Shaq is a vast upgrade over Perkins.

[Megatron]

Dont get me wrong, I love perk, I love what he brings to defense, but this teams defense has already been proven. What we needed was offense, and what I notice from watching every game so far is that the floor looks that much more wide open, Shaq has an advantage over just about every center in the league, if he gets the ball down low, hes going to either score or get to the line.

We need to realize as fans, that until Shaq proves otherwise, he needs to be our starting center for the remainder of this season. Perk is an inferior player, even when healthy.
Last year, I didnt want perkins touching the ball on offense, if he did, I literally would close my eyes and wait for the inevitable brick or turnover, the guy just has no offensive game, Semih's offensive game may be better than perks.

We needed someone who could score consistently down low, Shaq is that guy.

Over the years we may have been spoiled with the upgraded play of Rondo, and the consistent play of our Big 3, but the main fear was that Perkins would never develop into a consistent offensive threat to open the floor up for our other players, Shaq does such a good job of this its mind boggling. The offense is just so much better. I consider shaq a better player then perkins, even at his age. He just has things that perkins will never have.
Am I wrong in not wanting Perkins to start for the rest of the year?

I can only imagine the havoc Shaq is going to cause when we play the Lakers.

[Fafnir]

He's a big upgrade offensively, and a small upgrade when it comes to rebounding. However he's no longer in any way a dominant offensive player.

He is still a large downgrade defensively. There is a reason Shaq hasn't been finishing most close games.

Once Perkins returns he needs to be getting a full 30 minutes a game at the C spot. That won't even call for Shaq's minutes to be reduced much. Glen Davis is the one who's likely to find his minutes cut.

[guava_wrench]

Our bread and butter is our defense. We need to make sure we fix our defense before the playoffs, because our defense is pretty mediocre right now.

If we can play great defense with Shaq, great.

Also, players on the Celtics should be evaluated by what they bring to the team against playoff contenders. It makes no difference if we are much better against the Wizards with them in the lineup. We need to be better against the teams we will play when it counts. We also need to be better for playoff style basketball.

Scoring oriented players are consistently overrated because it is easy to see what they bring to the team.

The truth is, Shaq versus Perk isn't really an issue. If Perk is healthy, he will get minutes before Erden, JO, and Baby. With the limited minutes Shaq plays, there will be plenty of minutes still for Perk, assuming those two never play together. Shaq only helps when he can run, which means very limited minutes, leaving more than half of the game minutes available for Perk. Shaq also needs days off, though our lack of healthy bigs is making that impossible at the moment.

Let's also see how Shaq does defending mobile, offensively skilled centers over the course of the season.

It is very unclear why starting is such a big issue for you Megatron.

[Megatron]

It is very unclear why starting is such a big issue for you Megatron.

Because its been proven that when this team doesent get off to good/productive starts, its a downward spiral. Were an older team, our energy seems to decrease as the game goes on. We need to come out firing, put up a lot of points, get a comfortable cusion, and let our defense do the rest to win us the game.

Coming from behind isnt a good thing for this team, and I honestly cant remember the last time we came from behind to win a game. It seems like years.

[guava_wrench]

It is very unclear why starting is such a big issue for you Megatron.

Because its been proven that when this team doesent get off to good/productive starts, its a downward spiral. Were an older team, our energy seems to decrease as the game goes on. We need to come out firing, put up a lot of points, get a comfortable cusion, and let our defense do the rest to win us the game.

Coming from behind isnt a good thing for this team, and I honestly cant remember the last time we came from behind to win a game. It seems like years.

I thought our problem was giving up leads in the 4th, not coming from behind?

[Fafnir]

It is very unclear why starting is such a big issue for you Megatron.

Because its been proven that when this team doesent get off to good/productive starts, its a downward spiral. Were an older team, our energy seems to decrease as the game goes on. Coming from behind isnt a good thing for this team, and I honestly cant remember the last time we came from behind to win a game. It seems like years.

Celtics Average Margin by QTR:
1st: +5.2 (3rd in NBA)
2nd: +2.4 (6th in NBA)
3rd: -0.7 (20th in NBA)
4th: -0.7 (21st in NBA)

But I'll also point out that the C's starting five last year had an adjusted +/- of +11.37. Given that this unit had 1000+ minutes together this is a staggering number. Very few lineups were better in the entire NBA last year.

The starting line up with Shaq has an adjusted +/- of 14.37 (over a much smaller sample the error is a huge 10 points)

[Fafnir]

It is very unclear why starting is such a big issue for you Megatron.

Because its been proven that when this team doesent get off to good/productive starts, its a downward spiral. Were an older team, our energy seems to decrease as the game goes on. We need to come out firing, put up a lot of points, get a comfortable cusion, and let our defense do the rest to win us the game.

Coming from behind isnt a good thing for this team, and I honestly cant remember the last time we came from behind to win a game. It seems like years.

I thought our problem was giving up leads in the 4th, not coming from behind?

The Celtics have been winning their games in the first quarter this year.

You can look at it either way, they need to do better in the second half, or that they need to get a lead early.

[satch]

I think Shaq could still be a very good player. But he will not commit himself to the hard work needed to play at an all-star level. (i.e. diet and conditioning) I also observed earlier in the year when on the bench he clowned to much. That appears to have been tempered. He still does it but not as much. I think the big 3 are all business. Maybe he is getting the message which is a good thing.

