12-18-2020, 04:13 PM
(12-18-2020, 03:14 PM)JamesConway Wrote: This has become absurd. Powell has not played the way he used to, we all know the context of his injury yet some around here label every ounce of discussion about him & his role as hate/bashing/etc.
This is a basketball message board. If we can’t talk about lineups and stuff we might be better off just shutting the whole place down.
I get really tired of being a Powell apologist. I don’t have any emotional ties to the guy and I am perfectly willing to include him in deals or support deals that replace him in the starting lineup (and do so regularly). I didn’t use the word “hate” in my post this morning, but it is certainly possible that I’ve used it before. BTW, it is hyperbolic to label all negative comments toward Powell as “hate”. We are all smart enough to know the difference. I do think much of the commentary (normal and hate) about Powell is really unfair...especially in the game threads. Rather than shut the whole place down, maybe I just avoid going into the game thread.
Instead of further polluting the prediction thread, let me provide a few comments here on some of the more common criticisms I’ve seen:
Powell’s D is really bad: You know how to tell when someone’s D is bad? When the team is constantly having to help them. That hasn’t happened against two of the best offensive players in the league the last two games. Powell is on his own and that allows everyone else to play head up on their own guy. Yeah, Powell is giving up some points (every team does to GA and Towns). But the TEAM isn’t. BTW, spend some time actually watching how much Powell helps others on D even though he’s guarding an offensive stud. A casual fan sees the occasional bad dunk because Powell was out of position by helping too much. They almost never recognize it when the help D contributing to the stops.
Powell has one elite offensive skill: Sorry, Powell doesn’t regularly own the highest O-Rating on the team because of 2-3 highlight dunks a game. He’s also elite at setting picks. Again, watch him sometime. In the first quarter last night he got screen assist after screen assist. And, it isn’t just setting picks for Luka. He’s in constant motion and is a huge part of getting guys open. Have you seen our 3% in the preseason. BTW, we do all realize Powell had the best On-Court number at 8.4 pp100 last season and tied Finney for the best On Minus Off at 4.9. Damn, that one elite skill must really be something.
Maxi and WCS look much better: Yeah, Maxi and WCS get to guard some guy named Naz and Powell plays almost all of his minutes against KAT. Yeah, Maxi gets a few possessions against the stars. Powell gets almost all of his against the other team’s best player. Scoring stats were offered up as proof in one post. Powell is the 5th option on O when he’s in the game. Maxi is arguably the third option when he’s in the game. Maxi is playing his role incredibly well right now.
Powell has subbed out at the end of quarters, so Carlisle must know he’s bad: Or, we have him on a minutes restriction?
The only reason Powell gets minutes is because he has a good PER or some other advanced stat: You know why advanced stats even exist? Because casual fans only value scoring. Turns out you can’t win with five 25 point per game guys on the same team. But, how do you measure the impact of the guys who don’t/can’t score 25. If your team plays consistently well when you are on the floor then all the evils in the world can’t be your fault. Powell is only +5 and +8 the last two games, was single-handedly asked to guard an offensive star and be an important offensive motor while shaking off rust from a devastating injury. Given that NO ONE on this team had a better on court impact (on/off or O-Rating/D-Rating) than Powell last season, I would have thought we might actually applaud the effort we’ve seen so far and give him a little leeway. Silly me.