I don’t doubt Perk at all. He is going to break out this season. We haven’t gotten to see a healthy Perk over the past 2 seasons and after his first off season of working with Clifford Ray and Thibodeau, I expect big things from him.

Perkins may have some strengths defensively but he also has slow-as-molasses footwork and is often out of position in team defense. On offense, sure he can get off his shot against single coverage (what coach in his right mind would order a double-team of Perk?) but does anyone really want him getting that shot off? His sole purpose offensively should be rebound/putbacks. Obviously Ainge thought enough of him to sign him to a long-term contract, so perhaps he’ll show us all why that was done.

To hope Rondo morphs into Tony Parker in his second season is not a solid bet. I like his skillset but he’s got a ways to go in becoming the type of steady player any team with hopes of contending needs at his position. Ainge needs to find a solid veteran to share minutes with Rondo, like San Antonio did with Speedy Claxton for Parker while he developed his overall game.

According to this article, the Celtics are going to have two “role players” in the starting five. There’s nothing wrong with that if those role players are not mistake-prone. Both Perkins and Rondo have a lot to prove in that regard.

Another point of contention is that the big three can be distributors in place of Rondo when necessary. Neither Pierce or Allen has ever shown the capability of being the primary guy in running a team on the order of, say, the best wings like Kobe, Wade and James. Pierce is a turnover machine when he takes more than two dribbles. Can Garnett help direct the offense? It’s no coincidence that the only time the Timberwolves made any kind of noise in the playoffs was when Sam Cassell played the point.

If the Celtics had a solid vet like an Anthony Johnson, for example, to play 20 minutes a game, I’d feel a lot more positive about their chances to win a couple playoff series this season.

if you want to be optimistic, sure perk & rondo will blossom and be great.

if you want to be pessimistic, what happens when perk picks up 2 fouls in the first 6 minutes of a game — or rondo’s play is inconsistent.

if you want to be realistic, you know both are possible — thus the need for capable veteran backups.

Offensively Perk has to get the pick n roll down with Rondo and also Garnett and Rondo or Allen. Teams will back off Rondo until he makes his outside shot and Perk will be open alot hopefully down low because of switching defenses playing Garnett. I think team defenses will play off Pierce to force him to dribble and he shoots better under pressure then when he is in the open. They will have to pressure Ray Allen because he is pure shooter in any situation. It is all about moving without the ball and good passing.
Defensively we will do well, we have 3 strong defensive players and Allen and Pierce are smart players they will be able to contribute easily off of the other 3 defensive starters. Teams I think will press the Celtics too 1/2 court just the point guard to disrupt their offensive flow. If we get a player like Cassell it would be great because he has played with Garnett and can break down teams defenses with his passing.

Eric, well put

People are forgetting that we do have other players on our team besides Pierce, Allen, and Garnett.

Take any team in the league and tell me who possesses a great starting “5”.

Perkins is 22 I believe, how many Centers at 22 years old are NBA ready…It takes a good 6-8 years for a Center to develop. You can look back through the years at some excellent centers in the league and you’ll find that Centers take longer because of there bodies to grow into than guards do.

As far as Reggie Miller, I welcome him here…it would be a “HUGE” to having him coming off the bench. It would lessen the impact of our young bench players coming in. Not only that, but giving Allen and Pierce a break, we don’t lose any offense coming off the bench…

In my estimation the Celtics are ripe for much bigger things then we all have anticipated….

Our problem is the “UNKNOWN” yet with this team.. what will the chemistry make up be once they hit the floor together and running… How will our bench react to situtations when they need to come in… What about the likes of Big Baby and Pruitt… are they going to contribute…or are they going to be riding the pine learning The lesson here is the impact that Garnett, Pierce and Allen will have on the make-up of this team with respect to Rondo, Perkins, Powe, Allen, and company…

Great article Eric… very well put

Perkins has a 4 year track history of being one of the best per-minute rebounder/shot blocker at his position

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics?sort=reb&pos=c&seasonType=2

88th in the NBA in rebound rate last season, although he had a huge dropoff from his previous two seasons(where he’d likely be more like top-15).

