I dont think so. I mean I know why the celtics drafted him. He's 6' 10'' and a HUGE 6' 10'' at that. hes already one of the heaviest players in the league at 280 pounds. Being so young it was worth the gamble taking him out of high school but he looks soft and he looks slow when he's out there. I'm not there at thte practices but al jefferson is a rookie and he's already getting, nay EARNING minutes and perkins is a second year player and hes not so that should tell you something.
Perk is a project. We shouldn't judge him harshly because Al is a freak. HSers take 2-4 years if you are lucky. I wish he was as fast a learner as Al, but he might just be another Diop. All we can do is give him some time. My hope is that he'll be a useful bench big man. Can't have too many of those around.
Keep in mind that Perkins didn't have a REAL first season, as he had to put up with OB3-Ball and then his lackee predecessor John "I'm not going to even try to earn my paycheck" Carroll. Perkins is going to take time to develop. JO took time too and I'm sure to some degree, the Blazers are still kicking themselves for that one. I can't say he'll be a JO, but I'm willing to wait on him for another 1-2 years. Big men of his dimensions are hard to find and we need to get past that HS learning curve before I feel comfortable giving up on him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting celtfan:</div><div class="quote_post">Waaaaaaaaay too early to be giving up on KP</div> Put it this way. Paul Pierce has played more minutes in the last 2 games than Perk has played his entire career. When they drafted him, they didn't hide the fact that he was a project, so comparing him to Jefferson isn't a fair comparison. I agree that he hasn't shown a lot yet, but I think he will improve to be at least a serviceable backup.
The reason I'm low on Perk right now is that even when he gets limited run he doesn't look impressive. Hell, even Kedrick Brown showed you flashes from time to time. Now, I understand that HSers take longer and its unfair to compare Perk to Jefferson, because no one expected Jefferson to be as skilled offensively as he is, but Perk has to at least show me something when he gets in. Now, to look at Perk you can see that he obviously knows where the weight room is, but does he know where the practice court is? He shouldn't worry about bulking up as much as he should be working on rebounding and a mid-range jumper. I'm not seeing much improvement from what he was last year to this year. I'm not saying trade the kid, not by a long shot, but if he wants the C's to pick up the forth year on his option (which I believe has to be done at the start of next year) he needs to start showing people that he is improving.
im sure they'll pick up the 4th year option. even if he hadn't had that 13 rebound explosion a few games ago it'd be giving up way to soon to cut him loose at that time. Plus, who else would sign him? Anyways, I was always under the impression that a guy shouldn't go the NBA out of hih school unless he's realllllly something special. Maybe you could make the arguement that it's a different world now but I think that Perkins turning into a decent backup center wouldn't be enough to make me think it was a good pick (depending on how the players picked after him turned out). At the risk of setting the bar too high I think that anything less than a solid starter to borderline star center will be something of a dissapointment.
The way you talk about him, it's like he's been in the league for 5 years. If you take a look at some of the great high school players in the NBA, you'll see that it took them years to develop. That's why I think players shouldn't be able to declare themselves eligible until they're 20. If you look at some the guys that the Celtics have let go because they didn't show something right away, you'd think we would all have more patience than we do.
KP came from my hometown. My high school, which was all white played his ozen team quite often and got obliterated by them. He was a monster in high school, but i havent seen much of him in the league.
is your town really rustic? I heard Perk was really considered a fish out of water suddenly being in the big city. did u go to any games against him?
Thats what you get from high school people ' they haven't proven themselves. Peopel said he would be like a baby shaq, but he does not have the level of knowledge for the game nor the speed and size. James Lang was another one of those players, he was big but got drafted second round out of HS and got cut.
well again we don't know that he's a bust at this point. that's not what I'm saying. And though he does not appear to be very fast or quick, he DOES have the size which is what makes him such an interesting prospect. He's listed 6' 10'', 280 lbs which compares favorably to some other formidable centers such as Theo Ratliff (6' 10'', 235) and Ben Wallace (6' 9'', 240).
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">is your town really rustic? I heard Perk was really considered a fish out of water suddenly being in the big city. did u go to any games against him?</div> i wouldnt say rustic, it's somewhat small yes, but we're about an hour from houston. however there is a huge difference between southeast texas and boston massachusettes, so i can see how he would be a fish out of water. and yes, i went to many games against him, my best friend played center for our high school team and played against perkins all the time. there was almost a brawl at one game. KP trash talked horribly.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">KP trash talked horribly.</div> I mentioned this during the game where he had like 13 rbs: He needs confidence as much as to develop skills. I think the OB/Carroll tenure didn't do KP any favors, not to mention that we all know how much OB loves to develop rookies. I've seen the flashes from KP, but know he's still a bit of a ways off from being an regular contributor.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">the guy seems so quiet</div> in the nba, yes in high school? FAR from it.
