Perkins Arrested

"Former Celtic Kendrick Perkins was arrested early Saturday morning in his hometown of Beaumont, Texas on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct. Both are misdemeanors. According to reports, Perkins posted bond shortly after being booked and was released from Jefferson County Correctional Facility. Police said that Perkins was allegedly fighting the manager of a club called The Ticket when they arrived, according to an AP report (WEEI)."



This will all blow over and nothing will come of it, but damn I would not want to be the one that fights Perkins. Dude always looks pissed, not to mention is a huge guy. Imagine being the cops on this scene, you get there and you see a 7 foot, drunk, angry, Perkins beating up some manager. Honestly, I'd just go home.

So Does The Thunder Loss Mean Kendrick Perkins Wasn't The Second Coming Of Christ?

So now that the Thunder are out of the playoffs is it time that we finally realize the Kendrick Perkins deal didn't make a lick of difference? In fact there was an article last week that said, "To put a finer point on things, let's replace the word "starters" with "Kendrick Perkins." In his 82 minutes on the court, the Thunder have been outscored by a whopping 32 points. In his 62 minutes on the bench, the advantage has titled nearly as strongly the other way: The Thunder are plus-23.

And those slow starts? They've magically ended at the exact second Perkins departed. Oklahoma City trailed by five in Game 1 before he went out, by nine in Game 2, and by 15 in this one -- 29 points worth of deficits to make up the rest of the night. The Thunder overcame it in Game 2 by scoring on nine straight possessions right after Perk went to the bench; in the other two games, the hill was too big to climb.

Of course, this could just be noise. Sometimes plus-minus fluctuates randomly for reasons that have little to do with a player's performance. After watching the three games, however, this isn't one of those cases. For starters, Perkins has made a limited statistical contribution, with only 11 points and 14 rebounds in the three games. His main function seemed to be going out of his way to run into Tyson Chandler off the ball."

So it happened to the Thunder too. They realized that Perk is just what everyone says he is, "a big body with a mean snarl" he is not a good offensive player and hurts the offense more than helps it and much like when he was with the Celtics, he finds himself on the bench at the end of games because Nick Collison is a better option.

I'm not trying to bad mouth Perkins, but the absolute bashing of the trade needs to finally be put to the end. The Celtics wouldn't have got passed the Heat with Perk, and Perk obviously isn't the guy that puts a contending team over the top. Everyone shut up and stop bad mouthing Ainge.

Consider It Message Sent Mr. Westbrook

Russell Westbrook did not play in the fourth quarter of Game 2 on Thursday as head coach Scott Brooks played Kevin Durant and other reserves, including point guard Eric Maynor.

Westbrook stated again that he was fine and that he won't complain as long as the team won the game.

"Not when we're winning," Westbrook said. "I'm good. I'm just sitting there just waiting to get my name called."

While some may think this was a big deal, Brooks says his decision to sit Westbrook in the last quarter should not be taken that way.

"I had that decision [whether or not to bring Westbrook back] for the last six or so minutes, but I thought ... we were increasing the lead. We were making shots. I didn't want to mess with the rhythm. I usually will sub him in. Very rarely have I ever done that since Russell has been here (ESPN)."

This has been a long time coming. I saw a stat the other day that Westbrook is shooting 10 more shots a game since the playoffs start. He is the reason they have lost a couple of games in the playoffs. Don't get me wrong I don't think they go very far without him, but this is a much better team when he actually plays point guard. He needs to realize that Durant is the star of this team, not him, he needs to set the table and drive to the basket when it's open. Hopefully, this will get through his thick head, and actually I think it will.

NBA PLAYOFFS Round 2 Preview

The first round is in the books (as is Game 1 of the second round for both Boston/Miami and OKC/Memphis) and we're on to the Conference Semifinals.

In my playoff power rankings I touched on a few things that proved to be correct, and a few things I narrowly missed on. The Hornets did need Chris Paul to play other-wordly to beat the Lakers, and for two games he was just that. Unfortunately, they couldn't expect him to do that for the whole series and Los Angeles survived an ugly 1st round series. I also mentioned that everyone was loving Portland but I still had a feeling Dallas might have one more run in the tank...and it looks like they do. On the other hand I gave Indiana no chance to win a game against Chicago and they took two! Chicago doesn't look nearly as scary when Rose is shooting poorly. I also misread the ORL/ATL series in round one, despite the fact that my gut told me Orlando was really bad. I still don't believe in Atlanta much, but hopefully they can make the series with Chicago entertaining.

And with that...let's get into some series previews.


EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. Chicago Bulls vs. 5. Atlanta Hawks

Indiana did exactly what any team should try and do against the Bulls - which is to try and contain Rose to long jumpers and trap him off of pick and rolls. They had some success, although Rose ultimately was too much to handle with his athleticism. Let's get this out there right now - you can't keep him away from the rim for a whole game unless he decides to do so. He isn't a high percentage shooter, and certainly wasn't shooting well against Indiana, but he still gets his points on layups, dunks and free throws when he's not going well. Keeping him out of the paint and off the line will be paramount to Atlanta's success. The Hawks will also want to keep a long arm in the face of Kyle Korver who was a big shot factory in round one. I normally hate on Korver pretty hard but he was big in round one, when no other Bulls were really stepping up.
Carlos Boozer can sometimes struggle against lengthy defenders like Horford and Pachulia, so it will be key for Noah to have a big series on both ends.

Bulls win if...Rose is Rose and scores and distributes. (I know sounds simple, but I really think that is all they need.)

Hawks win if...Rose continues poor shooting, or gets banged up and Joe Johnson starts earning some of that contract he got.

PREDICTION - Bulls in 5.



2. Miami Heat vs. 3. Boston Celtics

Game one is already in the books, and we know what happened there. Pierce came unraveled and Wade had a tremendous game as Miami jumped to an early big lead and never looked back.
Three things concern me about the first game for the Celtics.
1) Rondo lacked the aggression he showed through most of the NYK series. (Although to be fair, he was in foul trouble)
2) Jermaine O'Neal was nowhere to be found. (He was huge against Knicks and needs to be in this series. He should be tearing up Joel Anthony on both ends)
3) Lack of effort. All game long it looked like they were reaching for loose balls and grasping as Heat players as they got burned on D, instead of moving their feet and getting after it. After a long break they shouldn't come out like that - and you know Doc was on 'em about it. I don't expect that to last, but it needs to change fast.

Van Gundy and company made a salient point yesterday in that Miami has the most athletic perimeter in the league and the extra pass (something Boston usually does quite well) will be key in this series. And on defense they really need to stay home on James Jones and Mike Miller and get their rotations tighter.
Look for Miami to exploit their athleticism all series long and the drive and dish for three should be their main weapon of choice.

Miami wins if...Rondo can't destroy MIA PGs and Wade and James display great cohesion.

Boston wins if...They use their veteran presence to get under skin on Miami role players - and King James for that matter. (NOT reacting like Pierce did yesterday.)

PREDICTION - Boston in 7.



WESTERN CONFERENCE

2. Los Angeles Lakers vs. 3. Dallas Mavericks

Hard to believe but this is the first time in the "Dirk/Kobe" era that these two have met in the playoffs. It should be a great series both on and off the court, as I can't wait to see some Mark Cuban shenanigans and hopefully some firing back and forth between he and Zen Master Phil.
As I think about this series, I'm not really sure what to make of it. Part of me wants to think Dallas has a real shot - especially with the Lakers recent play and Kobe maybe a bit banged up and certainly getting long in the tooth. However, I just think LA has been doing this too long, and ultimately Kobe, Gasol, Odom and Bynum will be too much for Dirk and company. However, if Jason Kidd can exploit the PG position somewhat like Chris Paul - obviously in a much less dynamic fashion - and Jason Terry can shake loose for his patented big shots they might be able to pull it off. I think stealing a game 1 in LA would be a huge boost to the effort.

Los Angeles wins if... Gasol comes out of his hole and starts resembling the player that we saw in last year's playoffs and they dominate the glass.

Dallas wins if... Dirk plays huge all series and Chandler can make Gasol into a jelly donut like New Orleans did.


PREDICTION - Los Angeles in 6.



4. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. 8. Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis took game one on the road in convincing fashion yesterday. It might be time to start believing in Memphis. They basically tore up a dilapidated San Antonio team, and have now taken the home court from Oklahoma City - who many saw as the best team in the West. Zach "Zebo" Randolph has been huge in these playoffs and the Grizzlies actually have a very 'OKC up-and-comer' type of feel about them. They are a fairly young team with nothing to lose and playing with a certain swagger. It also seems that Pau had his mojo stolen by his little brother, Marc Gasol who is playing as well as Pau is playing poorly.
On the other hand, if OKC can avoid panicking and another me-against-the-world type of game from Russell Westbrook they should still pull this series out.

Oklahoma City wins if... Durant gets off and Westbrook reverts back to his "Robin" ways and quits trying to play "Batman". (That's Durant's job)

Memphis wins if... Zebo keeps playing well and Durant gets shutdown by Tony Allen and the Grizzlie perimeter defenders.

PREDICTION - Oklahoma City in 7