GameThread: The Preseason Trilogy: DAL (2-1) 127 vs. MIN (1-2) Boban 3pt Marksman

[aguiar95]

And when it comes to his defense, the first two players he had to guard were Giannis and Towns, two of the top5 offensive bigs in the league.

Gotta get used to it. Towns, Giannis, Davis, Gobert, Jokic, Nurkic, Ayton, Zion, Bam, Joel. League is filled with great bigs. He couldn't defend when he was healthy, and certainly can't defend now. Especially when there's no other big to soothe his flaws. Can't rebound or shoot either, so he's just a body there setting screens and getting torched on D.

[HanspardsShowerVoice]

The way I see the big rotations ...

Carlisle likes to keep Maxey on the 2nd unit because he wants at 1 dependable and consistent big for the 2nd unit to work with. This is more about Brunson/Bruke/et alls benefit as anything. Being on a 2nd unit by definition means you're not a great all around talent that can roll with whatever, so Mavs exploit other 2nd units with sheer consistency and precision execution of their unit to their advantage. This has been a staple philosophy of the Mavs since Carlisle has been here, thus the reason why JJB and Devin Harris have always had a place here. Note when Powell went down last year they mostly went with KP as the lone big, moved Seth into the starting line and left Maxi on the 2nd unit.

Mavs like pairing KP with a rim runner because rim runner is a vital role in the Carlisle PnR heavy offense, particularly with Luka's strengths, and they don't want KP with his delicate knees and lower legs playing above the rim and jumping in the paint around a lot of bodies. KP is a unicorn because he is 7'3 and has a shooting touch of a wing, so he is at his most effective when he is stretching the defense and creating room in the paint for Luka.

Dwight Powell has exceptional chemistry with Luka on the PnR (see above insane efficiency stats), and is a bit of security blanket partner for Luka. He also is exceptional at setting screens for Luka to provide him space. The first rule of the NBA is keep your superstar happy.

Powell has limitations on defense, but due to his All Academic Pac 12 Stanford Brain, he is continuously where he needs to be and provides help at the right time to prevent KP and other teammates from getting put into bad situations from his stupidity. This is something that WCS has not demonstrated. I do agree with everyone that Powell is a net poor defender on the whole

There seems to be this narrative that WCS is not respected or liked by Carlisle and that Mavs, when on the contrary is seems like WCS is more respected and liked by the Mavs than any other franchise in the NBA. Maybe there is a reason for that? IMHO, WCS is only on the roster as Powell insurance.

Yes, as much as fans don't care about it, there is something to be said for providing consistently high energy that's contagious with your teammates. So many regular season games in NBA are won and lost in the NBA just by sheer energy ... thus the demonstrable disadvantages teams have when the play road back to backs or 4 games in 5 nights. The talent gap is too small in the NBA, particularly in the West, and you can lose games by simply being outhustled. At least in the regular season.

That said ... Powell is coming off a major injury. Maybe he is a shell of his former self. I think if he's a shell of his former self he might play himself out of his role ... but it's not going to be after 3 preseason games when he's still knocking off a year's worth of rust. He's earned too much respect and trust in the franchise to be treated like that. And he brings too much to the Mavs to not allow him every opportunity to show that he can still be that guy. It's worth the patience to find out until proven otherwise, at least as far as the Mavs are concerned.

[StepBackJay]

Powell has not looked great and the combo with DFS really puts him in a bad spot against these bigs that can score. When KP is back KP will be underneath the basket and Powell will be in a better matchup situation. Since Carlisle refuses to bench Powell maybe he will swap out DFS for Johnson or WCS to get a bigger body out there? DFS would be good off the bench with Maxi. I just think defensively Powell is in a really bad spot.

On offense Powell doesn't look great either but its a very small sample size. I do like that he is moving around pretty fluidly. I like that he added this give and go pass play with Luka which I think they are going to do a lot.

