Daily Links 5/1

I don’t really see Perk as being similar to Cowens. Cowens was my favorite player when he was here. He was more mobile and mannic than Perk. It took me a long time to like Parish when he replaced Cowens because of his different style of play. Both were very valuable players. With that said I’m a real big Perk fan. I don’t think he gets the respect from the media or fans that he deserves. Something I think is very overlooked is the chemistry he has with Al. I compare it to the chemistry between Cowens and Paul Silas. In both cases, each made the other better. It grates me a bit when fans see Perk as only a backup Center. It’s said in a demeaning way. I don’t care if Perk is a starter or comes in off the bench. He is very valuable to the C’s and the perfect complement to Al.

If Chris Wallace was running the Pats, he would have given up Jarvis Green and a first round draft pick for Moss, as well as insisted that Moss keep his huge contract.

Wallace should be forced by ownership to drive down to Connecticut and present Vin baker with his last Celtic paycheck for making that horrible trade that put the kabosh on the Celtics for this whole decade.

cowens was my hero as a teenager, and through college. I can’t think of anyone like him at all. I could compare him to some high energy guys but would have to say, “but he could also do this, and this..” What would be missed in reviews of his career is how he drove guys like Chamberlain and Kareem nuts, and threw them off their game. First of all, he made them look like total crap by beating them down the floor on every possession. You can’t guard him if you aren’t past the other free throw line and he is making a lay up or popping a 15 footer on the break…and it makes you look like a bored, lazy stiff too. And the things about the fouls: he fouled folks VERY HARD…everyone remember?? Oh yeah, he would just run through guys to make a point. I suspect they didn’t sleep well before facing him

So, if the Chinese national team is participating in the Vegas summer league, if an NBA team drafts Yi JianLian or signs Wang ZhiZhi as a free agent, which team will Yi or Wang play for in Vegas?

wahz, right on about Cowens. I don’t know if you know what a drug sensitivity test is, but it always reminded me of Cowens rebounding. You put some bacteria on a gel in a petri dish and then put in discs of paper with different antibiotics on top of the gel. As the bacteria grow there will be a clear round area around the discs to which the bacteria are sensitive. When Cowens went up for a rebound there was that clear area around him. No one wanted a piece of him. I also remember the incident with Mike Newlin who kept running into Cowens and flopping and the ref would call a foul on Cowens. One time after this happened Cowens went to the other end of the floor, picked up Newlin and threw him down. He then went to the ref and said “THAT’S a foul”. He was great. He also used his strength on defense to keep the opposing Center from getting to his sweet spot. Perk also does this and that’s one of the reason’s I think Perk is so valuable.

I remember Cowens from college, when he played on that Florida State team they called the “busted flush.” And evey time they played Jacksonville, Artis Gilmore would get dominated by a 6-8 white guy.

The other fond memories I have involve Johnny Most. Like many Celtics fans I would mute the volume on the TV and listen to Most. Cowens would be beating some guy to a bloody pulp while Most was screaming “I can’t believe they called a foul on Cowens!” Ah, those were the days.

Brick, you mention Cowens beating a guy to a “bloody pulp”. I remember others doing the same to Cowens. Cowens was a physical player. He was also very principled. He would take the pounding from Kareem and Moses without complaint. But there was that fine line he drew between playing physical and playing dirty. I feel sorry for the guys who played dirty against Cowens, but they deserved what they usually got. Another thing about Dave. I used to love to see him blitz guards coming off a pick. He would practically chase them off the court. You could almost sense the fear when Cowens was coming after you and he had the agility to stay with them. It will be great, 10 years from now to have those thoughts about the present C’s. But I’m not sure the gray cells will make it.

I have been, and will continue to, beat the Gabe Pruitt drum.