Perkins has little skills

[KungPoweChicken]

Firstly, let me preface this by saying this is NOT your typical Celticsblog frustration thread. I've been wanting to make a thread on this for a while now. I just never got around to it. So enough rambling; here it is. Perkins has very, very little skills. Now, I know some of you will probably say, "How is this news?" Well, the reason I write this is because so many fanboys on this site throw out the name Perkins like he is a top five center. People need to get real. Perk is not even a top fifteen center in this league. When we drafted him, it looked like he had never touched a basketball. Now that he is an "NBA veteran," it looks like he has touched a basketball...a few times.

While Perk may be one of the strongest in the league for his height, at 6-10, he is, without a doubt, one of the slowest. People rave about his defense, but if Perk has to guard a skilled big man who doesn't live in the paint (like Chris Kaman), he will get eaten alive. His offense is incredibly robotic. It looks like he watched a few Better Basketball DVD's, learned two moves, and called it a day. He lacks athleticism (even as far as "big man athleticism" goes). He has no head on the floor. And on top of all that, after six years in the league, the dude still doesn't know how to set a screen.

There are many centers I would rather have than Perk. And to illustrate this point, I will list them. (For your information, this list has nothing to do with salaries, trades, or whatever. These are just centers who have a better skills than Perkins). A list compiled from too many people over exaggerating Perk's skills.


In no particular order:

Brook Lopez
David Lee
Emeka Okafor
Joakim Noah
Andrew Bogut
Dwight Howard
Yao Ming--when healthy
Tim Duncan
Nene
Al Jefferson
Greg Oden--when healthy
Chris Kaman
Andrew Bynum
Marc Gasol
Amare Stoudemire



As you can see, Perk is bottom feed. He's good for this team and system (surrounded by All-Stars). But let's not act like he is something more than he is; he's not. He is a fringe starting center in this league. He is a guy who has had his hand held by three future Hall Of Famers. I wish him the best, and I am a fan, but if you take away the players around him, he's no better than Jordan's Luc Longley.

[Chris]

While I agree that he has become vastly overrated, and have been claiming Danny will not dish out the big bucks he is going to ask for, and will likely trade him for a while now, I think you are going too far in the other direction.  He is an incredibly mediocre (and that may even be generous) offensive player, but is an exceptional defender.  He is probably one of the top 3-4 low post defenders in the NBA, is an above average big man defender away from the basket, and is an exceptional team defender.  Guys like that are not easy to find.

[celticsclay]

Some people will probably flame you for this cause it seems like you added some people to your list for the sake of making it look longer. Ill try to go through your list then respond, the biggest problem is that you included a lot of power forwards.

Brook Lopez - ok
David Lee - Not a center
Samuel Dalembert - Samuel Dalembert is terrible, he is worse then perk on defense and has even less offense. Not sure where you got him as better. He also makes a ton of money
Joakim Noah - I think he is also even worse then perk offensively, and probably weaker defensively.
Andrew Bogut - arguable but ok
Dwight Howard - yes
Yao Ming--when healthy (when will he play again, but ok)
Tim Duncan - yes
Nene - ok
Al Jefferson - Not a center
Greg Oden- Will never be healthy, also has never played at the nba level close to perk
Chris Kaman - ok
Andrew Bynum - Sorry Bynum has not put it together at all for more then a twenty game stretch in his career. Perkins also owned him in individual battles.
Marc Gasol - On offense yes, on defense no.
Amare Stoudemire - A power forward
 
So there are maybe 8 starting centers better then perkins if i was to really give the benefit of the doubt. However, I think you are undervaluing perks defense and forgetting about guys like Gasol and Kaman playing no interior presence. Considering some of these guys are older or constantly injured and Perk makes 5 million a year, he is a hell of a player. He also continues to get better every year.

[Rondo_is_better]

This is flat out wrong.

