11-18-2021, 11:29 PM
(11-18-2021, 07:47 PM)mavsluvr Wrote: No problem, these are all open discussions. It seems that your strategy is a little different than Dougie's. He doesn't want Powell to start. It seems that you feel that Powell and KP should never be on the floor together.
That could be right. To explore it a bit --
Agree that KP and Powell have had some awful displays of poor execution together in this early part of the season. Most of that, however, seems to have consisted of one or the other, or both, not knowing where they are supposed to be, to the point of such clownish occurrences as KP trying to post up and DP rolling to the basket at the same time, or KP and DP running into each other. But I assume that those wrinkles will be ironed out in time, and I believe that combo has had good results in the past.
Kidd is trying to balance a number of particular things. KP does not have a history of holding up well over the course of a season, and Kidd is trying to hold both his total minutes and his expenditure of energy on the court to moderate levels. Hence, his using a two-big lineup to start the game. Maxi also has a history of not responding well to big minutes (which may be part of the reason that he began the season as a backup).
Luka really likes playing with Powell, because it enables him to utilize his PNR excellence to advantage. So, there's that.
Balancing all these goals doesn't seem to me to be all that straightforward. Let's say, trying to keep KP's minutes in the low 30's and having him play center maybe no more than 2/3 of his time on the court. Limit Maxi to 30 mpg or so. Keep Powell on the floor for Luka for maybe at least 20 minutes or so. Don't let KP and Powell take the floor together?
This is all before we even get to particular matchups. I guess my point is that I'm not sure there really is a simple fix to these problems. Having all these centers does enable the team to play different styles. But some of them are pretty limited in what they can do, and KP and/or Maxi may be liable to miss a few stretches. I guess this all leads me to wonder if most of the solutions at these two positions may be more makeshift than not with the current configuration of players. But if shuffling the deck would substantially help the situation without upsetting too many apple carts, it's worth a try.
Some thoughts:
My guess is that Fresh does not want Powell to start because he is not one of the top 7 players on the team. There needs to be a really good reason to start your 8th (or possibly even 9th if Frank keeps this up) best player, and when Maxi gets back there really won't be one.
The KP/Powell combo worked really well two years ago, but that is when KP was a floor stretcher and nothing else. It was a one trick pony with Luka running constant P&R with Powell and three shooters waiting for a pass. It was very effective in the regular season before the achillis, but I'm not sure that would have help up well during the playoffs. Bubble KP and what we are seeing now has a lot more chance of succeeding in the playoffs.
I have heard a lot of talk about Luka wanting or being more effective with a P&R partner, but the starting lineup last year (when healthy) of KP/Maxi/DFS/Luka/JRich had a 124 offensive rating. That was even better than the previous year starting lineup with KP/Powell. Luka has been just as successful (even more so) with a 5 out offense. Besides, this year KP has run more P&R with Luka, and there will still be minutes when KP is off the floor and Luka can P&R with Powell.
As for protecting KP with another big, I would argue that Maxi is at least as good at that as Powell. He can get run over by bigger centers, but not any more than Powell. I don't think I want to run Maxi out there even 30 minutes a game as he tends to wear down, but he can spend some, most or all of his minutes with KP depending on matchup. If you are staggering Luka/KP then your playing Powell/DFS/Luka when KP is off the court, and KP/Maxi/Brunson when Luka is off the court. Depending on matchup, you can swap Maxi/DFS as much as you want. I think the minutes work out just fine as long as everyone is healthy. Otherwise you have to overextend Powell or worse play WCS. Honestly, until Maxi gets back I would not mind seeing more of the small ball lineup with DFS at center.