I know, I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it could be true. The trade itself may have been a bust, but the way this team has excelled may be due to the lack of Perk and to the addition of Greg Stiemsma. The people at Reds Army dug up a couple of stats that heavily favor the Stiemer side of this convo:
And it's Stiemsma's emergence that sparked this whole idea. Because Greg Stiemsma is a better player than Kendrick Perkins this season. On defense, he's allowing .72 points per possession (ppp) according to Synergy Sports, good for 29th in the league. Perkins is allowing .80 ppp, ranking him 114. Stiemsma is averaging 1.56 blocks per game to Perk's 1.14. Since the All Star game, Stiemsma has blocked 57 shots while Perkins has blocked 27. Perkins is the better 1-on-1 defender (.49 ppp to .92 ppp) but Stiemsma is the better pick-and-roll defender (.38 to .7 ppp). On offense, Stiemsma scores .95 ppp to Perk's .76. Neither scores much at all, but Stiemsma does have the one thing that Perk never had offensively: a 16-20 foot jumper that he can hit when he's open.
I know this Celtics love is a little out of control now, but why shouldn't it? They have overcame a lot to get into the position they are in. But if Kendrick Perkins was still on the team, KG wouldn't have rejuvenated his career, Brandon Bass wouldn't be as successful as he has been, and Stiemer wouldn't have been found.
Perkins is averaging in 5 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block in 27 minutes a game and Greg Stiemsma is averaging 3 points, 3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 14 minutes a game.
No comments:
Post a Comment