11-30-2020, 06:24 AM
(11-29-2020, 11:24 PM)Kammrath Wrote: And my strong opinion from looking at lots of lineups:
DFS needs to play alongside two bigs to be most effective. The Mavs are NOT at their best with him at PF/4.
Maybe this is why the Mavs paid a 2nd round pick for Johnson and wanted Gallinari so bad. They know that DFS is NOT a PF/4 and cannot play heavy minutes there. And KP is out to start....and DP is a question mark.
Kamm has been spot on in this conversation (until he brought up the small sample size of the playoffs). But, it feels like people are talking past one another a bit, so let's go back to the beginning. Killer stipulated health for Powell in his dissertation. It is the basis for the conversation. So, if you want to argue that Powell will never be good anymore, then that is a different discussion.
The real discussion here is SBJ's often stated position that KP/Powell will never be the starting duo because Powell was ruinous to KP's game and that KP will be the sole big. Let's start with the sole big thing as many here hold that position. If that is the case, then we have WAY to many bigs here for the 18 minutes KP doesn't play and his occasional night off. If KP is the sole big, then why do we need Powell and Maxi and WCS (or Gasol who we tried to replace him with) and Boban and Johnson. The answer is obvious. Of course KP is going to play alongside one of these guys most of the time.
Now to Powell:
You know who the best two-man pairing was with Luka? DP...at a net 10.4 followed by THJ at 8.5 and a bunch of folks in the 4's and 5's.
You know who the best two man pairing was with KP? DP was second at 11.9. Brunson was first at 15.6. Seems to me that if you can play REALLY well next to both Luka and KP, then you are a good candidate for the starting five (THJ is a lot better next to Luka than DFS and a little better than DFS next to KP. So, to answer Killer's question, THJ will start and DFS will sit)
You know who wasn't all that special paired with KP? Maxi at 3.5 and DFS at 6.1.
You know who had the best D-Rating next to KP? Again, DP was second at 105.3 to Brunson. The often-touted defensive wiz and the key to making 5-Out work DFS was 109.1 in lineups with KP. Of course, you would expect Powell to look good since he was tied for the best on-minus-off on the team. Powell has been first or second on the team each of the last three seasons. He's been a mile better than DFS in each of those 3 years. Powell has always had a positive impact on winning. If you want to play 5-out (which is a gimmick born of necessity, not the way of life some contend), then you need DFS to be a stud. He's a feel good story who has developed into an average NBA player now that he can hit his corner 3's. But you don't build your team based on him allowing you to play a certain style.
This whole concept that Powell somehow hurt KP is just ludicrous. The lineups were fantastic when they were together and Powell allowed KP to ease himself back into his game. The dimmer on KP was forced to be a light switch when Powell went down. The good news is KP rose to the occasion (just like he would have eventually done WITH Powell). It was a coaches decision to run all the action through Powell and have KP stand in the corner, not some requirement based on Powell's lack of outside shooting. The most encouraging thing is the team was FANTASTIC with sub-par KP alongside Powell. Imagine what it will be if we get a good version of both on the court at the same time.