Pretenders to the throne: Howard and Orlando runs out of Magic against Perkins and the Celtics
Let’s get one thing out of the way. It’s personal with Dwight Howard and Kendrick Perkins. There’s no one in the league that plays the Orlando man-child better or more physical, and it’s not an accident. While, the two men say all the right things in the press and they might hug before tip-off, but Kendrick does not think much of Dwight Howard and his sizable reputation and popularity.
For one, He gets too many calls.
He’s got a lot more beach muscle than game.
And, truth be told, he’s overrated. Dwight Howard is the muscular dude at the beach with the hot girlfriend and the perfect hair. A superman’s cape? Would KG ever do that? Well, he sort of has, in the Finals! Leave the cape behind young man, just lace em up and let’s see who the better man is.
And the better man, is Kendrick Perkins. Between the lines, that is. Perk’s not as pretty as Dwight. His stats aren’t as glossy, but Perk is the better basketball player, Dwight is the better specimen. Or, is he? Perkins is in the best shape I’ve ever seen him in. He’s certainly every bit the athlete Dwight Howard is, although I’d imagine people would argue that one with me.
But, one thing is certain. Nobody guards Dwight Howard better than Kendrick Perkins, and it’s something that is impossible to prove with stats. Howard’s stats against the Celtics are gawdy for sure, but he hasn’t been that good against Perkins, because Perkins doesn’t think Howard is a better player than him and that’s the secret to beating Dwight Howard. You can’t let his muscles beat you.
Going into the game, it’s clear that the key for Perk is keeping Howard from getting to the rim without picking up a cheap foul. The longer he keeps Howard from getting into the paint the the more likely the Celtics are to win, and in the first quarter Perk wins the battle early. He muscles Howard out of the half-circle and edges him in stats.
At the end of their first quarter duel, Perkins has has 2 points 5 rebounds to 1 point and 4 rebounds for Howard.
The secret was that Perk bodied him out of position and took it right at him on offense twice, to no avail, but any defense Howard has to play against Kendrick is again, a victory for Perk. Howard’s flatness seems to hurt his team too.
Two plays illustrate Perk’s defensive brilliance.
5:00 in the second quarter: Howard loads Perk up one-on-one on the right hand side. Dwight has him in his sweet spot. The only problem is that Perk has bodied Howard past five feet out. Normally, Howard could throw a hard spin move that would knock his defender off him and freeing his shoulders. Once squared up, Howard will kill ninety percent of the centers in the league with an explosive dunk, especially if he creates space for himself. But the difference is that Perk can push him a foot past his comfort zone. He also has the strength to withstand the hard spin, so Perk cuts off the space Howard has to dribble. Howard’s now stuck deciding whether to shoot a hook or a turnaround, and that is not Howard’s game. Perk, who came up defending Al Jefferson every day in practice, knows Howard doesn’t have that dangerous release, so he cuts off all available day light and Howard shoots a brick.
4:00 minutes left in the second: Howard catches the ball in the post eight feet out. By the time he squares up Perk has pushed him three feet further out than the last time they squared off in the paint. Howard has no choice but to drive, and no matter what move he makes, Kevin Garnett is there to cut off the rim. That’s how the Celtics kill you, they have a seven foot wall protecting the rim, even if you get past the first defender. Howard has once again stepped into the jaws of the Celtics defense. From this point on, Howard has yet to get off. That, in itself is huge.
In fact, Howard only gets one dunk off in the first half and they both finish the half with similar numbers.
Howard has 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks in 21 minutes. That looks pretty good until you see that it took seven shots and four free throws to get there. That’s a 28 percent success rate right there.
Perkins has 4 points, 7 rebounds, and one block in 15 minutes. That’s four points on four shots and no free throws, for a 50 percent success rate. His efficiency is obviously better and all his minutes come against Howard, on the other hand Howard gets some of his stats off of Glen Davis.
Just by looking at the stats, you’d think Howard got the better of Perk by the fact that the Magic are within 2 points. Yet Howard does less than nothing, essentially neutralized for an entire half. If that’s Superman, Kendrick might just need the new nickname of Kryptonite.
In the third quarter, as the Celtics build a big lead Perkins continues to push Howard out of his comfort zone. When he comes out with 4:10 in the third, Howard has 10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks on 3-9 shooting and six free throws, compared to Perk’s 4 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block on 2-5 shooting.
Perkins sits for a long time and by the time he comes back with 5:00 left in the fourth, Howard has amassed a 14, 14, 4 line. He’s getting fat off of Big Baby, who’s doing an admirable job against a man 5 inches taller.
Perk dominates the rest of the matchup from here on in, beating Howard 4-0 on points and 5-1 on boards. Besides getting another bullshit tech, what can you say? Cassel got tossed from the bench.
