Krstic is being overrated

[soap07]

it is amazing how the pendulum of reaction swings this way and that

for me, I'm maintaining my "Found Money" stance - my expectations were set at zero and he's exceeding them - that's all

still hoping to see Shaq come back healthy with a few weeks to spare before the playoffs

Yeah, exactly.

It's also a matter of degrees. If the O'Neal brothers come back and play hurt and are ineffective (ie. Shaq in the latter half of the season), than yes, Krstic is a better option than them. He's not a liability out there - which is what has surprised many people, including myself.

I don't think I've seen many posts about how we will be fine with Krstic if the O'Neals don't come back so I think the OP is a bit of a straw man's post.

[Chris]

So, who will be the next guy to become overrated?  My money is on Arroyo.  It has been so long since we have had a backup PG who is halfway decent, I think he is going to get a lot of love. 

[BudweiserCeltic]

So, who will be the next guy to become overrated?  My money is on Arroyo.  It has been so long since we have had a backup PG who is halfway decent, I think he is going to get a lot of love. 

If he doesn't step on toes, I think he's just an excellent addition for us. And with KG fueling competitive nature, it'll be nice to see.

[rutzan]

the one thing i see here on cb is the over-reliance of stats...myself included...it was real easy for everyone to jump on the we're going to miss perk because of chemistry bandwagon...well...i'm going to start the unofficial krstic chemistry bandwagon...imho...krstic is hardworking, coachable, affable and generally all around nice guy and teammate...

[droponov]

Yeah, I thought Krstic was being underrated when the trade happened and wrote some posts  pointing out he wasn't that bad but it seems he's quickly became overrated. Expected, as he's been hitting shots. In the playoffs, Krstic must be out of the rotation or with a very small role in it.  

The theory that Pierce will somehow make for the lack of rebounding is one of the most absurd things I've ever read. Pierce is already rebounding above average for his position, his margin to improve is almost non-existent.

Has anyone watched the game versus the Bucks? The Bucks got 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, all of them in the 18 minutes Krstic was on the floor. And they did with midgets like Brockman and Mbah-a-Moute playing upfront.

In the playoffs, possessions become much more valuable. You can't give away second chances at this pace, as Boston learned the hard way in game 7.

[mgent]

I don't know the numbers, but for all his defensive rebounding woes he seems to be a better offensive rebounder than anyone else on our team.

[bucknersrevenge]

I agree with some of Roy's points though I will say last night Krstic showed improvement on his defensive rotations. And I think he has a chance to get better. He doesn't play big but he gets his hands up and contests. His pick n roll defense though needs work. He follows the ballhandler way too long and I fear against better teams he's not gonna get back to his man fast enough and get exploited. Doc made a great point in the paper the other day about the new guys always wanting to switch on picks. We don't cwitch here. Doc calls that "lazy defense". Here you show hard real quick and then get back to your man. Krstic is never gonna be a great rebounder and he couldn't even keep Brockman off the boards but I'll settle for being better on his pick n roll defense.

That said, this season it's clear we need Shaq to win a title. I am not confident without him.

[BudweiserCeltic]

You really going to use the Bucks game as an example? No one showed up to play in that game, in fact it was Krstic's contributions that kept us in the game in the first half so we could do our thing in the 2nd half.

Not that you're not making good points, but let's wait for a game in where the team actually comes with some intent to play the game. Also, we've always been bad with young athletic teams who are good offensive rebounders. Atlanta quickly comes to mind.

A lot of the problem was Krstic being out of position for rebounds since he had to step up to stop penetration.

[Interceptor]

Straw men and weasel wording aside, I think that Krstic's personal rebounding numbers aren't as important as the team's rebounding when Krstic is on the floor.  The first thing is a decent predictor of the second, but the second thing is what actually happens and what we ultimately care about (speak up otherwise, those who disagree).  I mean, hypothetically, if Krstic missed a rebound because he didn't get to it, but we got it anyway because he boxed someone out, that's still a good result.

I don't know what the reality of the situation is (I've missed most of his games with us), and it may well be that he's a big liability for rebounds when on the floor, but I just wanted to point out what I think the important stat is.  Although I'll bet that there's not enough data in his small handful of games thus far.

