Merged: Worried about Pero

[Guest]

Say what you want. Pero has played like crap for a while.

Correction - Pero has played like crap on offense.

He's still doing the dirt work and playing defense. When opposing bigs start saying in the paint and leaving him open and it doesn't have a positive impact on our spacing then I'll worry.

If you are only focusing on offense then you'll never be satisfied. Pero is what he is.

[Blazemore]

Pero is cold right no offensively and there is no denying it. But that's FINE. He's cold NOW but it's not like he's going to be cold for the rest of the season. Pero is streaky offensively, always has been, always will be, but that's OK. We have 4 players that can play center on our team come playoff time, (Maybe 3, Moose may not be ready for prime time). So if he's cold then we have options.

 

Even if he isn't  cold then, he gives a LOT on defense. It may not show on the box score, but Pero is a versatile defense player that doesn't make mistakes.

Also when his 3 is going down, our bench offense is a monstrosity that can't be stopped. Between him and Scott sinking 3's and Dennis cutting to the basket our bench unit it straight out of a horror show for opposing defenses. Pero is worth everything he gives us. We have depth. Pero isn't a starter, we can afford a bench player being cold offensively for a stretch during the regular season.

[Peoriabird]

 He sucks at finishing inside.  Unless it is a WIDE open layup he should kick it back out every time. 

He can't even hit wide open layups consistently!

Edited February 8, 2015 by Peoriabird

[Admin]

It's crazy when Pero is so bad in the paint he makes Zaza look athletic!

[ATLHawks3]

Pero.. Pero.. Pero.....

[lush23]

Wish we still had ZaZa! Pero has been awful. Terrible shooting (.25%) last ten games, imagine what it would be if you took away his lay ups. You people who say he plays great defense, well defensive rebounding and shot blocking are important parts of defense and we get very little of that from Pero. Please don't don't talk about how great he sets picks! We need an upgrade for the playoffs. Go back and watch what he did during the Pacer series last year.

[Plainview1981]

Pero does not belong in the NBA.

[ATLHawks3]

Wish we still had ZaZa! Pero has been awful. Terrible shooting (.25%) last ten games, imagine what it would be if you took away his lay ups. You people who say he plays great defense, well defensive rebounding and shot blocking are important parts of defense and we get very little of that from Pero. Please don't don't talk about how great he sets picks! We need an upgrade for the playoffs. Go back and watch what he did during the Pacer series last year.

 

I see both sides of the argument, but I'm more biased towards your side. At this point Pero is what he is. He really can't get any worse than what he did in the playoffs last year. We just have to sadly hope that he'll improve his performance before the playoffs. 

Edited February 9, 2015 by ATLHawks3

[TheNorthCydeRises]

In the history of Hawksquawk, I've never seen an overall bad player defended so much on here.  And it's not just on here . . . people LOVE Pero all across Hawknation.  

 

When Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, or even Vladimir Radmanovic played like Pero does now, the fan base blasted all of those players to the moon.

 

The problem with Pero, is that he views himself as an offensive player as well as a defensive player.  And Bud hasn't put the stop sign on him taking 3's.  For a guy that can't shoot, he looks for his shot a hell of a lot.  If he'd just take an 18 - 20 foot shot . . a shot that he can actually make . . instead of a 23 foot shot, he'd be more consistent offensively.

 

It's absolutely amazing the lengths some of you go to, to defend Pero.  Even his great +/- number ( a statistic that USED to be clowned on here ) is like a mirage.  There are games in which his contributions definitely affect his positive number on the court.  Most games though, it's usually one of his teammates producing at a high level, along with the team playing effective defense, that contributes to a positive on the floor number.

 

Even tonight, he didn't play as bad as he's been playing in recent weeks, but he was a non-factor in a game in which we could've used SOMEONE on the frontline to be a factor.

[Sothron]

I have to be honest: at this point I'm legit concerned with how bad Moose and Payne must be in practice for Pero to still get all the backup center minutes. I have defended Pero because his defense is solid but this shooting is just killing us.

[GameTime]

I have to be honest: at this point I'm legit concerned with how bad Moose and Payne must be in practice for Pero to still get all the backup center minutes. I have defended Pero because his defense is solid but this shooting is just killing us.

 

Just like how bad Dennis was in practice for Lou to take all his minutes last year.

[bird_dirt]

Pero is the only big we have that is strong enough to hold opposing physical centers in check. He blocks them out, cuts off their angle from receiving passes and generally holds them stationary. Our starting center can't do that, so when Marc Gasol starts taking advantage of posting up and shooting over Horf, Pero needs to come in to prevent Gasol from getting the ball in the first place.

[AUhawksfan]

What amazes me is the amount of attention Pero still gets on offense when he has the ball. He still manages to draw the bigs out of the lane and they tend to drape him.

It really makes me wonder if other teams scout him at all because at this point you could play completely off him and double someone else and there is still probably a sub-50 percent chance he makes something.

[AUhawksfan]

I also agree that this does make me worried if nobody is outplaying him. I'm surprised we haven't dusted off Brand at this point. I like Pero when he's hitting his shots but that hasn't been happening lately so it's time to change it up!

[rd79]

Our offense relies a lot on good hard picks, which allow our flash-brothers to get into the lane and finish or kick it out. Pero probably sets the best picks on the team, while Horf is a more valuable PnP partner due to his (yesterday absent) ability to finish from midrange. 

 

That could be another reason why Bud wants either Horf or Pero on the court.

[NineOhTheRino]

Pero does not belong in the NBA.

Our fans seem to be attached to him for some reason.  He stinks!

[macdaddy]

I still can't believe some of these criticisms but let's break it down to one question:

 

If Pero "sucks" and "doesn't belong in the nba" then why does Bud still play him 15 minutes a game?   Are you really saying that you think Bud sucks?

[Duff_Man]

In the history of Hawksquawk, I've never seen an overall bad player defended so much on here.  And it's not just on here . . . people LOVE Pero all across Hawknation.  

 

 

Josh Smith.

[capstone21]

Pero just does little things that keeps him on the court ... his shooting has been awful lately but his picks, d, help d and passing have been solid

[High5]

Pero does a lot of the harder to recognize things to help us stay competitive. And when that shot is falling we're almost unbeatable. I would love to upgrade that position, but that's a lot easier said than done.