What Happened to Leon Powe?

[KCattheStripe]

Again not even close. BBD might as well be Jordan in comparison with regards to athletic ability.

How do you figure? BBD was out of shape his first 2 years here, he couldn't (and still can't) jump for crap. Powe might be an average athlete for a 6'8 (probably closer to 6'6 or 6'7) guy, but he was faster, and able to jump higher than BBD, and had a comparable reach.

Glen Davis has and had better footwork, and right now he's probably the most agile 290 lb guy in the league, but that's not where he has always been. Powe was stronger while BBD was here, and he was more athletic.

Athletic ability isn't all vert.

He was responding to the assertion that powe had

"no athletic ability, even pre injury" which is utterly ridiculous.

Sure, that's hyperbole. But are we talking pre-injury Cal days or pre injury high school days? Because he was fairly unathletic during his tenure on the celtics.

I disagree, he was a medium speed 6'8 player who always ran the floor with good ups and relatively quick feet for a 4 who had explosive power to the rim, both for rebounds and finishing.

Now, if you want to make the argument he was one dimensional and not that technically skilled, then i'm 100% with you, he had no game beyond 10 feet out and boxing out on the boards, but that had to do with an absence of anything approaching technique or fundamentals outside of a decent hook and rebounding, not his athleticism.

and as indeed said, since his game was built on that athleticism and he has a dreadful lack of technique and touch, His loss of ability means he isn't an NBA player.

I'd say Leon's explosions for boards came more from his considerable strength forcing the person he boxed out even further back.  

He certainly didn't have Baby's speed or agility.

I don't think baby had baby's speed and agility back then when he was still packing the senior 30 from LSU

I think you didn't watch that final four run closely enough. If he didn't have that speed and agility, no one would have talked about him like he was a lottery pick.

[KCattheStripe]

Looking at the Lottery picks from 2006, he's inarguably better than 10 of them.

[Fafnir]

Final Four runs have the effect of vastly inflating player's draft stock. There have been a number of brief studies put together on it showing that can be as big as a ten slot jump.

I do agree that he looked fast and athletic for a college player in that Final Four run. I didn't think he'd be as effective of a pro however. He was almost exclusively a post player at LSU.

[KCattheStripe]

Final Four runs have the effect of vastly inflating player's draft stock. There have been a number of brief studies put together on it showing that can be as big as a ten slot jump.

I do agree that he looked fast and athletic for a college player in that Final Four run. I didn't think he'd be as effective of a pro however. He was almost exclusively a post player at LSU.

In Baby's case, it inflated it correctly, as he was a top 10 player in that draft class. In contrast, his lack of teammates and his teams poor performance in the following year made teams undervalue him so we can snag him.

[indeedproceed]

I don't think baby had baby's speed and agility back then when he was still packing the senior 30 from LSU

Agree. Glen Davis came into camp his rookie year a good piece over 300 lbs. He was legitimately 'fat'..not 'athlete fat', but fat.

He's a completely different ballplayer now that he's around 275-280. This might be the first time in his career since probably middle school football when his listed weight is higher than his playing weight.

I think you didn't watch that final four run closely enough. If he didn't have that speed and agility, no one would have talked about him like he was a lottery pick.

I watched the run, and I also watched the next season when BBD was a junior. Pretty different seasons in terms of BBD's playing ability. He never made 'the jump' people expected, and he did look pretty chubby that junior year.

[Fafnir]

Final Four runs have the effect of vastly inflating player's draft stock. There have been a number of brief studies put together on it showing that can be as big as a ten slot jump.

I do agree that he looked fast and athletic for a college player in that Final Four run. I didn't think he'd be as effective of a pro however. He was almost exclusively a post player at LSU.

In Baby's case, it inflated it correctly, as he was a top 10 player in that draft class. In contrast, his lack of teammates and his teams poor performance in the following year made teams undervalue him so we can snag him.

I don't think he's top 10, though he's certainly much higher than 35th.