Ppl who are seeing Powell suck on defense need to know he sucked pre-injury as well but he also wasn't starting games with a tweener PF in DFS. This is really the most difficult spot he could be put in coming back from an injury having to guard two of the best offensive bigs in the league.

Ayton isn't at that level but still a good player, I expect Powell to struggle against him and certainly Davis/Lebron but I have a hard time believe Rick won't go big against the Lakers. As much as he likes Maxi off the bench it would make a lot of since to put Maxi in the starting lineup for DFS.

I don't think they like Powell's fit off the bench without a PnR maestro like JJB around. We will see.

Clippers will start Ibaka who will do well but isn't going to get a ton of offensive touches. Hornets have Zeller who isn't a big threat. Some nights Powell will be fine, some nights he is going to get torched if Rick leaves him in there.

I did see that his minutes are lower than the other starters. It looks to me that he will go with Maxi as his closer which is the right way to go. I would love to move on from Powell but I think Mavs will probably be fine with him going forward. He does do some things that help the offense, sets good screens, rolls to the basket and so on.

[SleepingHero]

So, why do you think it does so much harm letting him play some minutes.

Because I think playing him creates a big disadvantage. We saw in this last preseason game alone. The Mavs were down 56-59 with 3 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. Rick subs out Powell for Maxi, his only substitution, and the Mavs then go on  a run, ending the quarter 61-68. In that run, Maxi hit a 3, and blocked KAT twice, and just generally played stellar defense. 

Will Rick let him singlehanded loose us games? Pretty sure not. 

I think historically Rick is a hardnose when it comes to lineups, even if they're not working. I don't think he cares if we lose games as long as he gets to see what Powell can do. I disagree with that line of thinking, but of course anyone can make a case for it. 

Will it help to have a better recovered Powell. Pretty sure. 

Sure it'll help to have one of the most effective roll man's in the business. I just don't think Powell can ever return to that. I fooled myself into thinking Wesley Matthews can return to his old self for 2 years. Achilles injuries are terrible. I feel awful that Powell was struck by that. But I'm trying to be realistic and I don't think a guy who relied on his athleticism to play above the rim can return to his old self after an achilles injury. 

Will it help WCS to make him earn his minutes? Who knows? 

I mean of course it would. Competition breeds excellence. Why should Powell be handed minutes if WCS can outperform him? Mind you, that's a big if. I'm not 100% sold on WCS either. I get that Powell is the vet, but he isn't Dirk. He shouldn't be handed something because he's been here a long time. (I am sold on Maxi however, but you used WCS.)

KP is out and till he is back there is a void in the starting lineup so or so.

Exactly, and I think Carlisle is going to try and run a Powell+KP lineup again when KP does come back. And I think its going to be a disaster because 1. that lineup hurt KP's individual production. 2. Powell won't be the same player he was last year.

[omahen]

I think historically Rick is a hardnose when it comes to lineups, even if they're not working. I don't think he cares if we lose games as long as he gets to see what Powell can do. I disagree with that line of thinking, but of course anyone can make a case for it.

Because this gives them best knowledge about what works or what not in the offseason... Assumptions about injury consequences are just getting old. Athletically, Powell looked pretty much his old self.

[fifteenth]

There are a few posts sharing more than this view, but this is considered Powell hate as far as I’ve been labeled.

Give me a break. No it's not.

[JamesConway]

There are a few posts sharing more than this view, but this is considered Powell hate as far as I’ve been labeled.

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.

[omahen]

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.

That is absolutely not true. Scroll through this thread from beginning and you will see what Powell hate is and why it bothers many of us. No problem with normal conversation.

[Hypermav]

I think Maxi has earned a starting spot with his play.  If Powell was playing better than Maxi, I would push for him.  I don't know if that puts me in the hate Powell camp or love Maxi camp or want to field the best team camp. (current roster) 

We don't know the finishing group yet so that likely matters more in the long run.

