Kendrick Perkins

[Al-Haqq]

Let me say this off the bat ... I like Kendrick Perkins, but is he really a starting C in this league?

I mean in the NBA Finals, he averaged more fouls than RPG and PPG.

His 6.9PPG 6.1RPG 1.4BPG are really not that impressive for a starting C.

He recorded his highest amount of tech fouls this past season, as well as his highest Fouls per game, however his scoring efficiency and shooting efficiency has gone up, but we all know why that is, but even then, he drops in a quiet 6ppg.

People say Danny believes in him but I think it's more of the case that he had no trade value.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on Perkins? Is his spot guaranteed? Or do we replace him with someone else? Can POB take his spot?

[SonicYouth34]

Perk is a beast and compliments KG so well. Perk takes the toughest offensive C/PF threat, that's why he gets more fouls and he gets banged around a lot. We have a great rebounding team, even KG's rebound numbers dropped (same KG that dominated the leagues in RPG for the last half decade). Points aren't that big a deal either since we have The Big Three and Rondo scoring all the points.

Perk was extremly effective in the playoffs, especially against Detroit ad LA. Also when Perk was off the floor against Cleveland, we got killed on the boards. I wish Leon/BBD was as tall as Perk, cause if we did our front line would be unstoppable.

Once last thing with Perk, he only played like 28-29 mins a game, so considering that he's a great center and a bargain at his price tag.

[billfromBoston]

...you've got years of basketball to learn if you don't understand what Perkins meant to last year's team...besides the fact that his per-36-minute numbers would be solid for a center and he is limited by his playing time more than anything else, overall statistical performance doesn't measure his worth.

He is THE defensive anchor of the team, allowing KG to roam more freely and covering for everyone's mistakes. Without him the team defense would have been solid, but not spectacular.

Expect an up-tick in minutes played and production this season, especially now that he has real competition for minutes with POB in the mix.

[Al-Haqq]

I understand that Perkins was influential for us, no doubt about it. But calling him a "great" Center and a "beast" goes too far in my book.

I watched the playoff games and I don't buy the argument that he gets fouls because he plays against tough big men. That's true to a certain extent, but he does do a lot of silly fouls as well.

I like him ... but I just wonder if he's really a starting Center.

NBA analysts called him the worst starting Center in the East.

I think he's a very nice defender, but his offensive skills are very limited. We're fortunate now to have Ray and KG on the team so it doesn't make it a problem.

I'm keen on POB and if he begins to deliver and out-play Perkins - more so defensively, then the C's should start POB over Perkins. But we'll see how that all plays out.

I expect Perkins to remain a starter and be effective defensively in 08/09.

[Bad-Thoma]

...you've got years of basketball to learn if you don't understand what Perkins meant to last year's team...besides the fact that his per-36-minute numbers would be solid for a center and he is limited by his playing time more than anything else, overall statistical performance doesn't measure his worth.

He is THE defensive anchor of the team, allowing KG to roam more freely and covering for everyone's mistakes. Without him the team defense would have been solid, but not spectacular.

Expect an up-tick in minutes played and production this season, especially now that he has real competition for minutes with POB in the mix.

Thanks Bill, you said it for me. I'm always shocked when people don't realize how valuable Perk is to this team, and when they try to measure it in terms of ppg or rpg. If anyone cares how many ppg Perk scores they might as well watch another sport IMO, and as for rebounds he always boxes out well, he might not get the stats but guys like Rondo and Pierce pick up a lot of rebounds in partly due to Perk's presence on the floor. Add to that a great work ethic right from his rookie season and the kind of attitude he brings to the interior, well let's just say I love Perk.

[PPAW4Life]

Let's now forget that Perk's Final's numbers are skewered a bit since he got hurt not once, but TWICE in that series against the Lakers.

If you look at Perk's numbers (9PPG/9RPG @ SIXTY SEVEN PERCENT FG%) against the Pistons....you'll see why Garnett was able to DOMINATE (23 and 10 on 53% shooting) the Pistons' supposed tougher, taller and bigger front line.

[Big Baby]

NBA analysts called him the worst starting Center in the East.

You mean those same analysts who ALL picked the Lakers to spank us?

I think he's a very nice defender, but his offensive skills are very limited. We're fortunate now to have Ray and KG on the team so it doesn't make it a problem.

