Everything Norman Powell

[DogeLover1234]

But, he was a starter last year. It was his position, and Casey rode that wagon for awhile until he was pretty much useless on the court. He lacked aggression, his defence was bad, couldn't make a shot... it was tough to watch. I don't buy that solo workout thing, y'know? I feel like t

I felt like he was left to fend for himself on the court.

Powell's issue to me is that he is a slasher without great passing instincts. Really makes it hard in the half court I think if his shot isn't on, he starts forcing too much. That combined with probably a bit of a drop in confidence, and getting dinged up makes for a bad combination. If he comes into camp with high confidence, a decent shot and some improved vision I could see him looking good this year, though thats a tough ask and even still there are a ton of players at his position that fill their roles better than him.

Im so excited for the year, I would go as far to say that this team has the most top end talent in the east and is the most well balanced.

[DerozansSpurs]

This is where you start to think -- isn't Powell the no-brainer? I wonder why he took such a huge step back last season.

A big reason why he was bad last season was because he attempted too many three-point shots, 186 3PA to be exact. No, I'm not kidding.

• Three-pointers were 49.7% of Powell's FGA in 2018 but he shot 28.5% from beyond the arc
• Three-pointers were 34.2% of Powell's FGA in 2017 but he shot 32.4% from beyond the arc

His increase in three-point attempt volume diminished his attempts from 0 to 3 feet (where he shoots 60.4% from for his career).

• 27.8% of Powell's FGA were around the rim in 2018 (he shot 59.6% of attempts)
• 41.1% of Powell's FGA were around the rim in 2017 (he shot 60.6% of attempts)

He got to the line a lot less due to his increase in three-point attempt volume.

• Powell's free throw rate was 10.4% in 2018 and he shot 32 of 39 FT in 2018
• Powell's free throw rate was 31.4% in 2017 and he shot 126 of 159 FT in 2017

And not only did his three-point attempts increase, his percentage of attempts from the corner decreased.

• Corner threes were 33.3% of Powell's 3PA in 2018
• Corner threes were 44.5% of Powell's 3PA in 2017

You can see why Powell's TS% went down from 55.2% in 2017 to a putrid 49.2% in 2018. For a slashing guard with an unreliable and streaky three-point shot, he is taking way too many three-pointers and hitting them at below 30%, which hurts the team's offense.

In fact, Powell and James Harden have disturbingly similar shot charts in 2018. Yes, James Harden, the MVP. Take a look.

% of FGA	2P	0-3 ft	3-10 ft	10-16 ft	16 ft to 3P line	3P
Powell	.503	.278	.134	.040	.051	.497
Harden	.502	.273	.118	.071	.039	.498

Does anyone notice an issue with this table? It's the fact that Powell should not be getting so many three-point attempts, when he's not good at them. Harden is very good at attempting threes and shots around the rim, and his shot chart reflects that. Powell's shot chart doesn't reflect his strengths much at all. He took 121 FGA in the restricted area, and 120 FGA from above the arc (the non-corner three-point attempts).

A lot of slashing guards who aren't good three-point shooters (Russell Westbrook, Monta Ellis, John Wall, Derrick Rose, Tony Parker, Dwyane Wade) usually attempt no more than 20% of their FGA from beyond the arc for their career. Powell has attempted 40.4% of his FGA from beyond the arc for his career, despite shooting 32.4% from beyond the arc for his career. That's not good! That's an issue that needs to be addressed by the coaching staff right away. If the Raptors continue to use Powell as a floor spacer on offense instead of playing him to his strengths as a slashing guard, Powell will flame out of the league very easily after next season.

People say that Powell lost confidence in himself and that's why he sucked last season. I don't think so. The reality is that he wasn't used correctly at all. He wasn't played to his biggest strengths last season.

[inthepaint]

Yeah I think the whole "everyone's gotta shoot the 3" thing oversimplifies the game and can really hurt the offence. Every player has some degree of malleability in development, but you can't force square pegs in round holes. Coaches gotta respect who players really are.