Last year Matt Bonner was a better rebounder, so here’s to hoping it was all about the foot.

His block numbers held up, 14th-per-minute last season.

Last time the original Big 3 were in the conference finals, They had Danny Ainge, and Dennis Johnson. Ironically they were also known to have a shallow bench which had Jim Paxson and nobody else (Reggie Lewis was a Rookie and Brad Lohaus was being “groomed” to replace Parish.

Now, if the Celtics expect to be in the Conference Finals, is it fair for us to think that Perk and Rondo should play as well as Ainge and DJ did back then? I think so. Then again, the East was the dominant conference back then. Age wise, you will see that the big three were similar in age to KG, Allen and PP.

But if Contributions of DJ and Ainge were not enough to bring us a ring back then, no reason for us to start hoping now. I would take the 87-88 bench over what we have today. And that was a SHALLOW bench back then.

Several posts are concerned about Perk picking up early fouls. He did alot to correct that last year. He’s not trying to block shots early which was one cause. The other cause was questionable calls. We can’t do anything about that but hope that he gets some respect from the refs. Another problem was him having to cover for teammates mistakes. And another was his moving picks because teammates didn’t use them properly. But basically he’s just playing defense smarter. I really don’t think fouls well be a problem for Perk

Maybe its the ‘outside world’ that has it all wrong, or maybe just maybe they’re right and you’re not. Here’s the sad but true fact, last year this blog had over 85% of those who voted in the preseason poll having last years team as a 45 win team. Vegas had them at 33 and people here said they were nuts then went on beautiful commentary about how great ‘Gerald Green’ was going to be. Turns out they were right.

Perkins is absolute crap, if he played on San Antonio’s team he’d never get on the court. Rajon Rondo is crap to date as a starter, there’s not another contending team that he’d get any serious consideration as anything more than a change of pace backup.

The four year track record comment on Perkins is an awesome reach. He’s been a solid rebounder and shot blocker in one of his four years, that’s his track record. Last year he was 30th among centers in rebounds/40 minutes, behind the great likes of Adonal Foyle and Mo Sene…

Scotty, I think the “outside world” probably does have it wrong. I was against trading Al for KG. I see KG twice a year and thought of him as a big playing small. I never realized he was such a good defender. I do now. Reverse the situation. How often do outsiders see our team? Going into the past I don’t think outsiders really knew how good Bird was. You needed to see him everyday. His passes were so subtle they weren’t noticed by people who saw him twice a year. In Boston we saw him all the time, Tommy explained and used replays to show how remarkable they were. Everyone thought Jordan was great because he was athletic and very visible. Magic made simple passes look complicated. Bird made complicated passes look simple. Bird was like a silent killer. But you needed to see him alot to appreciate how great he was.

If you look at preseason NBA power polls, I think we are all pretty much on the same page. After about 5 or so of the elite West teams, some have us as the strongest in the East, some have the Pistons, others the Bulls, even others the Cavs.

I think in everybody’s eyes this season is up in the air depending on injuries, the play of Perk/Rondo, and the evolving bench.

I agree that last year it was a huge stretch to think the Celtcis would win 45 or 47 games and posted accordingly at this time last year.

I am very very cautiously optomistic going into this season and although there are potholes and roadblocks in front, I think we can journey on a compete for possibly an NBA title this year.

“I see KG twice a year and thought of him as a big playing small. I never realized he was such a good defender. I do now.”

How? You still haven’t seen him play more than twice a year. Or is it because people have now told you how great of a defender he is? Kevin Garnett is an amazing defensive player, even if you only saw him two times a year that much should be self evident just looking at the statistical matrices.

Here’s a little tidbit on Kendrick Perkins, he statistically was a WORSE defender than Al Jefferson last year. He’s not an average defensive player, that would be a compliment to him, he’s bad. But really he’s only outshown how poor he is defensively by how amazingly crap-tastic he is on the offensive end of the court.

I’m a ‘outsider’ in so much that I have never even been to Boston, but in this day and age that doesn’t mean that I haven’t seen hundreds of Celtic games over the last 5 years, the world is getting smaller.