I'm keen on POB and if he begins to deliver and out-play Perkins - more so defensively, then the C's should start POB over Perkins. But we'll see how that all plays out.

Start POB over Perk? Why? Perk is a champion who compliments KG fantastically at the defensive end. He also perfected his role in our run to #17. So, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Al-Haqq]

I said start POB if he becomes more effective than Perkins defensively.

Perkins played well against the Pistons, but that was one series. It doesn't negate the rest of the season.

I'm not too sure if people can read clearly here. I have said that I do like Perkins, but I just don't think he's as good as some make him out to be.

[SonicYouth34]

NBA analysts called him the worst starting Center in the East.

You mean those same analysts who ALL picked the Lakers to spank us?
.

People Think Blount is a actually worse that Perk.

Some people said without Posey we wouldn't have won the title, if we didn't have Perk we wouldn't even have made it to the Finals.

[Dave_From_NB]

Perk is the defensive backbone of the best defense in the league. The defensive backbone of the defending champions. He doesn't score many points as the 5'th offensive option, the starter that rarely has a play run for him, but he had a very good field goal percentage. He doesn't stack up the number of rebounds, but the C's are a good rebounding team with all the starters doing their job on rebounds.

Sure Perk has some areas he could improve in. I believe the technical fouls dropped significantly the second part of the season. I thought he was developing some new offensive moves, and even took a few short jump shots which meant he needed to be defended more. Free throws could be better, and I believe they picked up as the season went along.

POB has lots of physical tools, but he apparently misses the main ingredient that Perk has. Work effort. I know Perk is out there working hard, and he'll be better this year. Probably everyones frustration with him is that his progress is incremental rather than breakout. But he's more than solid enough now, and POB isn't likely to supplant him without that work-ethic gene.

Cleveland is paying Ben Wallace $14.5 mil for the job Perk does for us at $4 mil. Yes there are better Centers than Perk, but he is great value on a team that has cap issues. Can we actually afford or acquire a better Center given those cap issues? I really doubt it.

[Al-Haqq]

I am under the belief that KG is the backbone of our defense, after all he won DPOY last season. Perkins is a nice compliment to him as a defender, but I cannot agree that Perkins is the back bone.

He's not a very good rebounder for his size. Especially for a guy who "works so hard". I mean it's not like KG took RPG off him. He was always a 6RPG player.

He shot a decent FG% because 20% of his FGA are dunks - of which 88% are assisted. The 60% post shots make up the major part of his offense, and he does nicely with 61FG% there, and then the remaining 18% FGA [2% FGA are tip ins] are jumpshots, and that's where he really struggles at 26 FG%.

[Dave_From_NB]

I am under the belief that KG is the backbone of our defense, after all he won DPOY last season. Perkins is a nice compliment to him as a defender, but I cannot agree that Perkins is the back bone.

KG won how many DPOY awards in his previous 12 years with Centers who were NBA starter caliber? Was he just underachieving on defense until he got here?

Perk covering the middle I believe allowed KG to roam, letting him help on defense where it was needed because Perk was the last line of defense. Put a Gasol back there, and KG isn't doing that.

[UGA Hayes]

Yeah this was one of the things that irked me last year. I love KG and their is probably substance to the idea that he set the tone for our defense. But as for the actual on court defense he got way too much credit for the work other guys were doing especially Perk. It was Perk who was shutting PG down on switched pick and rolls and guarding the best post guy. KG is awesome defensively clearly the best on the team, but we have other high caliber defenders.

[Golabki]

After Perkins 2nd year I was one of his biggest fans, but he has improved remarkably little since then. He is still among the worst offensive players in the game. And he is still more of an "active" defender than a "great" defender. However he is a legit center who is good enough to be in the rotation of most teams.

O'Bryant and Davis can't be considered a real threats to take Perkins minutes. O'Bryant hasn't been able to crack an NBA rotation in his 2 years, and Davis is considered a "center" not because he has the skills to be a good center, but because he is too fat and slow to be a good power forward. The best case scenario would be if O'Bryant did step-up and gave good rebounding, good shot blocking, solid team defense, good hands finishing around the basket and a solid 10-15 ft jump shot. However, even if that did happen there are still enough minutes to give Perkins and Powe ~20 a night.

[Golabki]

And if you don't think Perkins offense matters because "he isn't supposed to score" you are nuts. Offense is about the team, and the reason the celtics choose to close games with Posey rather than Perkins was Posey's ability to space the floor, making it much easier to Garnett and Pierce to score inside.

