Danny: "Jeff Green could be a better defender than Perk Right Now and in future"

[Who]

Yeah, maybe ... but I am hesitant to judge Perk's defense at this point.

He is only just back from injury after sitting out for a long time. How capable he is defensively today may not be who he is two months from now after he has 20-30 more games under his best, or, who he is next season after a full summer's recovery and training camp.

So, for me, it's a wait and see ... see whether Perk improves from where he currently is or not. I hope he does. It would be a shame if that injury has impaired his career.

[Casperian]

Not this season. Howard has improved a lot. He put some sweet moves on Perk last time.

Howard wasn´t so impressive when Big Baby was guarding him.

[Celtics/Run]

Not this season. Howard has improved a lot. He put some sweet moves on Perk last time.

Howard wasn´t so impressive when Big Baby was guarding him.

Gasol took a fade away jump shot against Baby.

[Casperian]

Not this season. Howard has improved a lot. He put some sweet moves on Perk last time.

Howard wasn´t so impressive when Big Baby was guarding him.

Gasol took a fade away jump shot against Baby.

Not that hard. However, It´s not certain that we´ll meet the Lakers in the finals.

Howard and the Magic are not our biggest threat this year. To focus on Perk´s lowpost defense as an argument why we need him means to win the battle, but to lose the war.

The Perkins we all saw pre-injury was indeed one of the best Howard-defenders in the league, but that can hardly be the sole reason to keep him around.
People seem to forget that as good as Perk was vs Howard defensively, he was also a non-factor against him on the other end. And not only against Howard.

The trade gives us more versatility and the ability to drag Howard out of the middle, which should open up the lanes for the other 4 guys on the court. Howard´s biggest impact on the game comes from the defensive end, and that is where we have to stop him.

[BballTim]

How much stock are you going to put on a stat like "scoring rate". It's a fairly useless stat. Why wasn't he scoring? Missing shots? Opportunities elsewhere? Good defense? Selfish play?

  It's not a "stat" it's just how I was illustrating the difference. People were talking about how Perk did a bad job on Dwight because Howard scored 28 in that game. I don't think it's useless to point out that Howard scored more than a point a minute when Perk was on the bench and less than a half a point a minute with Perk on him. You're right, my quick little analysis doesn't show why Howard wasn't scoring. All it shows is that the people who were claiming that Dwight torched Perk that game were completely wrong.

[chambers]

Ainge is completely right.
Perk had lost at least 25% of his lateral and vertical movement(more in my opinion). He was never going to be the same.
Jeff Green has the physical attributes to become a league leading defender. If the celtics defense can make paul pierce into one of the best defenders in the NBA then they can mold this young guy into a defensive beast- with an ability to guard multiple positions. Give him 6 weeks and he'll be so much better you'll completely forget the old greens defense.

Does anybody remember Von wafer playing for other teams or what he was like in his first games for the celtics? It's because of his strength and quickness/athleticism combined with the teaching and guidance of the C's veterans and coaching staff that have turned his defensive resume around.
The goal is to turn Jeff Green into a better version of james posey by the playoffs- and i think this is very possible.

[CoachBo]

There's really no one on this board capable of anything more than observing the physical deficits in Perkins' game - except Ainge.

And Ainge has clearly made his judgment, hasn't he?

[winsomme]

There's really no one on this board capable of anything more than observing the physical deficits in Perkins' game - except Ainge.

And Ainge has clearly made his judgment, hasn't he?

So has Sam Presti....on Perk, Nate, Green, and Krstic.

[Rondo2287]

There's really no one on this board capable of anything more than observing the physical deficits in Perkins' game - except Ainge.

And Ainge has clearly made his judgment, hasn't he?

Ainge has a history of talking out of both sides of his mouth though.  He isnt going to bash Perk on his way out of town but he also isnt going to go on the radio and say, "Man the pundits are right, we can't compete on the glass, and Perk was the key to us winning the title this year."

[BballTim]

There's really no one on this board capable of anything more than observing the physical deficits in Perkins' game - except Ainge.

And Ainge has clearly made his judgment, hasn't he?

  True, but Danny's judgment was made on a myriad of information. Shaq and JO's health, Perk's health, his expectation of signing Perk in the offseason, his future plans for Green and Krstic, as well as how well Perk is playing now.