Here’s another point to be made for a next topic of discussion.

Everyone talks about how great Garnett is, but he would be better served playing in Boston, with the media present than he was in Minnesota. He will get more exposure here and push his status even greater than many are anticiipating him to be….

Looking back at this now, I truly believe McHale sent us an early Christmas Present!!!!

Perkins and Garnett next to each other will give you great inside presence on defense and it will free Perkins.

The Problem is that Rhondo is too green. In a seven game series Tony Parker and Steve Nash will dominate that matchup. We might have trouble getting by Detroit if Billups and Hamilton play well. Rhondo very well maybe a great defender someday. In todays NBA playoff tested point guards win Championships.

Also Perkins had a bum wheel last year. Perkins will have good year. I’d say 8 ppg,9 rpb, and 2 assists and GOOD TOUGH INTERIOR DeEFENSE.** Go C’s

Scotty – How does it surprise you that a group of C’s fans predicted the Celts winning more games than the oddsmakers in Vegas?!

Saying Perk is crap and quoting his stats from an injured year is quite a stretch. If he stays healthy this year then I think you’ll have to eat those words. I don’t know where the comparison to Big Al has anything to do with anything. Big Al was a worse defender in the previous year when he had injury issues. What does that prove?

FatJohn – If tested point guards win championships in this league, who was Chicago’s?! Using that logic, John Stockton would have three rings or more. How about the team with the best players wins championships?!

is it just me, or has Rondo received 10x the coverage of Pierce, Allen, and Garnett combined since the trade?

Your kidding right EJPLAYA. San Antonio Finals winners ,1999, 2003, 2005 , 2007
                             New Jersey Eastern Conference winners 2002, 2003
                             Detroit Eastern Conference winners, 2004, 2005
                             Los ANgeles Lakers Finals winners 2000, 2001, 2002

Sure the Bulls beat Utah. But how many players in the league today can you compare with Jordan. Even Bryant isn’t the defensive stopper Jordan was. All the teams listed had a pg who could knock down the open shot and didnt kill their team with turnovers. Kidd, Billups, Parker and even Fisher. I don’t see too Greenhorn point guards when I scroll down the list of NBA Champions.

Perk is only 22, he would be just finishing college and ready
to play in the nba. he has a true nba body that he has finally
grown into. he is not a awkward puppy anymore. many will be surprised
to see him put up double-doubles all the time since he just
randomly put them up in the past.
 he is an excellent shot blocker , and excellent at the outlet pass
he is a enforcer in the paint and will back up teammates. He
can rebound with the best of them when foot is fine.
He can do all this and can keep his fouls down if he doesnt have to
cover for telfair or dikcau, but his average of 3 fouls a game
isnt to bad especially if he is using them to keep guys from coming
into the lane at will and getting easy slams like they use to
with the celtics porous defense befroe big al and perk and to some extent
with them when they were teens.
i guess im saying we should keep perk and his accomplishments or
lack of them to some,in perspective. age and injury need to be
weighed in

i know mj was a good defender, but with that said, he got so many
breaks it was pathetic. whenever i think of breaks that jordan
got from the refs i think of him tripping on the top of his toe
and turning over the ball, but of course the pg that was 4ft away
and didnt even touch him got the foul and mj wasnt credited with a to
but got 2 ft to ad to his point total. the second is how many times
i seen him foul,hack,mug and shove a guy to come up with steals.
many of his steals and defensive plays were awesome, but a fourth were
no calls because he was mj and the opposing pg was jr bremer or m palacio
types , i mean really are they going to get the call and mj pick up a foul on the likes of them ha!

