A New Found Respect For Dwight Powell

[IamDougieFresh]

So there I sat with my brother in law on a Friday night ready to watch the Mavs take on the 76ers. Panic sets in. Kristaps and Maxi are out. Being hardcore basketball fans and not advanced stat cherry pickers, we like all other normal hardcore Mavs fans, know Dwight Powell is giga trash. Bracing for the atrocious mismatch and the 30 point loss, I load up on 50 mg of THC.

Then... something happened. Dwight and the Mavs played well. They won. I always know Dwight was a hard worker but that never made a difference to me. I couldn't stand his trash ass play. Under the influence of 100% legal hemp extracted Delta 8 THC, it really hit me. I became OK with Dwight.

Do I still think Dwight sucks... yes
Is Maxi better even after going 0/10 from three... yes
Do I wish Dwight's $$$ was used on a different player position... yes

Does the fact that this one trick pony, cheese strategy player, useless in the playoffs, gives the other team +10 to all attributes when he is the defender, people cherry pick stats to claim he is good because they get a dopamine hit when Luka spoon feeds him a wide open dunk is one of the longest tenured Mavs ever... NOT ANYMORE

TL;DR: Dwight sucks but that is ok

[SleepingHero]

Ya know when I read the headline I was confused, and then I saw who posted it.

I was expecting an entire post about how you've changed your tune when it came to Powell. And then

Do I still think Dwight sucks... yes
Is Maxi better even after going 0/10 from three... yes
Do I wish Dwight's $$$ was used on a different player position... yes

Does the fact that this one trick pony, cheese strategy player, useless in the playoffs, gives the other team +10 to all attributes when he is the defender, people cherry pick stats to claim he is good because they get a dopamine hit when Luka spoon feeds him a wide open dunk is one of the longest tenured Mavs ever... NOT ANYMORE

TL;DR: Dwight sucks but that is ok

Never change Dougie.

[ItsGoTime]

My biggest issue with Powell was exposed last night. He gets pushed around by the strong guys in the NBA. He himself looks strong, but he still gets pushed around. I thought I had seen a bit of fight with him during this latest run, and that NY game may prove to just be an off night, but the biggest reason we don’t do well rebounding is because even when he (and Maxi) have position, they get pushed out of position too easily.

Our 2 best “bigs” mostly get bullied too easily and come playoff basketball, when whistles are swallowed and intensity rises, they will most likely not be enough. Either they need to figure this out or we need guys who already have it figured out.

[cow]

Dwight Powell lead the team in +/- last night.  Respect.

[Chicagojk]

I have been pretty firmly in the Maxi over Powell camp as who I would prefer over the other.   Although, just over the past few months, I think I now have Powell over Maxi.   Both are specialty players and I don't think either are starters on true contenders.    I wouldn't make roster decisions over either.  I think both are nice specialty players.  But I believe I have Powell over Maxi now.   Going back 3 or so years, I always had Maxi higher on my preference list.  

BTW this is a big playoff series for Maxi.  For all the flack Jalen gets, I have much bigger concerns on Maxi.

[ItsGoTime]

Powell with the most facial contact with the other team’s appendages. He gives good head! That’s why other players don’t respect him (in the morning).

[WillE]

DP is best in a backup role for less than half of his current salary. His high usage is not his fault but Donnie's. Correct this, and I love having him on board for the rest of his carrer.

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/ESefko/status/1502464748981567496

[DanSchwartzgan]

https://twitter.com/ESefko/status/1502464748981567496

You can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him.

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/MavsPR/status/1502467641507786757

[IamDougieFresh]

Diamonds are forever

[KillerLeft]

Diamonds are forever

See what happens when you say something nice about Powell for a change??!!!

[Jommybone]

So Andre Drummond takes complete advantage of Powell inside. Goes 7 of 8 from the field with 17 rebounds (8 offensive) in just 22 minutes. Dominating.

And yet his team goes -11 in his time on the court. 

So maybe “dominating” ain’t all it’s cracked up to be? Not sure a guy like Drummond could earn any burn on this team. We actually expect our centers to contribute to winning basketball.

[KillerLeft]

So Andre Drummond takes complete advantage of Powell inside. Goes 7 of 8 from the field with 17 rebounds (8 offensive) in just 22 minutes. Dominating.

And yet his team goes -11 in his time on the court. 

So maybe “dominating” ain’t all it’s cracked up to be? Not sure a guy like Drummond could earn any burn on this team. We actually expect our centers to contribute to winning basketball.

This is what I was trying to express the other day. 

Yes, the Drummonds of the world are going to dominate the glass against the Mavs. And actually, Drummond's game tonight was the first time it bothered me in a while. I thought it came as close to affecting the outcome of the game as any "mismatch" inside has, recently. 

