Doc Rivers, a Mikael Gorbachev look-alike?

The Boston Herald included in last Thursday's edition an amusing anecdote from Doc Rivers that appears to discuss one of the ways Jeremiah used to practice as a young tike. Diamond will be posting a story soon about Jeremiah's recent efforts to improve his shot.



Perkins, Pollard injuries a big issue
By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Notebook
Thursday, December 13, 2007 - Updated 3d 1h ago

The Celtics were thin where they needed to be large last night, with both Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard unable to play at the Garden in a 90-78 win over the Sacramento Kings. Their returns from a bruised right big toe and back spasms, respectively, are uncertain.

Pollard will undergo an MRI today. Perkins will return to the lineup when the pain subsides.

“I don’t really know,” said Celts coach Doc Rivers said of Perkins’ status. “It’s not broken, but big toe injuries are difficult. It’s not like a turf toe, which is good news. He tried to run (yesterday) and he just couldn’t, so I think we’re going to wait. He will not do much (today) and then we’ll see on Friday.”

The injury’s genesis - Perkins said he was trying to fix his headboard when the bed fell on him - invoked a few rolled eyes.

“Well, he explained it to Eddie (Lacerte, the C’s trainer) and he had Eddie come and explain it to me,” Rivers said. “I didn’t have a lot to say about it. There were too many punch lines, so I left them all alone on this one. He’s embarrassed by it. I mean, stuff happens.”

While coaching Orlando, Rivers had Corey Maggette miss time because of an infection following a pedicure. Steven Hunter sprained an ankle by stepping on a ball in the layup lines.

Rivers had his own bout with knuckleheadedness.

“My only son at the time was playing basketball,” he said, “and you know those suction cup basketball hoops? I put it on my forehead so he could shoot. Then I took it off when I was about to go to the game and my wife laughed. She said, ‘You’re not going to believe the mark on your head.’ I had a big circle on my head and it wouldn’t go away. It was awful. The players were calling me Gorbachev for about four days.”

Pollard’s injury wasn’t that funny, though Rivers said, with a laugh, “He woke up old, you know? He woke up and his back was hurting. That’s a tough one, because the spasms, having experienced that, you have to just let it run its course, and that could be as soon as Friday or as long as a week or two.”