Kendrick Perkins Overrated?
Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:30 am
This guy gets touted as a defensive anchor and is valued as a highly-prized defensive center in this league. Yet when I have watched him play so far with OKC, I am still waiting to see what people are raving so much about.
He is lumbering and slow which makes his transition defense poor since he usually can't get back in time to challenge any shots or protect the paint. KD and Ibaka are usually the ones attempting the chase-down blocks.
He is a poor rebounder for his position. A center that only averages 5-6 rebounds per game seems very mediocre to me. He's so slow in his lateral movement that he's an inefficient area rebounder.
People argue that he sets great screens but he's also the one center who gets called for moving screens more than anyone I've ever seen. I know everyone practically does it in the league, but he seems to be the only one who makes it so obvious that the officials have no choice but to call him on it.
He is able to body up bigger PF and C's in the league and guard them man-to-man simply because he can throw his weight around. But he is extremely poor at weak-side help and his weak-side shot-blocking is practically non-existent.
He has extremely poor hands on the offensive end. He constantly drops and fumbles shovel passes from penetrators. When he finally does catch a pass, he takes so long to gather before going up that he inevitably gets stripped on his way up. And on the off-chance that none of these occur, he usually is pretty good about missing his layups as well.
All in all, I seriously think that Perkins got his reputation as a "defender" playing alongside the big 3 in Boston. Playing alongside KG benefited Perkins because the refs gave the big 3 the benefit of the doubt considering how ferocious and tenacious they were playing on the defensive end. I think Perkins was the biggest benefactor in garnering the illusion that he was a "defensive anchor". But now that he's playing on an island in OKC, his inefficiency and deficiencies are that much more apparent.
In my honest opinion, I think Perkins is over-rated as a player, especially as a defender. He has a big body that he throws around which may give people the impression that he is a "tough defender" but outside of that, he hasn't really shown me much else. I think that OKC plays a much better brand of basketball when they have Collison and Ibaka on the front lines.
He is lumbering and slow which makes his transition defense poor since he usually can't get back in time to challenge any shots or protect the paint. KD and Ibaka are usually the ones attempting the chase-down blocks.
He is a poor rebounder for his position. A center that only averages 5-6 rebounds per game seems very mediocre to me. He's so slow in his lateral movement that he's an inefficient area rebounder.
People argue that he sets great screens but he's also the one center who gets called for moving screens more than anyone I've ever seen. I know everyone practically does it in the league, but he seems to be the only one who makes it so obvious that the officials have no choice but to call him on it.
He is able to body up bigger PF and C's in the league and guard them man-to-man simply because he can throw his weight around. But he is extremely poor at weak-side help and his weak-side shot-blocking is practically non-existent.
He has extremely poor hands on the offensive end. He constantly drops and fumbles shovel passes from penetrators. When he finally does catch a pass, he takes so long to gather before going up that he inevitably gets stripped on his way up. And on the off-chance that none of these occur, he usually is pretty good about missing his layups as well.
All in all, I seriously think that Perkins got his reputation as a "defender" playing alongside the big 3 in Boston. Playing alongside KG benefited Perkins because the refs gave the big 3 the benefit of the doubt considering how ferocious and tenacious they were playing on the defensive end. I think Perkins was the biggest benefactor in garnering the illusion that he was a "defensive anchor". But now that he's playing on an island in OKC, his inefficiency and deficiencies are that much more apparent.
In my honest opinion, I think Perkins is over-rated as a player, especially as a defender. He has a big body that he throws around which may give people the impression that he is a "tough defender" but outside of that, he hasn't really shown me much else. I think that OKC plays a much better brand of basketball when they have Collison and Ibaka on the front lines.
I wouldn't say that he's overpaid by much if anything (see above post about centers' salaries).