From his Finals write up:
"5. Phil vs. Doc (10 points): The Zen Master's ability in these situations is unquestioned; suffice it to say that Doc's isn't. With Boston an underdog already, Rivers can't be overmatched on the chessboard.
The good omen was that he played nearly all the right cards against Detroit, though my pleas for more Leon Powe still fall on deaf ears."
That's what I'm talking about! Thanks to Adam for the heads up on that.
Well, I'm off to the North End for dinner then to Causeway St.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals! Thorough!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Boston's Bench
So we know that Allen, Pierce, Garnett and Rondo are all going to play anywhere from 35-45 minutes a game (barring foul trouble) and Perk will get 28-38 (of course he'll be in foul trouble). Where does that leave our man from Oak-town?
Doc needs to limit the team to a nine man rotation. This seems to be a fairly popular sentiment and I agree wholeheartedly. Now, Posey will be on Kobe duty whenever he's in the game. On offense, he'll stop of for an occasional three in transition, but his role is definitely set. Papa PJ has stepped up his game in the playoffs and deserves some burn to spell Perk. (Quick aside here. How was PJ spending his time before he got signed by the Celtics? Whittling in a rocking chair? Eating lukewarm bowls of soup? Burngo/Bingo?) Brown stands 6-11 to Gasol's 7-0. I don't see Perkins guarding Radmanovic or Lamar plus it'll be good for Perk to be banging down low like he did in monster Game 5 against Detroit. Depending on Phil Jackson's rotation, Brown will most likely be bothering Gasol the whole series.
(Not so quick aside. I absolutely cannot stand the PA announcer for the Pistons. I mean, this is all that's wrong with professional sports today. It's bad enough that certain play by play, color commentaters and "analysts" make the game more about themselves than the players, but a PA guy? And the fact that I know his name makes me want to strangle myself with my own large intestine. It's Mason. Thanks ESPN! Really wanted to know the name of the jackalope who stirs up the crowd in the worst city in America. If the Pistons made the finals, their home games wouldn't tip off until 9:30. People complained about all the pyro and fireworks during the Celtics' openings, and rightly so. But since there is no lingering smoke afterwards in the Palace of Auburn Hills, people tend to forget about that unfunny stooge. But there is lingering smoke Mason...in my soul. I hate you so much.)
Anyway...so Posey and Brown are taken care of, that leaves Eddie House who will obviously be coming in for Rondo. Having House bring up the ball with any kind of pressure should worry even the most confident Boston fan, but his outside shooting and half court presence will hopefully offset that. Besides, it's him or Cassell. Yikes.
This all brings us to Leon. He stands 6-8 and weighs 240 pounds. Radmanovic and Turiaf both have two inches on him but Powe is easily the better rebounder. Where Leon might come in to play the most...is guarding Lamar Odom. If they are in the game at the same time, I think Leon is the most athletic "big" Boston has besides Garnett. Lamar has been known to lose his temper/concentration during games so a tough dude like Powe could really get him out of his game. Plus, you know Kobe is not going to pull a LeBron and suddenly go cold from the floor for three games straight. Gasol was extremely consistent during the Spurs series, so that leaves Odom as the X factor for the Lakers. As previously discussed, Leon will do the dirty work down low on the offensive and defensive glass. But getting in Lamar's face could be just the thing to convince Doc to call Leon's name a few times this series. I'll be happy with anywhere from 7-12 minutes a game for #0. C'mon Doc, this is the Finals! No time to screw around! Just remember, I'll be there tonight and even though I may be sitting in a 300 section, but I'll be doing my best to let you know if you're sleeping on my boy.
Doc needs to limit the team to a nine man rotation. This seems to be a fairly popular sentiment and I agree wholeheartedly. Now, Posey will be on Kobe duty whenever he's in the game. On offense, he'll stop of for an occasional three in transition, but his role is definitely set. Papa PJ has stepped up his game in the playoffs and deserves some burn to spell Perk. (Quick aside here. How was PJ spending his time before he got signed by the Celtics? Whittling in a rocking chair? Eating lukewarm bowls of soup? Burngo/Bingo?) Brown stands 6-11 to Gasol's 7-0. I don't see Perkins guarding Radmanovic or Lamar plus it'll be good for Perk to be banging down low like he did in monster Game 5 against Detroit. Depending on Phil Jackson's rotation, Brown will most likely be bothering Gasol the whole series.
(Not so quick aside. I absolutely cannot stand the PA announcer for the Pistons. I mean, this is all that's wrong with professional sports today. It's bad enough that certain play by play, color commentaters and "analysts" make the game more about themselves than the players, but a PA guy? And the fact that I know his name makes me want to strangle myself with my own large intestine. It's Mason. Thanks ESPN! Really wanted to know the name of the jackalope who stirs up the crowd in the worst city in America. If the Pistons made the finals, their home games wouldn't tip off until 9:30. People complained about all the pyro and fireworks during the Celtics' openings, and rightly so. But since there is no lingering smoke afterwards in the Palace of Auburn Hills, people tend to forget about that unfunny stooge. But there is lingering smoke Mason...in my soul. I hate you so much.)
