After having two offseason surgeries, one on his wrist and one on his groin, Kendrick Perkins will likely miss all of the Thunder’s training camp and preseason games.
“What we’re trying to do is have him ready for the first game, of the regular season” said Sam Presti at his preseason press conference. “His conditioning, his fitness levels, he’s done a fantastic job. His wrist is the thing we have to be very cautious with and we will be.”
Perkins suffered a partially torn groin in the opening round of the playoffs against the Mavericks and played the entire postseason through it. He then tore a ligament in his wrist during the series against the Spurs and played through that as well.
There goal is to have him ready for the beginning of the regular season, meaning there’s a chance he might not be available for opening night. The team is taking is slow with Perk and not inclined to rush him back whatsoever.
Without Perk, the Thunder will turn to Cole Aldrich and new signees Hasheem Thabeet and Daniel Orton to fill those minutes. Meaning training camp and preseason will provide some pretty open opportunity for one to establish himself as Perkins’ backup.
Because nobody is taking Perk’s job. He’s already made that much clear.
I dont understand why the media thinks rose is better than westbrook. Sure westbrook benefits from playing with durant, but he's a better shooter than rose, gets to the line at a higher rate, and is just as good in transition. Id say russ is more athletic too.
TIME FOR COLE TO SHINE
How does this affect the selection of the 15th spot on the roster? I really like Hollis so I hope this doesn't take away his spot by adding an extra big that can't really play (ie. Orton).
@goodwillhunting At a guess? Minimally. You have a 6 deep rotation at PF/C before we get to Orton. And SI, NC, and KD can both play one position up (3->4, 4->5). Plus, Perk's still expected back early in the season.
wish someone would have asked about Pruiti.
@OBoymuzik "After Dark Side, my favorite Pink Floyd album has to be Wish You Were Here."
@ou_sas I see what you're doing there Sas...fomenting a new DT meme.
Westbrook or Rondo ..who would you take...no homerism lol
@kennygee90 Rondo is a better passer and dribbler in traffic
@kennygee90 http://gothicginobili.com/?p=4137#p2
@kennygee90 on this team.... RW any day.
@Lafowler255 @kennygee90 From what I can hear, Russ is by far the better teammate. And that's the team culture I'd want my team to have. So, I'd take Russ without question.
@goodwillhunting @Lafowler255 OK I agree with yall now that westbrook is better...I forgot about Rondo's horrible free throw shooting..
@Lafowler255 im talking about overall talent , not based on a teams play
@kennygee90 @OBoymuzik @ou_sas @Jooseppi You say that like Russ can't absolutely take over a game and win it for the Thunder. Rondo is good no doubt, but he really gets overrated by the fact that people idealize "true" point guards.
@Jooseppi @senseandsenescence @kennygee90 I guess. And KG, you're probably right about missed/made FG attempts for Russ. They can be as bad as.
@ou_sas @senseandsenescence @kennygee90 They don't really fret about it because the standard comparison is Ass/TO ratio, which really doesn't explain much.
Assists are important in that assisted baskets generally have a higher FG%, but TOs are a different beast.
@ou_sas @senseandsenescence @Jooseppi Rondos turnovers are due to him being the primary ball handler..most of the times when westbrook is handling the ball it results on a missed or made field goal..rondo turns into an nice pass or a turnover
@senseandsenescence @Jooseppi @kennygee90 Man, and to think we complain about Russ' stupid turnovers. I can only imagine what Celtics fans go through...
@OBoymuzik @ou_sas @Jooseppi I was having a problem choosing between the two..i really think their equal in terms of overall talent.. last year Rondo was a better rebounder...Rondo can sometimes completely control the game and beat you..He can be a triple double machine at times..but his horrible free throw shooting puts westbrook ahead thou
@ou_sas Rondo has had a worse rate than Westbrook every year Westbrook has been in the league. And Rondo operates at a lower usage. I don't want to imagine what it would be like if he operated at ~30 usage (not saying I want Westbrook operating there either, but for comparison's sake).
@ou_sas @Jooseppi @kennygee90 Wow would have never guessed Rondo had such a horrible TOV%. Same net Rtg too. Looks like his relatively worse offense is made up for by improved defense (or Garnett).