Howard finishes the game with 14 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks in 40 minutes. He shot 5-12. However, head to head against Perk, he had 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Perk, who played every minute against Howard, finished with 8 points, 13 rebounds, and 1 block on 4-7 shooting in 28 minutes, all of which he played against Dwight Howard.
The Celtics cruise to an easy 107-88 win. Perk wins the head to head battle. Good job big man, Ercell would be proud of her boy tonight.
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December 2nd, 2008 at 4:14 am
Interesting analysis. I do agree that perk is one of the few big men in the league who has the size, strength, mobility and toughness to bang with howard. He did slow his intimidating scoring down but dwight was still a beast on the offensive boards tonight leading to second chance opportunities for his team. Also the majority of perks points came off easy dunks after rondo draws howard away rather than one on one post moves. Really no matter though a win is a win and perk played well minus a few bad turnovers but lets not get crazy Perk is no D howard especially when it comes to athleticism but no doubt the cape is gay.
December 2nd, 2008 at 4:30 am
Great article. Perk really doesn’t get enough respect. Refs helped Howard a couple of bs fouls on Perk and how does the “most dominant center” in the league not pick up his first foul until garbage time?
December 2nd, 2008 at 4:40 am
wow.
as a huge perk fan and homer, i was about to talk about certain plays where dwight seemed to get the advantage but your analysis proved me wrong. dwight howard is a player but it should have been ken on the olympic team this past summer. perk is a beast in all capital letters. it’s only appropriate.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
rosef, I think you’re probably right about Perk’s offense. Perhaps, he was a little too respectful of Howard’s shot blocking and was a little hesitant. However, head to head, you gotta give the edge to Perk last night.
December 2nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
First off, I hate positional designations. I think they obfuscate and limit. I tend to classify players by skill set rather than by some moniker. Sure, when talking to another fan, I tend to say “Quick Forward” or “Floor General” or what have you but, in that sense, I am merely stating “skills traditionally associated with that position.”
How do I see Perkules?
- Lane Clogger
- Shot Blocker
- Enforcer
- Solid one-on-one post scorer (with potential for more)
- Excellent help defender, especially on the switch and blitz
- Above average passer out of the low post and on the outlet
- Understated leadership
- Competent, though under-utilized, 15-18′ shooter
- Above-average to Good rebounder
I think the disconnect with many fans is that they expect the litheness of a modern day “quasi-forward” perpetrating at the pivot. In a way, Perkins is a bit of a throwback but, even then, that description doesn’t encompass his game. Most throwback types are severely limited in their effectiveness at the modern game. Perkins’ game, be it from the raw power to the unexpected gracefulness (for many, at least) of his up-and-under, is able to transcend positional designation. His combination of Old School skills and sheer athleticism* is not duplicated in this league. I am trying to rack my brain to think of a comparable player, actually, and the player I keep coming back to is Tree Rollins. Truth be told, though, I think Perkins will be better than Tree was because I think Perkins’ offense will continue to develop.
* I think folks get too caught up in the speed/vertical trap when judging athleticism. Perkins has shown the ability to cover guards on the switch and man-up against a range of players from Bosh to Shaq. Sure, there are players who are faster, who can jump higher and who have more quickness.
If you could only choose one player in the NBA to fulfill the role of tin-guarder, post defender, shot alterer and blitzer from the pivot on the defensive end, Perkins is the far superior choice, imo. There are other players who exceed him in any one of those areas, clearly, but there is no player I can think of who can combine all of those things into the package that Perkins provides. When you combine that with his ability to clear space underneath the basket, his developing offensive game, his ability to pass both out of the post and on the outlet, I can’t think of anyone that I would want playing center for my team more than Perkins. Especially when you consider other factors such as upside, price, demeanor and work ethic.
And to top it all off, all reports indicate that Perkins is a stand-up, no-nonsense, team player. I can’t see how people can’t respect that.
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
One thing about Dwight Howard….the man has the wingspan of a 747. I thought Perk did a great job defending him and keeping him from getting easy baskets. Forced him to do alot of hook shots….which in itself are hard to defend (one on one).
I hate to bring this up…..but the league seriously needs to address the kitty-ass fouls and techs. There was what….8 techs last night total? The funniest had to be Sam Cassell getting ejected though. But he was protesting a b.s. missed called. Perk got another tech for talking to the official about a goaltend…that he wasn’t initially going to call. Its rediculous and out of hand.
I remember saying to my wife when Rashard Lewis got his tech that if Perk did what Rashard was doing…he would have been ejected. I don’t know what they’re beef is with Perk…but they’re really cheating fans of a good game.
December 2nd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Maybe the nine technical fouls are sort the binge an alcoholic has before he sobers up.
I’ve never seen a man thrown out of a game from the bench, ever. however, Perk once got a technical foul from the bench a few years back when he didn’t play a single minute.
the league is cracking down on us because we have a reputation for trash talk. It doesn’t seem to be bothering us though.
fuck em’