(10-20-2022, 12:31 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]This roster needs another big man if Kidd is going to not play McGee or DP or CW while only riding Maxi when it matters. If Kidd keeps this up and there are not roster adjustments the win potential of this team is going to tank.
Strange take as our best minutes after the TDL last season (especially defensively) were with Maxi as lone center, particularly in the playoffs. Maxi was sick last night and he played like it. I would not read too much into last night.
Regardless, its clear that Wood is one of our best players and will eventually get 30+ minutes a game and play down the stretch. I expect more often than not it will be a Wood/Maxi combo, but we know from last year that a healthy Maxi can hold his own as single big. We definitely don't need another big on this roster.
(10-20-2022, 07:48 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]I thought the Wood "lone big" minutes were fine!! Some of the best stretches of the game!
I thought the Kleber/Wood tandem was awkward and not at all as we hoped. Hopefully, it will improve with time.
Its the first game, and Maxi was sick and seemed to wear down (no question we should have had more Wood than Maxi in 4th qtr). I'm not a fan of small sample on/off, but it is interesting that the Wood/Maxi tandem played 17 minutes and were 127 off rating and 91 def rating for a net +36.
(10-20-2022, 12:39 PM)mvossman Wrote: [ -> ]healthy Maxi
This is my whole point.
1) I fear Maxi is starting a significant slide due to age.
2) He has never been durable.
3) He has never been able to play long minutes without wearing.
I am not saying "Maxi sucks" but I am saying you cannot "ride" Maxi and put so much on his shoulders. He will wear down, break down, and eventually age down.
(10-20-2022, 12:59 PM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]This is my whole point.
1) I fear Maxi is starting a significant slide due to age.
2) He has never been durable.
3) He has never been able to play long minutes without wearing.
I am not saying "Maxi sucks" but I am saying you cannot "ride" Maxi and put so much on his shoulders. He will wear down, break down, and eventually age down.
I agree that you need to treat Maxi with kid gloves, but I will need a lot more evidence than one game he almost missed due to illness that a 30 year old is starting a significant slide due to age. More worried about McGee falling off the cliff than Maxi.
(10-20-2022, 11:32 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: [ -> ]Man, I keep having a recurring thought on how much better I would like our lineup if you replaced Hardaway with a wing who could create and defend. I am not sure a big enough upgrade will present itself this year though so we will need to find a way to make Hardaway work. If it doesn't work, that will be a really tough pill to swallow.
I just envision a starting lineup of Luka, DFS, Bullock, Wing TBD and C (I will leave C generic for now). The wing acts like a secondary creator and allows Dinwiddie to go to the bench. Hopefully Green and Jaden develop and take some backup two guard minutes. A minimum third PG can be added for your 4th or 5th ball handler.
it is just tricky finding that type of wing. Maybe Gordon Hayward but I would really like to see him play for 30 games to see if he can stay healthy. Hornets may hold out for a Laker package with picks though if their season goes south. Ideally, I would like to use Hardaway plus future picks and swaps for a higher tier than Hayward, but these types of players are hard to find and/or get.
Yep. I would have loved to engineer a 3 team trade that sent out Timmy and brought in Conley. Most likely we will wait until at least next offseason when we can send out 4 first, 3 pick swaps and salary ballast (like Timmy) to bring in someone like Brown, SGA or Siakam.
(10-20-2022, 01:11 PM)mvossman Wrote: [ -> ]More worried about McGee falling off the cliff than Maxi.
Both are big concerns IMO, which is why I am suggesting the Mavs may need another big man if Kidd is not going to play CW close to 32-35 mins.
(10-20-2022, 01:17 PM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]Both are big concerns IMO, which is why I am suggesting the Mavs may need another big man if Kidd is not going to play CW close to 32-35 mins.
I could be wrong about any of this, but here's my thinking about last night.
1) I
don't think Kidd wants to play Wood/Kleber together to end most games. I think he wants to play one of them with DFS, Bullock, Dinwiddie and Luka.
2) I
think he's trying to give Kleber a sense of "it's your job to lose" with the closing minutes, and that he's not just going to
give that role to the new guy. That might frustrate us in the short term, but I can kind of see the logic, I guess. Kleber just got them to the WCF, has been here a while, and once Wood takes over they'll still need Kleber's head on straight about his role because he'll still be super important. I think Kidd might be taking baby steps here so as not to mess up the chemistry. It's probably already kind of messing with Kleber a little that he's not the first big off the bench anymore.
