Everything Norman Powell

[GLF]

Sure. There was some impact from the Celtics.

But again, we're talking a different player in the bubble here. And that's like reasons 1 through 3 why he struggled, anything the defence did is way down the list. Let's use simple FG% as a proxy to make comparisons easy.

Against Boston he shot 38% from the floor. Awful.

Against the Nets, who barely played NBA players and had freaking Kurucs guarding him, Pascal shot 41%. Awful.

In the bubble warmup games Pascal shot 39%. Awful.

In the rest of the regular season, he shot 46% from the floor. Including 48% over the last month before the shutdown for those who claim defences were figuring him out.

Obviously we can dig deeper into a bunch of other stats, but I thought that one was a pretty good simple catch all for his ability to get to the spots he wants to and convert.

He was awful in an environment he will likely never play in again after a layoff the length and character of which he will likely never experience again. Really not going to worry too much about how that translates to the rest of his career.
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And there you have it. Dan I have a feeling people are gonna say that last month before the lockdown where he shot 48% was probably against mostly non playoff teams (not sure if that's true). Just forewarning you lol

[JawsGT]

All i'm gonna say is that it was clear that his production declined as the season went on. His shooting percentage may have rebounded that last month, but he was almost unstoppable early in the season and came back down to earth pre bubble. Am i wrong here, cause i remember pascal averaging close to 30 a game early in the season and he was getting whatever he wanted, going to the basket at will and knocking down pull up 3s. None of that happened in the bubble, and was waning prior. Hey, we can blame his struggles on bubble life and unfamiliar environments or whatever, but if you think defence has nothing to do with the difference between his play at the beginning of the season and what we saw in the bubble, then so be it.

[DanH]

All i'm gonna say is that it was clear that his production declined as the season went on. His shooting percentage may have rebounded that last month, but he was almost unstoppable early in the season and came back down to earth pre bubble. Am i wrong here, cause i remember pascal averaging close to 30 a game early in the season and he was getting whatever he wanted, going to the basket at will and knocking down pull up 3s. None of that happened in the bubble, and was waning prior. Hey, we can blame his struggles on bubble life and unfamiliar environments or whatever, but if you think defence has nothing to do with the difference between his play at the beginning of the season and what we saw in the bubble, then so be it.

We're in agreement that none of it happened in the bubble. The disagreement is in whether the bubble and long layoff that preceded it, a literally unique circumstance in all of NBA history, is a reasonable sample to judge a player off of.

No one said defences had nothing to do with his struggles. I said we are giving the defence way too much credit if we are going to pretend that Siakam was his usual self and the freaking Nets managed to lock him down. I think it's fair to say the small difference between his struggles against the Nets and his struggles against Boston are attributable to the defence. But that baseline performance in the early bubble and against the Nets is radically different from his pre-bubble performance.

[DanH]

Meanwhile Pascal averaged 25.1 PPG over the first month of the season and averaged 24.5 PPG over the final month before the shutdown. Not sure I'm seeing the obvious drop off.

[LJ2]

I'm more concerned with the dynamic between Lowry and Siakam. Always seemed like one played well and the other would just be okay. FVV and Siakam seemed to have better chemistry.

[G__Deane]

I'm more concerned with the dynamic between Lowry and Siakam. Always seemed like one played well and the other would just be okay. FVV and Siakam seemed to have better chemistry.

Just a personal observation, but I get the feeling that Lowry and Siakam aren't best buds off the court either.
Need to see some Lowry to Spicy breakaway bombs again....

[MixxAOR]

Just a personal observation, but I get the feeling that Lowry and Siakam aren't best buds off the court either.
Need to see some Lowry to Spicy breakaway bombs again....

I mean...Lowry literally calls Siakam "The Beloved" so I definately wouldn't say that LOL

[G__Deane]

I mean...Lowry literally calls Siakam "The Beloved" so I definately wouldn't say that LOL

Kyle and sarcasm are best friends....

[DanH]

Kyle and sarcasm are best friends....

Think you are reaching here...

[MixxAOR]

Kyle and sarcasm are best friends....

[DogeLover1234]

Sure. There was some impact from the Celtics.

But again, we're talking a different player in the bubble here. And that's like reasons 1 through 3 why he struggled, anything the defence did is way down the list. Let's use simple FG% as a proxy to make comparisons easy.

Against Boston he shot 38% from the floor. Awful.

Against the Nets, who barely played NBA players and had freaking Kurucs guarding him, Pascal shot 41%. Awful.

In the bubble warmup games Pascal shot 39%. Awful.

In the rest of the regular season, he shot 46% from the floor. Including 48% over the last month before the shutdown for those who claim defences were figuring him out.

Obviously we can dig deeper into a bunch of other stats, but I thought that one was a pretty good simple catch all for his ability to get to the spots he wants to and convert.

He was awful in an environment he will likely never play in again after a layoff the length and character of which he will likely never experience again. Really not going to worry too much about how that translates to the rest of his career.
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Im with you on Pascals long term potential, was just disagreeing with the point that Boston didnt deserve credit for locking him down. Came across some long, stong athletic wings and got locked up - wasnt just that he was getting to his spots and missing. He’ll come back with some added strength and a bigger bag, I dont doubt that.

[JawsGT]

Whatever the reason for the poor bubble play, i think its fair to have doubts about his ability to be a #1 offensive option. That was his first go at it, so i do expect some improvement and i will be delighted if he gets there. We'll know enough when this season is over. But if pascal gets to that point, damn this team wont need to add much to be a perennial contender. Giannis would almost be overkill, but you certainly dont abandon the pursuit. With giannis, OG, FVV, and a fully capable pascal as an efficient #1...look out league.

[DanH]

Whatever the reason for the poor bubble play, i think its fair to have doubts about his ability to be a #1 offensive option. That was his first go at it, so i do expect some improvement and i will be delighted if he gets there. We'll know enough when this season is over. But if pascal gets to that point, damn this team wont need to add much to be a perennial contender. Giannis would almost be overkill, but you certainly dont abandon the pursuit. With giannis, OG, FVV, and a fully capable pascal as an efficient #1...look out league.

It's perfectly fair to have doubts. What's not fair is pretending the bubble was a fair representation of his abilities therein.

Heck, I have serious doubts he can be a top 5 type guy. Of course we do! There are only ever 5 of those guys! But that does not equate to thinking the bubble represents his future as the lead scorer on a team.

[JawsGT]

It's perfectly fair to have doubts. What's not fair is pretending the bubble was a fair representation of his abilities therein.

Heck, I have serious doubts he can be a top 5 type guy. Of course we do! There are only ever 5 of those guys! But that does not equate to thinking the bubble represents his future as the lead scorer on a team.

Dont get it twisted dude

[RandomGuy]

Whatever the reason for the poor bubble play, i think its fair to have doubts about his ability to be a #1 offensive option. That was his first go at it, so i do expect some improvement and i will be delighted if he gets there. We'll know enough when this season is over. But if pascal gets to that point, damn this team wont need to add much to be a perennial contender. Giannis would almost be overkill, but you certainly dont abandon the pursuit. With giannis, OG, FVV, and a fully capable pascal as an efficient #1...look out league.

Giannis won't be overkill. We will need that caliber player if we want to beat KD/Kyrie, Lebron/AD, KL/PG (washed but history shows he can do a 180), Steph/Klay, Doncic/? (they will get someone to assist him) you need that second player to beat these teams, Lowry is going to drop off sooner than later and Fred will have his playoff struggles as he hasn't found his consistency yet due to his size limitations and defense adjusted to exploit that.