Good coaches will find the balance between adapting players to their style, and adapting their style to the personnel they have. Another example of mis-used player last year was Ibaka, especially after the all-star break. He was asked to initiate "drive-n'kicks" to the perimeter, which he never looked comfortable with (turnovers and offensive fouls), while also taking away his shots from the elbow, where he's always been money.

I think Nurse sees this though, and as a new coach will hopefully naturally look towards playing to everyone's strengths

[MixxAOR]

I doubt he'll outplay Wright, FVV or Danny Green. And he shouldn't get their minutes anyway because whatever he provides they provide and more.

[Icethis]

Yeah I think the whole "everyone's gotta shoot the 3" thing oversimplifies the game and can really hurt the offence. Every player has some degree of malleability in development, but you can't force square pegs in round holes. Coaches gotta respect who players really are.

Good coaches will find the balance between adapting players to their style, and adapting their style to the personnel they have. Another example of mis-used player last year was Ibaka, especially after the all-star break. He was asked to initiate "drive-n'kicks" to the perimeter, which he never looked comfortable with (turnovers and offensive fouls), while also taking away his shots from the elbow, where he's always been money.

I think Nurse sees this though, and as a new coach will hopefully naturally look towards playing to everyone's strengths

Yeah lets not even get started about JV as well.


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[golden]

Yeah I think the whole "everyone's gotta shoot the 3" thing oversimplifies the game and can really hurt the offence. Every player has some degree of malleability in development, but you can't force square pegs in round holes. Coaches gotta respect who players really are.

Good coaches will find the balance between adapting players to their style, and adapting their style to the personnel they have. Another example of mis-used player last year was Ibaka, especially after the all-star break. He was asked to initiate "drive-n'kicks" to the perimeter, which he never looked comfortable with (turnovers and offensive fouls), while also taking away his shots from the elbow, where he's always been money.

I think Nurse sees this though, and as a new coach will hopefully naturally look towards playing to everyone's strengths

Good post. The key to exploiting that malleability is to start training those guys immediately when they get into the league. First 2-3 years are critical. Guys like Kawhi and Jaylen Brown are examples of players that didn't have a 3-pt shot when they entered the league and quickly became elite. DeMar is at the other end of the spectrum. He was good in the mid-range and quickly developed the ability to draw fouls and instead of making him work on his 3-pt shooting, Casey encouraged both of those strengths to the extreme, even as it became clear how difficult is was to build a playoff team around a shooting guard in the modern NBA who can't shoot 3's. Casey built an entire style of play around DeMar's strength and it became our core offensive philosophy (no passing, drive & get fouled). It worked great in the regular season.

We started making roster moves (Powell, Wright, CoJo, Biz, Jakob, Siakam, Serge, PJ, Carroll,...) to complement that Ride & Die style of play where Kyle and DeMar were maximized and the other players were their caddies, whose purpose was to play defense, rebound the ball and pass it back to KL/DD even if other guys were open. Only a handful of players we brought in were above average 3-pt shooters (FVV, Miles & Carroll), so we're really just catching up with the rest of the NBA now. That said, swapping out DD & Jakob for Green & Kawhi immediately gives us the ability to put more shooters around non-shooters.

[LJ2]

Yeah I think the whole "everyone's gotta shoot the 3" thing oversimplifies the game and can really hurt the offence. Every player has some degree of malleability in development, but you can't force square pegs in round holes. Coaches gotta respect who players really are.

Good coaches will find the balance between adapting players to their style, and adapting their style to the personnel they have. Another example of mis-used player last year was Ibaka, especially after the all-star break. He was asked to initiate "drive-n'kicks" to the perimeter, which he never looked comfortable with (turnovers and offensive fouls), while also taking away his shots from the elbow, where he's always been money.

I think Nurse sees this though, and as a new coach will hopefully naturally look towards playing to everyone's strengths

I don't know about that. The Raptor's offence was a monster last season and you're talking about slowing it down to accommodate a role player who doesn't fit in and is getting outplayed by end of rotation guys that DO fit in. I'd love to salvage Powell, but not at the cost of maximizing the offence.

[planetmars]

I doubt he'll outplay Wright, FVV or Danny Green. And he shouldn't get their minutes anyway because whatever he provides they provide and more.

