Everything Norman Powell

[The Great One]

People throw out Tony Allen as Norman Powell comparison. Younger, more athletic Matt Barnes (smaller version) applies a bit too.

— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) June 26, 2015

[DanH]

Just have to see whether this round was just the magic of vs-the-Bucks Norm or if he can maintain this effectiveness in the next round. He's certainly looked great.

[Apollo]

Norm certainly earned his money this playoffs. I feel like he's hit another level this month. To be able to bring it like this at the highest level is uncommon in the league for bench players. It's a luxury the Raptors have which the Warriors do not. If the Raptors best the Warriors it will be because the starters came through and the bench came through. Norm is very important, he needs to keep this up.

[GOLDBLUM]

[DanH]

That's where I think you keep missing the point of what Nurse appears to be trying to do here. Even obvious 'floor spacers' like OG and Serge (wtf) are being allowed to dribble drive and create their own shot. Nurse is giving every player a much higher degree of freedom than Casey's role cards ever did. He's allowing his players to use regular season games to practice their full skill set to see what is going to work in the playoffs. And sometimes it looks like shite. FVV is the other obvious example. Norm may be lining up initially as a floor spacer, but he's finding success back to his natural slashing mentality with an improved skill set and he's being allowed to drive and kick. Nurse's roles aren't as etched in stone as you're making them sound... you've probably got used to watching Casey coach for too long.

I'm not missing the point. I get it. I'm just making some observations: first, that it sucks to watch and hurts the team in the short term. Even if there are long term benefits, it's important to establish those things. Because of the second observation: we are optimistically assuming this is what Nurse is doing, and assuming that when it comes to it, players will be placed back into their best roles as defaults and be prepared to do the extra stuff when defences force them to - and if that doesn't happen, we know it will likely remain ugly. I'm with you on assuming Nurse is doing this intentionally and doesn't mind losing games to make it happen - that was his sales pitch, after all.

I'm not saying Powell can't do those things, nor am I saying he shouldn't be doing those things. He should! One of the best attributes for a 3+D player to have (besides the 3 and the D) is the ability to a) attack closeouts off the dribble and b) create offence from there. That's a high end role player, and is what Norm showed flashes of and what he got paid for. But the argument is that Powell should be used primarily as a slasher - which means giving him the ball and having him create offence, which is fine for skill development, but not for the success of the team, and more importantly is not what is happening in this recent stretch. Norm is getting the occasional play to run PnR, like he always has, but is mostly staying off ball and getting his shots and slashes in off of secondary action. He's just doing better with them by playing smarter and hitting his shots more. I'd love if there were an obvious correlation with role change that explained his better performance - that's exactly the sort of thing I'm constantly looking for in my analysis of the team and how I try to develop my opinions on what lineups should fit together and what looks should be avoided. But that's not the case here. He's just playing better within the same role he had earlier in the season.

[golden]

No one has argued against skill development for Norm. The argument is a role change, which is not what has happened here. He's still mostly being used as a floor spacer with occasional slashing/creation, as he should be to fit within this roster. He doesn't have the creation chops to be a primary creator even with the bench - he could be fine in a secondary/tertiary role alongside Wright, FVV, and Siakam. But that still puts his primary role as off ball spot up shooter.

That's where I think you keep missing the point of what Nurse appears to be trying to do here. Even obvious 'floor spacers' like OG and Serge (wtf) are being allowed to dribble drive and create their own shot. Nurse is giving every player a much higher degree of freedom than Casey's role cards ever did. He's allowing his players to use regular season games to practice their full skill set to see what is going to work in the playoffs. And sometimes it looks like shite. FVV is the other obvious example. Norm may be lining up initially as a floor spacer, but he's finding success back to his natural slashing mentality with an improved skill set and he's being allowed to drive and kick. Nurse's roles aren't as etched in stone as you're making them sound... you've probably got used to watching Casey coach for too long.

