The BBD, Murphy, Krstic and Perk Debate

[ballin]

Obviously, the biggest topic for discussion over the past few days has been the Perkins to OKC trade. A lot of people have argued about it, and it seems as though everyone is unable to come to a consensus on whether or not this trade helped or hurt our chances at a title this year. A large part of this discussion has been Perk's offense, or allegedly, lack thereof.

Here are the career true shooting percentages for the players expected to replace Perk at center (all have averaged similar ppg over recent years):

Krstic: .530
Murphy: .541
Big Baby: .508
Perk: .568


Looking at their actual productivity, it's obvious that Perk has actually been the best offensive player out of the four. Despite the fact that Perk's moves to the basket are ugly, slow, and glacially-paced, the fact of the matter is he gets the ball to go in. You don't get extra points for style in basketball, gentlemen.

So what does this mean for our team? Well since not only was Perk better than his replacements defensively, but offensively as well, I don't think that you can argue that Ainge made a good decision, despite the arrival of Murphy, who has been having an atrocious year.

In conclusion, we better pray that Shaq can give us a LOT of minutes in the playoffs this year.

[wdleehi]

Perk is the only one that does not shoot from the outside and that effects those numbers. 



With that said, the Celtics still need Shaq or JO back in the playoffs or they are to small in the middle.

[Lucky17]

TP. A brilliant use of statistics to refute reality.

There's no way I would ever agree that Perkins is the best shooter out of that group.

[Rondo2287]

TP. A brilliant use of statistics to refute reality.

There's no way I would ever agree that Perkins is the best shooter out of that group.

Cosign, that is fantastic

[ballin]

TP. A brilliant use of statistics to refute reality.

There's no way I would ever agree that Perkins is the best shooter out of that group.

Did I say shooter? I said "offensive player"

I'm sorry, but like I said before, it doesn't matter whether you shoot the ball from 5 feet or 16 feet, it's still two points.

You win basketball games by scoring more efficiently and getting more possessions than the other team. Fact.

[fairweatherfan]

True shooting %  =/= offensive ability, your entire premise is flawed, especially with 3 jumpshooters and one, well, one Perk.  You're also leaving out Green's abilities which are very relevant to evaluating the trade.

Perk benefited greatly from playing with three HOFers and one of the best pure passers in the game.  I miss the guy and wish him well but his offensive skills are very limited. 

[ballin]

True shooting %  =/= offensive ability, your entire premise is flawed, especially with 3 jumpshooters and one, well, one Perk.  You're also leaving out Green's abilities which are very relevant to evaluating the trade.

Perk benefited greatly from playing with three HOFers and one of the best pure passers in the game.  I miss the guy and wish him well but his offensive skills were very limited. 

While it's true that you can't have an entire team of non-jumpshooters, we're talking about centers here. Furthermore, our PF, KG, has range nearly out to the 3 point line. Whether or not our center can shoot beyond 5 feet is irrelevant, and therefore, the only thing that matters is their efficiency.

If you disagree, explain why

[CelticG1]

Perk an offensive player? Thats rich.

Even those who were the most opposed to this trade would have a tough time arguing this without chuckling a little on the inside.

If you want to talk about better defensive player thats one thing but better defensive? You'll have a tough time convincing anyone (probably even Perk) that.

[jsingh1699]

anyone wanna take a stab at how the 96 min at the 4/5 will be spread among kg, bbd, shaq, murphy, krstic (i'm assuming jo is toast)?

here is my guess

kg: 30
bbd: 20
shaq: 20
murphy: 15
krstic: 10

[FatjohnReturns]

TP. A brilliant use of statistics to refute reality.

There's no way I would ever agree that Perkins is the best shooter out of that group.

Did I say shooter? I said "offensive player"

I'm sorry, but like I said before, it doesn't matter whether you shoot the ball from 5 feet or 16 feet, it's still two points.

You win basketball games by scoring more efficiently and getting more possessions than the other team. Fact.

Sorry this is false. It does matter where he scores from. He has no range outside of the paint and it clogs the driving lanes from Rondo,Allen,Pierce. Not only do they have to beat their own man they have to beat Perkins man at the rim.

[droponov]

What the Celtics need is a healthy and productive Jermaine O'Neal. He's more important than Shaq, Murphy, Davis and Krstic. He's the one who can easily replace Perkins contributions.

[ballin]

TP. A brilliant use of statistics to refute reality.

There's no way I would ever agree that Perkins is the best shooter out of that group.

Did I say shooter? I said "offensive player"

I'm sorry, but like I said before, it doesn't matter whether you shoot the ball from 5 feet or 16 feet, it's still two points.

You win basketball games by scoring more efficiently and getting more possessions than the other team. Fact.

Sorry this is false. It does matter where he scores from. He has no range outside of the paint and it clogs the driving lanes from Rondo,Allen,Pierce. Not only do they have to beat their own man they have to beat Perkins man at the rim.

Yeah I guess that's why we couldn't win a championship in 2008. And all of those teams with Shaq have always sucked too, since he didn't have any range....

He's a center for god's sake!!!!!!!

[NervousPervis]

Krstic and Murphy have 12 fouls to give... Perk only has 6!

No doubt that Perk is better on defense, but he couldn't stretch an elastic on offense. These other guys can make shots outside of 5 feet. Instead of have Perk come out to the 3-point line to set picks(usually resulting in an offensive foul), now Krstic or Murphy will be wide open for those jumpers, similar to what we see with KG.

Between Shaq, Murphy, Krstic, J. O'Neal(hopefully)at the center, I think we will be just fine...

[Roy H.]

Perk is the most efficient player of the group, but I agree that there's a huge difference between "best offensive player" and "most efficient player".  Also, you need to look at assists, offensive rebounds, and turnovers when assessing offense.

It's interesting that Perk actually generates more unassisted offense than, say, Krstic does.  I think Perk's offense was underrated, as he's made some real strides there.  However, Krstic and Murphy stretch the floor and open up space for Rondo, so that's a benefit. 

In terms of overall offense, I'd rank the guys Murphy, Krstic, Perk, BBD.  Defensively, it's Perk, BBD, Krstic, Murphy.  (Sorry, BBD fans.  He's more versatile than Perk on offense, but I think Perk is better on that end.)

[fairweatherfan]

True shooting %  =/= offensive ability, your entire premise is flawed, especially with 3 jumpshooters and one, well, one Perk.  You're also leaving out Green's abilities which are very relevant to evaluating the trade.

Perk benefited greatly from playing with three HOFers and one of the best pure passers in the game.  I miss the guy and wish him well but his offensive skills were very limited. 

While it's true that you can't have an entire team of non-jumpshooters, we're talking about centers here. Furthermore, our PF, KG, has range nearly out to the 3 point line. Whether or not our center can shoot beyond 5 feet is irrelevant, and therefore, the only thing that matters is their efficiency.

If you disagree, explain why

Perk and Rondo on the floor meant we had 2 non-jumpshooters, making it difficult for the Big 3 to find space, especially in clutch situations.  That's why he rarely finished games for us even when healthy.  Range is less important at C than other positions, but if you think it's completely irrelevant to the position, there are about 30 front offices that disagree with you.

True shooting is not a good proxy for overall offensive ability because it doesn't account for passing, offensive rebounding, turnovers, or volume of production.  Perk was pretty good at one of those.