[aguiar95]

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.

Agreed. This "Powell hate" is people pointing out the obvious. Love the locker room and community leadership, but this has gone too far. Were there "Barea hate" when we (most of us) wanted to cut him? We just want what's best for the Mavs and right now it's reducing Powell's minutes and role.

[JamesConway]

That is absolutely not true. Scroll through this thread from beginning and you will see what Powell hate is and why it bothers many of us. No problem with normal conversation.

This is a GT, not sure what you expect. The last few sites have been pretty civil though and I was referring to those.

This Powell-discussion won’t go away if he starts & the first unit keeps playing like this.

[KillerLeft]

I think Maxi has earned a starting spot with his play.  If Powell was playing better than Maxi, I would push for him.  I don't know if that puts me in the hate Powell camp or love Maxi camp or want to field the best team camp. (current roster) 

So, I just plugged these takes into mavshatedetector.com, and you won't believe this, but it seems that this exact combination puts you squarely in the "Shawn Bradley hate camp." Weird, I know. Not sure what algorithm they're using.

[Hypermav]

I love some Shawn Bradley

[DallasMaverick]

I love some Shawn Bradley

Vastly underrated player.  Just watch some replays of him shooting free throws!

[DanSchwartzgan]

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.

[KillerLeft]

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.

Good stuff. I agree with most of it.

[dmavs4life03]

I think where the talking past one another happens its because certain fans expect/prefer/value "toughness" defense/rebounding and setting a hard tone to start the game. Looking at our starting squad we have Luka who runs the show offensively and gets by on defense, we have JRich who's been smooth so far adding offensively while being active on defense and being a + for the overall team defense. THJ is a mini JRich on offense and passable on defense. DFS is the glue to it all as is Powell to an extent but when the two of them are responsible for being the final layer of the defense/rebounding...... we get mixed results. And vs good teams; they just back up and let Powell shoot 3s, the spacing for Luka gets messed up, DFS has to really exert himself and we look bad for stretches that could perhaps be controlled if for example either we played a true PF and made DFS SF. 

So when the good teams pressure us and pack the paint, we play hot potato around the perimeter and take a 3 that is a 50/50 make or miss. The wasted moves include having Powell ever pick and pop (thats not his game) or when he's screening but the defense just crowds Luka who may (sometimes) make quick rash movements tryna draw fouls {and spiral into giving up a run god forbid the refs dont call it}. So bottom line, there often comes a time when the lineup of DFS and Powell gets outworked by starters and ignored on offense while giving up size/height and deficits grow and leads are lost. What bothers some of us is our coach can't recognize it and switch it up so we have players played in their position and good "flow". If we bench DFS, the defense really suffers (especially without KP) and if we bench Powell, the offense sorta suffers but we can get a board when we need it and maybe even get some lobs and mixed looks with Maxi/WCS/Boban or another big. Thats my take hope its not disrespectful or hate. Its just frustrating to watch when a team recognizes and switches to exploit our lineup and we dont switch up to match it.

[luka_skywalker_77]

I realy don't get the Powell hate. Powell is comming back from one of the worst(if not the worst) injuries in basketball, he hasn't played basketball in almost a year, and we expect him to be the same old Dwight he was when he got down. We gave KP time(almost half of the season) after the ACL, for example. And when it comes to his defense, the first two players he had to guard were Giannis and Towns, two of the top5 offensive bigs in the league.

I don't get the rotations either, I don't see Powell as a starter at least not the Dwight that we saw in the preseason, but just give the man some time.

Don't understand? Powell is the same 'barely good enough' player he has been for the last x number of years and he wont get any better. ACL or no ACL you're getting exactly what you going to get.

The other point of note here, is Dallas has done an amazing job of replacing the players that were not either big enough or skilled enough for their positions. Whether they be under-skilled, too small, too short, not strong enough etc--they've become more conventional and it just works better. And Powell is a hold over from that old way of thinking.