[DanH]

Actually, I think Derozan-Spurs is on to something. Everybody was talking about Powell being best utilized as a 3&D wing, but that's not his game. He's a slasher, but he needed to sharpen up a few skills to be more than a straight line driver: (1) overall improved handle, (2) hesitation dribble (3) counter moves, (4) better BBIQ.

He's visibly improved in the first 3 skill areas and Norm mentioned that he's also been working with Phil Handy on the BBIQ part, breaking down film, etc.... Handy is really good at what he does and it looks like that injury downtime was a blessing. Powell's overall craftiness and ability to change speeds looks like it's taken a step forward.

No one has argued against skill development for Norm. The argument is a role change, which is not what has happened here. He's still mostly being used as a floor spacer with occasional slashing/creation, as he should be to fit within this roster. He doesn't have the creation chops to be a primary creator even with the bench - he could be fine in a secondary/tertiary role alongside Wright, FVV, and Siakam. But that still puts his primary role as off ball spot up shooter.

[golden]

He's playing basically the same role he has all season. He's just not being an idiot right now, and most importantly he's hitting his shots. He's taken 49% of his attempts as threes this season. In his top 5 production games (by bball-ref's game score), three of which have come in this latest stretch since he returned from injury, that number is 46%. In the top two, again both coming in this latest stretch, it's 42%. If his full season 3PAr was 42% instead of 49%, he'd slide from 8th on the team in 3PAr to 9th. It's not a role thing at all. It's a Norm deciding to suck less thing.

Actually, I think Derozan-Spurs is on to something. Everybody was talking about Powell being best utilized as a 3&D wing, but that's not his game. He's a slasher, but he needed to sharpen up a few skills to be more than a straight line driver: (1) overall improved handle, (2) hesitation dribble (3) counter moves, (4) better BBIQ.

He's visibly improved in the first 3 skill areas and Norm mentioned that he's also been working with Phil Handy on the BBIQ part, breaking down film, etc.... Handy is really good at what he does and it looks like that injury downtime was a blessing. Powell's overall craftiness and ability to change speeds looks like it's taken a step forward.

[DanH]

I told everyone here that Powell was actually good, and that if the Raptors stopped using him as a shooter (he's not that good of a shooter) and started using him as a slasher, then he would stop looking so goddamn awful and start looking great. I also said that the Raptors would need his abilities this season.

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2019...norman-powell/



https://www.raptorshq.com/2018/12/30...ors-bench-unit

He's playing basically the same role he has all season. He's just not being an idiot right now, and most importantly he's hitting his shots. He's taken 49% of his attempts as threes this season. In his top 5 production games (by bball-ref's game score), three of which have come in this latest stretch since he returned from injury, that number is 46%. In the top two, again both coming in this latest stretch, it's 42%. If his full season 3PAr was 42% instead of 49%, he'd slide from 8th on the team in 3PAr to 9th. It's not a role thing at all. It's a Norm deciding to suck less thing.

[DerozansSpurs]

Great to have Norm back.

I told everyone here that Powell was actually good, and that if the Raptors stopped using him as a shooter (he's not that good of a shooter) and started using him as a slasher, then he would stop looking so goddamn awful and start looking great. I also said that the Raptors would need his abilities this season.

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2019...norman-powell/

https://www.raptorshq.com/2018/12/30...ors-bench-unit

In being able to watch the bench fail to create offense on a nightly basisPowell was able to identify the holes in the bench offense and adjust his game accordingly upon his return to help bolster shot creation in the second unit.

[SkywalkerAC]

Great to have Norm back.

[KeonClark]

[golden]

[Beneperez]

I'll take CJ over Norm because his shooting will come around and he's a smarter player.

[Hotshot]

We keeping Norm!! and I don't want to hear anything about it!

Norman Powell pic.twitter.com/5rotBZFXkO

— Kawhi’s Burner Account (@KyleLowrySZN) December 7, 2018