Kendrick Perkins Expectations This Year

[soap07]

I think we can reasonably expect Rajon Rondo, as merely 21-22(?) years old, to expand his game in the     upcoming years and increase his production as a player. Davis was a rookie last year and should increase his contributions in the coming years as should Powe. But what about Perkins? Is what we saw last season the peak of Perkins abilities on the basketball floor? Obviously, he is a garbage play guy, getting his points off of feeds under the basket from the other players on the floor. He did however improve his post game as the playoffs went on. He has always been a fine rebounder and shot blocker, while bringing his requisite toughness. But will Perkins ever trump say, 8 and 6 for a whole year? Keeping in mind - Perk is now entering his sixth year in the league while over coming injuries and is still relatively young at 24-25 years old. Thoughts?

[xmuscularghandix]

as you said throughout the playoffs he expanded his post game, and that really opened my eyes to what he could become. before july i thought perkins would never be anything more than a solid  center that could play good D and rebound but score only score 10 on his best nights. i hope more than anything that he proves me wrong but i almost feel that o'bryant could take care of his 2nd chance and grab the starting spot. PROVE ME WRONG PERK.

[ManUp]

Perkins isn't going to get much better, in my opinion. I think if his minutes increase he'll put up near double-doubles, but he's not going to grow leaps and bounds. What I was happy to see during the finals is that Perkins is capable of taking advantage of mismatches. If you have someone who's smaller than him on him he can bully them under the basket and get a pretty good shot.

I think that with more minutes the numbers will look better, but I don't see him being much more than he is now.

If O'Bryant was good enough to overtake a healthy Perkins I'd be ecstatic. The kid still has a lot upside and If he were to beat out Perkins that would mean he's putting in the work.

[Celtic Justice]

i know im gonna get killed for this, but i dont really like perk.  he plays solid d, and can rebound, but ive never been a fan of his game.  i think what we saaw last year is just about as good as he's going to get.  i hope he proves me wrong.

[Section301]

A bundle thoughts:

- Manup makes a good point.  Perks' numbers chould improve next year simply by being on the floor more.  If his minutes go from 24 minutes a game to 30 minutes a game and he produces at the same rate, he'll be good for roughly 9 and 7. 

Pros:
- Big men take longer to develop
- Players with staying power tend to peak in the 27-30 age range
- Perk has put in the requisite work to develop his strength, wind, and understanding of his role in the defense
- He shows on a pick and recovers with impressive quickness for such a big man
- He got steals covering guards one on one on two different occasions during the playoffs (somebody help me with specifics so I don't have to review the film)
- He's big, tough, and intimidating, and can frequently cause trouble for his man down low when playing defense.
- Perk absolutely owned Andrew Bynum both times he played him in the regular season. 

Cons:
- He may lose out on 4-6 points a game by failing to convert/dropping decent passes under the basket
- Depending on your perspective, either the refs hate him or he makes dumb fouls.  Either way, you're never sure how long Perk will be able to stay on the floor
- He has not really shown anything resembling a 12 foot jumper.
- Perk has apparently not had an injury-free season yet (sounds like he was hurting for the second half of the season, and then further exacerbated that in the playoffs)
- He racks up technical fouls at an impressive rate

So, if his cons can be improved upon through hard work, which he is not averse to doing, then yes, it seems reasonable he will continue to improve.  Assuming he can stay healthy.  But since he will still be the 5th option on the floor offensively, it still will not result in him putting up big point totals.  No reason why he couldn't put up 10 and 9 on average next year.    



Additional thought: Luc Longley started and won 3 rings with the Bulls, and averaged about 10 points and 6 rebounds a game in that span.

Additional additional thought: PJ Brown averages roughly 9 and 8 for his career (starting 990 out of 1089 games). Highs of 11 points and 10 rebounds, but not in the same year. 

[Bankshot]

as you said throughout the playoffs he expanded his post game, and that really opened my eyes to what he could become. before july i thought perkins would never be anything more than a solid  center that could play good D and rebound but score only score 10 on his best nights. i hope more than anything that he proves me wrong but i almost feel that o'bryant could take care of his 2nd chance and grab the starting spot. PROVE ME WRONG PERK.

So does this mean that after July 1 you now believe Perk can  be much better?  Because not sure you remember, but Perk had a monster game against Detroit in the ECF.  Didn't he put up over 20 pts in that game?

All Perk needs to do to improve greatly is play like he did in that Detroit game (catch passes cleanly, go up with the ball without bringing it down, and stay out of foul trouble).  IMO, that's all Perk needs to do now to be a top notch center.  He's already an excellent defender.

[ForexPirate]

Perk could be a great center for this team.  There are some nights that he just brings it and leaves you wondering where that came from and hoping that he continues playing like that.  But it is always short lived.  Until he brings his A game day in and day out, he is nothing more than a very good back-up center.

I think if the work ethic of our core (read KG) rubs off on POB and get gets the right training (clifford ray and Thibodeau) and the right opportunity in our system can overtake Perk and be starting by the end of the year or at least making big contributions.

I noticed that the only time that Perk played exceptionally well is when his starting job was in danger.  Like around the time we signed PJ.  Perk does make statements when he plas but they are few and far between.

Don't get me wrong.  I love Perk and what he brings to the team.  I just would rather see his intensity at a super high level all the time.

