Is Perk going to be OK for game 6

[cordialb]

Here is an exerpt from Bill Russell backing up my arguement for BBD in spurts if perk cant go.

''My Explanation of Good Defense - Bill Russell
Good defense sometimes does not result in a turnover or blocked shot or steal or anything. Good defense will get the offensive team out of a rhythm and one of the keys to shooting is rhythm. That is why you see guys with open shots not make them. Well, good defense makes you shoot before you want to shoot or after you want to shoot, not when you want to shoot. Defense can sometimes be deceptive and you’ll say, well, they’re not shooting well and they had open shots. Well those shots aren’t open. A guy is standing there by himself, but he has to shoot the ball before the defense gets there or fake and shoot after he leaves. So he isn’t shooting when he wants to shoot and that will throw your rhythm off. What looks like a good shot is not really a good shot. That’s what happened in Game 4.''

My thoughts are intimidation, whether physical or mental is a big part of making someone uncomfortable.  BBD's ability to be physical and aggressive and make gasol work for the time he is in there and allow garnett to shut down odom and help weakside would be a huge boost.  The truth is, without perk, neither gasol or odom have seemed intimidated to go inside or fight fiercely for rebounds.  I'm not advocating playing BBD the whole game, but a good dose of the big guy is enough to wear gasol out and keep him off the boards.

But i will admit that bbd is dangerous if he plays outside his game.  He is skilled, but inconsistent offensively and needs to defer to others and stay inside his game.  I just think that we showed our best lineup, the lakers countered by abusing us inside with rebounds and my posting gasol/odom.  Should that happen again, BBD has the tools to take a lot of the pressure off garnett.

[cmoney]

They did pretty well with him in the starting lineup earlier in this season.  I think they can handle 10 minutes from him in the finals.

Right just like we can "handle" 15 minutes a game from PJ.. and we can "handle" 10 minutes a game from Sam.  If we start flirting with the idea of Scal, we're just begging to lose.  And then everyone will come on here and whine about KG this and KG that, when the truth is, we keep trotting out crap players.  Bottom line, Scal is awful.  Him starting earlier this year was just terrible. 

I can handle listening to people support PJ even if they're wrong.. Scal on the other hand.. there's just no defense for this guy.  He's like Luke Walton on steroids bad.

When House walks this offseason, and when Powe and Baby walk after their rookie contracts are up, we'll know why.  Why would superior players stick around and play for a coach who plays awful ones ahead of them?

[Chris]

They did pretty well with him in the starting lineup earlier in this season.  I think they can handle 10 minutes from him in the finals.

Right just like we can "handle" 15 minutes a game from PJ.. and we can "handle" 10 minutes a game from Sam.  If we start flirting with the idea of Scal, we're just begging to lose.  And then everyone will come on here and whine about KG this and KG that, when the truth is, we keep trotting out crap players.  Bottom line, Scal is awful.  Him starting earlier this year was just terrible. 

I can handle listening to people support PJ even if they're wrong.. Scal on the other hand.. there's just no defense for this guy.  He's like Luke Walton on steroids bad.

When House walks this offseason, and when Powe and Baby walk after their rookie contracts are up, we'll know why.  Why would superior players stick around and play for a coach who plays awful ones ahead of them?

There is a defense for Scal...his defense.  He is an excellent big man perimeter defender.  That is what he does.

Either way, I don't expect him to dress, let alone play.  But I just don't think he would hurt them out there.

[cmoney]

his defense is a very slight positive amongst a whole slew of negatives.  Too often one aspect of a player's game is used to justify his overall woefulness.  Scal is a terrible basketball player.  Hopefully he remains in street clothes.  Forever.

[cordobes]

if perk was anywhere near ok, he would be out there. the way he reacted after that injury says it is a serious one. i hate to say but i have to think he is done.

Yeps. Pain killers are not going to solve the problem.

[EJPLAYA]

the problem with my dear Scal
is that he easily is the worst rebouder per size around the league
If its true boxing ouit players help
someone have to grab the lose ball.

Based on what?! Do you have some statistics to back that up or are you just bashing Scal? Scal's per 48 boards are about 7 pg. Due to the fact that he doesn't end up with many Offensive board opportunities because they stick him in the corner for a possible three, that's far from the bottom of the league...

keep grasping at straws EJ.  You say 7/48 like it's a good thing.  (who uses per 48 by the way? per 36 makes more sense as no one plays 48mins).  His per 36 is 5.5 rebounds per game.  That's TERRIBLE for a 6-9 PF.  And don't use offensive rebounding as an excuse.  That doesn't stop guys like Dirk and Okur or even Sheed from putting up respectable rebounding #s.  The guy has a total rebound percentage below 10%.. do you know how bad that is?

