Cavs have 4 bigs, we have 2 - Analysis

[WedmanIsMyHero]

Powe has not had enough minutes to really see how he would do.  From John Hollinger's column on ESPN yesterday about the biggest things in the playoffs so far.  And this was before Powe got zero minutes in Game 6.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=Awards_080516

"Put Me In Coach Award: Leon Powe, Celtics
Besides Kevin Garnett, the Celtics have four other big men. Of the four, Powe was easily the most effective in the regular season, but he's been an invisible man in the playoffs. Though the other three are struggling, Powe is averaging only 15.8 minutes per game in the postseason. In the past two games, he's sat in the second half while Doc Rivers played Glen Davis and P.J. Brown together.

This is a bizarre move. Powe, who gets little fanfare nationally, was one of the league's most effective power forwards in the regular season on a per-minute basis. His per-40 minute averages of 22.0 points and 11.2 boards jump off the page, as does his 57.2 percent shooting. In fact, Powe's 20.97 PER was seventh in the league among power forwards, outranking All-Stars Antawn Jamison, David West and Shawn Marion.

Given that Powe is both abundantly more effective statistically and has a massively better plus-minus in the postseason than Davis or Brown, it's been an odd choice to say the least. TNT's Mike Fratello alluded to five defensive mistakes Powe made in Game 2 of the Atlanta game during a telecast, presumably because Doc Rivers told him this. But one could also retort by pointing out all of the offensive mistakes that could be alleviated by having another frontcourt player in the game who actually scores once in a while. "

I don't buy the argument that if Powe got more consistent minutes or more defined role that he would play better (and I definitely don't buy that he could cover LBJ).  In this series, when Powe has been in there, he has been ineffective due to his lack of length.  Unless more minutes made Powe longer, it isn't going to help with these match-ups.  The other side of it is that he is not quick enough to gain an advantage as some smaller players would be able to do against Cle's bigs.  I would rather see Posey at PF as he could sit outside and create a match up problem for them.  Powe creates no problem for Cleveland.

[billysan]

This is simple really.

As much as I love the heart and effort we get "occaisionally" from Leon Powe and Glen Davis, there is still an undeniable fact looming in front of us-They were both second round picks and this is because they are secound round level talents.

PJ Brown is only good for 5-10 mpg. We need a 30 mpg big with some skills and who is reasonably athletic as well as long. Pollard wasnt that guy BTW, PJ is doing what he would have done and probably better IMO.

We are much less athletic and no where near as long up front than the Cavaliers. Varejao is more athletic by far than any big we have had all year. None of our bigs has the speed to stay with Lebron and our only wings that have a prayer in the length with strength department are Paul and Posey. KG is not getting off the floor, Perk cant stay out of foul trouble and when was the last time any of our bigs dunked in traffic?

We got away with playing small ball early in the year (Posey at PF) because we ran the floor and hit jumpers in transition. This is clearly not going to work in the playoffs because we are not controlling the game tempo anymore. The only thing left is ball movement and attacking the rim.

[BASSTHUMPER]

Where's Pollard when we need him?

yall would really want pollard over scalabrine....?...no way..

I've said before the playoffs that we've gonna miss him

[lemonadesky]

We have one to their four. Perkins isn't as good as anyone in the Cavs rotation. Should be playing small ball with Garnett and four shooters.

[jay_jay54]

Here is what to remember, the four Cleveland bigs and two Boston bigs have played the same roles all year.  They know their roll and roughly how much time they could get.


The three other big men on Boston bench have no clue what their roll will be game to game.  No clue about minutes. 

I have to disagree with you here,whereas a couple of the Cavs Bigs are fairly new,to their roles in Cleveland, in the fact of the  amount of minutes,they are playing.Ben Wallace and J.Smith,both are new to this team.They should be in less rhythm with their team,than our role players.I dont think,not knowing how many minutes you will get have much to do with your performance nightly.Being a successful role player,means being ready when your number is called.Inconsistent minutes are part of a role player's game,not knowing when you might get the call.Our bench collectively,has just flat out played lousy this series.

[billysan]

Here is what to remember, the four Cleveland bigs and two Boston bigs have played the same roles all year.  They know their roll and roughly how much time they could get.


The three other big men on Boston bench have no clue what their roll will be game to game.  No clue about minutes. 

I have to disagree with you here,whereas a couple of the Cavs Bigs are fairly new,to their roles in Cleveland, in the fact of the  amount of minutes,they are playing.Ben Wallace and J.Smith,both are new to this team.They should be in less rhythm with their team,than our role players.I dont think,not knowing how many minutes you will get have much to do with your performance nightly.Being a successful role player,means being ready when your number is called.Inconsistent minutes are part of a role player's game,not knowing when you might get the call.Our bench collectively,has just flat out played lousy this series.

Our starters have also played poorly this series, their shooting percentages are down and they are making more mental mistakes, especially Paul Pierce. Ray Allen is getting outperformed every night by Wally?

Credit has to go to the Cavaliers for playing better as a team behind Lebron. We havent had anyone step up with that kind of leadership in a consistent way. We dont need guys walking around with their heads down and sulking (Rondo). The Cavaliers have sucessfully taken us out of our game and made most of our team, not just the bigs, ineffective this whole series on the road.

[Hrvoje]

I think PJ does a better a better job than Pollard

He does good job defensively, but is not strong as Pollard, and when you have LBJ coming 100 mph at you - you need strength.

