Oklahoma City Thunder: Why Is Scott Brooks Sticking With Kendrick Perkins?

A player with championship experience is often one worth having. They provide a shoulder to lean on for a team’s younger players, help integrate new teammates and can draw on their experience to push their teams over the edge during moments of hardship. However, when these players are a liability on the court, it can be hard to justify having them on the floor during important moments. Kendrick Perkins is one of these players for the Oklahoma City Thunder, along with Derek Fisher. They are the proverbial glue that holds OKC together.

Kendrick Perkins: Why does he get so many minutes? Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com

Kendrick Perkins is a liability on the court. After being drafted out of high school in the famed 2003 NBA Draft, Perkins looks over the hill at a relatively young age. Many felt that the series against the Memphis Grizzlies provided Perkins with a challenge he’d enjoy and thrive in: a low post war with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Simply put, he hasn’t delivered. A PER rating of -0.1 during the playoffs so far tells you all you need to know; Perkins is just horrible right now. A negative player efficiency rating is remarkably poor–why in the world is coach Scott Brooks continuing to play him?

As you see from the statistics, it seems the Thunder are better without him on the floor than with him:

With him on the court, they commit more turnovers, have a worse offensive rating and are actually a worse defensive rebounding team. There are so many different options. If Brooks just glanced at the stats he’d be able to see how much Perkins is costing them.

It is a conundrum, especially considering Brooks has many options to use. He could shift Serge Ibaka to the 5, play Nick Collison at the 4 and avoid having what Zach Lowe of Grantland.com described as “the walking turnover” take the floor. Collison provides energy, hustle, competent passing ability and a reliable jump-shot. These are all things missing from Perkins’ game right now.

During Game 2, we saw OKC run a very small lineup with Fisher, Kevin Martin, Thabo Sefolosha, Kevin Durant, and Ibaka taking the floor. This lineup had a plus-minus ratio of plus-4. Sure it’s a small sample size, but why not experiment more? Kevin Durant can’t guard Marc Gasol in the post, but that shouldn’t mean he can’t guard him at the elbow. Durant is long enough to contest and challenge Marc’s lovely jumper he hits from there.

To answer the question: I really don’t know why a seemingly intelligent man like Scott Brooks is continuing playing Perkins; he is horrible right now. Maybe he feels that Perkins offers the best chance of stopping Z-Bo and Gasol. Granted, he is OKC’s best low-post defender, but why not reduce his minutes exclusively to moments when both of them are on the floor? If only one of them is on the floor, let Ibaka deal with them and then you don’t have to have Perkins’ cement feet and slippery hands on offense. Oh, and that awful tendency to take that mid range jumper … THAT NEVER GOES IN!