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Perkins personal stats actually look better when his +/- was not great compared to when it was great.

So when the team +/= is better with him on the court it is either because of his shot defense or it is independent of him or from both sources.

In his 17 games with the Thunder, Perkins has been +9 or better on team +/- on the court 7 times. All of the other 10 times he has gotten a 0 or negative +/-, including 4 moderate or large negatives. Some of that trend might be randomness but so far they seem to either be really "on" with Perk or not and not much in-between.

@Ozarkhick I think that's a testament to the attitude and determination that comes along with a rare force like Perk. You can almost feel the shift of mental fortitude from Boston to OKC after the trades were over.

Not to take anything away from our former teammates, but OKC suddenly had an air of "Don't F### with us" as soon as Perk hit the floor in his new blue and white jersey.

@Ozarkhick
win

Kinda funny how everyone views the Perkins trade and aftermath from the perspective of OKC got Perkins, and Boston doesn't.

Nobody stops to consider the alternate view, Boston is now playing Krstic and Green, and we aren't anymore.

@Brian
That was a good read. Nice...

All those open looks for Durant show Denver's lack of serious defensive commitment without Afflalo. They aren't chasing Durant on the 3-point line and they're going to get swept if that keeps happening.

http://hoopdata.com/blogengine/post/2011/04/21/Is-OKC-Best-in-the-West.aspx

Credit to Jeff Fogle, Great article!

For 8 of 10 players in the rotation the team is more than +9 per 48 minutes with them on the court. The 2 exceptions? Perkins at +2 and Ibaka at +1. Small sample and raw +/- can be random. But that is where things are right now.

The five bench guys have the best 5 team offensive but only 1 of the 5 best defensive ratings while on the court.

Westbrook has the 4th weakest team offensive rating while on the court but 3rd best defensive rating.

Durant 5th weakest team offensive rating but 4th best defensive rating while on the court.

With Maynor the offense has been 10 pts better per 48 minutes than with Russ; but with Russ the team defense has been almost 10 points better on defense.

Collison has the 2nd best team offensive and 2nd best defensive ratings while on the court. (Thabo has #1 for team defensive rating while on the court by far.)

Cook has the best team offensive by far but the worst defensive ratings while on the court.

Does any of that surprise? A lot of it did for me.

It is about starter and bench match-ups and small samples.

Smokey :
Good to see the Atlanta crowd rocking.

agreed!!

Good to see the Atlanta crowd rocking.

That secondary assist and free throw assist is a great stat. I wish there was more tracking of that stuff. Doesn't hockey do something like that?

Also, the stat on Daequan Cook; isn't that exactly what we want him to do? That's the whole point of him in the offense: to catch and shoot.

http://sportvuhoops.stats.com/player-involvement-and-true-usage/
How do you think this?KD is the lowest in Involvement % and the most in Points Per Touch.