Powe needs to play big minutes.

[wdleehi]

The big man rotation, outside of the last six minutes, was extremely good last night.  Most nights you don't want to limit Perk to 14 minutes, but last night it worked.

Generally, I think I'd like to see a rotation of something like 40 minutes for KG, 30 minutes for Perk, 14 minutes for P.J., 12 minutes for Powe.  This can be adjusted based upon the context of the game situation.

I like this rotation...although in this series, I might give Powe another 4 or 5 of PJ's minutes.

PJ played two good games with that minute range.  No reason to go away from him.

[carlherrera]

Where do we get that PJ has been more consistent? Look at the numbers...
Powe should get more minutes and he should get them from PJ. He is more productive.
If PJ is so consistent how come he only had 2 points (1 of 4 shooting) in Game 1?

[wdleehi]

Where do we get that PJ has been more consistent? Look at the numbers...
Powe should get more minutes and he should get them from PJ. He is more productive.
If PJ is so consistent how come he only had 2 points (1 of 4 shooting) in Game 1?

Defense.  Defense. 


Very consistent.  Very good.

[QuinielaBox]

Powe last night reminded me of a combination of Paul Silas and Cornbread Maxwell. That is pretty special. We need to resign him long term.

I think he will be a great role player for us and deserves his 30 million in career earnings.

He will have his share of matchup problems against the likes of Josh Childress and that Cleveland Sideshow character as well as Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiel. He will get points and rebounds off the bench against most NBA benches. He will take advantage of lapses by starters, too.

Another guy I wish Doc would use is Glen Davis but I can't complain because PJ Brown is doing well for 38 year old.

[expobear]

Wow- Leon scores 21 points in 14 minutes, draws a charge, and generally plays like an all-star and still gets criticized by some that he "misses defensive rotations".
It's been obvious since last season that he should be playing. Only matchup so far in the playoffs that he couldn't deal with, IMO, was Z. And the Lakers don't have Z.
Don't know what it will take(maybe a new coach, which ain't gonna happen) to get him into a regular rotation, but I've never seen a player who had to constantly prove himself every time he played just to get playing time.
Leon is the Rodney Dangerfield of bball.

Nice post, Ken.  

I just wanted to add that I also don't buy the reasoning that the Lakers are a good matchup for Powe and thus should be getting more minutes now.  Powe should have gotten 10-12 minutes throughout the playoffs and more if he was hot. Forgot the matchups and who Powe can or cannot defend.  The question is - who can guard Powe?  Powe has not been an offensive option during the playoffs. When Powe has put up 5 shots or more, he has scored in double figures in 5 out 6 games. Except for last night, Powe has not had much of a chance to do much of anything for the last 11 playoff games.  He's played 45 minutes in the 11 preceding games before last night. If Powe doesn't match up with somebody on defense, put him on somebody else. I still contend that Rivers doesn't know what he has in Powe and certainly doesn't utilize the strengths Powe brings to the team. I don't expect Powe to do what he did last night every night but the guy shot 13 free throws, drew a charge and was responsible for at least one other non shooting foul. If Rivers doesn't see the advantage of a player coming off the bench and basically putting two or three opposing players in foul trouble, then keep Powe on the bench. Powe's offense is his best defense! We'll see where Powe ends up after next year if he continues to be the Rodney Dangerfield of Rivers' bench.

[cordobes]

He would foul out.

We need Perkins/PJ Brown size and defensive presence.

Powe is still very inconsistent from game to game. Yesterday, he was great; tomorrow he can be crappy. One never knows. There's no point in keeping him in the floor if he's not scoring/drawing fouls.

[Jaycelt]

Wow- Leon scores 21 points in 14 minutes, draws a charge, and generally plays like an all-star and still gets criticized by some that he "misses defensive rotations".

I don't think anyone was criticizing him, they're just stating a fact.
I love Leon.  I couldn't be happier for him today. I knew that he had a chance to play a big role last night because of matchups, that's why I picked him as my surprise player of the game.  But the fact is he does miss defensive rotations and on a team like the Celtics that hangs their hat on team defense that isn't something you can overlook.
Last night Leon was a +6.   PJ was a +20.  I don't think the 14pt difference was because of PJ's offense.

