Perk Is A (Statistical) Beast

We've always known that Kendrick Perkins' value can't be measured in the box scores each night.  But Rob Mahoney of "Off The Dribble" did a little bit of digging around and found some stats to back up what our eyes have been telling us for a long time.  Perkins is a monster defensive player on the post.

Perkins, the Some-Stats All-Star - NYTimes.com

According to Synergy Sports Technology, Perkins allowed just 0.77 points per possession in the post during the 2009-10 season, a truly impressive mark. Opponents on the low block shot just 38.5 percent despite their proximity to the basket, and Perkins, amazingly, fouled opponents on only 6.3 percent of their post-up possessions. Go back to the 2008-09 season and the numbers get even better: 0.73 points per possession allowed and 35.4 percent shooting.

Check out the full article for more details, but I think those numbers are pretty eye popping.  For me, I still think it remains to be seen what impact he'll be able to have for the rest of this year.  I know he looked good in his first game back, but that was against the woeful Cavs.  I remember one sequence where he grabbed a board over Antwan Jamison who stood there flat footed and disinterested.  Perk was able to simply lay it up literally over Jamison's head for the putback score.  Not exactly a test.

Now, if he can take out his pent up frustration on the Lakers on Sunday, then we'll really be in business.  I'm just staying cautious in my optimism because injuries like the one he sustained take a long time to "fully heal."