Besides that, he also stinks offensively.  Despite barely ever getting touches, he manages nearly 2 turnovers per 36mins.  A TOV% of ~20%.. awful awful awful for such a low usage guy.  It should be down near 10-12%. 

As long as you are comparing everyones per 48 and not just cherry picking it doesn't matter. He still ranks in the same spot. Simple math... Why aren't you ripping on PP then?! His PER 36 if you want to use that is less than Scal's.

Comparing Scal's stats to a Dirk or Okur is what is grasping for straws. No one on here is trying to make him out to be an all-star. We're just not throwing him out there as the worst in the league. 1/3 of the forwards board at a lower rate than him. Sure that means he is worse than 2/3 of the guys out there. Just don't be too hard on a guy that is 12-13th on our bench. He has positives out there even if you won't admit it. Stop going to extremes... You're points might be given more weight.

[cmoney]

Paul Pierce is a 6'6" SF.. not a 6'9" PF.  So you really shouldn't be comparing the two in the first place.

And yet, even still he has a higher career rebounds/36min (6.1 to Scal's 5.8 ).  Paul did have a sub-par year on the glass by his standards, but even still 5rebs/36min ain't too shabby for his position, especially since he plays with 3 other +rebounders (KG, Perk, Rondo). 

Scal's biggest positive is he's in street clothes.  I don't care about the 1 or 2 things he can do OK, I care about the fact that overall, he's a big minus out there, and we got 10 better options to put in ahead of him.

[Chris]

I am confused why this is even being discussed.  Scal is a bad rebounder...doesn't mean he is a bad player.

Cliff Robinson was one of the worst rebounding big men in the league, but he was still one of the most important players on several very good teams.

Scal plays defense good perimeter defense, and is as good a help defender as anyone on the team, boxes out his man, and moves the ball on offense.  He doesn't do much else, which is why he isn't playing.  But if if they need one of those skills, that is why he is a good roleplayer, because he can give them, without hurting the team too much elsewhere (although not helping either).

[cmoney]

I guarantee if he weren't in green no one would make any claims about him even being a good role player.  He's a 30% shooting, no rebounding turnover machine.  He's got an unjustifiable contract. 

He is a funny dude though.

[Who]

I don't just dislike the idea of Scalabrine starting. I hate it.

It made sense back in February and it paid off. I thought it was the right move then. He had Perkins to play off of. Starting Scal (plus increasing bench players minutes like Powe) allowed Powe and co. stay in their normal bench roles and allowed the Celtics to keep as much of their regular game plan as humanly possible. It was smart and very effective.

Right now the Celtics are getting beat in the paint. The team needs more rebounding and more interior defense. Neither of those things are Scalabrine's strengths. The extra burden that starting Scalabrine (an unneccessary move) would put on KG's shoulders is huge. Offensively it gets even worse because now the Celtics have even less presence in the paint and even less offensive rebounding. The spacing will be difficult and troublesome to the offense. These are all important changes that will very likely hurt the Celtics.

Lamar Odom is hurting the Celtics right now but he's doing it from 23 feet. He's not beating the Celtics' with a bunch of long jump shots and tough shots. He's beating them in the paint. What's the point in Scalabrine? His perimeter defense isn't what we need on Lamar Odom.

The only player that follows the Scalabrine guidelines from February is Glen Davis. I'd give him a shot and keep him on a short leash. Davis only needs to give 8-12 minutes as a starter. From there they can use Powe against the Lakers second unit and Luke Walton specifically and get far more production out of Powe. PJ can still be used as a game changing intimidating physical force rather than leaving Doc empty handed as he was in the second half after starting PJ. It needs to be Glen Davis.

[EJPLAYA]

Paul Pierce is a 6'6" SF.. not a 6'9" PF.  So you really shouldn't be comparing the two in the first place.

And yet, even still he has a higher career rebounds/36min (6.1 to Scal's 5.8 ).  Paul did have a sub-par year on the glass by his standards, but even still 5rebs/36min ain't too shabby for his position, especially since he plays with 3 other +rebounders (KG, Perk, Rondo). 

Scal's biggest positive is he's in street clothes.  I don't care about the 1 or 2 things he can do OK, I care about the fact that overall, he's a big minus out there, and we got 10 better options to put in ahead of him.