[SleepingHero]

Instead of further polluting the prediction thread, let me provide a few comments here on some of the more common criticisms I’ve seen:

That's too much nuance Dan, get out of the gamethread. 

I jest of course, good post and I see where you're coming from. First, I don't think you're a Powell apologist and I don't think the criticisms (outside some hyperbolic statements) that have been made on Powell in this thread can be classified as hating him. I think we're all fans with strong opinions and Powell as a subject just happens to be a very contested subject. I don't mean to write an entire essay, but I want to try and approach my feelings on Powell with as much nuance as you, so forgive my ramble. 

One issue I did have with your post is that you posit that a majority of criticisms of Powell is mainly from just not watching him properly. I watch Powell. I still think my criticisms are valid. I see his defensive rotations. His team defense I don't normally have an issue with because he does make the correct rotation. Now whether or not he's effective even when he makes a correct rotation is another discussion. Powell has always been a subpar defender. I didn't think pointing that out was controversial. 


Second, Powell does have one elite individual offensive skill. That one skill does just so happen to raise the floor of the entire team offense while he's out there and provide plenty of opportunities for his teammates as well as himself. I acknowledge that. Powell as a roll man is about as good as it got.  However, if you want to point to Powell's individual offensive rating as proof to him having more than just a single skill then I vehemently deny that. ORTG is heavily biased towards efficient producers on low volume. The formula itself is comprised of components that are tipped in favor of big men that aren't the teams offensive engine. The formula boils down to the points produced by the individual divided by the number of possessions that person has. Of course, this is an oversimplification for the sake of brevity, but all in all Powell has ALWAYS been a monster of efficiency. A posterchild of playing to your strengths. Of his 229 FGA last season, 190 came within the restricted area (155 of those at the rim). Given the fact that the main subtractors in the ORTG formula that lower your offensive rating are turnovers and missed points scored (FG+FTs), and that Powell's game isn't made to highlight his shot creation or shooting ability , it's no wonder his ORTG is overinflated. As is the majority of NBA big men by the way. Deandre Jordan posted a 129 ORTG, Montrez Harrell 119, Daniel Thies 130. Meanwhile Lamarcus Aldridge had a 115 ORTG. Are those big men more skilled than Aldridge? I wouldn't say so. Obviously, team success is also an important factor in offensive rating, since it's reliant on how the team performs when that individual is out there versus how they perform when he isn't out there as well. So of course, players on generally good teams tend to have a higher ORTG than others and even when that player plays affects their ORTG. Does this mean ORTG is useless? No. But it's not meant to justify an individual player's skill, but rather just another piece in the puzzle that builds the picture of how effective that player is to a team. 

Also if you want to include screen setting as an elite offensive skill I agree. It's important to have that for a good offense  and Powell is an above average screen setter. That skill didn't come to mind in my original post. So sure Powell has one elite offensive skill and one above average offensive skill that we both agree on. 

Finally, since it's easy to make proclamations about a player, I want to actually bring some substance by reviewing some plays of Powell and his defense. In the Timberwolves game, Powell did have a tough assignment, especially considering he's coming back from injury. But he also didn't perform that well either at all. 

First play of the game, Powell does a good job containing the PnR, and THJ stops the KAT jump shot, but then Powell is left to guard KAT in the post and it results in 2 easy points. https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGM&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=1626157&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game&CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*

Again Powell does a good job rotating cutting off the drive, but lets KAT get deep post position and can't contest. (period 1, 06:08 time remaining) https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGM&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=1626157&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game&CF=PLAYER_NAME*E* 

And before you tell me I'm picking out Powell on his individual defense, here's a play where Powell shades too high (probably to stop a KAT 3), and gives a wide open drive to Rubio. One could argue that THJ was too far over, but given that Edwards was hot all night, he couldn't leave his man, thus the onus is on Powell. Here is a clear cut example of a BAD rotation by Powell (period 2, 03:51 time remaining)  https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGM&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=201937&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game 

