Kendrick Perkins never had an issue getting attention on the court. The only problem was, it wasn't always for the right reasons.
In the first half of last season, Perkins was a technical foul magnet. He became better known for his emotions rather than his game. Perkins entered this season, however, with a new attitude.
After dropping 15 pounds this summer, he gained something else – a new-found focus on the court.
“I worked hard this summer on my basketball,” he said during the preseason. “I think my mentality is a lot better. I'm locked in as far as the season, trying not to have any distractions.”
Perkins' concentration has been noted at the foul line, where he is sending significantly less players. Heading into Friday's game against the Suns, Perkins was ranked 38th among all NBA centers with just 2.3 personal fouls per game. Last season he averaged 3.3, the year prior 3.1.
“I think you just kind of grow with it,” said Perkins, who turns 25 next week. “I think when you get in better shape you want to really go out there on the court because you worked so hard, so you want to go and show people what you worked on.”
In Friday night's Celtics' 110-103 loss to the Suns, Phoenix' Amare Stoudemire saw what Perkins had been working on. To him, maturity was not one of them.
“To be honest with you, no,” Stoudemire said after the game. “I mean he's a solid player out there. He loves to get physical, he's aggressive, he keeps a lot of confrontation going. We try to play smart basketball from my standpoint. We try to stay out of the confrontation and really just go out there and execute our plays offensively and defensively, but it seems some times he wants to keep it up.”
For the second game in a row, Perkins was only whistled for one personal foul. That foul, however, was committed against Stoudemire in the second quarter. Less than five minutes later, Perkins and Channing Frye were called for double technicals. Those calls seemed to have made an impression on Stoudemire.
“He's always mean, always mad, he don't ever have fun out there,” he said. “He doesn't know how to have fun on the basketball court and just enjoy life and enjoy the game.”
But for Doc Rivers, who has watched Perkins grow over the last five years, there is a noticeably positive change in the Celtics big man this season. He is averaging 9.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game thanks to improved agility and range. His mid-range jumper has now expanded his repertoire which was previously limited to post moves. Perkins was also tied with the Mavericks Erick Dampier for most blocks (14) through the Celtics first six games of the season.
And Rivers isn't alone in his opinion. Suns head coach Alvin Gentry referred to Perkins as one of the most under-appreciated centers in the league before Friday's game.
“I just think that’s earned and I think Perk is doing it,” Rivers said. “Even without coaches doing it, coaches know. You always know who are defending, who plays the right way. We may not say it enough about other teams and what their players do but we know it going into the game. Today, we said a few very good things about some of the guys on their team. So coaches know. And it’s good for Perk, too, because he does have the role where you don’t get a lot of notoriety. You don’t get notoriety for setting picks and rebounding and playing defense. I wish guys like that got more of it.”
There are bound to be heated moments in basketball, especially between two tough competitors like Perkins and Stoudemire. But Perkins' goal is to see past the moments and stay focused on the big picture. He hopes that will earn him championship hardware rather than hard fouls.
“We got a ring and we're trying to get another ring,” he said. “You start looking at it and certain guys don't have that many years, and we're probably not going to be in this situation again in our career. If we do, we might luck out but I don't think we should just take it for granted.”
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