Jeff, if your out there, Leon Powe or other isnt listed as a 6th man
candidate. He did really well the 2nd half of last year and really
stood out in summer league. he had that 19pt 14 reb game too. Did
you forget him or is he hurt or something

I thought it was a good article, overall, Eric. You well know that I completely disagree with the whole “he projects to be a plus defender as soon as this season” stuff. If Rondo isn’t a plus defender, then there are no plus defenders at the point in this league. His man’s eFG, his steals numbers, his rebounding, and his effect on the team defense all point to him being one of the league’s best. Perk, who you named as a “plus defender”, saved us 3.6 points per 100 possessions this season and Rondo saved us 8.3… and Rondo played significantly more minutes than Perk did. Good defense should, and usually does, translate directly into improved team defense. That Perkins played more time as a starter doesn’t quite cover it, as Rondo played nearly half of his as one, and was used extensively as a de facto starter by Doc, as Ricky Davis was, coming off of the bench at the beginning while being our fourth quarter point guard.

Still, I think that the national talking heads who are doubting Rondo and Perk are, by in large, those who haven’t paid that much attention to this team. Hollinger, a guy who follows every player in the league, is especially high on Rondo, as is Rick Kamla, who follows every player for fantasy purposes. Perk’s injury season may have resulted in poor overall numbers, but when he got halfway right, healthwise, at the end of last season he was playing well, as Dwight Howard could attest.

With the Big Three out there, the offense should be good, but offense alone doesn’t win Titles. The only one of them who is a plus defender is Garnett. That is where Rondo and Perk come in mighty handy, as they are both good passers for their positions and can score enough to be useful on the offensive end, but are really defensively minded players. One guy creates havoc and the other deals out punishment. That will come in mighty handy during this season.

Many of Perk’s fouls were cheap fouls trying to help out on a guy who beat the Celtic defender. That kind of think will be toned down big time with KG, Tim T coaching and Rondo. No more matador defense.

Perk has quit making the silly fouls he did when he first came up and he will only improve being a “smarter” player. Many of his foul trouble too occured from adreneline and lack of brains power. Perk has the ability to be a smart player who plays under control.

The biggest issue I see for Perk are health issues and Celtic medic staff starting to live up to their credentials. We aren’t tanking anymore, and Perk needs to be a key cog in the championship run. Stay healthy Perk, and Celtic medics, do your job!

 - How does it surprise you that a group of C’s fans predicted the Celts winning more games than the oddsmakers in Vegas?!

It doesn’t, but were not talking about predicting more than Vegas oddsmakers, were talking about 85% being 12 games over Vegas oddsmakers numbers. Those outsiders seemed to be a little more closely tied in with the relationship between that team and the league than Boston’s fans. It’s possible that they might be just as right in questioning those outside the top three this year.

 - Saying Perk is crap and quoting his stats from an injured year is quite a stretch.

Me saying that is a stretch, but the authors quote that he’s got a proven four year track record is right on? Spare me.

I actually think Pierce is a plus defender – if you look back at the teams under Obie he had plus defense numbers. I think recently he has had so much burden on offense, his defense has suffered, but with Rondo running things, and KG and Allen shouldering some of the scoring burden, Pierce should return to his defensive ways. 82 games showed that in 2003 or 2004, Pierce was an elite defender, despite a bad rep. I think part of it is Pierce plays heady, but not athletic D.

I know nothing of Ray Allen’s D, but its got to be better than Redd’s right?

I think Pierce will improve a lot defensively if he drops the weight he is planning to. He’s going back to his Rookie Weight. Remember how good Pierce was on defense as a rookie?

I think they’ll be fine. We’re one of the top teams in the East. The challenge will be come playoff time when we have to play Detroit, Cleveland, or Miami.

I was surprised when I looked at the actual list of games in the second half of the season, including the big losing streak.

In my opinion, the Celtics really could have won 38-42 games with more health and no tanking. It seems to me a prediction of 45 wins wasn’t that big of an exaggeration.

There was so much tanking by their opponents in the last two months that if Doc had wanted to pull a “Pitino” he could have easily had a nice, meaningless, pick-ruining win streak to finish the season.

As for the subject of the main article, I’m on board as a Rondo believer, but I’m still skeptical of Perkins.

perk and rondo are not the best thing since sliced bread but they ain’t liverwurst either. i would like perk to stop pounding the ball before he shoots- it takes too much time. i would like to see rondo take the j, 3-4 times a game. i also like lemonade sky’s take on anthony johnson who would be a good fit for the c’s.