[EJay33]

Perkins is not that good. He is a very mediocre player. He is a big boy but he has about 1/10th of the skill defensively that KG has. He is awkward and commits so many stupid fouls that he is painful to watch sometimes. He is good in certain situations, but against certain lineups he can be made into a liability. That is why we saw the small-ball lineup so much. I cringe every time he tried to put the moves on a defender. The thing is, not every player on a team can be an all-star. Perk is mediocre, occasionally capable of a decent game. His attitude on the court is awful and I am so tired of seeing him argue obvious fouls and then stand there with that scowl on his face. Maybe one day he'll grow up like Pierce did.

To the posters crediting KG's defensive presence to Kendrick Perkins - please. KG has always been an all-world defender - doesn't matter in the slightest is Kendrick Perkins is flanking him. Tell me you guys don't really believe that Kendrick Perkins makes KG. Here is a little bit of perspective:
http://www.nba.com/history/awards_defensiveteams.html

Perk is in a perfect situation. He gets a few dunks per game off of passes from KG, Pierce, and Rondo and all he has to do is be physical when he's in there. KG is a great player and there are dozens of players who could do what Perkins is doing. As far as O'Bryant goes, he won't be displacing Perk. Perk, amazingly, in his 5th year is still a project and O'Bryant is even more of a project. O'Bryant has barely played in the NBA, expecting him to crack the starting lineup on a championship team is expecting a bit too much imo.

[Dave_From_NB]

And if you don't think Perkins offense matters because "he isn't supposed to score" you are nuts. Offense is about the team, and the reason the celtics choose to close games with Posey rather than Perkins was Posey's ability to space the floor, making it much easier to Garnett and Pierce to score inside.

Sure offense matters, and what holds Perk back from being considered one of the top Centers is his offense. Although he's shown some improvement, he'll never punch his meal ticket on offense, and his offensive improvement is disappointingly slow. What we're just trying to get across, is that defensive contribution needs to be reflected in a players worth. Mark Blount isn't a better Center than Perk just because he scores more points as an example.

[Rocky5000]

Here's the situation with Perkins in a nutshell. We didn't face one team throughout the playoffs where we could be considered to have an advantage at the center position, but because of our team dynamic, it didn't matter. Horford, Ilgauskas, McDyess, Gasol --All of these guys are a lot better than Perk. What Perk was able to do was minimize the effect of this mismatch, by playing tough defense, and keeping the opposing center out of their comfort zone.

I disagree that Baby is too slow to play PF. He is very light on his feet and moves around quickly enough to stay in front of SFs like LeBron. The reason that BBD had to play center was because, our planned backup C, ended up twisting his ankle before arriving in Rome and instead of trying to play, started filming TV shows. I don't think BBD's seen as a C in the long term.

I haven't seen enough of O'Bryant to comment too much on him. From what I have seen, he looks great. But I wonder what is the hangup in his game? Does he lose concentration and slack off? Does he bobble passes? Is he easily shoved around? The reports and tapes seem to indicate that he's a true mobile 7 footer, with range out to 20 feet, a ridiculous wing span , and is a very good shot-blocker. However, that description makes it seem like he should've been the number 1 pick, so Ive gotta be missing something.

[BillessuR6]

Mediocre offensive players never get the credit they deserve by the average fan. That is why Perk will always be underestimated. But people who closely follow the Celtics know what kind of impact he has on the court and how important he is to this team.

[ParticleMan]

It's true Perkins is no Allstar, and will never be. But he's an excellent FIT for our team. He plays very good D. He has true C size and wingspan. He blocks shots. He is never outworked. Now does he have superstar talent? No, not even close. But for us, that's fine. We've got 3 superstars already. We can't afford Perk to be demanding the ball or worse yet demanding a max salary. He is one of the few big men around the league who's actually paid appropriately instead of vastly overpaid.

Just to remind you, Perk shot 61% from the field and averaged 11ppg, 10 rpg and 2.5 blk per 40 mins. That's not spectacular, but it's solid for a starting center. You may say he gets a lot of dunks, but if you didn't count dunks, Dwight Howard would be pretty ordinary. Dunks count too, you still gotta finish.

Here's a challenge: Try to find some other true centers who make $4mil/yr (besides rookie deals) who are better than Perk.