Leon Powe

[Ea$t $ide]

Article on the front page says sometime around Valentines Day Powe will be ready to start playing. If he gets enough PT between then and the end of the season how much of a contributor can we expect in the playoffs? I'm not as familiar with his game. What's his strong suit? I know I could look it up but I want to get the forums takes on him. With him back will the Cavaliers even need to trade for a 4?

Thanks

[papacass]

Powe is a low-post banger with pretty good moves around the basket. He's 6'-8", so he is a bit undersized to be a guy who subsists entirely on playing within 10 feet of the hoop. But he has made it work well enough.

That fact, combined with a lengthy knee injury history, which now includes microfracture surgery, means it's likely that Powe will never be anything more than a bench player. 7 points, 5 rebounds and 20-25 minutes a game. He could be very good at picking up the slack when other guys get hurt or have off nights, as he was in Boston. But at this point, I can't see him as the starting PF of the future. Potentially a valuable bench piece, but not a guy who is going to make the Cavs forget all about acquiring a starting PF.

[CharacterIV]

Potentially a valuable bench piece, but not a guy who is going to make the Cavs forget all about acquiring a starting PF.

Yup. I think Powe has the determination to get himself back into playing form to the point where he can definitely contribute to this team. Problem is, Powe doesn't bring a new angle to the offense or defense. He gives us more strength down low, which you really can't ever have too much of, but there's nothing new. Murphy, West or (hopefully) Jamison gives us a whole new angle in the much-ballyhooed stretch 4. I'm looking forward to Powe, I think he makes us better and deeper, but I still think we need somebody else.

[e0y2e3]

West is not going anywhere.

The Hilton Armstrong Salary dump brought the Hornets w/ in 500K of the luxury tax and can easily find someone to take on that much salary.

They've been chipping away at the tax all year (payroll was >$77MM before FA) and have finally got it to a point where they can keep what they believe to be their "core" of West, Paul and Okafor while not paying the tax.

[Cease]

Windy was on with Riz today and said that Powe has circled the 2/25 vs. Boston on his schedule for a target return.

It's a luxury to not be relying on this guy at all this year. We should be able to ease him back into playing shape. The hard part will be getting everyone enough minutes to stay sharp down the stretch.

Injury in mind, I don't think he's a bankable solution, nor do I think the Cavs would be smart to call off pursuit of a 4 man. Powe's a paint player, and we've been sniffing 4's (Jamison to Murphy) who can stretch out a defense.

[British_Pharaoh]

I'm expecting similar to Joe Smith kind of contribution, only not as good of a mid range jumper

[papacass]

I'm expecting similar to Joe Smith kind of contribution, only not as good of a mid range jumper

Joe Smith is really nothing but a midrange jump shooter anymore. Powe has no midrange jumper to speak of. He's muscle, and maybe some post buckets, down low.

I'm actually hoping that Powe is markedly different from Smith. Cavs don't really need another guy to shoot the 15-footer. They need perimeter shooting and some more beef down low. If healthy, Powe can give them the latter in 6-8 minute stretches.

[peeker643]

I'm expecting similar to Joe Smith kind of contribution, only not as good of a mid range jumper

Joe Smith is really nothing but a midrange jump shooter anymore. Powe has no midrange jumper to speak of. He's muscle, and maybe some post buckets, down low.

I'm actually hoping that Powe is markedly different from Smith. Cavs don't really need another guy to shoot the 15-footer. They need perimeter shooting and some more beef down low. If healthy, Powe can give them the latter in 6-8 minute stretches.

Precisely.

Smith gets moved around down low if the AC vents are at full blow. Don't get me wrong; he's a pro's pro and still a viable 12-15 minutes a night guy for some contender.

Powe is a banger and a body that can play physically when called on. Night and day other than PT.

[British_Pharaoh]

I'm expecting similar to Joe Smith kind of contribution, only not as good of a mid range jumper

Joe Smith is really nothing but a midrange jump shooter anymore. Powe has no midrange jumper to speak of. He's muscle, and maybe some post buckets, down low.

I'm actually hoping that Powe is markedly different from Smith. Cavs don't really need another guy to shoot the 15-footer. They need perimeter shooting and some more beef down low. If healthy, Powe can give them the latter in 6-8 minute stretches.

I said similar to joe smith contribution (as in a few points and some boards)
never said they were anywhere near the same player.

[papacass]

I'm expecting similar to Joe Smith kind of contribution, only not as good of a mid range jumper

Joe Smith is really nothing but a midrange jump shooter anymore. Powe has no midrange jumper to speak of. He's muscle, and maybe some post buckets, down low.

I'm actually hoping that Powe is markedly different from Smith. Cavs don't really need another guy to shoot the 15-footer. They need perimeter shooting and some more beef down low. If healthy, Powe can give them the latter in 6-8 minute stretches.

I said similar to joe smith contribution (as in a few points and some boards)
never said they were anywhere near the same player.

Understood, but when you say "Joe Smith" my mind immediately goes to 12-footers on the wing. And Kevin McHale losing a half-decade of first-round picks. But that's another story.

