Powell Injury (Update 3/1)

[ellitor 33,093]

5 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

On the court at the game.

Thanks! Haven't watched it yet. I do security & my post is not on the court.

[Sani-Freeze 552]

On 2/18/2021 at 2:07 PM, AuburnNTexas said:

That play on the hit also showed what an all round player Powell is he went to the Corner for a three which forced a man to come at him hard so he drove in and make a great pass to Thor for what should have been an easy basket and was backing out to be in a position to reset or play D. Man what bad luck and a freaky way to get injured.

I should let it go but I keep thinking about this. Only Auburn bball could have its worst player butt heads with its best player, and of course the first guy is unscathed but the second guy has a skull fracture. I mean it's just unbelievable.

Just in the past 4 years, we've had the Person debacle, the resulting depleted roster and suspensions, McLemore's injury, Chuma's injury, the double dribble. Now this. There seriously has to be some sort of a curse. I want to get excited about the talent coming back next year, but then I realize there is some new cruel gut punch awaiting us next winter. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

On 2/18/2021 at 8:25 PM, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Am I tripping or did Powell also have a fall from mid air earlier this season? 

I am totally confused by this video. I did see Powell fall and hit the floor. I thought that was when the injury occurred. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

On 2/20/2021 at 8:25 PM, ellitor said:

@tgrogan21Supposedly caused the concussion. The Stretch hit later supposedly caused the skull fracture.

Ok thanks for clearing up that confusion. I never saw the skull fracture injury. What a bizarre set of circumstances. Poor kid.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,666]

19 hours ago, Sani-Freeze said:

I should let it go but I keep thinking about this. Only Auburn bball could have its worst player butt heads with its best player, and of course the first guy is unscathed but the second guy has a skull fracture. I mean it's just unbelievable.

Just in the past 4 years, we've had the Person debacle, the resulting depleted roster and suspensions, McLemore's injury, Chuma's injury, the double dribble. Now this. There seriously has to be some sort of a curse. I want to get excited about the talent coming back next year, but then I realize there is some new cruel gut punch awaiting us next winter. 

pretty sure every all time great title run has had some horrible run of bad luck preceding it, at one point or another

[ellitor 33,093]

FWIW JGT said he won't play rest of the season, but he's back shooting and lifting weights. & not having migraines daily. Said Bruce said if AU was going to play deeper into March Powell could have returned. He's doing much better.

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

Just glad he is getting better. He’s the type that will use this fuel in the off-season. Let’s start fresh next year big fella 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,666]

maybe they'll lift the postseason ban in the next couple days and we can make a run at the NIT 

[GwillMac6 20,671]

1 hour ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

maybe they'll lift the postseason ban in the next couple days and we can make a run at the NIT 

We all know that is your favorite tournament and the one you put the most stock in!!! lol. DO NOT THINK any of us have forgotten that in the 2019 Final Four year your thoughts on the NIT........ Honestly the most knee jerk emotional reaction I have ever seen on this board. And I say this as someone who all the time makes emotional rash statements on here! lmao

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,666]

1 hour ago, GwillMac6 said:

We all know that is your favorite tournament and the one you put the most stock in!!! lol. DO NOT THINK any of us have forgotten that in the 2019 Final Four year your thoughts on the NIT........ Honestly the most knee jerk emotional reaction I have ever seen on this board. And I say this as someone who all the time makes emotional rash statements on here! lmao

I had to actually look up what you were referencing...yeah that was an interesting period! I think the losing streak we had in late Jan, Feb gave me memories of how we limped into the Clemson-Aub tourney game, and I just really never wanted that to happen again lolll

[cole256 17,059]

I'm glad he's still going to be able to play. Just saw a little so I can't accurately break him down yet. 

I will say what I'm worried about is people amping him up saying he's better than what he is then that leads to meltdowns and such.

And before anybody tries to do it I'm not saying he isn't good. I think he's good and I think he'd be a valuable player on a bunch of teams, and being he's one of the few on our team that can stretch the floor he's even more valuable to us. I'm just going off some very IMO high praise things said that I wouldn't go that far to say.

