It still hasn't been all that long since his knee surgery...He only played a bit last year. Next year will be Perk's year to become more Perk-like again on the court.
He played better for them last year though, that is what is confusing to me.
And last year, everyone on here was talking about how THIS year would be Perks big comeback year (after what we thought was a down year last year).
Please don't take this the wrong way, but do the posters who are constantly criticizing Perk's play this year watch a lot of OKC games, or just look at the stats? I've watched almost all their games this season, and Perk has been solid on the defensive end, and has been very good on offense setting picks in order to get OKC sharpshooters like KD and Harden open for jumpers, and Westbrook freed up for forays to the hoop. That's Perk's role on the offensive end/ The dupm the ball to him in the low post about once per half, and Perk bumps, grinds, and slow gathers his way to the hoop, usually unsuccessfully. The rest of the game it's set picks. he certainly isn't getting a bunch of easy looks right at the hoops like when he played with three HOFers and pass first buddy Rondo.
OKC is a weird team. Durant, their SF, is their leading rebounder. Perk does a good job boxing his man off the offensive glass, and OKC gets the 4th most rebounds per game in the league. That's Perk's role, to muck up the paint and box out. Perk's never been a great rebounder. he boxes out well, and if the ball caroms near his long arms, he gets the rebound. He has never had the ability to go fetch rebounds. They get 20 rebounds a night from their four bigs, less than half of their 43 rpg.
Perk's numbers are down for sure, but his role isn't going to help in that regard. At the offensive end, his role is akin to a football lineman. He sets great picks, which is important to OKC's offense, one of the best in the league. Despite being slimmer, his shooting percentage is 10 points below his career average of 55%, which is very poor for a wide body who takes most of his shots right near the hoop. He's at his career mark of 1.4 points per shot, mostly due to markedly improved FT shooting - 77%, 20 points better than his past four years percentage.
OKC is 20-5, and everything I hear out of OKC from the team and it's fans is peachy. Check out a few Thunder fan forums. There's no hand ringing about Perk's rebound rate or 4.6 ppg production, and their thrilled with Perk and the attitude he brings to their team.
There's my Perk report from a guy who watched almost the entire season of Thunder basketball.
