Perkins has little skills

[Bahku]

This is flat out wrong.

TP.  I agree.

Ditto, (and TP's to you both) ... just completely disagree, and I was honestly ready to trade him two years ago. Perk has been a monster this year, and is easily one of the most improved players in the NBA, as well as deserving an All-Star spot, (though I doubt he'll get it, unfortunately), and on his way to being one of the elite centers in the league.

[CelticG1]

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.

Dude, Emeka Okafor? Thats not doing much better than Dalembert. Okafor is terrible. Some of the guys on your list i agree with and some I don't. I know you think some of these guys (bogut, Kaman) are better than Perk because they got the best of him recently but those are just single games. Just like Pierce or Rondo or other guys will get punked in games by inferior opponents the same thing will happen to Perk. I'm sure Perk would be able to adjust to these guys if they were playing in a 7 games series or something. Just like Dwight Howard won't average 5 points against us in a 7 game series. I know for sure that there are very few big men I would rather have in the playoffs than Perk ESPECIALLY defensively. Also I think you are short selling Perk on his work ethic. What I mean by that is that he has improved (granted, slowly) each and every year and has developed a decent style of play that fits him. He plays within himself and thats what makes him so valuable to this team.

Were you going a decent amount based on stats (rebounds, points, blocks)? I know you were saying that Perk has had his hand held by the big 3 and I find it interesting that the same exact thing was said about Rondo. How Rondo's stats are what they are because of the Big 3 and without them he wouldn't produce as much. I think Rondo, along with Perk, would both have inflated stats an inferior teams and would look more like the Paul's, Deron's, Lopez's, Lee's of the NBA. Just look at the playoffs last year. With KG out Rondo played very well and put up ridiclous numbers and Perk increased his play and numbers by a decent amount too. Also when looking at Perk and I don't have the numbers in front of me but he must average about 28 min a game compared to these other centers who are easily playing at least 35 plus a game.

[rav123]

Perk just had a bad game against Kaman. It's not like he consistently gets torched by players like him.

[jimmehx]

Such a panic thread.
You'll be eating this thread come February.

[ChainSmokingLikeDino]

I should perhaps be posting in the off-topic drunken thread right now but my ire is getting the best of me...

As of, what, 4? 5? days ago (I'm too lazy to check the league leaders right now, so perhaps now as well) Perk was leading the league in fg%. On Christmas Day he, in tandem with 'Sheed, shut down Dwight Howard offensively, a thing he has done repeatedly in the past. He has developed from a rough physical specimen into a true basketball player with very good back to the basket moves, a great basketball IQ, no longer "slow gathers", has a respectable shot up to 12-15 feet and can finish around the basket AND is a top defensive center. One of the few in the league who routinely limits the top true centers in the league to sub-par games.

To say he lacks skills is, frankly, moronic. Have you watched this team play or just looked at stats (based upon some of the guys you list ((half of whom don't even play center, by the way)) it seems that way)?

I don't know. I'm simply flummoxed that anyone would even say Perk "has little skills."  (And would those be the skills of a small person or would he have few skills?) It is truly baffling.

[Celtics17]

Yeah, Perk has little skills. It just so happens though that when you play with some very good offensive players that those limited skills compliment the team quite well. Let's see, excellent D, good rebounding, excellent shot blocking and decent and underrated offense. Yeah, I guess those little skills suit this team quite well.

[Drucci]

Perkins is excellent defensively (except against mobile centers)... and he has more offensive moves than Dwight Howard.

[moiso]

Perk is not athletically gifted.  He came into the league pretty much as a big fat stiff.  But that's one of the reasons I love him so much.  What center does more with less talent?  The guy has made himself into a guy I want starting for a championship level team.  He plays with as much intesity as anyone and plays within himself.  He focuses on what he's good at and excells.  I would think this would be appreciated by a fan of the team in which Rasheed Wallace tries to do a little bit of everything, but is really getting nothing accomplished.  Perk gets the ball from 5 feet out and he tries to get to within 2 feet.  I freaking love that about Perk.  You're right that Perk is not as naturally talented as many on that list, but in going for championships I would rather go to war with Perk than most of them.

[nyceltsfan]

The Celts took Orlando to 7 games last year (and probably should have won that series) without the prior year's Defensive Player of the Year (who is supposed to be the Celts' best interior defender).  A team cannot go that far without some kind of interior defense.  Not only that, but Perk became a 3rd option on offense in the playoffs last year and shut down Dwight Howard.

The original post is ignoring many things.  The factual parts of the post are relatively correct - Perk is slow and does not have many offensive moves.  He probably cannot defend a guy on the perimeter, but that is not typically the job of a center, especially with the NBA allowing zone defense.  Perk is not in the lower half of the league centers.

[GreenFaith1819]

This is flat out wrong.

TP.  I agree.

Ditto, (and TP's to you both) ... just completely disagree, and I was honestly ready to trade him two years ago. Perk has been a monster this year, and is easily one of the most improved players in the NBA, as well as deserving an All-Star spot, (though I doubt he'll get it, unfortunately), and on his way to being one of the elite centers in the league.

Add me to the list of dissenters of this thread. Perkins is a Top 5 Defensive Center, and is improving offensively. He's only 25 or 26.

Yes Kaman and Bogut had good games against him recently, but do Any of us expect to see Kaman and Bogut in the Playoffs? I think Not.

KungPoweChicken - the timing of this thread is questionable. Not calling you out, but why post this when the Celtics are probably at the worst point of their season? I think we all know that it won't get ANY worst than this:

1. KG out till next week (maybe longer?)
2. Pierce out til Saturday.
3. Glen hurt again. Won't see him until next week.
4. Marquis out until Feb.
5. Rondo is now hurt.

You have EVERY right to post your opinions - that's what we do here on the Blog, but when you post like this be ready for some constructive criticism.

[thirstyboots18]

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).

The "age and health" being a factor is a cop out in a discussion.  If I were to use that excuse, I would pick Bill Walton over all centers playing today, ha ha ha

[dark_lord]

perk plays better when kg is playing.  when kg is in the lineup, he plays all star caliber ball.  when kg is out, perk plays above average.....offensively.

defensively, perk is a beast, no matter who is in the lineup.

to say perk has little skills is completely incorrect.  if one wants to argue he has flaws or that he benefits with kg in the lineup, i agree if you specifically discussing offensive production.  

perk is not the issue here and the team benefits greatly from his defensive presence!

[thirstyboots18]

This is flat out wrong.

TP.  I agree.

Ditto, (and TP's to you both) ... just completely disagree, and I was honestly ready to trade him two years ago. Perk has been a monster this year, and is easily one of the most improved players in the NBA, as well as deserving an All-Star spot, (though I doubt he'll get it, unfortunately), and on his way to being one of the elite centers in the league.

Add me to the list...tp's for three

[vinnie]

My only complaint about Perk is that he is going down the road of Sheed. Most refs seem to dislike him, he is immature, and continues to mouth off and do stupid things that result in T's. I am worried that this is going to continue to get worse and he needs to grow up big time.

[LB3533]

Perk is fine.

He needs a team around him for his good qualities to prevail.

If Perk is your 2nd or 3rd best player, you're in trouble....the team is in trouble.