The things discussed on this board on game thread after game thread all go back to Cuban.
Kidd is now getting blamed just like RC was.
If Kidd gets fired tomorrow is Luka going to stop jacking up bad shots? He wasn’t listening much to RC either.
If Kidd is gone tomorrow, will Wood get more minutes? If the offense is run through him and Luka will Luka like it?
The real issue is Luka, as talented as he is, was given the keys too early. From day 1 when they got him, the goal should not have been to find a next stud next to him, but to find a veteran calming PG that Luka would have no choice but to defer to. PG3, Dragic, Lowry,…someone like that. You can blame Kidd or RC but Luka knows he holds the keys and won’t listen to any coach. What will make him change is an on court leader who he would have to clearly respect based on his talent and experience.
The bigger issue is that mgmt seems to not realize how big a deal this is. Plus who is the one making the decisions? If Kidd indeed is the GM behind the scenes and didn’t want Dragic, then again it is on Cuban for hiring a total neophyte like Nico. When you are lucky to have a generational talent fall into your laps, you don’t hire a GM to learn on the job.
So we can talk about Wood getting flipped, wonder if Kidd called the last play or Luka overruled him, wonder why Wood does not get minutes, who gave McGee that deal..etc. Until Cuban starts running this franchise with the seriousness it deserves, we are wasting our breaths blaming the players or coaches. Nothing will change.
Id bring in Lebron if he was gettable. Luka would have to stand down. Two great basketball minds on the same team. Lebron fills a front court need. LeBron is probably buy low if gettable lol.
Luka is not deferring to anyone else, imo. Luka and LeBron mandatory end of quarter step back 3s would be insufferable though. Both are the worse committers to this crime in the league.
I think Luka respected Brunson. Brunson has that old school gritty toughness and game face on all the time. That loss also was a much bigger loss than most fans realize. Is Brunson the perfect running mate? No. A guy with handles and length who can defend would be. However what last year showed is that you can still get far as long as Luka has others he trusts to pass the rock to and let them do their own thing.
So I am not expecting Bron or some other great player. Just a tough guy who will back up that toughness with game on the court that Luka will have to respect. Maybe Brunson doesn’t get us over the line but a player like that at a minimum is always needed. We can think of upgrade later. Man it still frustrates me so much that we just let someone like that walk away for nothing.
(11-21-2022, 09:43 AM)hakeemfaan Wrote: [ -> ]all go back to Cuban
Sure, the buck will always ultimately stop with Cuban. He is the owner, ownership always has to answer for everything.
BUT...
1) Cuban has hired a GM.
2) Cuban has hired a coach.
Nico and Kidd need to figure this out themselves and be given the chance to figure this out themselves. It is not healthy ownership if you are expecting Cuban to micromanage his GM and coach (hell, we should want nothing of that!).
Kidd needs to stay in his lane AND he needs to do what is best for winning.
Nico needs to exercise authority over the whole operation and make sure that Kidd is staying in his lane.
If Nico and Kidd are incompetent THEN yes Cuban needs to step in and fire them and hire competent leadership to replace them. We sure as hell do not want Cuban doing the jobs that Nico and Kidd are SUPPOSED to be doing.
(11-21-2022, 10:38 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]Sure, the buck will always ultimately stop with Cuban. He is the owner, ownership always has to answer for everything.
BUT...
1) Cuban has hired a GM.
2) Cuban has hired a coach.
Nico and Kidd need to figure this out themselves and be given the chance to figure this out themselves. It is not healthy ownership if you are expecting Cuban to micromanage his GM and coach (hell, we should want nothing of that!).
Kidd needs to stay in his lane AND he needs to do what is best for winning.
Nico needs to exercise authority over the whole operation and make sure that Kidd is staying in his lane.
If Nico and Kidd are incompetent THEN yes Cuban needs to step in and fire them and hire competent leadership to replace them. We sure as hell do not want Cuban doing the jobs that Nico and Kidd are SUPPOSED to be doing.
You are missing the point.
He hired a GM to learn on the job when he has a generational alent who is ready to win now.
Everything else you have written about becomes irrelevant once you really grasp the above point. I am not asking Cuban to step in and do anything now. I am saying it was not the right hire and you or others railing about the coach are missing what the core issue is here.
(11-21-2022, 10:49 AM)hakeemfaan Wrote: [ -> ]You are missing the point.
He hired a GM to learn on the job when he has a generational alent who is ready to win now.
Everything else you have written about becomes irrelevant once you really grasp the above point. I am not asking Cuban to step in and do anything now. I am saying it was not the right hire and you or others railing about the coach are missing what the core issue is here.