Anyway...so Posey and Brown are taken care of, that leaves Eddie House who will obviously be coming in for Rondo. Having House bring up the ball with any kind of pressure should worry even the most confident Boston fan, but his outside shooting and half court presence will hopefully offset that. Besides, it's him or Cassell. Yikes.
This all brings us to Leon. He stands 6-8 and weighs 240 pounds. Radmanovic and Turiaf both have two inches on him but Powe is easily the better rebounder. Where Leon might come in to play the most...is guarding Lamar Odom. If they are in the game at the same time, I think Leon is the most athletic "big" Boston has besides Garnett. Lamar has been known to lose his temper/concentration during games so a tough dude like Powe could really get him out of his game. Plus, you know Kobe is not going to pull a LeBron and suddenly go cold from the floor for three games straight. Gasol was extremely consistent during the Spurs series, so that leaves Odom as the X factor for the Lakers. As previously discussed, Leon will do the dirty work down low on the offensive and defensive glass. But getting in Lamar's face could be just the thing to convince Doc to call Leon's name a few times this series. I'll be happy with anywhere from 7-12 minutes a game for #0. C'mon Doc, this is the Finals! No time to screw around! Just remember, I'll be there tonight and even though I may be sitting in a 300 section, but I'll be doing my best to let you know if you're sleeping on my boy.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
This is something we should be seeing every game.
Leon celebrating after coming off the floor. Meaning, he actually played in the game. Because you see, when Number 0 does get in the game, he's more efficient than Tony Stark in a lab after a good night's sleep. Whether you're a stat geek like me or a troglodyte like Joe Morgan, you cannot ignore the following:2007-2008 Regular Season - 29.89 EFF48M
That is efficiency per 48 minutes. For those of you who are really interested the formula used to determine efficiency is:
((Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks) - ((Field Goals Att. - Field Goals Made) + (Free Throws Att. - Free Throws Made) + Turnovers))
Okay, now that that's out of the way, you might be asking yourself how good 29.89 actually is. Let's take a look, shall we?
That ranks first, yes 1st, as in at the very top of the list for all second year players in the NBA. And compared to every single player in the league who played in more than 50 games this year, that ranks 20th. IN THE WHOLE LEAGUE! Now granted, he only averaged 14.4 minutes per game, but that's where the extrapolation comes in.
Just for S's and G's, over at 82games.com (tremendous btw), they have Leon ranked as the 6th best player on the entire team. So that's starting five...then Powe.
But the best part about throwing all of these numbers at you is not even taking into account what kind of person Leon is and what he's been through. Guys like Morgan(even though it's baseball) shy away from stats and talk about "what kind of guy" a player is. The intangibles so to speak. Now that Boston is in the finals, Leon's story is getting a lot more publicity. His struggles growing up, his success on the court in high school and so on. Google him if you're unaware.
In the next post, I'll discuss where he could fit in during the Finals. Oh yeah, I'll be in attendance for game one which is pretty sweet so I'll have a bird's eye view of Doc's inevitable cluelessness on the sidelines and Leon's patience on the bench.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Instant Action
Here's the game log for Leon's first forty seconds (of seven minutes) played in game 6 of the Detroit series:
3:11 Leon Powe enters game for Kevin Garnett
2:46 Detroit shot clock violation *Note-this turnover was caused by Leon knocking the ball loose and diving on the floor after the ball, resulting in Detroit failing to recover the ball and get a shot off*
2:46 Boston calls full timeout
2:32 Rasheed Wallace blocks Kendrick Perkins layup
2:31 Leon Powe offensive rebound
2:31 Leon Powe makes layup
2:31 Antonio McDyess shooting foul (Leon Powe draws the foul)
2:31 Leon Powe makes free throw 1 of 1
Some could make the argument that he wanted to make sure he did something now that he was finally in the game. But I can't tell you how many times Leon entered a game this year and immediately either: a)scored close to the basket, b)got an offensive rebound, or c)got fouled and went to the line. Sometimes, all three things happened on the same possession. I'm not saying Leon should be playing 30 minutes a game during the finals but he has proven over the course of this year that he will "bring something to the table" so to speak whenever he's in the game. Doc's clearly too busy buying penthouses in Vegas (http://youbeenblinded.com/doc-rivers-buys-palms-place-penthouse/) to watch film of Powe's instantaneous production on the court.
Also, word 'round the campfire is that Flip Saunders got flipped (see what I did there?) out of Detroit and onto his ass in the unemployment line. Until of course, the inevitable happens and ABC or ESPN gets him on air at some point this week. This begs the question though: if the Celtics lost to the Pistons, would Doc have gotten fired?
