Searching For A Center

Well, she leaves out about 20 guys, starting with Olowokandi, Calvin Booth, Wang ZhiZhi, PJ Brown, Scott Pollard, Melvin Ely, Dwayne Jones, Dale Davis, a dozen guys in Europe (including my personal fave Lazaros Papadopoulos)…the list goes on.

Other than that, it was a comprehensive discussion of the available options.

To steal from Bill Simmons, that list just made me throw up in my mouth.

If the C’s could just not sign, Dale Davis, PJ Brown or Dikembe Mutombo. I have zero confidence that any of those guys, given their respective ages, have anything left in the tank.

Where’s Ben Pepper when you need him?

Webber has enough left to help…Perk’s not gonna play with this gruop so we probably need 2 guys

Brick , the greek players have it too good in europe to uproot themselves and move into a situation where they might not even get 10 minutes a game. I know that team very well (being of their background) and theres way too much pride on the line to accept any less.

just think they’ll go experience route…plus he and Scal have a nice number to trade,seperate or togther…we’re ALL IN and i think Perk,Pruit&Big Baby are out…vets will be the way to go

step slow,foul prone,not much playoff experience,for 8-10 min spurts you want experience-CWebb,PJ,Deke,etc..you can’t throw Perk the ball outside 3 ft..I hope he turns into a beast but just wondering if he’ll fit

The guy that caught me eye is Marc Jackson from the Hornets. 6’10 253, he has the size. But the thing I really like about him is he shot 87% from the line last year, career 80%. That gives us someone late in the game who can body up defensively but still hit free throws on offense if he is fouled. He is coming off a contract where he made $4.8 mil but I am hoping because he is a career backup and he is still available at this point that he would sign considerably cheaper.

I came around on Perk the end of last season. His foul prone, hands-of-stone game got a lot better. And he does have attitude, to go with work ethic. Garnett will love that. I think Mutumbo is the guy. A long tall classic 5 to offset our three (Scal/Powe/Baby) 4/5 hustlers.

Throw me in with the “I like Perk” group. He’s not as foul prone as he was, and I don’t think he has hands of stone. To me he is one of the best defenders of bigs in the league. He takes Eddy Curry out of games, frustrates the hell out of Jermaine O’Neal and last year, against Miami, took Shaq out of the game in the second half. I believe Shaq had 20 points in the first half, but had nothing left in the second due to the pounding back he took from Perk.

I love Perk too and I hope he keeps developing to where he can stay out of foul trouble. I think what he bring to the table, rebounding, defense and off ball screening will really compliment the big three and this team. I think Mutumbo would also be a good fit on the team and a compliment to Perk. The only thing I worry about Mutumbo is that there is some risk invovled in the fact that he is 41 yrs old and while hopefully Perk doesnt get into foul trouble as much this year, I just think thats a huge chance to take that Mutumbo could stay healthy enough to play all season and some games a lot of mins when Perk gets into foul trouble. But again, ideally Perk continues to improve and doesnt run into foul trouble as much, then he will get the majority of the mins and Mutumbo could fit nicely in a small min role.

He had the foot problem last season, which probably accounted for him being even slower than usual. Still, he showed nice improvement last season—even on the offensive end where he seems to have developed a decent jump hook and a turnaround jumper from the key. He’s also a very good rebounder on both ends, and a good defensive player when he keeps his emotions in check and doesn’t commit dumb fouls. And the most underrated aspect of Perk’s game is his passing. He is a good passing big, which should bode well playing with KG, Pierce, and Allen.

So ya, I don’t see any reason why he can’t start—let alone play with this team for more than 8-10 minutes a game.

Marc Jackson had plenty in the tank last season. 15-20mpg could be a nice addition. Mutombo looked far from finished…which is amazing because he must be 45 yrs old. Davis looked in good shape last year but didn’t see the court.

Perkins was playing with a hurt foot last year, so that completely derailed his development. He got into foul problems because he’d compensate for Big Al’s mistakes on D (Love Big Al, but he’s still young in terms of D). Perk is perfect to start with the Big 3: he knows he’s a role player, he wants to be the rebounder/defender, and he’s dedicated to the team (see playing on a hurt foot all season instead of shutting himself down). He also likes to pass. You could put him in the high post and let KG work the low post. Perk is a good compliment to the Big 3.

I like Mutombo the most of all the centers. He filled in admirably for Ming when Yao was out for so long. He’s still a defensive presence, which is exactly what the Celtics need from their centers. He may be over 40, but he’s in great shape. I’m sure KG will play some center along with Powe or even Davis, you never know. And Mutombo could teach Perk some things, mentor him. Bring in Mt. Mutombo!

I would imagine the Celtics management is checking with PP, KG and RA before the decision is made for centers and PG’s. I don’t know if KG likes to have a inside guy in the game when he is in and he can roam more at PF. So if he does play PF only, they will need two big guys Mutombo and Jackson for example. They will have to pay luxury tax because they have to sign both second round picks if that happens or they will have to trade a pick for a future choice. They have alot of options but they will be making alot more money selling tickets, merchandise and the more bench strength the better chance for number 17, 18 and possibly 19 for the next few years.

Jeff- You’re right on with this one. Perk wasn’t in as much foul trouble as people think In April he had 2 games only with 5 fouls, 2 in March, 1 in Jan, and 2 in Nov. In April he only had 1 game with 4 fouls. There is no question the foot injury slowed him tremendously. He will be a much better player than most people obviously think here. He is exactly what we need with the 3 of them out there. Someone that can hang around the perimeter when they are going down low with KG. Someone who can clean up the boards weak side. Also someone who has turned into a very solid passer for a big man. I don’t think there is anyone in that list that would start over him except possibly Mutombo and that is only due to his past, not present.

We may have the worst starting center in the league by far

Perkins haters go home! I’m sick of people dumping on him because he’s not a combo of Shaq, Walton, Kareem, and The Dream. He’s a fine player. He’s young with plenty of talent. He works hard on his game. Most importantly, HE UNDERSTANDS HIS ROLE ON A TEAM. He knew last year he needed to play defense and rebound. He played on a hurt foot and never complained. People on this website piss and moan when they get a message they don’t like such as Your message isn’t long enough. Shut up Perkins haters! You clearly don’t understand basketball if you think Perkins is the worst center in the league. Who would you rather have, Primo Brezec?

An additional comment on Perk. Many of the fouls occurred when he set picks. His teamates didn’t use his pick properly by leaving space between Perk and themselves instead of rubbing off him. Perk often tried to cover the error by moving out a bit to eliminate that space and was called for a moving pick. Those weren’t Perk’s fault.