But we'll see eventually 🔮

[ellitor 33,093]

11 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I'm glad he's still going to be able to play. Just saw a little so I can't accurately break him down yet. 

I will say what I'm worried about is people amping him up saying he's better than what he is then that leads to meltdowns and such.

And before anybody tries to do it I'm not saying he isn't good. I think he's good and I think he'd be a valuable player on a bunch of teams, and being he's one of the few on our team that can stretch the floor he's even more valuable to us. I'm just going off some very IMO high praise things said that I wouldn't go that far to say.

But we'll see eventually 🔮

With all that said in his short time playing as a freshman he did out play his 3* ranking. From what I saw of him he was/is a 3 point specialist who can do a lot of other things solid to well.

[cole256 17,059]

2 minutes ago, ellitor said:

With all that said in his short time playing as a freshman he did out play his 3* ranking. From what I saw of him he was/is a 3 point specialist who can do a lot of other things solid to well.

I wouldn't say he outplayed it but I don't put as much stock in basketball rankings as I do football. Basketball to me is either this guy can play in the NBA now and well dominate guys in college and then everybody else.

In the short time I saw him he can shoot and that's super important for us. I can't call him a specialist yet he basically got hot in two games. All the other games he was ok. His mechanics and stuff I definitely think he's going to be a good shooter.

The most surprising thing about his game to me was his rebounding. He was very good at anticipating where shots were going off the rim. If this is something that he can be consistent at this will be very big as far as helping us push tempo and giving ourselves transition points.

He's a decent ball handler but he shouldn't ever be a point. He can give a point a break or a short period to free up the point but he wasn't as good at it as people were saying. He wasn't comfortable when pressed and he produced a bunch of turnovers too, against good teams.

He pretty much did what coop did as far as before he was scouted by the in conference people he ate them up. And he played much better against the less talented teams of course. 

His thing coming back next year will be to improve decision making and being able to create separation against the good athletes. Being able to pull up off the dribble because that will be his scouting report, to run him off the 3 point line and make him put it on the floor.....

The good thing about that is when they run him off the line that creates the spacing I talked about earlier. Coop's scouting report will be just the opposite and that is what will make us very good, they will make up each other weaknesses and that will be confusing for teams to prep for.

[AuburnNTexas 7,143]

On 3/2/2021 at 12:46 PM, cole256 said:

I wouldn't say he outplayed it but I don't put as much stock in basketball rankings as I do football. Basketball to me is either this guy can play in the NBA now and well dominate guys in college and then everybody else.

In the short time I saw him he can shoot and that's super important for us. I can't call him a specialist yet he basically got hot in two games. All the other games he was ok. His mechanics and stuff I definitely think he's going to be a good shooter.

The most surprising thing about his game to me was his rebounding. He was very good at anticipating where shots were going off the rim. If this is something that he can be consistent at this will be very big as far as helping us push tempo and giving ourselves transition points.

He's a decent ball handler but he shouldn't ever be a point. He can give a point a break or a short period to free up the point but he wasn't as good at it as people were saying. He wasn't comfortable when pressed and he produced a bunch of turnovers too, against good teams.

He pretty much did what coop did as far as before he was scouted by the in conference people he ate them up. And he played much better against the less talented teams of course. 

His thing coming back next year will be to improve decision making and being able to create separation against the good athletes. Being able to pull up off the dribble because that will be his scouting report, to run him off the 3 point line and make him put it on the floor.....

The good thing about that is when they run him off the line that creates the spacing I talked about earlier. Coop's scouting report will be just the opposite and that is what will make us very good, they will make up each other weaknesses and that will be confusing for teams to prep for.

I was a Powell fan when we signed him. I thought he would be better then his rating.  As you said he has good form in his shooting which usually means he will be a good shooter, his timing on the boards was very good and he was adequate as a PG.  The point you make about he and Cooper complimenting each other is on the mark.  He has good vision and will find the open man especially if not being forced to play PG for long stretches.