Some of it may be doc's game planning.  Perk needs to get into the offense more but never looks graceful when he does.  I think POB is more graceful and may surprise us if he has good hands for pulling down boards and catching the ball under the basket.  

Powe and BBD catch the ball down low and know what to do with it when they get it.  I love them.  I just wish they were both about 4 inches taller.  If POB can turn into a taller version of these two then we really have our starting center of the future with Perk being a great back up.

Needless to say.  I am cautiously optimistic about POB and not so optimistic about Perk.  Perks great games are nothing more than teasers.  We know he can do these things game in and game out, but he doesn't.

[TrueGreen]

Pretty much all the comments above are about Perk's offense. His defense is mentioned in passing. Someone who met Clifford Ray at a hamburger place put up a thread last week about this meeting. It ended up the poster was a basketball coach and had a camp and invited Ray to talk to the campers. Ray came. One of the things was he asked the campers who was the best defender on the Celtics. One kid said KG--"no". One kid said PP--"no". Then nothing. Finally Ray said "Kendrick Perkins" and beyond the obvious pointed out his ability to rotate and play the team defense. Forget the blocked shots. Count the points that are NOT scored by the opposition because of his physical post defense and his rotations to a guy who gets by his own defender where he basically turns them away from the basket and stalls the offense. Count the times he runs out to the three point line and alters a shot. That's what his job is and he does it better than any Center in the league. Add to this the pressure he takes off KG (doesn't have to play physical bigs) leaving KG to conserve his energy to what he does best.

[amenhotep04]

Technical fouls?  Perk?

I agree with TrueGreen.  Perk is a smart, outstanding defensive player. The only real dig I have against him is the wind-up he does when catching the ball.  If he is able to stop doing that, he'll be a much more effective offensive presence.  His natural progression of development will result in all other areas of his game improving. I'm not worried about Perk's play. He's a smart player, communicates on the court, and knows what he's supposed to do.  Does he make mistakes?  Sure, but all the players do.

[CoachBo]

If O'Blount beats out Perkins, I'm gonna keep an eye on the doors to the Gahden, because Reggie Lewis and Len Bias are liable to come walking through them.

 

Summertime hyperbole. This thread sends me back to give Nick another TP for that one.

[orrzor]

Are some of you kidding that Perkins might be outplayed by O'Bryant? Perkins was the starting center on a championship team and did almost exactly what he needed to do, namely defend and get garbage buckets. I think thje big 3 make up for any offensive woes he might have. And for those people calling him just a good back-up center, name some centers who are better than him and are not All-stars.

[Spinmove00]

I will go on record as saying, Kendrick Perkins wiii have his breakout season this year. Throughout the regular season and the first round of the playoffs, 99% of his offense came from layups, dunks or hook shots. When he posted, he always went to the middle to shoot his jumphook.

As the playoffs progressed, he started pulling more moves out of the repertoire.  He started going to the baseline more and showing me a potentially nice turnaround jumper.  I remember against Detroit, he made a beautiful baseline turnaround jumper on Rasheed Wallace. It was so nice, I had a quick flashback of the Chief, Robert Parish(I know I'm getting carried away), but Perk's was nice as well.  In the champonship I saw him take a couple of 12-15 foot jumpshots, which is something I had never seen him do.  I hear he makes them in practice, so all he needs is confidence.  If Perk does these three things I think he will average around 12-13 pts and 9-10 rbs;

1.) Stop bringing the ball down low and go straight up.
2.) Stay out of foul trouble (Play 30-35 Mins a night).
3.) Have confidence in other low post moves, going to the baseline and have confidence to take the 12-15 foot jumpshot when left open.

[albert]

Additional additional thought: PJ Brown averages roughly 9 and 8 for his career (starting 990 out of 1089 games). Highs of 11 points and 10 rebounds, but not in the same year. 

Actually PJ's high was 30 and 22, in '96 and '02 respectively, and was a 3-time all-defensive second team ('97, '99, and '01). Not to take anything away from Perk, but hardly the repertoire of a backup C.

But in comparing PJ's numbers to POB's you've gotta be warming up to the POB signing. PJ was 6'11" 239 lbs and POB is 250 and an inch taller, with room to add more. In college he was a known shot blocker/inside defensive presence and has a good deal more athleticism than Perk (nevermind PJ). If anything, POB is the guy to look out for to have a breakout year. I think he can more than replace PJ if he puts in the time and effort.

[incoherent]

Perkins is already really good in my opinion.

I wouldn't want to compromise defensive intensity for less fouls but maybe he could work on that area a bit.

His post game did show some signs and it makes me think that maybe when KG starts to slow down we can call Perk's # with some confidence sometime in the next couple of years.

The best thing is, even if Perk doesn't improve at all, he is still a top notch fit for this team and  his play is good enough for another championship.

[BillfromBoston]

Perkins really showed his "A game" in the Detroit series, and we've seen enough flashes over the course of the year to extrapolate the 23-year-olds game into what it should be 1 or 2 years down the road.

The jumper he started showing alone will be good for another 4-6 points per game...playing 35 mpg is going to increase his stats 25-30%...single covered in the post he is highly efficient with his back-to-basket game...

I'd expect Perk to have a very strong season, but not his best...that is yet to come...