Chris Taft, Version II, that is. Ladies and gentleman, allow me to introduce you to the NEW #21: Josh Powell.

In Powell's debut in a Warriors uniform, the kid displayed all the characteristics of our former 2nd round pick (all except the injuries, that is). Powell was a physical defender, a hustler down the floor, and a tough rebounder, who looked as though he could shove himself into the rotation with his mix of size and work ethic.

Last season, everybody knew that Chris Taft was a better athlete than Ike Diogu (even though Ike was clearly head-and-shoulders higher in skills). Had Taft never been cursed with an injury-prone-structure, it might not be a stretch to assume the athletic big would have surely found a role in the new Don Nelson system (that also unleashed Andris Biedrins). Unfortunately, Taft only flashed enforcer-style brilliance a couple times last season before back spasms ended his run with the Warriors.

According to the books, Taft is an inch taller and 35 pounds heavier than Powell. On the floor, however, Powell didn't look any smaller than what I remembered Chris Taft looking like. Plus, he brought Taft's same sort of enforcer feel to him. In my opinion, Nelson will toy around with Powell in practice, slowly increasing his minutes, until he gets a solid 12-15 MPG off the bench. He seems to be a situational player; a solid rebounder, capable of defending bigger opponents.

So, gentleman of the board... what do you think? Will Josh Powell chistle a role into Nelson's system or will he fall through the cracks?

I think there'll be a role for him. We're awfully low on big men right now. Al is a mix between a pf and an sf and not too much of a presence inside on defense.

I don't see him getting 15 minutes a game with all the other forwards... but 5, 10 minutes absolute max seems likely, and soon. I like this guy coming off the bench.

I was looking for the "Not gonna get enough minutes because too many better players in front of him" option, so went with he has no talent....compared to everyone who is gonna minutes before him.

Maybe in a couple years, but right now he's gonna be riding the pine.

Looks good but no minutes available to see if he has "talent" to to be a starter/6th man on this squad.

Yeah, Powell did remind me a lot of Taft. At first, I was like, "Hey I didn't know Chris Taft returned!" But then I remember about the trade and all. Nelson has always found the good in the players not known. Such as Azubuike. Look at what he's done since arriving. Powell could become that type of player. A good contributer that suprises us all. What I like about Powell is that not only is he a good defensive player, but he's a good offensive rebounder. The Warriors are just terrible rebounding the ball, they rank last in the league when I last heard.

John Patrick wrote:I don't see him getting 15 minutes a game with all the other forwards... but 5, 10 minutes absolute max seems likely, and soon. I like this guy coming off the bench.

yo, all the other forwards? The Warriors don't have many big men, yes Al and Stephen have clogged the lineup a bit, but thats a good thing. But Powell as we saw is a big man, Al won't be playing 48 mins. And Powell def won't be seeing much SF in place of Jackson, since I dont Nellie impletmenting "Big Ball" anytime soon. Powell is indeed alot like Taft, which is great, because Taft showed the raw skills of a big man which is exactly what Powell is, raw.

But back to the "overloaded" Forward spots the Warriors have. At Center there is only Andris and Adonal (who only played 4 mins all in the first quarter i believe Monday against the Lakers), and if you noticed, Powell played Center (12 mins)when he played and he def stood out, unlike prospect Patrick O'Bryant who hasn't made as much noise all season as Powell did in 12 minutes. There really isn't anyone else in the Front Court for the Warriors to play.

So when I read things that the Warriors may make one more move for a big man, I think they are tryin to see what they have in this Powell kid because with such a run and gun offense rotating all those Guard/Forwards would keep them fresh and healthy throughout the rest of the season.

Squalldip wrote:

John Patrick wrote:I don't see him getting 15 minutes a game with all the other forwards... but 5, 10 minutes absolute max seems likely, and soon. I like this guy coming off the bench.

yo, all the other forwards? The Warriors don't have many big men, yes Al and Stephen have clogged the lineup a bit, but thats a good thing. But Powell as we saw is a big man, Al won't be playing 48 mins. And Powell def won't be seeing much SF in place of Jackson, since I dont Nellie impletmenting "Big Ball" anytime soon. Powell is indeed alot like Taft, which is great, because Taft showed the raw skills of a big man which is exactly what Powell is, raw.

But back to the "overloaded" Forward spots the Warriors have. At Center there is only Andris and Adonal (who only played 4 mins all in the first quarter i believe Monday against the Lakers), and if you noticed, Powell played Center (12 mins)when he played and he def stood out, unlike prospect Patrick O'Bryant who hasn't made as much noise all season as Powell did in 12 minutes. There really isn't anyone else in the Front Court for the Warriors to play.

So when I read things that the Warriors may make one more move for a big man, I think they are tryin to see what they have in this Powell kid because with such a run and gun offense rotating all those Guard/Forwards would keep them fresh and healthy throughout the rest of the season.

welcome to the board, squalldip and nice first post. I think it is too early to draw any conclusions on Josh. He looked good in the few minutes he played on Saturday.

Powell has played well in the summer leagues, but has never done anything remarkable in the NBA...

I think he's gonna stick around til the end of the season, although I can't see him playing much unless he beats Foyle for the backup center position.

TMC wrote:Powell has played well in the summer leagues, but has never done anything remarkable in the NBA...

I think he's gonna stick around til the end of the season, although I can't see him playing much unless he beats Foyle for the backup center position.

And we all know how hard that is.

#32 wrote:

TMC wrote:Powell has played well in the summer leagues, but has never done anything remarkable in the NBA...

I think he's gonna stick around til the end of the season, although I can't see him playing much unless he beats Foyle for the backup center position.

And we all know how hard that is.

Yeah, well. I didn't express my point too well. It's more like... are we sure he can play center?. He looks more like a PF to me...

Me too. But "power forward" to most people is "center" to Nelly.

#32 wrote:Me too. But "power forward" to most people is "center" to Nelly.

Oh, I see. In that case...

As long as he goes out there and rebounds and plays D, he'll get some time.

How about last night, against the Bobcats?

I know homeboy got a little tired in the 4th, but the Bobcats interior isn't soft. Okafor, Ely, and Brezec are all tough to put a body on. And Powell logged 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 swats, 1 steal, and 1 assist in 28 minutes (half of which were real, competitive minutes... half were garbage time).

Big man's FG% fell off when he got tired (he missed a few open ones in the 4th due to fatigue), but he went 5 for 6 from the line and kept rebounding and defending fiercely.

I know one of this forum's favorite buzz phrases is that "Nelson doesn't like big men in the post!!!!", but Josh Powell seems like he's gonna force himself into the rotation with play like this.

Nice night, kid. Hope to see more of you!

Yep, Powell played a good game against the Bobcats. In fact, I'm pretty sure he did more in that game than McLeod in the whole season (I'm comparing him to McLeod as those two were the two worst players included in the trade, even tho their positions are completely different)

Given how short on bodies inside we are, the kid may have a chance to get minutes if he keeps playing like that.