Washburn is kind enough to join us and discuss the story live. We will be going in-depth with possible ways the Celtics can get rid of Sheed’s contract.
Following Washburn’s depature from the show we will be going in-depth on the topic that took over Celtics Nation during the past week. That being the newest addition, “The Big Shamrock”, Shaquille O’Neal. We want to hear YOUR opinion on the Shaq signing. The toll free call-in number is 1-877-245-6136. We expect the call lines to be over flooding with excited (or pissed off) Celtics fans. No opinion will be shut down (just try to keep it clean).
CLNS is also proud to announce that tonight’s show will be the first show in partnership with Celtics 24/7. CLNS is now the “official podcast” of Celtics 24/7 and we will soon be hosting their forums live on the CLNS page. This will give listeners a chance to discuss all things Celtics when we are not on air. Tune in tonight for more details about the partnership with Celtics 24/7.
Listen/Chat Live at 9pm by clicking here.
Tonight The Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy
August 2, 2010
The Celtics Late Night Show
Tonight
at
9 pm, EST
Featured Guest
The Boston Globes and ESPN Magazine’s
Dan Shaughnessy
Definitely one of the more exciting interviews of the off-season, Dan committed to a half hour Q and A on a variety of topics. The list includes, the Celtics off-season moves, Danny Ainge’s decision to keep the core-four together, the Miami Heat circus and much more.
Shaugnessy, a popular writer for both the Boston Globe and ESPN Magazine is widely regarded as one of the better sports writers in New England.
Working for over twenty years as a Celtics beat writer for the Boston Globe, Shaugnessy is sure to shed some light on the numerous offseason moves that have been made thus far by Danny Ainge, and how he feels this team will finish come April.
In addition to our interview with Dan, we will be taking your calls all night on a variety of topics.
No Topic off Limits/No Call Left Behind
877.245.6136
Toll Free!
Listen/Chat Live
Tonight: Maine Red Claws Forward, Maurice Ager
July 12, 2010
