TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[KillerLeft]

Amazingly, as bad as Powell's box score stats looked in the playoffs last season, he still had the highest net rating on the team.

I'm not sure this completely explains the phenomenon, but I know it's part of the answer:

The Luka/Powell pnr game is GREAT. Not good, GREAT. Transcendent, even, and that's true even after Powell's awful injury. 

The #1 goal for any team playing Dallas is to take that away, which is why we see nothing but switching all the time, even from teams who aren't set up to play that way (like Utah in the playoffs, for example). 

Because the Mavs can go into games knowing that teams will go to drastic measures to keep Powell from rim-running, there's a measure of planning their reaction that's more possible than it might be for other teams. Now, it would be helpful (and less boring) if Powell offered an alternative way to play offense that could exploit this situation more, for sure (this is why I was so excited about Wood being his replacement, and not McGee). 

The bottom line is that when Powell is on the floor, that pnr game must be respected and has an impact on the game even when we don't get to see them run it.