Most Pleasant Surprise this Series: Perk

[clover]

Perk has become a top 5 center in the league, IMO. He is clearly become a top defender. Who else besides Perk can play Howard this well? Also, his offense has improved dramatically, to the point where I have great confidence when he takes the 10-15 footer. He only shoots it when he is wide open, and the shot clock is winding down. He also seems to have improved alot at the foul line. I wonder if the stats bear this out.

Way to go, Perk!!!

Good point.  And that's the scary part about next year regardless of what happens this year.  If everyone's healthy next year, the C's arguably have top 5 players at every position.  If Danny can get 3-4 average subs to back them up between free agency and internal development, they should dominate next year and challenge the Bulls record for best regular season record. 

And you think Ray's still a top-5 shooting guard next year?  (I don't think Billy Walker's coming on that fast! ;-))

In terms of talent?  Probably.  Will he put up the numbers that ridiculous people like John Hollinger use to evaluate players?  Probably not.  (Check out Hollinger's reason why Gasol deserved Second Team All NBA over Pierce.)  Who is better than him at this point? 

Kobe
Wade
Ginoboli 

To me, those are the only three that have clearly proven that they are above Ray.  Arguments could be made for Brandon Roy, Michael Redd, and others; however, none of those guys have hit the big shots that Ray has.  Furthermore, Ray could easily still put up 25 ppg if he was playing on a less talented team. 

So yes, I stick by what I said in my original post: Ray Allen is arguably a top 5 shooting guard in the NBA. 

You may be right.  He certainly shot well enough through the season this year.  But we're now looking at two post-season meltdowns in two years.  But an aging  guy with a 'big shot reputation' and actual post-season disappearances, who's limited in the strength of opponent he can really guard and in what he can make happen himself for offense, probably doesn't get that ranking from me.  Wouldn't surprise me to see Orlando's rookie Courtney Lee outplay Allen in actual team value by next year.

[guava_wrench]

Perk has become a top 5 center in the league, IMO. He is clearly become a top defender. Who else besides Perk can play Howard this well? Also, his offense has improved dramatically, to the point where I have great confidence when he takes the 10-15 footer. He only shoots it when he is wide open, and the shot clock is winding down. He also seems to have improved alot at the foul line. I wonder if the stats bear this out.

Way to go, Perk!!!

Good point.  And that's the scary part about next year regardless of what happens this year.  If everyone's healthy next year, the C's arguably have top 5 players at every position.  If Danny can get 3-4 average subs to back them up between free agency and internal development, they should dominate next year and challenge the Bulls record for best regular season record. 

And you think Ray's still a top-5 shooting guard next year?  (I don't think Billy Walker's coming on that fast! ;-))

In terms of talent?  Probably.  Will he put up the numbers that ridiculous people like John Hollinger use to evaluate players?  Probably not.  (Check out Hollinger's reason why Gasol deserved Second Team All NBA over Pierce.)  Who is better than him at this point? 

Kobe
Wade
Ginoboli 

To me, those are the only three that have clearly proven that they are above Ray.  Arguments could be made for Brandon Roy, Michael Redd, and others; however, none of those guys have hit the big shots that Ray has.  Furthermore, Ray could easily still put up 25 ppg if he was playing on a less talented team. 

So yes, I stick by what I said in my original post: Ray Allen is arguably a top 5 shooting guard in the NBA. 

The big shot argument fails big time with Roy. Roy will take any shot. He just hasn't played as long as Ray, so of course he hasn't hit as many.

Using last year's finals for support would be a failed argument, since he had already defined pretty much who he was in his long career before that series. To bring that out is just stacking the deck to support an opinion.

I would definitely put Roy ahead of Ray right now just because of age. Roy is in his prime, Ray is past it. Roy is really good at the moment.

[FLCeltsFan]

Not a surprise to me.   I've been saying that Perk was going to be a top center in this league since his rookie season. 

[Edgar]

Not a surprise to me.   I've been saying that Perk was going to be a top center in this league since his rookie season. 

Fl Knows!!