Oden
Durant
Conley
Horford
Marc Gasol
Jeff Green
Joakim Noah
Aaron Brooks
Ramon Sessions
Rodney Stuckey
Marco Belinelli


I rate all these players as better or at worst comparable. There are a couple of other players who haven't produced but still have good potential in my eyes. (Al Thorton/Thad Young types)

[xmuscularghandix]

Again not even close. BBD might as well be Jordan in comparison with regards to athletic ability.

How do you figure? BBD was out of shape his first 2 years here, he couldn't (and still can't) jump for crap. Powe might be an average athlete for a 6'8 (probably closer to 6'6 or 6'7) guy, but he was faster, and able to jump higher than BBD, and had a comparable reach.

Glen Davis has and had better footwork, and right now he's probably the most agile 290 lb guy in the league, but that's not where he has always been. Powe was stronger while BBD was here, and he was more athletic.

Athletic ability isn't all vert.

He was responding to the assertion that powe had

"no athletic ability, even pre injury" which is utterly ridiculous.

That may be true, but Powe “pre-injury” was in college.

But Glen Davis has clearly passed Powe in terms of ability, and his ceiling is even better.

[indeedproceed]

2006

2007

2008

2010

[Fafnir]

Again not even close. BBD might as well be Jordan in comparison with regards to athletic ability.

How do you figure? BBD was out of shape his first 2 years here, he couldn't (and still can't) jump for crap. Powe might be an average athlete for a 6'8 (probably closer to 6'6 or 6'7) guy, but he was faster, and able to jump higher than BBD, and had a comparable reach.

Glen Davis has and had better footwork, and right now he's probably the most agile 290 lb guy in the league, but that's not where he has always been. Powe was stronger while BBD was here, and he was more athletic.

Athletic ability isn't all vert.

He was responding to the assertion that powe had

"no athletic ability, even pre injury" which is utterly ridiculous.

That may be true, but Powe “pre-injury” was in college.

But Glen Davis has clearly passed Powe in terms of ability, and his ceiling is even better.

Actually it was in high school, that was his first major injury iirc.

[Q_FBE]

Would you take Luke Harongody for Leon Powe?

Would you take Von Wafer for Leon Powe?

[Bankshot]

Would you take Luke Harongody for Leon Powe?

Would you take Von Wafer for Leon Powe?

I'd take the 2008 Powe over those two.  But the 2010 Powe, I'm not so sure.

[Fafnir]

Would you take Luke Harongody for Leon Powe?

Would you take Von Wafer for Leon Powe?

I'd take the 2008 Powe over those two.  But the 2010 Powe, I'm not so sure.

2008 Powe was a high quality big man who rebounded like crazy. He was a definite rotation player, but sadly injuries are part of the game.

[indeedproceed]

Would you take Luke Harongody for Leon Powe?

Would you take Von Wafer for Leon Powe?

I'd take the 2008 Powe over those two.  But the 2010 Powe, I'm not so sure.

Co-sign. I have no idea how good Powe is anymore with those Mr. Glass knees. If he proved to have some juice left in them, I'd take him over either, but he's gotta prove that first.

[Spilling Green Dye]

The short answer to the question of this thread:  Injuries.

Injuries happened to Leon, which is why he's riding the pine.  It also doesn't help that he's on a team that needs a scorer/star and not a scrappy hustle hard working guy.. they already have that in Varejo, who is superior.

Injuries happened to him.. it wasn't like he got exposed for being a fraud of a player or something, like some people assert here.

[Bankshot]

The short answer to the question of this thread:  Injuries.

Injuries happened to Leon, which is why he's riding the pine.  It also doesn't help that he's on a team that needs a scorer/star and not a scrappy hustle hard working guy.. they already have that in Varejo, who is superior.

Injuries happened to him.. it wasn't like he got exposed for being a fraud of a player or something, like some people assert here.

Powe was exposed, but not for being a fraud. He was still a good rotation player to me.  But was exposed because of his size and for not having a jumpshot.  The problem with Powe, is that he is the same player he was when he came into the league.  He never really added anything to his game that would make him more valuable or versatile, like Baby has been able to do.