One thing I noticed in his HS highlights and in his games at Auburn he takes advantage of when people rush at him when he is at the three with a good shot fake and a quick step from there he does one of three things goes to the rack and shoots, goes to the rack and passes or pulls up and hits a short jump shot. He is quick but not elite quick so he makes up for it with the pump shot or the fake pass to get the step on his opponent. He won't be an All star but he will be a great compliment player who if he really develops into a pure shooter could have an NBA career.  

[Sani-Freeze 552]

On 3/2/2021 at 1:46 PM, cole256 said:

I wouldn't say he outplayed it but I don't put as much stock in basketball rankings as I do football. Basketball to me is either this guy can play in the NBA now and well dominate guys in college and then everybody else.

In the short time I saw him he can shoot and that's super important for us. I can't call him a specialist yet he basically got hot in two games. All the other games he was ok. His mechanics and stuff I definitely think he's going to be a good shooter.

The most surprising thing about his game to me was his rebounding. He was very good at anticipating where shots were going off the rim. If this is something that he can be consistent at this will be very big as far as helping us push tempo and giving ourselves transition points.

He's a decent ball handler but he shouldn't ever be a point. He can give a point a break or a short period to free up the point but he wasn't as good at it as people were saying. He wasn't comfortable when pressed and he produced a bunch of turnovers too, against good teams.

He pretty much did what coop did as far as before he was scouted by the in conference people he ate them up. And he played much better against the less talented teams of course. 

His thing coming back next year will be to improve decision making and being able to create separation against the good athletes. Being able to pull up off the dribble because that will be his scouting report, to run him off the 3 point line and make him put it on the floor.....

The good thing about that is when they run him off the line that creates the spacing I talked about earlier. Coop's scouting report will be just the opposite and that is what will make us very good, they will make up each other weaknesses and that will be confusing for teams to prep for.

Part of what impressed me so much is that he did all those things you mentioned while playing out of position. Which indicates he has a good attitude and is a team player, in addition to the hustle, good mechanics and good size for a guard. I'm stating the bloody obvious here but I just wish we could've seen he and Cooper in at the same time. Maybe we will in November...

[AuburnNTexas 7,143]

Now that the season is over we probably won't see much on this issue. But if somebody does get some information on Powell and how he is doing please pass it along. I am more interested in his long term health as opposed to if he will play again. His health has to come before basketball.

[triangletiger 1,599]

On 3/2/2021 at 1:11 PM, cole256 said:

AI'm glad he's still going to be able to play. Just saw a little so I can't accurately break him down yet. 

I will say what I'm worried about is people amping him up saying he's better than what he is then that leads to meltdowns and such.

And before anybody tries to do it I'm not saying he isn't good. I think he's good and I think he'd be a valuable player on a bunch of teams, and being he's one of the few on our team that can stretch the floor he's even more valuable to us. I'm just going off some very IMO high praise things said that I wouldn't go that far to say.

But we'll see eventually 🔮

I think that’s a very good point.  He’s still pretty inexperienced at this level, and he’s coming back from a very serious injury (albeit with an offseason between to recover and get his game back), so it may take him some to even get back to where he was when the injury occurred.  It will be nice to see him playing his natural position without having to play the point.  I don’t know if it’s his height or what,  but I was always a little nervous watching him dribble into the pressure - afraid that he was going to lose the ball.  He was generally better at protecting it than I would have thought.  Thor is kind of the same way.  They look a bit awkward dribbling to me, but are better ball handlers than I would have thought.

[cole256 17,059]

1 hour ago, triangletiger said:

I think that’s a very good point.  He’s still pretty inexperienced at this level, and he’s coming back from a very serious injury (albeit with an offseason between to recover and get his game back), so it may take him some to even get back to where he was when the injury occurred.  It will be nice to see him playing his natural position without having to play the point.  I don’t know if it’s his height or what,  but I was always a little nervous watching him dribble into the pressure - afraid that he was going to lose the ball.  He was generally better at protecting it than I would have thought.  Thor is kind of the same way.  They look a bit awkward dribbling to me, but are better ball handlers than I would have thought.