[Jimmy Dudley]

If Powe proves to be healthy, does he get the starting nod rather than JJ (who seems to be treading water or worse offensively)?

[rebelwithoutaclue]

If Powe proves to be healthy, does he get the starting nod rather than JJ (who seems to be treading water or worse offensively)?

If he proves himself capable of contributing on the level that he was for Boston 2 years ago, I'd rather have him in at the end of the game than starting it. Course there's no reason he can't start and finish, but can't give him too much too soon after 3 ACL surgeries. I'm sure, in the beginning, he'll come off the bench for 5 minutes a time, 2-3 times a game just to get his legs back and then find a rotation spot thereafter.

[Larvell Blanks]

If Powe proves to be healthy, does he get the starting nod rather than JJ (who seems to be treading water or worse offensively)?

I think that Powe will only play 12-15 minutes a night. I can't see him on the floor with Shaq as his(Powe's) game is the low post. Him and Shaq would just get in each others way and really close up the middle for LBJ. Powe would be a much better fit w/ Z.

JMO

[papacass]

If Powe proves to be healthy, does he get the starting nod rather than JJ (who seems to be treading water or worse offensively)?

If he proves himself capable of contributing on the level that he was for Boston 2 years ago, I'd rather have him in at the end of the game than starting it. Course there's no reason he can't start and finish, but can't give him too much too soon after 3 ACL surgeries. I'm sure, in the beginning, he'll come off the bench for 5 minutes a time, 2-3 times a game just to get his legs back and then find a rotation spot thereafter.

Windy said it in his "Hey Brian" Q&A this week: Fans pay way too much attention to who starts. It's not who plays the 1Q, it's who plays the 4Q. If '08 Boston Powe shows up around April, I don't care if Jawad starts at PF, so long as Powe is getting those minutes with the game on the line.

[e0y2e3]

If Powe proves to be healthy, does he get the starting nod rather than JJ (who seems to be treading water or worse offensively)?

If he proves himself capable of contributing on the level that he was for Boston 2 years ago, I'd rather have him in at the end of the game than starting it. Course there's no reason he can't start and finish, but can't give him too much too soon after 3 ACL surgeries. I'm sure, in the beginning, he'll come off the bench for 5 minutes a time, 2-3 times a game just to get his legs back and then find a rotation spot thereafter.

Windy said it in his "Hey Brian" Q&A this week: Fans pay way too much attention to who starts. It's not who plays the 1Q, it's who plays the 4Q. If '08 Boston Powe shows up around April, I don't care if Jawad starts at PF, so long as Powe is getting those minutes with the game on the line and all of Hickson's minutes that do not involve 20 point leads

Fixed that for you Cass

[papacass]

I think that Powe will only play 12-15 minutes a night. I can't see him on the floor with Shaq as his(Powe's) game is the low post. Him and Shaq would just get in each others way and really close up the middle for LBJ. Powe would be a much better fit w/ Z.

JMO

To an extent, but if you have two wide bodies out there who can step out and set screens, it can actually help guys like LBJ and Mo find the basket.

Plus, on D, Shaq and Powe together means that the other team's penetrators are going to have a whale of a time trying to get close to the hoop at all. Think along the lines of Sheed and Big Ben with the mid-'00s Pistons. MB likes to play defense inside-out -- defend the highest-percentage shots first, then worry about lower-percentage shots from outside.

Powe and Shaq probably wouldn't work for long stretches, but if the Cavs are getting abused by the P&R, having two big butts on the floor means one can always hang back and defend the paint. You clamp off the P&R by fighting through/over the pick, or by stopping the roller from getting to the basket. It's why Shaq is such an atrocious P&R defender. He can't follow his man to the high post, and then recover to the low post quickly enough to stop the shot. He's too slow and immobile.

Having Powe slide over into the paint would probably take some pressure off Shaq when his man skirts by on the roll.

[Larvell Blanks]

I think that Powe will only play 12-15 minutes a night. I can't see him on the floor with Shaq as his(Powe's) game is the low post. Him and Shaq would just get in each others way and really close up the middle for LBJ. Powe would be a much better fit w/ Z.

JMO

To an extent, but if you have two wide bodies out there who can step out and set screens, it can actually help guys like LBJ and Mo find the basket.

Plus, on D, Shaq and Powe together means that the other team's penetrators are going to have a whale of a time trying to get close to the hoop at all. Think along the lines of Sheed and Big Ben with the mid-'00s Pistons. MB likes to play defense inside-out -- defend the highest-percentage shots first, then worry about lower-percentage shots from outside.

Powe and Shaq probably wouldn't work for long stretches, but if the Cavs are getting abused by the P&R, having two big butts on the floor means one can always hang back and defend the paint. You clamp off the P&R by fighting through/over the pick, or by stopping the roller from getting to the basket. It's why Shaq is such an atrocious P&R defender. He can't follow his man to the high post, and then recover to the low post quickly enough to stop the shot. He's too slow and immobile.

Having Powe slide over into the paint would probably take some pressure off Shaq when his man skirts by on the roll.

I get an extended weekend and I can't think straight anymore. I liked the idea of Shaq/Powe and the p&r when we first signed Leon but somehow that got pushed way back in my mind since then.