Brooks on Perkins: ‘What he brings is toughness’
Kendrick Perkins walked into TD Garden with the second wave of Thunder players moments ago and was trailed by a television camera tracking his every move. It will be all eyes on Perkins tonight as he plays in his first game in Boston as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Perkins spoke with the Globe’s Gary Washburn earlier today. His coach Scott Brooks spoke to reporters a short time ago.
“He’s exactly what I expected,” Brooks said of Perkins. “Stats are never looked at when I judge him. What he brings is toughness.”
Brooks said Perkins came into camp in tremendous shape after rehabilitating his knee in the offseason. He said Perk’s weight loss allows him to guard both power forwards and centers this season, whereas last season he was only guarding the five position.
“Everybody on our team knows that Perk is about defense, Perk is about toughness,” said Brooks. “He doesn’t always play perfect, but none of our guys do. He’s always about the team. You can never have enough guys like that.”
Perkins will start at center for the Thunder tonight opposite Jermaine O’Neal, who can’t be feeling too excited about facing off against one of the most popular players in Celtics team history.
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