P.S. Seriously Doc, the Palms? Classy...
3:11 Leon Powe enters game for Kevin Garnett
2:46 Detroit shot clock violation *Note-this turnover was caused by Leon knocking the ball loose and diving on the floor after the ball, resulting in Detroit failing to recover the ball and get a shot off*
2:46 Boston calls full timeout
2:32 Rasheed Wallace blocks Kendrick Perkins layup
2:31 Leon Powe offensive rebound
2:31 Leon Powe makes layup
2:31 Antonio McDyess shooting foul (Leon Powe draws the foul)
2:31 Leon Powe makes free throw 1 of 1
Some could make the argument that he wanted to make sure he did something now that he was finally in the game. But I can't tell you how many times Leon entered a game this year and immediately either: a)scored close to the basket, b)got an offensive rebound, or c)got fouled and went to the line. Sometimes, all three things happened on the same possession. I'm not saying Leon should be playing 30 minutes a game during the finals but he has proven over the course of this year that he will "bring something to the table" so to speak whenever he's in the game. Doc's clearly too busy buying penthouses in Vegas (http://youbeenblinded.com/doc-rivers-buys-palms-place-penthouse/) to watch film of Powe's instantaneous production on the court.
Also, word 'round the campfire is that Flip Saunders got flipped (see what I did there?) out of Detroit and onto his ass in the unemployment line. Until of course, the inevitable happens and ABC or ESPN gets him on air at some point this week. This begs the question though: if the Celtics lost to the Pistons, would Doc have gotten fired?
P.S. Seriously Doc, the Palms? Classy...
Monday, June 2, 2008
Playoffs so far
Round 1 - 17.7 6.7 3.4
Round 2 - 12.2 4.0 2.3
Round 3 - 4.8 2.0 1.3
As in: minutes, points, rebounds. Not to mention he didn't even play in two of the games in the Detroit series. NOT a promising trend. Oh yeah, Leon has played a whopping 1 minute in the two regular season games against the Lakers. Granted, both were before the new year but, you know, damn.
Maybe Doc could use a visual aid?
Round 2 - 12.2 4.0 2.3
Round 3 - 4.8 2.0 1.3
As in: minutes, points, rebounds. Not to mention he didn't even play in two of the games in the Detroit series. NOT a promising trend. Oh yeah, Leon has played a whopping 1 minute in the two regular season games against the Lakers. Granted, both were before the new year but, you know, damn.
Maybe Doc could use a visual aid?
Yes, I realize...
...that the idea for this blog is far from original.
heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com is a great example of an idea like this done right. Fortunately for the dude running that site, Cleveland traded Hughes and Cavs fans rejoiced. In fact, this blog is essentially in direct respose to: stopplayingtheoratliff.blogspot.com (but I guess that's not a problem anymore). Hopefully I can maintain this site as an overall NBA/sports/media blog once the Finals are over. Of course, any Leon news will be promptly discussed and dissected.
Also, I probably have to point out that I'm actually a Miami Heat fan, but live in Boston so I've seen almost every single Celtics game this season. And yes, I was at the D-League exhibition that was the March 30th game at the Garden. (Incidentally, Leon dropped a 17-13 spot in 27 minutes) So hopefully you'll all enjoy this site because there definitely aren't enough dudes in their 20s writing about sports on the internet. I basically want Doc to stop hitting on Michele Tafoya for five seconds and pay attention to the damn game.
heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com is a great example of an idea like this done right. Fortunately for the dude running that site, Cleveland traded Hughes and Cavs fans rejoiced. In fact, this blog is essentially in direct respose to: stopplayingtheoratliff.blogspot.com (but I guess that's not a problem anymore). Hopefully I can maintain this site as an overall NBA/sports/media blog once the Finals are over. Of course, any Leon news will be promptly discussed and dissected.
Also, I probably have to point out that I'm actually a Miami Heat fan, but live in Boston so I've seen almost every single Celtics game this season. And yes, I was at the D-League exhibition that was the March 30th game at the Garden. (Incidentally, Leon dropped a 17-13 spot in 27 minutes) So hopefully you'll all enjoy this site because there definitely aren't enough dudes in their 20s writing about sports on the internet. I basically want Doc to stop hitting on Michele Tafoya for five seconds and pay attention to the damn game.
Start Playing Leon Powe Dammit!
This blog will be dedicated to getting the attention of one Glenn "Doc" Rivers in the hopes that he opens his eyes and takes a gander down his bench starting this Thursday. Patiently waiting in between a 38 year old alien and an incandescent (and hopefully street clothes-clad) doughy redhead, sits number 0, Leon Powe. This dude, quite simply, does work. Over the next few posts, I will chronicle Powe's season and document why he needs to be in Doc's "rotation." Comments and suggestions are encouraged.
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