POWELL THREAD

[mavsluvr]

Not sure what to think about all of this Powell stuff. 

I tend to side with @"DanSchwartzman" about the importance of his impact last season. I think it was much more crucial than many believe.

I also worry about the injury, just like everyone else. 

Through two games, the eye test has told me he’s moving fairly well - better than I expected. But, the pick and roll game hasn’t been effective, yet. Is that because of Powell, or is Luka just in a conditioning related funk to start the season? I honestly don’t even have a confident opinion. 

I think through 2 games he has been much, much better on the defensive end than Kleber, who is really concerning me. But, if the WORST thing about the defense is clearing the glass, which seems to be the case so far, I can definitely concede that he’s not the answer to that. 

What does it all mean?

Good question. The author of the article doesn't reach a conclusion, and I think the answer is more nuanced than some others do. 

When Powell went down last season, I thought his absence weakened a key portion of our offense, with his superior screening and rolling game and his lob threat. It remains to be seen whether he recovers completely. Carlisle says he is 90%, but really, that last 10-15% is often what separates a good player from a replacement level guy. 

To some extent, I think it will be tough to judge the situation while KP is out. All the big guys are having to step up a notch, and they can't always meet the challenge. Asking Powell to stop AD (often one on one), imho, is asking him to do something he just can't do, and thus putting him in a position to fail. This is not necessarily Carlisle's fault -- none of the other options have been any more effective, in the limited sample size we have. He has who he has. 

Offensively, when KP was out there, he was often at the three-point line drawing at least one defender, which left room for Powell to roll. With little spacing, there isn't much room for Powell to do what he does best. 

My way-too-early guess is that Powell is never going to develop into that prime Tyson Chandler center who is a way-above-average contributor on both ends of the court. I'm not convinced that he can't be helpful in a more suitable role, though. If the Mavs offloaded him, I wouldn't be crushed, but for now, I don't think they have a better alternative. Rick is already giving Maxi and Powell roughly equal minutes, WCS is just lost out there at the moment, and Bobi can be an offensive juggernaut but sometimes gives a lot back on the other end. 

I clearly might be wrong on any/all of this, and I welcome being corrected. It's a tantalizing conundrum, in any case.