Another example of a bad rotation by Powell. He rotates over to stop the Beasley drive forcing him into a jumpshot, but leaves too early before Richardson has a chance to get back into the play, giving Beasley a wide open jumpshot. (period 1, 09:41 time remaining)  https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGM&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=1627736&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game

Here's Powell guarding Naz Reid, and has to guard another Rubio PnR. Powell drops incredibly low daring Rubio to take a jumpshot which is the right gameplan given Rubio's spottiness as a shooter. The only issue is that Powell for whatever reason stops guarding Rubio before DFS has a chance to recover, giving up a wide open shot. Pause at 6 seconds and you'll see Powell starting to rotate towards Reid who's at the freethrow line, and DFS not being there to contest. (period 3, 07:39 time remaining) https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGM&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=201937&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game 

Here's Powell standing still as a statue not rotating at all letting Layman get a free dunk (period 3, 11:13 time remaining) https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGA&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=1627774&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game 

Here's Powell chasing Jake Layman and forgetting to find KAT at the top of the key giving up a wide open 3 with a late contest. The same KAT who is their biggest threat and one of the best big man shooters of all time (period 1, 05:30 time remaining)  https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGM&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=1626157&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game&CF=PLAYER_NAME*E* 

Powell bites on a pumpfake and gives a free walk to the rim for a dunk. (period 3, 09:29 time remaining) https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGM&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=1626157&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game&CF=PLAYER_NAME*E* 

8 plays, 17 points, all in the same game. Of course Powell had some good defensive rotations, but he also made plenty of mistakes after he made that rotation. He couldn't guard KAT for the most part, and gave up easy shots to other players as well. 

Just so you don't think I hate Powell, here's a really good play where he has a good close-out on KAT, and recovers after a flurry of moves and forces the pass out https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?ContextMeasure=FGA&EndPeriod=0&EndRange=31800&GameID=0012000036&PlayerID=1629006&RangeType=0&Season=2020-21&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&StartPeriod=0&StartRange=0&TeamID=1610612750&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game (period 1, 08:41 time remaining)

By in large though Powell is not a good defender, and I think it's a little silly to think otherwise. And my biggest issue right now is that I don't think Powell is ever going to return to what he was. He had a devastating non-contact injury in what is probably the worse injury an NBA player can have. Historically all athletic people in the NBA, besides Dominique Wilkens for 1 season, never returned to what they were after an achilles tear. 

It's perfectly valid to say I'm jumping the gun. But I don't think Powell is magically going to regain his athleticism that he's most obviously lost. In his 3 preseason games, Powell has had 3 alley-oop attempts. He's 1/3 on them. Not only has that volume plummeted, the finish rate has as well. And that's across the board.  He shot 35% from the field in preseason (7/20), a far cry from his 60% he hovered around pre-injury. 8 of his 20 shot attempts came from outside the restricted area. That is a marked change in how Powell used to play.  Does pointing all of this out mean I hate Powell? I hope it doesn't. Because again, I don't hate Powell. I think there can be a role on this team for him. I just think the role that he played in preseason isn't the correct one, and there has been little evidence to suggest that the Mavs aren't going to stop with Powell experiment in the starting unit. And I think its supremely disappointing given that the Mavs have Maxi Kleber, who I believe has done more than enough to earn a starting spot. He's a solid screen setter, his defense is elite, and he can actually shoot the ball. 

That's where I'm coming from. I'm not a blind Powell hater. Do I make a point to point out all the times he lets teams score on him? Sure. But I did the same damn thing with Erick Dampier and Shawn Bradley. 

I hope this has more nuance and less hyperbole that you're looking for in a gamethread.

[ItsGoTime]

Give me a break. No it's not.

Oh, it's not? Then I am not a Powell hater!