Shaq is a vast upgrade over Perkins.

[nba is the worst]

Celtics don't win last night without Shaq's performance.

25/11 with a steal in 32 minutes.

Sure, he can only play 20 minutes, hasn't committed to diet/conditioning, blah blah... (sarcasm)

On a team as good as this one, he's proving all the doubters wrong.

Absolutely hands down the steal of the offseason, warts (missed fts and lack of defense) and all...

[Birdbrain]

Celtics don't win last night without Shaq's performance.

25/11 with a steal in 32 minutes.

Sure, he can only play 20 minutes, hasn't committed to diet/conditioning, blah blah... (sarcasm)

On a team as good as this one, he's proving all the doubters wrong.

Absolutely hands down the steal of the offseason, warts (missed fts and lack of defense) and all...

True, he's been stellar.  He appears to be in great shape as well.  Another player that was underutilized in Cleveland it seems.  He's had more impact on the C's than Bosh has had in Miami for the leg min.  Danny should get a gold thrown built in his name if everything comes together and they end up with #18.

[Celtics4ever]

In many facets of the game he is better than Perk.  Offensively its not even close, but I think Perk was a better defender prior to this injury just because he was younger and had more mobility.  Its nice to have a center that can catch the ball when dumped to him.

[nba is the worst]

In many facets of the game he is better than Perk.  Offensively its not even close, but I think Perk was a better defender prior to this injury just because he was younger and had more mobility.  Its nice to have a center that can catch the ball when dumped to him.

Shaq also tends to stay healthy - last season's fluke injury from Glen Davis nonwithstanding.

To me it's clear that the huge upside offensively more than compensates for any defensive liabilities.

If the team is reasonably healthy, it's clear the Celtics won't miss the Finals - where a rubber match with the Lakers awaits (as long as their health is similarly decent).

[Phil125]

If the team is reasonably healthy, it's clear the Celtics won't miss the Finals - where a rubber match with the Lakers awaits (as long as their health is similarly decent).

Shaq/Kobe  Rubber match..... Drools... Can't wait.  Sucks we have to deal with the regular season 

[GreenFaith1819]

Well, I'll be the first to eat some crow (along with Turkey), on today.

Shaq was simply OUTSTANDING last night. I thought I saw him wearing a Purple and Gold jersey for a min there......

My thing is this: As long as Shaq (and Perk and JO) can keep a Fully Healthy Lakers frontline of Bynum, Gasol and Odom) from playing VolleyBall with us like they did last June, then I'm all good.

I'm just not one to jump on the bandwagon right away for some things. Out of mostly loyalty, I favor Perk. He was here in 07-08, played his tail off in the playoffs in 08-09 (sans KG, Powe), and played well last year - up until that injury.

That being said - and I think drza44 made a reference to this - KG gets a lot of props in how this (Shaq) has worked. A fully Healthy KG has made it a point to utilize Shaq's skillset to our advantage.

KG made Rasho Nesterovic look good in Minny. He's made Perk look good, and now he's utilizing Shaq's skillset.

And BOY - does the Big Shamrock still have a skillset or what.....has even Kareem had a 25 and 11 pt night at 38? Against a quality center like Lopez, to boot.

But, again, kudos to Shaq for last night. I still don't agree with title of the thread, but Lord Knows I'm glad Danny brought the Big Fella in here.

Finally - Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!!

[Mencius]

If we can ever get them all healthy, the beauty of it is that with Shaq, Perk, JO, KG, and Baby, none of them ought to have to play all that many minutes, and we can go all out, all the time vs pacing themselves because they know they've got to play big minutes.

Really hoping Delonte can make it back for the playoffs, too.

[More Banners]

If we can ever get them all healthy, the beauty of it is that with Shaq, Perk, JO, KG, and Baby, none of them ought to have to play all that many minutes, and we can go all out, all the time vs pacing themselves because they know they've got to play big minutes.

Really hoping Delonte can make it back for the playoffs, too.

Honestly, I never would have predicted how well Shaq looks with this squad.

Still, the injury situation with JO and Perk is the biggest barrier to another Finals trip this year.  Erden has the size and some raw skills, but isn't there yet (and shouldn't be as a rookie), and BBD doesn't have the length.

The Shaq/JO/Perk rotation at the 5, with BBD backing up KG should be the best frontcourt rotation in the NBA, if it ever happens on the court.

[Chelm]

And BOY - does the Big Shamrock still have a skillset or what.....has even Kareem had a 25 and 11 pt night at 38? Against a quality center like Lopez, to boot.

A bit of an over-exaggeration there... Kareem was Finals MVP against us at 38 years old averaging 30.2 points, 11.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.0 blocks over the 6 games.  Not to discredit Shaq's game, of course, he played phenomenally.

On topic, Shaq over Perk.

[Andrew]

Shaq is the only reason why I watch the Celtics. Hell, the team I can't stand, but Shaq...love him. He is doing his thing right now, 25 points the other game...wow.

[Megatron]

Perkins probably caused me the most amount of frustration last year.

Everytime he caught the ball on offense, he got his shot blocked, bricked, airballed, or (mostly) turned the ball over.

He takes about 6-7 seconds before he decides to make a move, mainly because he has no offensive confidence. And his moves are primitive. Offense is where our team struggled last year. Remember those stretches of not scoring for 8 minutes? That hasnt happened this year, not with Shaq in the game.

[snowball]

great interview of Shaq on WEEI this morning
hope you guys heard it.

[gar]

Been said before, Perk is a Beast. His defense is miles above Shaq's especially on the pick and roll. He shows harder and rotates quicker. Perks offense is underrated, besides you have to feed the beast every once and a while. Glad to see Shaq having fun out there and still getting it done; but Perk will be a major asset regardless of if he's starting or playing with the second unit. Perk would be able to score against the second unit with ease.

[RAcker]

Shaq is the only reason why I watch the Celtics. Hell, the team I can't stand, but Shaq...love him. He is doing his thing right now, 25 points the other game...wow.

[Megatron]

Been said before, Perk is a Beast. His defense is miles above Shaq's especially on the pick and roll. He shows harder and rotates quicker. Perks offense is underrated, besides you have to feed the beast every once and a while. Glad to see Shaq having fun out there and still getting it done; but Perk will be a major asset regardless of if he's starting or playing with the second unit. Perk would be able to score against the second unit with ease.

Perk doesent score against anyone with ease, when the ball ends up in his hands its usually a turnover, not a basket.