If Scal plays primarily on the perimeter like a SF would, then you aren't being accurate in trying to compare him to a PF on the block. I compared him in my numbers to ALL forwards so as not to diminish the fact that he is 6'9" . That is more than fair. You're backing up so fast on your other comments. Now it is " we got 10 better options to put in ahead of him" instead of he is the worst player in the NBA. That's not even accurate. If we need a PF in the game we sure aren't going to put Pruitt or Sam ahead of him. He is a serviceable backup to the backup big man on a championship team. Of course no one on here thinks he should start or be the first big off the bench. You are just being ridiculous though when you say he has no ability at all. If that were true YOU or I would be sitting there on some NBA team's bench.

[Chris]

I don't just dislike the idea of Scalabrine starting. I hate it.

It made sense back in February and it paid off. I thought it was the right move then. He had Perkins to play off of. Starting Scal (plus increasing bench players minutes like Powe) allowed Powe and co. stay in their normal bench roles and allowed the Celtics to keep as much of their regular game plan as humanly possible. It was smart and very effective.

Right now the Celtics are getting beat in the paint. The team needs more rebounding and more interior defense. Neither of those things are Scalabrine's strengths. The extra burden that starting Scalabrine (an unneccessary move) would put on KG's shoulders is huge. Offensively it gets even worse because now the Celtics have even less presence in the paint and even less offensive rebounding. The spacing will be difficult and troublesome to the offense. These are all important changes that will very likely hurt the Celtics.

Lamar Odom is hurting the Celtics right now but he's doing it from 23 feet. He's not beating the Celtics' with a bunch of long jump shots and tough shots. He's beating them in the paint. What's the point in Scalabrine? His perimeter defense isn't what we need on Lamar Odom.

The only player that follows the Scalabrine guidelines from February is Glen Davis. I'd give him a shot and keep him on a short leash. Davis only needs to give 8-12 minutes as a starter. From there they can use Powe against the Lakers second unit and Luke Walton specifically and get far more production out of Powe. PJ can still be used as a game changing intimidating physical force rather than leaving Doc empty handed as he was in the second half after starting PJ. It needs to be Glen Davis.

Oh, I don't want him to start...I just think he is not a horrible option off the bench.

But ultimately I would MUCH rather see Davis.

[Edgar]

the problem with my dear Scal
is that he easily is the worst rebouder per size around the league
If its true boxing ouit players help
someone have to grab the lose ball.

Based on what?! Do you have some statistics to back that up or are you just bashing Scal? Scal's per 48 boards are about 7 pg. Due to the fact that he doesn't end up with many Offensive board opportunities because they stick him in the corner for a possible three, that's far from the bottom of the league...

Based on every single game i watched last 2 years where scal played
If u need stats sorry but I ont have the time to find them

I am pretty sure those have been posted here before.If my memory is kind of o.k.
As Roy pointed I may be wrong maybe hes NOT the worst but close to the bottom and I am not going to go into a semantics debate.
Peace

Edgar

Let's see. In the 2 total minutes it took me to look up the stats on nba.com, here's some information for you...

His roughly 7 rebounds per 48 put him ahead of about 25 forwards in the nba. Considering where he plays on offense and defense you'd technically want to classify him with the small forwards, but comparing him to ALL forwards takes care of most of that. Here are a few players you might have heard of at the forward spot that he is ahead of:

Tayshaun Prince
Andrei Kirilenko
Shane Battier
Juwan Howard
Paul Pierce
Brian Skinner

Some of these are no doubt SF's, but Scal is a perimeter player. He is ahead of about 1/3rd of the forwards in the league per 48. Not the top by any stretch, but way better than you give the guy credit for.

Maybe you had the TIME to look the stats up, but didn't really want to know the answers?!

LOL
this is the classic Gerald Green debate, I am not jumping on this one EJ
What kind of competition Scal Face this year
What kind of competition the other Fowards u listed face
Most of them are SF Scal is suposed to be a PF

this is ALL the time I had, to read your answer and answer it after 6 hours... busy day at job.
thanks for the effort anyway


P.S. seems like some of the things I pointed here been alreaedy pointed, sorry To those who answer that first. just dont have the time to read all.

[Bankshot]

Can we win this thing without Perk?  If yes, then why do you think we can?  We looked really weak defensively inside without Perk. Gasol is having his way... not good.  I'm getting nervous.

[hpantazo]

Can we win this thing without Perk?  If yes, then why do you think we can?  We looked really weak defensively inside without Perk. Gasol is having his way... not good.  I'm getting nervous.

we can win it without perk, we were fine after we took out rondo and powe and stopped the early bleeding. we just need to make sure we don't spot the lakers 20 points again. KG will also get a little more respect from the refs, as well as not reach in for dumb fouls, and we'll be fine