[expobear]

Wow- Leon scores 21 points in 14 minutes, draws a charge, and generally plays like an all-star and still gets criticized by some that he "misses defensive rotations".

I don't think anyone was criticizing him, they're just stating a fact.
I love Leon.  I couldn't be happier for him today. I knew that he had a chance to play a big role last night because of matchups, that's why I picked him as my surprise player of the game.  But the fact is he does miss defensive rotations and on a team like the Celtics that hangs their hat on team defense that isn't something you can overlook.
Last night Leon was a +6.   PJ was a +20.  I don't think the 14pt difference was because of PJ's offense.

How many rotations did Garnett miss?  Garnett was a minus 9 for the evening.
Most people on this board aren't saying Powe should replace PJ.  But Powe certainly deserves more time than he's been getting which was about 3 to 4 minutes a game for the 10 preceding games before last night. If Rivers tries to utilize Powe's strengths instead of dumping him to the bench for two or three game stretches because of a missed rotation, the Celtics would be a stronger and better team. Last night only proved to me that Rivers' handling of Powe during the playoffs has been ridiculous.

[jimmyt]

Yeah, is there anyone out there who still thinks that Glen Davis should be playing more minutes than Leon Powe? I'm sick of hearing all the crap about Powe missing defensive rotations... that is such a weak argument.

It's time for people to just admit that Powe should have been playing more minutes in the previous series'. There are obviously people out there who will dance around it and not admit it, but the stats don't lie and they havent lied all season. Powe > Davis. Powe deserves more minutes than he was getting previously. When given the opportunity to play, he comes through.

Powe would have matched up fine against Detroit and could have handled guarding Maxiell with ease.

[Triboy16]

Leon should play at least 15 min every single game here moving forward.

[expobear]

Leon should play at least 15 min every single game here moving forward.

Totally agree!

[ForexPirate]

Doc needs to put Powe in whenever the team needs a boost of energy.  Powe plays hard and his play is contagious.

Both times he came out of the game last night, the Celtics team on the floor stopped being aggressive and let the Lakers back in the game.  He left when they were 22 points up in the fourth and look what happened ...

His contagious play is why he should play big minutes because it gets his "supporting" cast fired up. (:

[BigAlTheFuture]

Powe played great last night. The only reason that he plays very little minutes is because he is inconsistent.  If he can stay consistent, he would be great.

[Jon]

I absolutely agree with the "let's not get carried away" crowd.

For one, the Lakers paid virtually no attention to him last game.  His full court dunk was because the Lakers were afraid to to leave Garnett to go to him.  I don't think the Lakers will forget about Leon this time. 

Secondly, if you look at him standing next to Pierce, Leon's only like 6-6, 6-7 at best.  While he plays bigger, he's not the defensive presence that Perkins and Brown are at nearly 7-foot.  Remember, defense is what got us here and why we're up 2-0. 

Finally, as an addendum, even if if Leon continues to impress, let's not get carried away.  Time and again role players have stepped up in the playoffs for title winners, landed big contracts, then when the team asks them to be a star, failed to produce once people start paying attention to them at the defensive end.  Look at guys like Austin Croshere, Shandon Anderson, and Jason Caffey.  So while I wish the best for Leon and hope to continue to see him in Green, let's not annoint him KG's successor at the 4 yet. 

[expobear]

Powe played great last night. The only reason that he plays very little minutes is because he is inconsistent.  If he can stay consistent, he would be great.

Al,

Another Powe fallacy.  How is it determined that Powe is inconsistent when the only consistent thing about Powe is that he's averaged 3.5 minutes a game for the ten playoff games preceding last night. Rivers must be a hell of a coach and all the Powe doubters must be astute basketballers to be able to say Powe is inconsistent with the limited minutes he's been given recently. Yes, I know, he misses rotations and he can't get his shot off against taller opponents blah, blah blah.  How will we ever know what he can or cannot do when his butt has remained firmly planted on the bench in recent games to determine whether Powe is consistent or inconsistent?