Barring recurrent foot issues (which is very possible), Perkins should be solid. A lot rests on Mr. Rondo’s shoulders. Good luck.

Scotty- Kidd is another example of a great point guard not winning a championship. If that was the criteria he should have won one also, right?! Parker was young and unproven when they won their first one. Based on your theory they shouldn’t have won for a few more years so he could be battle tested and proven. Fisher was nothing more than a decent point guard. Role playing shooter, nothing more. Billups was the same. Good all around player, but more of a scorer than a true PG. He wasn’t proven either at that time.

The Spurs won because they have Duncan.
The Pistons were a freak situation with a great chemistry of role players.
The Lakers had Kobe and Shaq.

Why is it so hard to believe that with PP, KG, and Ray along side him that Rondo could be in Parker’s same situation a few years down the road with a couple of championships under his belt?

The other guys made these PG’s look good, not the other way around.

Also, Your rebuttal about Perk made no sense whatsoever. I have no idea what you were even trying to say.

Scotty—

Rondo was hardly crap as a starter. Actually he was terrific as a starter last year and got better game by game. He shot 47% from the field as a starter, averaged 10.6 points, 5.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds. He had more steals per minute than any other player in the league last year. More than that, he passed the eye test. Anyone who watched the Celtics last year could see that they were a much better team when he was in the lineup. For a rookie he did a terrific job of controlling the pace of the game. The Celtics always seemed to play with energy on offense when he was in there.

Honestly, his real problem was defense. He looked to me like a player who couldn’t figure out the pick and roll for most of the year. But he’s a good bet to figure that out, isn’t he?

Perk is an underwhelming talent, but he really doesn’t need to be anything more than okay. And when he’s healthy, he is. I don’t know what stats you’re going by, but Perk is a serviceable rebounder and shot-blocker when healthy, and his offense isn’t completely nonexistent. He passes decently. If you watch Perk against guys like Eddy Curry and Ilgauskas and even Dwight Howard, he consistently makes these power players shoot over him. That’s all he really needs to do — plug the gap in the middle. I’m less excited about his ability to finish when guys rotate off him to help, but we can probably survive his shortcomings even there.

This pessimism about the Cs is classic Boston sports fan behavior. It’s always something. Frankly, if this team falls short, it sure won’t be Rajon Rondo’s fault. If the Big 3 play even near form, it’d be pretty hard for this team to fail.

 lemonadesky said:
  Perkins may have some strengths defensively but he also has slow-as-molasses footwork and is often out of position in team defense. On offense, sure he can get off his shot against single coverage (what coach in his right mind would order a double-team of Perk?) but does anyone really want him getting that shot off? His sole purpose offensively should be rebound/putbacks. Obviously Ainge thought enough of him to sign him to a long-term contract, so perhaps he’ll show us all why that was done.

To hope Rondo morphs into Tony Parker in his second season is not a solid bet. I like his skillset but he’s got a ways to go in becoming the type of steady player any team with hopes of contending needs at his position. Ainge needs to find a solid veteran to share minutes with Rondo, like San Antonio did with Speedy Claxton for Parker while he developed his overall game.

———————————————————————————————
This is the type of argumentative BS that frustrates me…how about checking out Tony Parker’s ability level and production in HIS 2nd year in the league…

Rajon Rondo year 2 isn’t going to be Tony Parker year 6, but he could certainly fill the role that Year 2 Parker did for his Spurs back in the day…

you’re missing the boat, and I feel pretty confident that my analysis has been consistently on the mark throughout the entire year, including outlining IN DETAIL the build up to this off season and the potential and probability of acquiring two star level players based off the values of our former youth-which I also detailed at great length…

Nothing wrong with opinions, but you may want to stop wiping the slate clean at every argument and start tracking what’s going on before drumming up more negativity wrapped in certainty…Scintan, HRB, Brickowski, Moranis—i’m calling you all out on this…none of you have been correct on all of your most solid and vehement premises throughout the past year…own it, learn from it, and let’s move on…

 Scotty said:
  “I see KG twice a year and thought of him as a big playing small. I never realized he was such a good defender. I do now.”

