Kendrick Perkins – Oklahoma City Thunder Players who need to up the ante next NBA season
Good role players are the most important asset of any NBA franchise. Yet, when it comes to earning the laurels, it is often the more illustrious players who get the lion’s share.
Even with this, the fact that championships are won by teams not players has been proven time and time again in the past. We do not need to go far. In the last NBA Finals, Miami Heat had three of biggest stars in their lineup and they were up against the Dallas Mavericks, who by star standards only had a certain Dirk Nowitzki.
However, as the series progressed, the Mavs benefited from a superior bench. A team of above average NBA players like Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler, DeShawn Stevenson and J.J. Barea went on to finish the series in the 6th game and knocked down the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and highlighted the significance of bench strength in NBA.
When it comes to Oklahoma City, they have got the top stars of the league in their side - Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. However, they are still in their strides and need their role players to step up. Thunder has a bevy of blue collared reserves and sharp shooters on their bench, but given the late collapse last season, these guys need to focus on their weaknesses so that Oklahoma City could lift the title whenever the next season begins.
Kendrick Perkins
Generally when one talks about role players it signifies players, who comes off the bench and play for some specific minutes. Kendrick Perkins was not in that mold last season, but his blemished in the post season saw him get reduced minutes and with the emergence of Serge Ibaka, the veteran centre may see his minutes reduced next season.
Perkins used to be a part of the Boston Celtics solid defensive unit. He has been considered as a solid player on the D throughout his career, but when he moved to OKC in the middle of last season, he failed to put a good show, especially in the Western Conference Finals against the Mavs. His major failure was on the paint. He got clobbered by his counterparts both from Memphis Grizzlies and the Mavs and it was this lack of intensity from Perkins which eventually led the OKC’s demise.
Perkins also failed to produce decent numbers on the offense and scored at an average of 5.1 points per game with the Thunder.
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