<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OKLAHOMA CITY ? Back to normal. Al Jefferson has been struggling with that goal since he first sprained his left ankle the second day of training camp. His coach has been on him for his defense ? or lack of the same ? and his shots have often rolled the wrong way for the better part of a month. But if his 16 points and nine rebounds in the Celtics? 101-87 win over the New Orleans Hornets last night were any indication, the second-year power forward may have rediscovered something. ?Yeah, it feels like things are getting back to normal despite the injury,? said Jefferson, who had openly worried about the lingering soreness in his ankle approximately three weeks ago. He even used the word ?intimidated? to describe the feeling. ?I did say that, but now it feels like I didn?t even have that injury,? he said. ?I don?t even think about it now.? The result is a return of the fluidity in Jefferson?s game that so enticed his teammates and coaches last season. ?He was great,? said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ?We obviously don?t coach any of those moves he makes. ?But he is a rhythm player, and we kept feeding him.?</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">and his shots have often rolled the wrong way for the better part of a month.</div> Anyone else notice this? It's not like he's been way off, but he's been missing shots with a bad roll here or a terrible bounce there, or even just taking bad angles. I wish he could have spent some more time with 'Toine, nobody hits angles underneath like that guy. I can't believe some of the buckets he puts back, and Al would really benefit from a physics lesson from him.
i guess that spells the end of the perkins experiment? Or is rivers still patient enough to start perkins every game?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting hohoyoyoyo:</div><div class="quote_post">i guess that spells the end of the perkins experiment? Or is rivers still patient enough to start perkins every game?</div>Rivers has made it clear that it isn't an experiment with him. He's in there because he can defend and rebound. That's all they want from him.
Patience? <div class="quote_poster">Quoting hohoyoyoyo:</div><div class="quote_post">i guess that spells the end of the perkins experiment? Or is rivers still patient enough to start perkins every game?</div> Uhh...if you think that starting someone that can potentially get you a double double and a couple of blocks (sometimes in a half!) is an experiment then God bless you! Once Perk fouled out in 16 minutes...he had 6 points 7 rebounds and a block in that same amount of time...that's incredible production. His presence alone can change the complexion of a game in the early minutes. One.
yeah i know...i know how good he CAN be heck...i even have him on my fantasy team...but if you look at it closely, he will do ok for one game and really suck in the next.... and with al playing so well...you got to think whether al will be on the starting line up next...since we all know doc like to shuffle around and tempt us with new guys in starting line up
yeah i noticed that too but think about it perkins and al and lafrentz can play FC where al and lafrentz is more of a PF and perkins at C (their best positions) that being said...those 3 are still FC and i also noticed that..blount has played more min these days...wonder why...perkins should get more min like 30 min a game
Al There is little doubt that Al is stepping his game up. I believe that he's just getting into real game shape. His rotations are getting better and there's no question that he is either the first or second best pure scorer on the team. He makes working in the post look easy...and he's only twenty one. It makes me giddy. He's also starting to learn how to pass out of double teams because he's going to see a lot of them. He's still not even close to an NBA defensive player, but he will be. I think that he's better off starting. Raef doesn't really rebound well anymore, and his defense is pretty good on the weak side, but only middling otherwise. That jumper is nice to have, but it also means that they're short a rebounder on the offensive end. I believe that things are starting to shape up for the celts. Al's going to be a big part of it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting postpoint:</div><div class="quote_post">There is little doubt that Al is stepping his game up. I believe that he's just getting into real game shape. His rotations are getting better and there's no question that he is either the first or second best pure scorer on the team. He makes working in the post look easy...and he's only twenty one. It makes me giddy. He's also starting to learn how to pass out of double teams because he's going to see a lot of them. He's still not even close to an NBA defensive player, but he will be. I think that he's better off starting. Raef doesn't really rebound well anymore, and his defense is pretty good on the weak side, but only middling otherwise. That jumper is nice to have, but it also means that they're short a rebounder on the offensive end. I believe that things are starting to shape up for the celts. Al's going to be a big part of it.</div> Well, I don't think we can ask for much more than that. Improvement would be valued right about now. I saw make it a PerkaJeff kind of starting lineup and get rid of this nonsense with LaFrentz. He's been a solid contributor, and fun to watch, for about ten minutes a night, and then he's agonizing to lay eyes on. The face that he had the game of his life this season says a lot as to his perseverance, but we need more than guts running our defensive front line. We could use a little God-given talent, and he just doesn't have much left.