How? You still haven’t seen him play more than twice a year. Or is it because people have now told you how great of a defender he is? Kevin Garnett is an amazing defensive player, even if you only saw him two times a year that much should be self evident just looking at the statistical matrices.

Here’s a little tidbit on Kendrick Perkins, he statistically was a WORSE defender than Al Jefferson last year. He’s not an average defensive player, that would be a compliment to him, he’s bad. But really he’s only outshown how poor he is defensively by how amazingly crap-tastic he is on the offensive end of the court.

I’m a ‘outsider’ in so much that I have never even been to Boston, but in this day and age that doesn’t mean that I haven’t seen hundreds of Celtic games over the last 5 years, the world is getting smaller.

……………………………………………………..

Wow…amazing analysis, as was your response post above it…

You couldn’t be more off-base with any of these comments…besides the fact that the original article stated that last season’s aggregate stats were down (vastly improved in the first and last months of the year) Perk has put up superior rebounding and shotblocking per-minute averages since year one…you could state that “only the 3rd and 4th years count” but since his third season was an extention of the per minute averages of his first two seasons I will not…

Also of note is the comment that nobody could watch any other team’s players more than a couple times a year…wtf are you talking about? Anybody can watch any player all the time if they want, just gotta pay for it…

As for Perk’s game…you are in for a rude awakening my friend…the guy has what it takes, just needs to stay on the floor and out of the trainers room, something I think he’ll do because his previous two injuries were not related nor should they be chronic or debilitating…

It’s amazing some times how little people actually pay attention to what’s going on around them…the rest of the outside media as well as many of the other teams pay minimal attention to young players on losing teams who aren’t of a blue chip caliber…Perk is well respected as a young big, but no to the point where any notariety would be bestowed…that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some things working in his favor, just means the hype machine is still in the station…

open your eyes…

I’ll be happy Perk is defending Eddie Curry and KG is taking on Randolph. Perk banging Howard, KG defending Lewis. It’s players like Bosh I feel Perk can’t compete against but Perk having to defend Ilgauskas, Zydrunas while KG roams is another feel good story.

Perk is a banger and interior shot blocker anything else you can get out of him is a bonus. That should be enough to make KG smile.

 MikeDfromNP said:
  I thought it was a good article, overall, Eric. You well know that I completely disagree with the whole “he projects to be a plus defender as soon as this season” stuff. If Rondo isn’t a plus defender, then there are no plus defenders at the point in this league. His man’s eFG, his steals numbers, his rebounding, and his effect on the team defense all point to him being one of the league’s best. Perk, who you named as a “plus defender”, saved us 3.6 points per 100 possessions this season and Rondo saved us 8.3… and Rondo played significantly more minutes than Perk did. Good defense should, and usually does, translate directly into improved team defense. That Perkins played more time as a starter doesn’t quite cover it, as Rondo played nearly half of his as one, and was used extensively as a de facto starter by Doc, as Ricky Davis was, coming off of the bench at the beginning while being our fourth quarter point guard.
———————————————————————————————

Mike,

It’s going to be a moot point anyway, but every scout i’ve talked to and everyone in the Celtics organization agrees with my assessment of Rondo’s first year defense…statistical measures of defense are widely considered faulty beyond the point of validity…they can show base trends, but leave far to many variables in play to be relied upon as concrete proof of anything…most of the well established league statistical guru’s concede that extensive manual review of game tape and precise game logging is a necessity to gauge defensive prowess or even culpability in any given situation…

Regardless, Rondo and Perkins have all the trappings of becoming top level defenders based off a number of traits inherent in their daily play…it is vital to remember to check frequency (number of “good” games)vs. seasonal totals when determining success as well. A player’s consistency may fluctuate substantially, but if his volume of “good” games increased by 25 percent (25gms to 30) has progress been made? Break down a player’s performance in smaller increments to determine success in some instances…

 Scotty said:

Me saying that is a stretch, but the authors quote that he’s got a proven four year track record is right on? Spare me.
————————————————————————————————-

I look at player performance by possessions and see how effective he is in those possessions…Perkins has shown over 4 years that he is a high-end rebounder shot-blocker with fine defensive ability…that is etched in his NBA scouting report…

lemonadesky said:
Perkins may have some strengths defensively but he also has slow-as-molasses footwork and is often out of position in team defense. On offense, sure he can get off his shot against single coverage (what coach in his right mind would order a double-team of Perk?) but does anyone really want him getting that shot off? His sole purpose offensively should be rebound/putbacks. Obviously Ainge thought enough of him to sign him to a long-term contract, so perhaps he’ll show us all why that was done.

