Dallas’ Perkins Is Moving Along at His Own Pace

Recently in snowy Salt Lake City, Sam Perkins underscored a 15-point, nine-rebound performance by dunking the ball against 7-4 Mark Eaton, last season’s NBA defensive player of the year.

Earlier this week, Perkins put together a 15-point, 16-rebound effort against a New Jersey front-line that features Buck Williams and Darryl Dawkins. Then playing against Houston’s Ralph Sampson and Akeem Olajuwon, Perkins accounted for 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Such exploits might be worth an occasional “high five” or a few waves of the fist, but the 6-9 1/2 Perkins handles his emotions in a style Tom Landry would use, if he, too, was appearing in short pants and sneakers. Perkins’ most noticeable reaction was the big grin he displayed while witnessing a fight between teammate Wallace Bryant and Dawkins.

Someone asked Perkins if there was any kind of indicator that could detect his emotions. He offered no help. So how does somebody get a reading on him?

“You just can’t,” he said. “You’ll never know when I’m excited or when I’m mad, happy or whatever. It’s just the temperament that I have. It’s the way I am. I just do as I’m told. If I’m not fulfilling the coach’s expectations, then I change my way.”

It has been suggested that the 7-4 Sampson can incite Perkins, who achieved his collegiate high of 36 points against Sampson’s Virginia in 1983. Perkins continued with a 28-point, nine-rebound effort against the Rockets last Feb. 19.

“That’s purely coincidental,” Perkins said. “I don’t know what it is. I respect Ralph. With Sampson and Olajuwon, Houston is such a challenging team. You can’t sit back. You have to produce and challenge them back and try to redeem yourself.”

Asked what he meant by “redeeming yourself,” Perkins said, “You’ve got to give them the challenge back. You have to show them that you can play, too. You challenge them back like that.”

People like Perkins don’t fit the stereotype of a Brooklynite. Perkins, who’s in his second year with Dallas, already is laid-back beyond Texas boundaries. California might suit him, if he could spend sufficient time on Santa Catalina Island.

“That’s just the way it is,” Perkins said. “I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere. I’ll eventually get there, but in my own time. Everything I do, I do with a temperament. It’s just the way I am. It’s always been that way throughout college. You respect the other player and at the same time, play your game the way you’ve always been doing it. You don’t show any extra emotion or anything, you just go ahead and play.”

Perkins’ average of 10 rebounds per game is ninth best in the league. He scored in double figures three times last week, making 24 of his 60 field goal attempts, which raised his percentage from 36.7 to 44.5.

His statistics were major factors in the two victories that improved the Mavericks’ record to 4-7, but discussing numbers with Perkins is like asking a bank teller how many pictures of George Washington he saw yesterday.

“I don’t care about statistics,” Perkins said. “I just like to play and let everything else take care of itself.”

Perkins’ on-court personality has been influenced by his basketball environments. He played at North Carolina with James Worthy and Michael Jordan. Individual statistics at the school are listed alphabetically instead of by ranking. When he joined the Mavericks, Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman and Jay Vincent were the established stars.

“I’ve always been in this position, starting with college,” Perkins said. “It’s a position where I always kind of take the back seat and I really don’t mind. There’s enough stars, so why try and be another one and maybe get off key a little bit by trying to add to it. I just play my role and try to support the stars. And at the same time, I try to live up to the expectations I have for myself.”

Perkins, the fourth player taken in the 1984 draft, comes closest to giving the Mavericks a big man of established “star quality.”

“My role is just to play my part and produce. To play defense, rebound and pick up some slack,” Perkins said. “I’m not talking about big numbers every night. It’s not going to happen that way. But if the opportunity is there, we have to take advantage of it.”

With opposing teams designing their defenses for Aguirre and Blackman, Perkins, who has averaged 19.3 points in his last three games, should be expecting increased opportunities.

“He’s played three good games in a row,” Dallas coach Dick Motta said. “He played a great game in Utah. That’s what I expect out of Sam, to put together games like that and then revert back like Mark did the other night. We need Sam playing like that, especially if the other teams are going to put their best defensive player on Mark. We’ve been talking to Sam about it.”

Perkins was told to drive on Eaton. Driving five times in the first half, Perkins got Eaton out of the lane and into foul trouble. Perkins also was moving on Sampson, who picked up his fifth foul with 11:50 remaining in the game. Perkins, however, almost always looks first for the open man. For him, shooting, especially a jumper, seems like the final option.

“I guess I’m not looked upon to score. Maybe I am, but not 26 and 30 points every night,” he said. “I’m looking for consistency, whatever it is. If I play well and rebound, that’s good enough for me. But if they leave me in there longer and the opportunities are there, I have to take advantage of it.”’