[KungPoweChicken]

Some people will probably flame you for this cause it seems like you added some people to your list for the sake of making it look longer. Ill try to go through your list then respond, the biggest problem is that you included a lot of power forwards.

Brook Lopez - ok
David Lee - Not a center
Samuel Dalembert - Samuel Dalembert is terrible, he is worse then perk on defense and has even less offense. Not sure where you got him as better. He also makes a ton of money
Joakim Noah - I think he is also even worse then perk offensively, and probably weaker defensively.
Andrew Bogut - arguable but ok
Dwight Howard - yes
Yao Ming--when healthy (when will he play again, but ok)
Tim Duncan - yes
Nene - ok
Al Jefferson - Not a center
Greg Oden- Will never be healthy, also has never played at the nba level close to perk
Chris Kaman - ok
Andrew Bynum - Sorry Bynum has not put it together at all for more then a twenty game stretch in his career. Perkins also owned him in individual battles.
Marc Gasol - On offense yes, on defense no.
Amare Stoudemire - A power forward
 
So there are maybe 8 starting centers better then perkins if i was to really give the benefit of the doubt. However, I think you are undervaluing perks defense and forgetting about guys like Gasol and Kaman playing no interior presence. Considering some of these guys are older or constantly injured and Perk makes 5 million a year, he is a hell of a player. He also continues to get better every year.

You're right about Dalembert. I'm going to erase him and put in Emeka Okafor.

[RJ87]

This is flat out wrong.

TP.

Not many Centers can defend Dwight the way Perk does. And it isn't a fluke, he does it consistently.

A lot of the guys you mentioned are good offensively, thats not what Perk does.

[Change]

You've lost credibility putting Samuel Dalember on any list.  

Andrew Bynum-young and dumb.
Greg Oden-dead man walking.
Joakim Noah-Perk would School him.
Al Jefferson-not a center.
Marc Gasol-too early to judge.
Amare Stoudemire-not a center.
David lee-not a center.
Yao Ming-Career might be over.

That leaves--- Brook Lopez, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Nene, Chris Kaman.

  
Can Perk survive post big3 era? Ainge will answer that in 2011. For now he's a perfect fit. Don't forget he's improving every year.

[KCattheStripe]

Brook Lopez Sure, but his team wins two games.
David Lee Not a center.
Samuel Dalembert Have you ever even seen Philly play. Dalembert is a punk.
Joakim Noah So instead of having the few outside gifted centers dominate the game, you'd rather have any big with an ounce of low post strength?
Andrew Bogut Sure, if he's ever healthy.
Dwight Howard duh.
Yao Ming--when healthy Not a caveat I can accept. Thats like saying I could beat Michael Jordan if you tied him to the opposite bench. Sure it makes sense in theory, but there will never be a game like that.
Tim Duncan Duh
Nene Disagree, but lets agree to do just that.
Al Jefferson His offensive weapons don't make up for how abused he gets defensively.
Greg Oden--when healthy Again, not a realistic Caveat.
Chris Kaman Except he can't play any defense and his teams never win. Real franchise 20/10 guys teams win.
Andrew Bynum You want to talk about someone benefitting from playing with allstars...
Marc Gasol Agree to disagree
Amare Stoudemire Not a center.

[KungPoweChicken]

You've lost credibility putting Samuel Dalember on any list.  

Andrew Bynum-young and dumb.
Greg Oden-dead man walking.
Joakim Noah-Perk would School him.
Al Jefferson-not a center.
Marc Gasol-too early to judge.
Amare Stoudemire-not a center.
David lee-not a center.
Yao Ming-Career might be over.

That leaves--- Brook Lopez, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Nene, Chris Kaman.

  
Can Perk survive post big3 era? Ainge will answer that in 2011. For now he's a perfect fit. Don't forget he's improving every year.

The guys you say aren't centers are playing center for their teams. The days of Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon are over. The players I listed are centers in the NBA today.

[KCattheStripe]

You've lost credibility putting Samuel Dalember on any list.  