[Dipper]

   If Marquis had not gone down, would the trade have been made? (We'll never know of course). But MD DID go down and we no longer had a backup for PP. And if PP went down, our chances of winning were Zero! Not only Paul's scoring, rebounding, point forward skills, but his guarding of LeBron, Kobe, et al. With JG, at least we have a fighting chance if PP goes down. BUT WAIT (as the TV commercials say), there's more. Suppose KG went down? Again, our chances of winning went to Zero. With JG, again, we have a chance, not perhaps a good one, but a chance.

    Danny knew if Perk went down, we still had a good chance to win, with the O'Neills, BB, KG (Yes KG can play a fine 5) and whoever came in a trade for Perk. And Danny knew that if KG or PP went down, we were dead, dead, dead.

[vinnie]

What?

The reason Perkins defense is so valuable against the likes of Howard is because he's able to slow him down without the need for doubles.

I didn't say they double teamed him. That was my point. The Ball pressure on the ball handlers when trying to make entry passes helps Perk. He's not out there fronting Howard in the post and denying the basketball--the perimeter defenders do the denying for him.

Yes having size and girth will help OKC, but if they don't have the same type of help defense in the post that we have, Perk will be in foul trouble a lot, which he typically is anyway.

I don't think there's a professional basketball team that doesn't make denying the entry pass to the post a priority. Teams like OKC (pre-trade) actually put a lot more effort in it - sometimes fronting the post player, sometimes bringing early help, before the catch, sometimes flashing defenders on the passing lane, etc. - than the Celtics, precisely because they're weaker defending once the catch is made and it's tougher for them to deny position to the post player.

Anyway, the numbers are from Perkins plays against Howard in the post, when Howard catches the ball and goes 1x1 vs. Perkins.

Ok so Im so p---ed off about what I consider completely idiotic commentary from frequent well known posters here who have taken their, imho, ignorance to a whole new level on the perk trade, taking an absurdly anti stance, and baboozling and intimidating other posters with the fact that they are management here etc, Ive consoled myself knowing the trade was great and then I found this:

http://www.taringa.net/posts/deportes/1303433/_NBA_-Fotos-viejas-de-los-Celtics_-.html

Its awesome!! Go celtics!

I just want to be clear. If one is against this trade, then that person is ignorant? If one is against this trade, then that person is idiotic? And those against the trade are intimidating those who support it? Just wanted to be clear where I stand as one who does not support this trade.

[vinnie]

SOME of you act like w/o KP DH will abuse us down low... while also saying it as if Shaq is garbage defensively against DH. Okay, if you are right... show me DH stats against KP and then against Shaq. I'm no stat girl but I have seen every game Shaq has played against DH, I can't remember any of those games where Shaq got abused by him. Not only did Shaq hold up good against him defensively, he also added OFFENSE! Again, just last season Clev. got Shaq b/c of that match-up... so obviously even and old Shaq can hang w/ Howard effectively! If you want to say KP is a better 1vs1 defender against DH (anyone), I would agree w/ you, seeing that Shaq is old as hell... but to insist that DH just dogs Shaq out is BS! KP is no longer here, get over it... let's get behind the guys who are! (BTW: I did not like the trade at all! I'm also waiting for our new guys to show it was a good move.) Let's go Celtics!!

And, Shaq will be healthy when?

[vinnie]

Not this season. Howard has improved a lot. He put some sweet moves on Perk last time.

Howard wasn´t so impressive when Big Baby was guarding him.

I would like to see some stats that back up this assertion.

[Fafnir]

Yeah, maybe ... but I am hesitant to judge Perk's defense at this point.

He is only just back from injury after sitting out for a long time. How capable he is defensively today may not be who he is two months from now after he has 20-30 more games under his best, or, who he is next season after a full summer's recovery and training camp.

So, for me, it's a wait and see ... see whether Perk improves from where he currently is or not. I hope he does. It would be a shame if that injury has impaired his career.

He was playing entirely with his upper body on defense. That is why Howard was able to effectively post him up, Perk lacked the legs and movement that he usually has.

I'm hopeful that he'll get back to where he was. But I'm very worried now. Last year the first half of the season he looked to be breaking out in a big way, then he regressed. In my eyes it looks like his knee was th reason, then he tore his ACL in that very knee, and has strained his other knee....