HAWKS 113, MAVS 87

[DanSchwartzgan]

Also, can't really run two-man stuff with Luka and KP with Powell on the floor - too easy to commit an extra defender to support, even on the weak side. Even if Powell is as far away as possible, his man will not be, because the GOAL of the defense in that situation will be to shut down the action with Luka/KP (and their preferred outlet) and force Powell to brick a 3. That's what they want. 

When they announced Powell as a starter I was open to it, because I thought that meant we would see a return to the Luka/Powell pick and roll game  with KP spacing (HE can shoot). As @"DanSchwartzgan" tells us about once a week, this was the foundation of an all-time great offense. Now, I'm fine with ANY other plan Kidd has, too, but I'm with @"burekemde" on this one: if Powell is NOT going to be the first option in the pick and roll game (something we know he's elite doing) then WHY ON EARTH is he out there?

I get it.  Powell in the dunker spot along the baseline isn't generating beautiful basketball.  But, it may be a bit early to call this DOA.  A team with long playoff run aspirations has to find multiple ways to attack the D.  I'm all for trying to find different looks.  Why can't we have multiple PnR options among the bigs.  It may take some time/effort to get things where we want them to be.  But what if it ends up working?  What if we can have heliocentric Luka and some additional go-to things that also work.  No guarantees, but we certainly won't know unless we try.

Interesting that when Dallas pulled back on center play, it was Willie's minutes that suffered.  I wouldn't say Powell had a bad game.  He was +3 and KP was -3 for the game, but lets did a little deeper.  The starters were -11 in the first six minutes of the game.  Is it Powell's fault KP and Tim were 0-6 during that stretch?  He didn't interfere with any of those shots.  Does Powell get credit for the team going +8 to start the third when he and KP were in together?  Tim and KP were 5 of 7 during that stretch.  Was Powell worthless when he went +6 in his minutes without KP?  KP was +0 in his minutes without Powell.  Why is Powell always the scapegoat?  He went 3 for 3.  It was KP that went 7 for 20. 

I don't know what will and won't work with this group any more than the next guy.  But, I'm willing to give this 20 games or so against differing types of opponents before making any declarations.

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My theory is that Dwight Powell is the mastermind behind it all. He somehow got a premature overpay contract extension. He started for years. The moment he gets benched in the play-offs by Carlisle, possibly based on a suggestion of Haha Bob, there is a mystery leak that Powell smartly pinned on Donnie, who hadn´t offered him a contract extension. As a result Bob and Donnie are fired and Carlisle had to re-sign. New coach, new front office and who is mysteriously back in the starting line-up: Dwight Powell. 
 

Now that's good stuff right there.