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Maybe the answer lay more in the last part of the quote Inziladun posted:
"but anyway I think [Saruman] has not got much grit, not much plain courage alone in a tight place without a lot of slaves and machines and things, if you know what I mean. Very different from old Gandalf."
Saruman might have powers similar to Gandalf but he doesn't have the nerve for it. When faced with the Ents or even the hypothetical Balrog, he'd much rather hide up safe somewhere and deploy his weapons and minions instead.
I mean, look at Morgoth. Diminished as he was, his fight with Fingolfin shows he still possessed amazing power by the reckoning of lesser beings. He could have easily faced down and defeated almost any opponent. However he preferred to stay deep in Angband where no foe could get to him.
Tolkien seem to like to portray the "Power Hungry" villains as ultimately being cowards. Actually, not sure if Sauron was one.
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