The theory that Pierce will somehow make for the lack of rebounding is one of the most absurd things I've ever read. Pierce is already rebounding above average for his position, his margin to improve is almost non-existent.

Doesn't sound absurd to me; a rebound that Kystic doesn't pick up is one that Pierce might grab.  Just do a thought experiment:  Pierce playing alongside four of the seven dwarves, vs. Pierce playing alongside four clones of Kevin Love.  Now scale it down to one guy, in one position:  Krstic.

It's not reasonable to say that Pierce can make up for the gap by himself, but it's reasonable to suggest that he can make an impact on it nonetheless.

[droponov]

You really going to use the Bucks game as an example? No one showed up to play in that game, in fact it was Krstic's contributions that kept us in the game in the first half so we could do our thing in the 2nd half.

Not that you're not making good points, but let's wait for a game in where the team actually comes with some intent to play the game. Also, we've always been bad with young athletic teams who are good offensive rebounders. Atlanta quickly comes to mind.

A lot of the problem was Krstic being out of position for rebounds since he had to step up to stop penetration.

What about his entire career? Is that good enough for you? Krstic is just slow leaving the floor, to the point he rarely leaves it. This was evident in the game versus the Bucks.

The scoring doesn't impress me. In the playoffs, this teams needs more defense and rebounding from its role-players, not scoring.

Bigs are supposed to step up to stop penetration, not to stay below the basket waiting for rebounds. Everybody does it, but very few are as bad getting rebounds as Krstic.

[droponov]

The theory that Pierce will somehow make for the lack of rebounding is one of the most absurd things I've ever read. Pierce is already rebounding above average for his position, his margin to improve is almost non-existent.

Doesn't sound absurd to me; a rebound that Kystic doesn't pick up is one that Pierce might grab.  Just do a thought experiment:  Pierce playing alongside four of the seven dwarves, vs. Pierce playing alongside four clones of Kevin Love.  Now scale it down to one guy, in one position:  Krstic.

It's not reasonable to say that Pierce can make up for the gap by himself, but it's reasonable to suggest that he can make an impact on it nonetheless.

Not any kind of significant impact considering Pierce's current level of rebounding.

[Eja117]

I admit I underrated him.  I thought he was a horridly bad player.  Turns out he is so-so.  He is way worse than Perk was before the knee thing, and he may turn out to be only mildly worse now that the knee thing has happened.

Throw in Green and a draft pick and we might have made out.  We'll have to wait till the playoffs to see

[guava_wrench]

I am already on record praising Krstic on offense. He has shown serious skill on that end.

Nevertheless, I am counting on Shaq starting in the playoffs because we really need his defense. Krstic really can't challenge anyone's shot. Players shoot over him with ease.

It is easy to get carried away with a players offense. Look at guys like Melo or Gordon who people get infatuated with when they score, but forget how poor they are in so many other things. Still, Krstic was a great pickup for us in a time when we would have had no other options except Erden due to injury. He is much better than Erden.

Regarding rebounding, most rebounds are stolen from teammates, meaning that if the player didn't get it, a teammate would have. So it is tough to evaluate that. It does seem to me that he is weak, but if he boxes out his man and another Celtic gets the board, that seems good to me.

[LarBrd33]

Krstic was a throw-in.  The trade was Perk for Jeff Green and I think time will show Jeff Green is a far better basketball player than Perk.   I would have done the trade with or without Krstic.   That said, Krstic looks like he'll contribute.  Definitely better on offense than Perk.

[CelticG1]

I admit I underrated him.  I thought he was a horridly bad player.  Turns out he is so-so.  He is way worse than Perk was before the knee thing, and he may turn out to be only mildly worse now that the knee thing has happened.

Throw in Green and a draft pick and we might have made out.  We'll have to wait till the playoffs to see

Really way worse? You make it sound like Krstic is a D league player. They were both starting centers on high quality teams. Even if you are the biggest Perk supporter you have to admit that his ceiling is being a 2nd team all-defense type player. Maybe one day he can get there.