To hope Rondo morphs into Tony Parker in his second season is not a solid bet. I like his skillset but he’s got a ways to go in becoming the type of steady player any team with hopes of contending needs at his position. Ainge needs to find a solid veteran to share minutes with Rondo, like San Antonio did with Speedy Claxton for Parker while he developed his overall game.

———————————————————————————————
This is the type of argumentative BS that frustrates me…how about checking out Tony Parker’s ability level and production in HIS 2nd year in the league…

Rajon Rondo year 2 isn’t going to be Tony Parker year 6, but he could certainly fill the role that Year 2 Parker did for his Spurs back in the day…

you’re missing the boat, and I feel pretty confident that my analysis has been consistently on the mark throughout the entire year, including outlining IN DETAIL the build up to this off season and the potential and probability of acquiring two star level players based off the values of our former youth-which I also detailed at great length…

Nothing wrong with opinions, but you may want to stop wiping the slate clean at every argument and start tracking what’s going on before drumming up more negativity wrapped in certainty…Scintan, HRB, Brickowski, Moranis—i’m calling you all out on this…none of you have been correct on all of your most solid and vehement premises throughout the past year…own it, learn from it, and let’s move on…

BfB – Perhaps you didn’t understand what I wrote. I was comparing Rondo Year 2 to Parker Year 2 when he had Speedy Claxton as his back-up. Claxton wound up playing the bulk of crunch time minutes in the playoffs that year because Popovich couldn’t rely on Parker, who was a trick-or-treat player then rather than the steady force he has become in Year 6. This is the reaosn why Ainge needs to find an Anthony Johnson type to share minutes with Rondo and probably finish games at times.

We need a back up PG. Where is all the Troy Hudson talk?

The Spurs are working out Troy Hudson, and they’ve already got three point guards. Maybe those around here that said he wasn’t worth signing might reconsider given RC Buford’s interest.

Lots of dissent. I love it. But the best partis, both sides are making great points. I’m having trouble reaching conclusions, so I have to agree with lefty12. The truth probably lies somehwere in the middle.

nazzbo: i would like perk to stop pounding the ball before he shoots- it takes too much time.[/quote]
[quote]In addition to making 15-footers, Perkins has practiced “finishing quick.”….8/19 Globe

Re: Point Guards not winning championships. Danny Ainge/Dennis Johnson—neither a pg, both winners.

Re Stats: Twist them anyway you like. As some posters said above, WATCH Perk defend guys like Curry, O’Neill (both), Howard, etc. (for truth in statement purposes, stats confuse me and I Luv and believe in Perk).

Cousin lt:

Lots of dissent. I love it. But the best partis, both sides are making great points. I’m having trouble reaching conclusions, so I have to agree with lefty12. The truth probably lies somehwere in the middle.

The existence of two opposite, well-supported arguments that you can’t decide between shouldn’t be taken as evidence that the middle ground is most likely. Consider, for example, two conclusive pregnancy tests, one positive and one negative. All you can conclude is that you can’t decide—a very reasonable position, I think.

I’ll resolve the conflict. We don’t need to worry about Perk and Rondo—-period. Rondo already has a car named after him and I believe, Cooz voted in favor of Rondo. And Cooz knows pg’s. Perk doesn’t have anything named after him, but I think I read where he’s expecting a child in Sept. so that will be covered.

I completely agree on Eric’s premise that Perkins and Rondo will be PLUS role players as soon as next year…..MY problem is that we are attempting to win an NBA Championship THIS season. Neither player should be on the floor down the stretch of playoff games if we are to be competing at that level THIS season.