Yes. And I feel many just looked at some stats and didn't take in account who we were playing. Once again not saying he's not talented or anything like that but even the game against Memphis where he shot the ball excellent I might add, you wouldn't come away from that film saying he can play point. He should be viewed as an emergency guy but when he was pressured, especially full court pressure, he would really have to slow down and put his back to the defender. It was shaky and if he had continued they would have scouted him and be all over that. Probably push him to his weak hand and sit on top of his cross over to force the ball to stay in the weak hand. 

If you can find a box score that kept tally he would commit a BUNCH of turn overs as well. Then you have the game against gonzaga where everybody but flanningan was was scared (which is why I be so confused everybody being all over him but so quick to praise coop, Powell and the others)

Really need to wait before we crown people. We already sort of saw this season how people will implode because of unreal expectations. 

And once again I'm not saying Powell isn't good I'm talking about comments like we need Powell back because he's the only person with a high IQ or just him coming back supposed to save the day in general.....as if he's like ja morant was to his team. That's not the case. The case is he'll add to the summation of parts that's needed from EVERYBODY. He's not effecting the game in a bunch of different ways; carry the team good. Nobody on the team is that good yet.

[casatiger 513]

We need guys that can consistently hit the three.  I think he does that better than anyone on the roster and especially in his natural position.  

[autan 737]

I'm old school but College BB is crazy when a kid has a couple of excellent games playing for a mediocre at best team and people say he's ready for NBA and needs to check the waters. Seems more talk about draft stock than helping the team win championships. I guess that's true about all the sports now, but basketball is affected more with so few scholarship players and less depth.  I was hopeful that the one and done fad would be fading.

[tgrogan21 6,198]

6 hours ago, autan said:

I'm old school but College BB is crazy when a kid has a couple of excellent games playing for a mediocre at best team and people say he's ready for NBA and needs to check the waters. Seems more talk about draft stock than helping the team win championships. I guess that's true about all the sports now, but basketball is affected more with so few scholarship players and less depth.  I was hopeful that the one and done fad would be fading.

There's absolutely no downside to getting evaluated. You can hear from scouts what you need to work on and still come back. If you have serious NBA aspirations, you would be a fool to not do it. As long as the NCAA refuses to pay the players for their talents, these kids should do whatever it takes to get better and leave for the NBA before a serious injury. Don't blame the kids for wanting to try to reach their goals of playing professionally. Blame the NCAA for screwing them over year after year.

[toddc 13,194]

12 hours ago, cole256 said:

I'm talking about comments like we need Powell back because he's the only person with a high IQ or just him coming back supposed to save the day in general.

People actually said this? I don’t remember anyone saying this, but maybe you were being hyperbolic. I do agree Powell is a great part of the whole, but will never be “the” guy. Hopefully he’s one of the guys that will play 3-4 years and be a leader. I hope Auburn has a couple of one and done guys each year, with some 3-4 year players who give you continuity and leadership. That’s our best chance to get back to the sweet 16 or final 4 in my opinion.

[autan 737]

Excuse me, but I did not blame a kid. People (talking heads) if there is a blame. Tired of the blame game.

[tgrogan21 6,198]

12 minutes ago, autan said:

Excuse me, but I did not blame a kid. People (talking heads) if there is a blame. Tired of the blame game.

You might not have said it in so many words but your entire post implied that you believe what these kids are doing is wrong. You wish the one and done fad was over. You wish players would stay at college rather than test the waters. And again, it makes absolutely no sense NOT to test the waters of the draft at least not in basketball since you can get your evaluation. You can then ee what the professional scouts say you need to work on and then decide if you want to take a shot at the draft or come back to work on those things.

Every player that puts a jersey on their back in college has aspirations to play in the NBA and they should do whatever they can to make those goals a reality even if it means leaving after one season. There's a reason why even Coach Pearl has pushed players to leave if they're a first round pick or at least test the waters. Money and your health aren't guarantees so why put an extra year of risk on your health to make no money? Get that money when you can and screw the NCAA.

 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

On 3/1/2021 at 2:52 PM, ellitor said:

FWIW JGT said he won't play rest of the season, but he's back shooting and lifting weights. & not having migraines daily. Said Bruce said if AU was going to play deeper into March Powell could have returned. He's doing much better.

That's really good news. I'm glad for Powell's sake that he's getting some extra time to heal.