Sports Insider by Frank Coppola: Behold the power of Leon Powe

January 31, 2008

Behold the power of Leon Powe

If you're asking yourself, "Who the (expletive) is Leon Powe?" you might be a hockey fan. In which case, you need to join us in the 21st century, because hockey is so 1994.

Powe, you see, is a backup power forward on the 35-8, league-leading Boston Celtics (Gosh, that's nice to say). Now, we're not about to nominate Powe for the Hall of Fame or anything like that, although for my money he's the best 11th man off the bench in the NBA. Hell, maybe the history of the league!

Really, I like his game, and I'm here to defend his honor.

On the popular ESPN show "Pardon the Interruption" this week, the co-hosts were discussing the Celtics' 117-87 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday. Boston won by 30 points despite missing two of its Big Three (Kevin Garnett, abdominal strain; and Ray Allen, flu).

So the question was asked, are the rest of the Celtics actually good? And the talking heads each decided that there was less than a 5 percent chance that they are. (Of course, one of them was the increasingly unlikeable Dan LeBatard, whose "BAM!" shtick has grown older than dirt.)

Regardless, I think the rest of the Celtics are good, and in fact are a big reason why the team has the best record in the league halfway through the season. GM Danny Ainge did an underrated job in assembling this cast of role players, from Eddie House to James Posey to Big Baby Davis to Tony Allen to my man Leon Powe. All can spark the team in different ways coming off the bench and have done so all season long.

With Garnett and Ray Allen out on Tuesday, most assumed Paul Pierce would carry the offensive load. In the end, four Celtics players scored at least 20 points in the game, but Pierce wasn't one of them. He only scored seven points in fact, shooting 2-for-9 from the floor.

Now, I know the Heat were without Shaq Daddy and are in the midst of one of the worst free-falls in league history, but still ... a 30-point win with a combined seven points from the Big Three is quite impressive.

Powe (who else?) led the way with 25 points and 11 rebounds. House, Tony Allen and Rajon Rondo also scored over 20, for those keeping track.

It's tough to argue with the way Doc Rivers has been using his bench so far this season. Powe (shooting 62 percent from the floor, by the way) would probably have seen more court time this year were it not for the surprise success of Davis, who now looks like another draft-day steal by Ainge. (Honestly, who drafts better than Ainge right now? It's not a long list.)

Powe, who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds his final year at Cal, will likely struggle to get minutes the rest of the way. But it was nice to see him and Boston's other bench players get a moment in the spotlight on Tuesday after so much attention has (rightfully) been paid to the team's starters this season.

It's because of this depth and chemistry that Ainge is hesitant to bring in somebody like Damon Stoudamire to back up Rondo at the point.

Hey, who says Powe can't handle the rock? I'm just sayin'...

Frank Coppola is the assistant sports editor for Seacoast Media Group. He can be reached at fcoppola@seacoastonline.com.

Posted by Frank Coppola at January 31, 2008 03:45 PM

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