I need to temper my expectations for Danny Green. For some reason I see another Carroll scenario playing out. Green is 31 years old. Had an injury pretty much all year last year, and may not be fully healthy. From what I can tell most Spurs fans were pretty much okay with Green being packaged with Kawhi in that trade. They found him to be extremely inconsistent and would miss critical open 3's that the team needed.

If things go bad for Green and Toronto, I could see Norm moving up the rotation displacing him. But like I said, I'm just tempering my expectations this time around.

[KeonClark]

I need to temper my expectations for Danny Green. For some reason I see another Carroll scenario playing out. Green is 31 years old. Had an injury pretty much all year last year, and may not be fully healthy. From what I can tell most Spurs fans were pretty much okay with Green being packaged with Kawhi in that trade. They found him to be extremely inconsistent and would miss critical open 3's that the team needed.

If things go bad for Green and Toronto, I could see Norm moving up the rotation displacing him. But like I said, I'm just tempering my expectations this time around.

I tend to agree. I think people here are rating Danny a little higher than reality. Every indication seems to be while he can still be valuable in spurts and a smart, reliable defender, hes very much on the decline. Out of the big 11 or 12 guys, hes probably the worst offensive player. Miles at this stage is the better shooter. I think either he or miles are the ones teetering on the edge of getting some DNPs

[Hotshot]

Damn Norm season hasn't even started and you've already let Green see the floor ahead of you...

Here at the annual Increase the Peace/ Stop the Violence Blacktop Classic. Toronto Raptors G Danny Green speaking to the kids. Norman Powell set to speak next. pic.twitter.com/5CgPilcQ09

— Full-Time Hoops (@FullTimeHoops1) September 2, 2018

[Demographic Shift]

I tend to agree. I think people here are rating Danny a little higher than reality. Every indication seems to be while he can still be valuable in spurts and a smart, reliable defender, hes very much on the decline. Out of the big 11 or 12 guys, hes probably the worst offensive player. Miles at this stage is the better shooter. I think either he or miles are the ones teetering on the edge of getting some DNPs

Danny G just turned 31. Kyle is a full year and a bit older so he is not poppa smurf here.

I think if his groin injury heals up well Danny still has gas in the tank. It’s a win for Los Raptors if Green can give Nurse 20 to 25 good minutes on average (which includes his as advertised defense) and any help he can give Norm/OG/Pascal/Delon on what it’s like to be a pro baller that will be a successful season.

[KeonClark]

Danny G just turned 31. Kyle is a full year and a bit older so he is not poppa smurf here.

I think if his groin injury heals up well Danny still has gas in the tank. It’s a win for Los Raptors if Green can give Nurse 20 to 25 good minutes on average (which includes his as advertised defense) and any help he can give Norm/OG/Pascal/Delon on what it’s like to be a pro baller that will be a successful season.

I'm not saying he has no gas left in the tank, on many other teams hes a valuable rotation player. But we are arguably the deepest team in the league in spots 5 thru 12, and full of young hungry thoroughbreds working on their game as we speak. I agree his leadership will be invaluable all I'm saying is temper your expectations slightly, this isnt 2015 Danny green anymore

[Scraptor]

I'm not saying he has no gas left in the tank, on many other teams hes a valuable rotation player. But we are arguably the deepest team in the league in spots 5 thru 12, and full of young hungry thoroughbreds working on their game as we speak. I agree his leadership will be invaluable all I'm saying is temper your expectations slightly, this isnt 2015 Danny green anymore

2017 Danny Green made 2nd team All-Defense homie

[Jclaw]

A big reason why he was bad last season was because he attempted too many three-point shots, 186 3PA to be exact. No, I'm not kidding.....

Wow. Great first post. Welcome to the republic.

[Jclaw]

Damn Norm season hasn't even started and you've already let Green see the floor ahead of you...

Here at the annual Increase the Peace/ Stop the Violence Blacktop Classic. Toronto Raptors G Danny Green speaking to the kids. Norman Powell set to speak next. pic.twitter.com/5CgPilcQ09

— Full-Time Hoops (@FullTimeHoops1) September 2, 2018

At least Norm stayed ahead of the guy behind him