. . . Perk got seriously worked in this series against Memphis and his defense on Gasol was poor. Gasol is an 11 PPG/ 7 RPG player that just went for 15.5/10 playing against Perk and company.
I'm not sure this type of analysis carries the day, though.
First, Gasol had a pretty mediocre regular season. Last year, for instance, he averaged 14.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in 35.8 minutes per game. 15.5 and 10 in 40 minutes per game, then, is actually a dip in last season's prediction on a per-minute basis.
Even comparing this year's numbers, in April Gasol averaged 13.1 / 8.9 in 31.8 minutes per game. Once again, on a per-minute basis that's more than the Thunder allowed Gasol. Additionally, last season Gasol shot 58.1%, this April he shot 54.5%, and overall this season he shot 52.7%. Against the Thunder, he shot below 50%.
I'm just not sure how holding somebody below their per-minute averages and below their shooting percentage is poor defense. (For the record, the Spurs and Tim Duncan allowed Gasol to average 14.2 points and 12.3 rebounds on 53.3% shooting. Is Duncan also a poor defender?)