[BballTim]

Dont get me wrong, I love perk, I love what he brings to defense, but this teams defense has already been proven. What we needed was offense, and what I notice from watching every game so far is that the floor looks that much more wide open, Shaq has an advantage over just about every center in the league, if he gets the ball down low, hes going to either score or get to the line.

We need to realize as fans, that until Shaq proves otherwise, he needs to be our starting center for the remainder of this season. Perk is an inferior player, even when healthy.
Last year, I didnt want perkins touching the ball on offense, if he did, I literally would close my eyes and wait for the inevitable brick or turnover, the guy just has no offensive game, Semih's offensive game may be better than perks.

We needed someone who could score consistently down low, Shaq is that guy.

Over the years we may have been spoiled with the upgraded play of Rondo, and the consistent play of our Big 3, but the main fear was that Perkins would never develop into a consistent offensive threat to open the floor up for our other players, Shaq does such a good job of this its mind boggling. The offense is just so much better. I consider shaq a better player then perkins, even at his age. He just has things that perkins will never have.
Am I wrong in not wanting Perkins to start for the rest of the year?

I can only imagine the havoc Shaq is going to cause when we play the Lakers.

  When you say the team's defense has been proven, don't forget that Perk was in the lineup when that happened.

  As for Shaq starting, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to start someone that's only going to play 20 minutes or so. If they're both healthy, the choice would be to start Perk, rest him while Shaq plays and put him back in to finish the half or start Shaq and then play Perk about 14 minutes in a row. It's a bad rotation of your players.

[Cman]

Once Perkins returns he needs to be getting a full 30 minutes a game at the C spot.

I think it is highly unlikely that Perkins will get 30 mins a game.  I'd bet 25 mins/game.  It'll be hard to come back from the injury, and in Perkins entire career the closest he got to 30 mins a game was 2 years ago when he played 29 mins a game.

[snively]

Ideally, come playoff time, it'll be around 20 minutes each for Shaq, Perk and JO and around 35 for KG. 

[BballTim]

Once Perkins returns he needs to be getting a full 30 minutes a game at the C spot.

I think it is highly unlikely that Perkins will get 30 mins a game.  I'd bet 25 mins/game.  It'll be hard to come back from the injury, and in Perkins entire career the closest he got to 30 mins a game was 2 years ago when he played 29 mins a game.

  He played about 37 a game in the playoffs that year. We'll be in great shape if he's anywhere near healthy enough to play that many minutes whether he does or not.

[ManUp]

Shaq vs Perkins.

Catch and finish ability - Shaq with ease. Perk's greatest weakness and my biggest beef with him he's too methodical. And he doesn't have the softest hands either. Shaq has been thriving simply by doing this all season.

Passing from the post - Shaq. Perk sometimes doesn't know when to quit and pass it out. It seems everyone, but Perk recognizes these moments. Shaq on the other punishes you when you try to double team or passes it out just to get better position.

Scoring in the post - Shaq, but not by as much as most would think. Perk's hook is pretty reliable when he gets good position and there's no help. For both players their offense gets a lot, better when they're playing physically weaker opponents.

Shot Blocking & Post defense - Wash. Perk does his work early not allowing his man to get position and is tough to move. He forces opponents into difficult positions. Shaq is tough to move and is hard to get around off his size alone.

Rebounding - Perk by a hair. Perk grab's between 7-8 rebounds in 27 minutes. Shaq is getting 6 in 21 it's arguable he could out rebound Perk if he played the same minutes (but he can't play those minutes so Perk).

Help Defense - Perk by a million. This is the only area where I think Perk really outshines Shaq. Perk is more active, is quicker to spots, and simply tries harder. 90% of Shaqs fouls seem to come on help defense which our entire defense is predicated on (trusting the next man has your back).

Shaq, wins out 3 to 2. He's a better finisher off the catch, passer from the post, and post scorer. Perkins is a better defender and rebounder. In my opinion, we don't need Shaq to score from the post and it's not like he's that much better than Perk anymore so that can be thrown out. So I would consider it a wash between the two it's all preference. Do you value Shaqs quick finishing ability and ability to pass out of the post to open shooters, or Perkins better defense, and rebounding. Before the season I probably would've went with Shaq, but I think our defense needs Perk more. From the few (  )games I've seen our defense has been pretty average. I think Perkin's help defense would make it a lot better. Offense isn't really an issue for me (Rondo's better and KG's healthy, Ray and PP are about the same) we've managed the last few years haven't we?

[billysan]

Ideally, come playoff time, it'll be around 20 minutes each for Shaq, Perk and JO and around 35 for KG. 

It would be nice (ideally) but I doubt we get 20 mpg from JO. More likely from Baby. Jermaine just aint that healthy and will miss most of this season IMO. He definitely has to be considered a longshot as a contributor in my book.

[Fafnir]

Shaq vs Perkins.

Shaq, wins out 3 to 2.

Except you're putting defense as a two categories, its half the game. Help defense from your C is one of the biggest things in the game.

Currently teams have been able to use the pick and roll against the C's and gain an advantage by attacking Semih/Shaq unless we go smaller and play BBD at the C. That line is good offensively but it really hurts our rebounding.

With Perkins in the game we're no longer vulnerable at the C spot when it comes to the P&R, plus Perkins is just as good as Shaq at post defense.