But...it doesn't really seem like giving up the glass is actually hurting the team that much, generally. This is an oversimplified way of stating my position, but I believe this worry stems from most of our collective viewing experience being from the 2000's. We're all still trying to recreate the 2011 team, and that's simply not how the game is played anymore. 

Being able to defend the pick and roll from the 5 position >>>>>>> being good on the glass. If you can do both, great - you're probably going to the finals. But, I feel like the Mavs made the correct choice for this season, given that they could do NEITHER with Porzingis on the floor.

[Jason Terry]

This is what I was trying to express the other day. 

Yes, the Drummonds of the world are going to dominate the glass against the Mavs. And actually, Drummond's game tonight was the first time it actually bothered me in a while. I thought it came as close to affecting the outcome of the game as any "mismatch" inside has, recently. 

But...it doesn't really seem like giving up the glass is actually hurting the team that much, generally. This is an oversimplified way of stating my position, but I believe this worry stems from most of our collective viewing experience being from the 2000's. We're all still trying to recreate the 2011 team, and that's simply not how the game is played anymore. 

Being able to defend the pick and roll from the 5 position >>>>>>> being good on the glass. If you can do both, great - you're probably going to the finals. But, I feel like the Mavs made the correct choice for this season, given that they could do NEITHER with Porzingis on the floor.

I like the way you say this. The game has just changed. If you dropped 20 year old Dirk in the NBA today, would he play the 4 or 5? If Drummond or Gobert etc are guarding Luka all game, does that make them point guards? If we don’t rebound well from the 5 with DP/Maxi, but Luka gets 12 boards a night and the rebounding battle is close…….does it matter that guys like Drummond feast on the boards? 

I think it all highlights the importance of 1-5 being able to guard everyone and do some of everything in a team way. It’s made the game fun

[DanSchwartzgan]

So Andre Drummond takes complete advantage of Powell inside. Goes 7 of 8 from the field with 17 rebounds (8 offensive) in just 22 minutes. Dominating.

And yet his team goes -11 in his time on the court. 

So maybe “dominating” ain’t all it’s cracked up to be? Not sure a guy like Drummond could earn any burn on this team. We actually expect our centers to contribute to winning basketball.

You make a good point, but I disagree with one element.  He dominated, but I question how much of it was dominating Powell.  If you watch closely, Powell was constantly forced to help on Dragic or KD after they blew by their defender.  Drummond getting those shots down low is the product of our scheme.  If you go back and watch, the first five Drummond baskets are more on Luka than Powell. 

If Kidd didn't want Powell helping like he does, Powell wouldn't do it.  But, it requires a certain amount of trust that the guys behind him are going to do their job.  To you main point, yes, a lumbering center might do a better job of staying home on Drummond.  But, KD or Dragic would have simply made the layup that would have happened if Powell didn't help off of Drummond.

Another way of looking at it...Nash could have stuck with Drummond's "dominance", but instead chose to play Claxton down the stretch and 26 minutes to Drummond's 22.  Claxton's time was +9 to Drummond's -11.

[Jommybone]

The game has indeed changed. Not sure it’s the game as much as the players though. Don’t think a plodding prime Shaq would have trouble staying on the court against these Mavs. Neither would Olajuwon or Kareem. 

Love Jokic, but he reminds me a lot more of Vlade Divac than any truly dominating big. Don’t think he’d be anywhere close to an MVP candidate but for the small-ball movement.

[KillerLeft]

The game has indeed changed. Not sure it’s the game as much as the players though. Don’t think a plodding prime Shaq would have trouble staying on the court against these Mavs. Neither would Olajuwon or Kareem. 

Of course not. But, it is unquestionably and objectively true that the players you mentioned would've had different games by the time they got to the league had they been born later. Yes, they absolutely would've still made it to the NBA and probably flourished, but they would've played slightly differently. 

That level of athlete is still around today, obviously (even better ones, probably). Bigs are MORE skilled now, not less. The problem is that wings and guards are just RIDICULOUSLY skilled nowadays, and that offensive systems have become more and more sophisticated (but in a way that's "simple" enough to be commonplace at the professional level).

[omahen]

Nash could have stuck with Drummond's "dominance", but instead chose to play Claxton down the stretch and 26 minutes to Drummond's 22.  Claxton's time was +9 to Drummond's -11.

Claxton was just as effective as Drummond in those 4 on 3 actions Nets had almost all night, but defense was much better with Claxton.

[KillerLeft]

Claxton was just as effective as Drummond in those 4 on 3 actions Nets had almost all night, but defense was much better with Claxton.

Yeah, Claxton is the type you want, imo. Would love one of those.