FanPost

The Valuie of Offense: Krstc-Perkins

I have a contrarian view of the NBA and of the current Cs.

Based on that view, I think Krstc could become the key acquisition for this year's push to #18.

1st, let me just say that I don't think defense wins championships.

Fact is, every championship contender can play good defense. If you are an offense only show, you have no shot. You must defend well.

Having said that, tough playoff series come down to offense:

  • Can you keep scoring? If not, you can't hold a lead.
  • Can you score in the half court down the stretch when refs swallow their whistles and pressure shrinks the size of the hoop?
  • Can you gain ground after defensive stops with high percentage offense?

These are the issues that determine the winners of tough playoff series. Remember--they all play pretty good defense. But can they score points against pressure?

I contend that the Pierce/Garnet/Allen/Rondo era Celtics have abundantly demonstrated the truth and significance of the above claims. How do we lose games?

  • We don't hold leads.
  • We stop scoring in the 4th quarter.
  • We get multiple stops in a great defensive run ... and fail to capitalize because we so often follow a great defensive trip with a clueless trip up the floor.

I contend that the greatest threat to our winning #18 is not the chance that our defense will drop. Our defense has remained very high through myriad personnel changes.

I cannot think of a game we have lost in recent years when I wasn't thinking, "we played plenty of defense to win that game."

It is in this context that I am hopeful aboput the Perkins trade. I loved Perk, not perhaps with the fervor many here did, but pretty well nonetheless. But Perkins was an offensive disaster.

How many hundred times did I gasp, "No, Rondo, don't give perk the ball THERE!" It almost never ended well.

I don't know the OKC team. But I predict that fans will soon ask why they gave upo Green and post scoring for a guy who cannot score and is only solid rebounding! Sorry, Perk fans, but I think you'll see that happen.

As for Krstc, I don;t know the guy and I live in Minny so I didn't see last night's game. But he consistently gives point totals from the center position which would, if carried over, transform our offense and make a huge difference to our ability to sustain scoring momentum. The value of that would be enormous, better then the gap in defensive ability between a veteran NBA center of ordinary skills versus Perkins defensive skills.

I also suggest that Krstc may continue to start over Shaq. Shaq is no longer the offensive threat that he was. He gets the ball down low and often isn't able to do much with it. We may very well see Krstc keep the starting spot.

I say this, without knowing the player, but knowing the Cs' weaknesses. This team needs reliable scoring from the 5 and hasn't had it in 4 years. Again, we lose games because we we quit scoring and because teams can disregard the scoring of both PG and C.

Give us a veteran C who can average a dozen points a night and we become, in my view, unstoppable.

Well, that's my contrarian view. Fire away, Perk lovers!

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