3) If Wood keeps playing as well as he did last night, I don't think this process will take long at all. All involved will understand soon what gives this team its best chance to win.
(10-20-2022, 01:41 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]1) I don't think Kidd wants to play Wood/Kleber together to end most games. I think he wants to play one of them with DFS, Bullock, Dinwiddie and Luka.
2) I think he's trying to give Kleber a sense of "it's your job to lose" with the closing minutes, and that he's not just going to give that role to the new guy. That might frustrate us in the short term, but I can kind of see the logic, I guess. Kleber just got them to the WCF, has been here a while, and once Wood takes over they'll still need Kleber's head on straight about his role because he'll still be super important. I think Kidd might be taking baby steps here so as not to mess up the chemistry. It's probably already kind of messing with Kleber a little that he's not the first big off the bench anymore.
3) If Wood keeps playing as well as he did last night, I don't think this process will take long at all. All involved will understand soon what gives this team its best chance to win.
1) I think that makes sense. I don't think the Mavs are deep enough to be playing lots of Maxi+CW. If one of them goes down, it is going to be painful potentially.
2) I definitely think the only thing that makes sense of last night's rotations is a culture and chemistry approach from Kidd (winning be damned for now).
3) CW not only needs to close, he needs to play as many minutes as Luka. And again, the Mavs certainly know WAY more than I do about CW's past and how this all needs to be handled. So I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and trust them. It just sucks seeing IMO the single most talented player Luka has ever gotten to play with, sitting there on the bench when the game is totally winnable.
Mavs not having the bigmen depth to play Maxi+CW together is more about McGee and Powell not being rotation level players. Before they can add another big both need to go. Problem is that one of them was promised the starter role. Impacting the front court rotation and making it hard to give Wood and/or Kleber starter minutes without long stretches with both of them on the court.
It´s a weird situation. With two guys that probably should be getting starter minutes in the playoffs on the bench.
I actually thought about the idea to have both of them in the starting five. Maybe move SD to the bench and just spam pick and roll. Do the one thing we always wanted to see from Luka and KP. Would also help to stagger SD´s and Luka´s minutes.
Luka
Bullock
DFS
Wood
Kleber
I mean, at the end of the day, here's what's getting lost:
The new-look Mavs were KILLING them last night until that awful 3rd quarter stretch. There is not a doubt in my mind that they're a better team than the Suns, which represents significant progression from where they started last season. Maybe not from where they ended, but there's a whole season ahead to keep improving.
Dinwiddie looked great at times, just like he did after the trade. That, alone, is reason to rejoice. He has been a difference-making player since coming here and if he keeps that up things are going to work out pretty well.
Wood, apparently, fits like a glove. I personally think he'll be at his BEST as a solo big once he's comfortable with everything/everyone, but either way, he is a difference-maker out there. Just like the player we thought Porzingis would be (but sadly was not), he's quick, fast, aggressive, can handle the ball, has tons of moves and frankly, the Suns had absolutely no answer for him out there.
Kleber will play better, I have no doubt of that. DFS will be huge again this season, of course. The Mavs need at least one of Bullock or THJ to get on track (hopefully both) and this thing is going to be scary to most opponents, imo.
The Mavs also have a THJ problem.
They NEED to play him so he has some value approaching the TDL. But playing him takes valuable minutes from better fitting and more impactful players.
In 16 mins last night Luka+THJ had an offensive rating of 111.1 and a defensive rating of 150.0 (net of -38.9). You absolutely cannot play the two of them together if they are not going to give better effort within the team defensive scheme.
(10-20-2022, 02:11 PM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]The Mavs also have a THJ problem.
They NEED to play him so he has some value approaching the TDL. But playing him takes valuable minutes from better fitting and more impactful players.
In 16 mins last night Luka+THJ had an offensive rating of 111.1 and a defensive rating of 150.0 (net of -38.9). You absolutely cannot play the two of them together if they are not going to give better effort within the team defensive scheme.
Cannot remember who it was but one of the coaches was praising THJ for his improved defense. Didn´t see any of it yesterday or in the preseason. To be fair. He wasn´t looking any worse than Bullock but that was more about Bullock looking completly off. Both need to offer a lot more.
(10-20-2022, 02:11 PM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]The Mavs also have a THJ problem.
The solution is shipping him off along with Powell to Utah for Conley.
(10-20-2022, 03:38 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]The solution is shipping him off along with Powell to Utah for Conley.
