Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
"Shaq's not a perimeter shooter and neither is (Kendrick Perkins)," he said Saturday from Madison Square Garden. "They're both great finishers around the rim, very efficient, shoot a high field-goal percentage. A lot of people are saying Shaq is going to clog up the paint but Perk didn't clog up the paint. They are two different players but at the end of the day we've got Paul (Pierce), Ray (Allen) and Kevin (Garnett) on the perimeter to spread the defense. There's only so much you can do as far as clogging up the paint."
Globe: Rondo: I will have no trouble playing with Shaq
At least now when Rondo does that, Shaq will get out of the way.
Rondo makes the best point I've heard about this whole Shaq clogging the lane thing. It's not like Perk (who is doing OK, by the way) is banging 10-15 footers out there. Is there a HUGE difference in their games?
No... there isn't. They're both post players and the C's have plenty on the wing, as Rondo says, to spread the floor.
So thanks Rondo... for taking away another storyline for us. Do you realize that its only August 15? We've still got a couple of months of content to pull out of our asses.
On Page 2... Larry Bird is still awesome
Bird stopped just short of calling his Dream Team the best squad ever assembled. But he seized on remarks by Jerry West to take a dig at their gold medal predecessors and fellow Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees.
West had talked about the difficult conditions his team faced 50 years ago in Rome, when the players were housed in dorms without air conditioning and had a $1 per diem.
"I don’t know who had the best team, but I know the team in 1960 was a hell of a lot tougher than we were," Bird said. "I couldn’t imagine the ’92 team getting in a covered wagon for eight days, going across the country, jumping in the Atlantic Ocean, swimming for six days, then walking 3,000 miles to the Coliseum in Rome for a dollar a day."
I overlooked this yesterday because I was busy bird-dogging Kobe in New York City.
There is a good chunk of our readership that doesn't get how awesome Larry Bird was because they missed his playing days. Well... that quote sums it up.
Larry Bird was not just one of the greatest of the great... Larry was a Hall of Fame ball-buster too. When you ask guys of that era who the biggest trash talker was... Larry's name always comes up. And Larry is fearless. You realize he's cracking on the logo in that quote. Jerry West is his elder... one of the guys that set the table for him in the L... and Bird just makes a run at him without fear.
Larry Bird is a word more awesome than awesome. I don't know what that is... but he's that.
I'll leave you with my favorite Larry Bird story of ALL time.
I STILL get chills listening to that story.
The rest of the links:
WEEI: Shaq's done with the nicknames | Pro Basketball Talk: The World comes to Rucker Park | Slam: Corey Fisher drops 105 points in a game