@ou_sas @Jooseppi @kennygee90 I want some stats on rondos averages playing on national tv vs not. think it would be surprising.
@senseandsenescence i never said he makes players better...I hate that saying...I just said he makes plays of other teammates and makea the game easier for them
@ou_sas @Jooseppi @kennygee90 goodness thats not even close
@Jooseppi @kennygee90 Holy crap, Rondo had a 22.8 TOV% last year. Not good news for your floor general.
@OBoymuzik @kennygee90 @Lafowler255 We were asked to keep the "team they played on" out of the equation. Obviously any individual players success is a direct result of the players that surround them. In a general 'typical' NBA line up, I think Rondo is a better fit.
Another caveat is that I think RW will show a vastly improved control and assist game this year. Ask me in June the same question and RW may have taken that next step.
@Jooseppi @kennygee90 Comparing the two from last year: http://bkref.com/tiny/iZAEr
@kennygee90 @ThunderBelize who is downplaying it? I said he was great at passing but he is getting a lot of help from guys that can catch and shoot and are some of the best at doing so.
@kennygee90 Where has that got the Celtics? There were plenty of adept offensive players on last year's team, yet they were one of the worst offenses in the league and are frequently very bad.
It's different than somebody like Nash, who truly does pull certain skills out of his teammates and lets them shine.
The idea that Rondo makes people better on offense is just not true. The last time the Celts were better than league average on offense was 08-09. Last year they were tied for 25th. The Nash Suns have never been below 9th and were top two in the league until Amare left.
@kennygee90 @Lafowler255 @ThunderBelize you're overlooking that the Celtics offense is terrible even with rondo averaging 11 assists last year.
@Lafowler255 @ThunderBelize Trying to downplay rondos passing and playmaking abilities is not smart..His the celtics best player unlike westbrook....I think its a tie between the two though..
@kennygee90 @Lafowler255 his weakness is defending the pick and roll especially against guys like Parker and CP3 and falling asleep. But he's good off the ball too, he completely took away Jason Terry in the 1st round last year. Was good on Manu and was good on Wade.
No I would never say looking lost he may over play a play but thats because his steal attempts Im sure are higher then Rondo. RW is a great defender and if he wasnt needed as much on offense would prove it like he does in FIBA and the Olympics
@OBoymuzik @Lafowler255 never realized that westbrook had better rebounding numbers than rondo.. Rondo though is a better defender, Westbrook has a low IQ on defense, he looks lost sometimes on the court but he is a good man to man defender ...
@OBoymuzik Thanks
@ThunderBelize True but show me that when he doesnt have Ray Allen and KG and Paul to throw it too. Plus even though KD can catch and shoot he does it far less then anyone on the Celtics. Thabo has his moment be like the begging of the last season where he was pissed of at Thabo for not taking open jump shots when he passed him the ball... Rondo NEVER has to worry about that with Ray
@ThunderBelize He didn't for the Celtics last season.
@Lafowler255 Rondo career 4.4 rpg Westbrook 4.7 rpg
I dont know the stat line on rebounds between the two but RW can Rebound over big men and has done it many times
@kennygee90 @Lafowler255 Westbrook is a better rebounder statistically and i would argue a better defender. Rondo has huuuuuuuuuuge games alot of the time (mostly on national TV) but looks very regular often too.
@Lafowler255 Oh and on most teams Rondo would find a way to make fringe players better than RW. So guys like Thabo, Collison, Perk, Cook, PJ3 would inherently improve thanks to the NASH effect that Rondo provides.
@Lafowler255 Westbrook is more explosive by far, better jumper, overall better scorer...Rondo is a better rebounder passer defender,Higher IQ, better vision and playmaking skills....Westbrook also has that fire in him that refuses to go down without a fight
@Lafowler255 Tough call... I would pick Rondo. But the qualifier is that on court results would be equal with both because what Rondo provides in assists, RW provides in scoring.
Im still taking RW, Rondo is much better passer but that has its limits if you cant score consistently.
@kennygee90 Is that a serious question?
@Jooseppi yea
Calm down Royce!
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/09/the-dark-side-of-the-beard-time-is-ticking-for-hardens-extension/
We are still good without perk, maybe even better without perk against most teams.
@f5alcon Don't forget who our coach is. He'll find a way to roll out a ridiculous line up with or without Perk.