Andrew Bynum-young and dumb.
Greg Oden-dead man walking.
Joakim Noah-Perk would School him.
Al Jefferson-not a center.
Marc Gasol-too early to judge.
Amare Stoudemire-not a center.
David lee-not a center.
Yao Ming-Career might be over.

That leaves--- Brook Lopez, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Nene, Chris Kaman.

  
Can Perk survive post big3 era? Ainge will answer that in 2011. For now he's a perfect fit. Don't forget he's improving every year.

The guys you say aren't centers are playing center for their teams. The days of Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon are over. The players I listed are centers in the NBA today.

Except the Knicks and Wolves are terrible and one of the reasons is that they have to play 4s at the 5. Also, Amare starts at the 4 for the Suns.

[KungPoweChicken]

You've lost credibility putting Samuel Dalember on any list.  

Andrew Bynum-young and dumb.
Greg Oden-dead man walking.
Joakim Noah-Perk would School him.
Al Jefferson-not a center.
Marc Gasol-too early to judge.
Amare Stoudemire-not a center.
David lee-not a center.
Yao Ming-Career might be over.

That leaves--- Brook Lopez, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Nene, Chris Kaman.

  
Can Perk survive post big3 era? Ainge will answer that in 2011. For now he's a perfect fit. Don't forget he's improving every year.

The guys you say aren't centers are playing center for their teams. The days of Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon are over. The players I listed are centers in the NBA today.

Except the Knicks and Wolves are terrible and one of the reasons is that they have to play 4s at the 5. Also, Amare starts at the 4 for the Suns.

Oh I'm sorry. The Suns center is the guy who just bombs 3's all game long. How did I make that mistake.

[KCattheStripe]

You've lost credibility putting Samuel Dalember on any list.  

Andrew Bynum-young and dumb.
Greg Oden-dead man walking.
Joakim Noah-Perk would School him.
Al Jefferson-not a center.
Marc Gasol-too early to judge.
Amare Stoudemire-not a center.
David lee-not a center.
Yao Ming-Career might be over.

That leaves--- Brook Lopez, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Nene, Chris Kaman.

  
Can Perk survive post big3 era? Ainge will answer that in 2011. For now he's a perfect fit. Don't forget he's improving every year.

The guys you say aren't centers are playing center for their teams. The days of Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon are over. The players I listed are centers in the NBA today.

Except the Knicks and Wolves are terrible and one of the reasons is that they have to play 4s at the 5. Also, Amare starts at the 4 for the Suns.

Oh I'm sorry. The Suns center is the guy who just bombs 3's all game long. How did I make that mistake.

Like you said, the days of Hakeem and Ewing are over. 

[FLCeltsFan]

This is flat out wrong.

TP.  I agree.

[ajgoodman]

Kendrick Perkins, as the fifth and last offensive option on a championship team, is averaging 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks while leading the league in field goal percentage. Despite being a player who makes his name doing the things that DON'T show up in the box score, he is STILL putting up numbers. Not every player on our team is a superstar, but what Perk does, he does extremely well.  Despite being an NBA veteran, he is still a young player who has a lot to learn, but I can't complain about a guy who works hard, plays hard-ass defense, crashes the boards, and does what he does best on the offensive end. PERK IS A BEAST.

[PosImpos]

Centers I would rather have on this team, assuming they were healthy, risk of injury, and age were not a factor:

Dwight Howard
Brook Lopez
Yao Ming
Tim Duncan

I include Tim Duncan because he can play at center and he's one of the best in the league at that position even though he's usually a power forward.

There are plenty of guys in the league who are better offensively than Perkins, but his defensive ability against guys like Dwight and Shaq are invaluable for this team.  I would only give that up for a true All-Star center.

If I were to take age and health into consideration, only Dwight Howard and Brook Lopez are above Perk in my estimation; those guys are the two best young centers in the league at the moment (by far).