Perk is very good at mucking up the paint at both ends. I'll take that over Green's uneven, wimpy play in his 23 mediocre minutes a game. There are plenty of guys who can give you 9.8 points off the bench in 8.6 shots shooting 42%, while barely rebounding or assisting. There aren't a lot of guys who can do what Perk does, which is defend the post one on one, box out, and provide a consistently physical presence at both ends of the court.
Did you watch Perk last year in the Finals? Did he muck up or be a consistently physical presence at all? And are you under the opinion that the Celtics couldn't find plenty of guys that will give you 4 and 5 on 47 percent shooting, while barely rebounding, assisting, blocking shots, etc.?
I started my post by saying I watched almost every OKC game this season. That's a pretty good indicator that I watched them when they made the Finals.
Perk was playing the final three rounds of the 2012 playoffs with a partially torn groin. Instead of getting credit for gutting out the playoffs with a serious injury, he gets derision for not playing better.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--okc-s-kendrick-perkins-played-with-injury-throughout-playoffs.htmlPerkins seems to be moving around pretty well this season> Perkins detractors seem to think he gimps around the court with a cane or something. I wonder how many detractors actually watch a lot of OKC games. Perk does their what he did in Boston - set picks, play defense, box out, and muck up the paint. If you don't think Boston needs that kind of player, you don't understand NBA basketball.
I also don't think Perkins' $8.3m is too outlandish a contract. The deal does look a little gristly in it's final year, but that's the case with most players on their third contract. Moving Perk without a certain replacement, for a backup SF, was a mistake.
Maybe when OKC is in possession of the Larry O'Brien Trophy the Perkins detractors will finally give him his due. He's an essential cog on a team with two superstar players, one emerging uberfreak big, and a bunch of solid role players. Perkins is an acknowledged leader of that team, and should get some credit for that.
Basketball is a very synergistic game. Perkins, and to a lesser extend, TA, BBD and Powe, were important role players on the Celtics, guys who were very tough, who played hard all the time. When teams played the Celtics, they new they were going to be in for both a physical battle and an offensive barrage. This year's team is as soft as tissue paper, and shows no toughmindedness or toughness.
At the beginning of the KG era, the Celtics bigs would put the opposition through a meat grinder nightly. KG and Perk were very physical, and when they sat, Powe and BBD would come in and throw their bodies around. This allowed the Cs to battle teams with solid bigs, like Detroit and LA.
The Cs have nothing but an aged KG and an inexperienced, undersized Sullinger as real paint players now. It's a fatal flaw on this team.