[vinnie]

This team so badly needs an athletic big man who does not wind up on every shot he takes.

[Who]

I think PJ does a better a better job than Pollard

He does good job defensively, but is not strong as Pollard, and when you have LBJ coming 100 mph at you - you need strength.

You see I don't understand this at all. When has anyone PJ that PJ defended (Z) backed him down in the post in this series? When has anyone got to the rim and gotten their shot off when PJ fouls him? Both hardly ever happen. Strength isn't an issue, he has more than enough strength.

[Vermont Green]

As usual, there are opinions on all sides of this which were fun to read but I am still sticking with my original conclusion.  The one thing the Celtics might try if they get behind today would be to play Posey at the 4.  Let him cover Verajao or Wallace who don't score much anyway.  He would have to keep them off the boards which would be a challenge but on offense, he creates a pick and pop option that we don't have with any of the other guys setting picks.  We got killed on the boards anyway but if Posey can hit even a couple of 3's, it may put the Cavs on their heels a little and cause them to adjust their defense.

For the record, I think we win today and you probably will see BB and PJ as the 3rd and 4th bigs with the most playing time.  I hope I am not jinxing them.

[expobear]

I don't buy the argument that if Powe got more consistent minutes or more defined role that he would play better (and I definitely don't buy that he could cover LBJ).  In this series, when Powe has been in there, he has been ineffective due to his lack of length.  Unless more minutes made Powe longer, it isn't going to help with these match-ups.  The other side of it is that he is not quick enough to gain an advantage as some smaller players would be able to do against Cle's bigs.  I would rather see Posey at PF as he could sit outside and create a match up problem for them.  Powe creates no problem for Cleveland.

Powe deserves a chance to prove what he can do during the playoffs with a bit more time than he's been getting.  Getting 10 minutes of playing time over the last 3 games hardly allows Powe and or anybody, for that matter, much of a chance to even break a sweat. If it were Kobe, Lebron or Garnett playing 10 minutes in three games, their stats would not be much better.  But that's not really the point.  Powe helped the Celtics during the regular season get to where they are today.  Why change now? Rivers is looking for some magic combo during the playoffs that should have been ironed out during the regular season. The problem isn't Powe playing poorly or that his defense is all of a sudden lacking or that he can't get his shots off ...... he just hasn't really been given much of a chance to perform after game 3.  In game 2, Powe played 28 minutes and went for 11 and 7 respectively.  I'm not saying Powe should be getting 28 minutes every game but if you stick with Powe, he'll come through because he does whatever is necessary, the dirty work if you will, to win ballgames. Nobody can perform with 6,4 and zero minutes of playing time and no coach can tell how a player will perform for a whole game after seeing him play for only 6, 4 or zero minutes. Give Powe the 12-15 minutes he was getting during the regular season and he'll come through for Rivers and the Celtics. Now is not the time to be experimenting with the rotation.

[billysan]

I don't buy the argument that if Powe got more consistent minutes or more defined role that he would play better (and I definitely don't buy that he could cover LBJ).  In this series, when Powe has been in there, he has been ineffective due to his lack of length.  Unless more minutes made Powe longer, it isn't going to help with these match-ups.  The other side of it is that he is not quick enough to gain an advantage as some smaller players would be able to do against Cle's bigs.  I would rather see Posey at PF as he could sit outside and create a match up problem for them.  Powe creates no problem for Cleveland.

Powe deserves a chance to prove what he can do during the playoffs with a bit more time than he's been getting.  Getting 10 minutes of playing time over the last 3 games hardly allows Powe and or anybody, for that matter, much of a chance to even break a sweat. If it were Kobe, Lebron or Garnett playing 10 minutes in three games, their stats would not be much better.  But that's not really the point.  Powe helped the Celtics during the regular season get to where they are today.  Why change now? Rivers is looking for some magic combo during the playoffs that should have been ironed out during the regular season. The problem isn't Powe playing poorly or that his defense is all of a sudden lacking or that he can't get his shots off ...... he just hasn't really been given much of a chance to perform after game 3.  In game 2, Powe played 28 minutes and went for 11 and 7 respectively.  I'm not saying Powe should be getting 28 minutes every game but if you stick with Powe, he'll come through because he does whatever is necessary, the dirty work if you will, to win ballgames. Nobody can perform with 6,4 and zero minutes of playing time and no coach can tell how a player will perform for a whole game after seeing him play for only 6, 4 or zero minutes. Give Powe the 12-15 minutes he was getting during the regular season and he'll come through for Rivers and the Celtics. Now is not the time to be experimenting with the rotation.

Leon Powe has had many, many 'chances' throughout the season and the playoffs. The problem is, he is very inconsistent with results. He is a second round talent, people shoot over him and he isnt very mobile in the open court for his size against the more athletic PF's in the league (Varejao is a prime example). Some nites and some matchups he is fine but more often than not teams have guys who are just better than he is, period. The only guys he matches up with on the Cavaliers are Ben Wallace and Joe Smith. Smith still can take him outside and shoot over him but rarely does. Leon cannot stop Varejao or Big Z at all, that is why we see so much of PJ Brown.

We will likely see more of him (Leon) against the Pistons because he matches up better except against Rasheed Wallace. Maxiell and McDyess are more his and Big Baby's speed.