Is Perk going to be OK for game 6

[Barry Lird]

Just wondering what the latest on Perk is? Will he suit up or not?

[tanner]

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/2008_06_16_Shoulder_shelves_Kendrick_Perkins:_Game_6_status_in_question/srvc=celtics&position=6

Held out of the 103-98 loss to the Lakers in Game 5 because of a strained left shoulder that had required surgery only two years ago, Perkins faced the real possibility that he had played in his last NBA Finals game.

“I would say that would probably be doubtful,” coach Doc Rivers said before the game of Perkins returning to the floor for Game 6 at the Garden. “But I don’t know.”

Equally disturbing, perhaps, was that the normally gung-ho Perkins didn’t have an answer, either.

“It’s a good question,” Perkins said of whether he could play the rest of the series. “I couldn’t tell you. I can raise my arm, but there’s just a lot of pain right now. I don’t know if I can take a hard hit on it. When we get back to Boston I’m supposed to get an MRI on it, and then we’ll know more about it.”

[crownsy]

doubt it, and in my mind its a huge problem. perk was doing quite well on gasol, which freed KG up to eat LO's lunch. now we have a huge matchup problem with odom....

[marekn]

It seemed to me that Celtics really missed Perk in game 5. He would definitely help on defense, when Garnett and PJ Brown had quite a hard time with both Gasol and Odom. I don´t think it´s just a coincidence that both Lakers big guys had such a great game. With Perk out, KG just had to do too much on defense and ended up in foul trouble for the whole game. Hopefully he will be able to play in game 6 and hand out few blocks and hard fouls!

[rickyfan3.0...]

Sounds silly to say, but I don't think KG can cover Gasol...

We need Perk to push him around. Gasol is stronger than Garnett.

WE NEED PERK

[screwedupmaniac]

you've got to be kidding me. paul pierce is trotting around on a bad knee and tweaked ankle. i know this is the shouler he had surgery on, but you can't let the fear of it getting bumped wrong get in the way of THE highlight moment of your career. who knows, this could possibly be the last time perk even gets a chance to win a championship! get some pain meds in ya perk, we need you.

[Bahku]

Yup ... a lot of ice, a little lidocaine, some ultrasound therapy ... buck it up, Big Guy ... you gotta get on the floor!

[cordialb]

Yeah, we got manhandled inside without perk, and while i like brown or posey or powe in the lineup, they are just buying time as the lakers have a huge mismatch inside.  Posey is smart enough to be able to survive a few trips, but for any extended period is tough of us to ask. 

Maybe its time for our 12th man to make a showing.  Big Baby Davis time?  What he lacks in height he makes up for in pancakes.  Even shaq couldnt back him down, and you cant tell me he wouldnt bring energy and hasnt been foaming at the mouth to play. 

[FLCeltsFan]

First,if it was just a matter of a little pain, Perk would have been in there.  He played most of last year with plantar fasciitis so he certainly can suck up the pain.  I think he wasn't able to move it as well and wouldn't have been effective.   

So often people don't see Perk's real value to this team because a lot of what he does won't show up in the box score.  But if you look at Gasol with 13 rebounds and Odom with 11 you know that Perk wasn't there to box them out and keep them off the boards.   You also see Farmar waltzing to the hoop over and over for layups.   Perk wasn't there to stop him at the hoop.  Perk's defense in the paint is so important to this team.  Even KG's struggles may be because of Perk's absence.  I really hope Perk can play in game 6 because the Celtics really need him.

[Frontierboy]

Where is Big Baby!!!!!!!!

[JumpingJudkins]

Well, maybe it's because Perk's injury is way more than a strained shoulder. It absolutely looked like it was dislocated again when he came out of the game, and the "strained" excuse seems like a very poor smokescreen. You can't just shrug off a dislocation.

you've got to be kidding me. paul pierce is trotting around on a bad knee and tweaked ankle. i know this is the shouler he had surgery on, but you can't let the fear of it getting bumped wrong get in the way of THE highlight moment of your career. who knows, this could possibly be the last time perk even gets a chance to win a championship! get some pain meds in ya perk, we need you.

[connerhenry43]

if perk was anywhere near ok, he would be out there. the way he reacted after that injury says it is a serious one. i hate to say but i have to think he is done.

[MetroGlobe]

This is a good thread.  I'm glad to see that folks are recognizing how important Perk is to KG's success, especially on defense.  PJ Brown was a fine solution for limited minutes.  But asking him to play 20+ minutes is just too much.

I agree with the calls for Big Baby.  Even more so now that we're coming back home.  He plays with great energy in our building when the crowd gets him fired up.  And his footwork is outstanding, which makes him very effective playing pick & roll.

There's no doubt that Gasol's length is going to hurt us considerably on a few posessions.  But I think Davis has some other nice attributes that can more than compensate for his lack of height.

[celtpinoy]

aside from powe (too small ) or big baby ( too small and round  )...

can SCAL help perhaps? at this point we need height and energy...a busy body not afraid to give decent fouls behind PJ and KG...

just a thought...

[cdif911]

the fan in me says, you're getting paid millions of dollars, suck it up, get some horse tranquilizers and play the game - its too big to miss.

the coach in me says, you've got a long career ahead of you, this is a recurring problem, you probably need surgery, sit out, better safe than sorry

the existentialist in me says, does Perkin's shoulder really exist?

but really - I think if he's gonna need surgery anyway, see what he can do - alot of times adreneline takes over and you can go anyways. Yeah it'll hurt a bit, but if you can help this team win a title, that's gonna make all the hurt go away (and probably get you a bigger paycheck in the future)