With a few more performances like last night and THJ might be untradeable.
THJ and Kidd were by far the worst parts of last night.
(10-20-2022, 02:11 PM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]The Mavs also have a THJ problem.
They NEED to play him so he has some value approaching the TDL. But playing him takes valuable minutes from better fitting and more impactful players.
In 16 mins last night Luka+THJ had an offensive rating of 111.1 and a defensive rating of 150.0 (net of -38.9). You absolutely cannot play the two of them together if they are not going to give better effort within the team defensive scheme.
THJ (and DB, to a slightly lesser degree) have the same problem on offense. They try to shoot off the pirouette. I know a quick release is emphasized in the NBA, but they shoot off the pirouette with nobody around them. And nobody can reliably shoot off the pirouette. If they'll just face the basket and shoot--their shooting percentages will go up--possibly dramatically.
On defense:
Bertans is better than he seems...and he puts out a lot of effort.
THJ is not so good on defense simply because he only cares about shooting. If he gets the ball you can pretty much bet that he's going to shoot 80% of the time. When he doesn't have the ball he forgets to defend--because he's waiting to shoot when he does get it. A conundrum...
Yeah...Kidd made some poor decisions and didn't react fast enough.
Christian Wood is the best player that Luka Doncic has ever played with. Best creator and best overall offensive player by a mile. Keep him on the bench, who starts doesn’t matter one bit(except to javale), but play him 35 mpg. Kidd will adjust and he will be closing games as soon as tomorrow
To me the "Hardaway problem" is less about him missing shots (he'll have plenty of games where he knocks down 6 or 7), it's that he takes so many shots away from Dorian and Bullock when he shares the floor with either of them and I'm not convinced he's a better shooter at all. Not a lot of talk after the opener about DFS barely getting up any shots despite playing the most minutes but I think Hardaway's return had a lot to do with that.
(10-21-2022, 12:23 PM)StrandedOnBeauboisHill Wrote: [ -> ]To me the "Hardaway problem" is less about him missing shots (he'll have plenty of games where he knocks down 6 or 7), it's that he takes so many shots away from Dorian and Bullock when he shares the floor with either of them and I'm not convinced he's a better shooter at all. Not a lot of talk after the opener about DFS barely getting up any shots despite playing the most minutes but I think Hardaway's return had a lot to do with that.
To be fair to Tim, he'll take shots that God King and Bullock will not. For better or worse, he's a much better creator in that regard. He's also better off the bounce. Related to that, decision making is a part of the Hardaway problem but the largest chunk of that problem is his defense.
(10-21-2022, 05:39 AM)ballsrchr Wrote: [ -> ]THJ (and DB, to a slightly lesser degree) have the same problem on offense. They try to shoot off the pirouette. I know a quick release is emphasized in the NBA, but they shoot off the pirouette with nobody around them. And nobody can reliably shoot off the pirouette. If they'll just face the basket and shoot--their shooting percentages will go up--possibly dramatically.
On defense:
Bertans is better than he seems...and he puts out a lot of effort.
THJ is not so good on defense simply because he only cares about shooting. If he gets the ball you can pretty much bet that he's going to shoot 80% of the time. When he doesn't have the ball he forgets to defend--because he's waiting to shoot when he does get it. A conundrum...
Yeah...Kidd made some poor decisions and didn't react fast enough.
THJ's defenders ignored the most egregious example of the problem with him as exposed by last year. Prior to his injury, THJ was the only Mav who hadn't bought in to Kidd's defensive philosophy. He just couldn't get it right, and was an anchor on our defensive ceiling. I watched the late-season games. SD, who has the reputation of being a lackadaisical defender, had bought in by his third game and was contributing decently on defense. To me, that's a withering indictment of THJ on that end of the court.
(10-21-2022, 12:30 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: [ -> ]THJ's defenders ignored the most egregious example of the problem with him as exposed by last year. Prior to his injury, THJ was the only Mav who hadn't bought in to Kidd's defensive philosophy. He just couldn't get it right, and was an anchor on our defensive ceiling. I watch the late games. SD, who has the reputation of being a lackadaisical defender, had bought in by his third game and was contributing decently on defense. To me, that's a withering indictment of THJ on that end of the court.
I'm not sure it's a matter of him not buying into it. He plays with a lot of energy and is often is great position initially but his presence is never felt and quickly gets blown by. I think he just really, really sucks at defense.