I do agree with your take. Wrong time. It may work out...but the point still stands...it was not a good move given the Luka situation.
(11-21-2022, 10:49 AM)hakeemfaan Wrote: [ -> ]He hired a GM to learn on the job when he has a generational alent who is ready to win now.
I get this. Nico had no experience and is learning alongside Finley as he goes. Was that a dumb decision? It might have been. It might not have been. I frankly don't KNOW.
Maybe the dumb decision was hiring Kidd. Maybe Kidd is doing what he has done at his other coaching stops. Maybe this really has nothing to do with Nico (other than a coach running wild underneath him) and if there was a different coach in place it would be better.
I personally don't trust ANY of the leadership at the moment.
But I feel like you are missing my overall point.
Cuban has two options right NOW (he cannot undo the past):
1) Empower Nico to do his job and fix the current situation.
OR
2) Fire Nico and hire someone who can do a better job.
And yes, someone can sit there and hope Cuban sells the team, but to me that is a waste of hope.
P.S. The reason I and others are complaining about Kidd is because we do not like the coaching decisions we are seeing on a nightly basis. Cuban is not making those decisions that I vehemently disagree with and that I see costing the team wins. Sure, Cuban is the one who hired Kidd, and as soon as I think there is no more hope for Kidd to change or prove me wrong, then I will complain about Cuban not firing Kidd. But right now firing Kidd is not a realistic option. But empowering Nico to put Kidd in his place IS an option.
Cuban will never criticize Luka...his goal is to try to become buddies with him like Chandler Parsons and that will help convince Luka to remain a Mav for his entire career no matter how bad the talent is around him. They will market him and try to get him to win as many MVPs as possible, that will be their equivalent of a championship.
I expect Cuban to add a Luka statue in a few years while he's still playing
(11-21-2022, 11:01 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]I get this. Nico had no experience and is learning alongside Finley as he goes. Was that a dumb decision? It might have been. It might not have been. I frankly don't KNOW.
Maybe the dumb decision was hiring Kidd. Maybe Kidd is doing what he has done at his other coaching stops. Maybe this really has nothing to do with Nico (other than a coach running wild underneath him) and if there was a different coach in place it would be better.
I personally don't trust ANY of the leadership at the moment.
But I feel like you are missing my overall point.
Cuban has two options right NOW (he cannot undo the past):
1) Empower Nico to do his job and fix the current situation.
OR
2) Fire Nico and hire someone who can do a better job.
And yes, someone can sit there and hope Cuban sells the team, but to me that is a waste of hope.
P.S. The reason I and others are complaining about Kidd is because we do not like the coaching decisions we are seeing on a nightly basis. Cuban is not making those decisions that I vehemently disagree with and that I see costing the team wins. Sure, Cuban is the one who hired Kidd, and as soon as I think there is no more hope for Kidd to change or prove me wrong, then I will complain about Cuban not firing Kidd. But right now firing Kidd is not a realistic option. But empowering Nico to put Kidd in his place IS an option.
You and I had the same complaints about RC. Now it is Kidd. At least when I read about what was going on behind the scenes during RC’s final days, I realized where the core issue was. It was not with the coach.
We have threads that talk about how bad Bullock and Dinwiddie really are. We have a weak front line. We have a talent who lost his backcourt mate he trusts and dances to his own tune. We don’t know who is calling the shots on key personnel decisions Yet we blame the coach? When there is no clear talent hierarchy all of us can become great armchair coaches and say that this guy should have got more minutes. It is easy to say but the real issue is the talent level after Luka is so middling that any of us can say whatever we want and not be completely wrong. When it comes to Wood he is 27 and has been through many teams. Kidd last year and this year has given plenty of chances to Green who has plenty of flaws himself. So do you really think Kidd is not using Wood because he has some flaws? Maybe Wood doesn’t listen very well which is why he has had many stops in his career despite his offensive talent.
I trust Kidd more than I trust Nico or Cuban right now. This is not an endorsement of Kidd as a coach. This is just showing how bad the situation is and where the blame needs to start with.
Cuban could just open his pocket. That would fix most problems. Or stop running the franchise the way he used to do it when he was still willing to pay luxury tax. If he wants to go for big name free agents and blockbuster trades he needs to put his money where is mouth is.
If he isn´t willing to do that or simply cannot compete with the Warriors or Clippers that´s okay but it needs to go along with a change of strategy. Less LA/NY like mentality. More Grizzlies/Spurs.
(11-21-2022, 11:18 AM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: [ -> ]If he wants to go for big name free agents and blockbuster trades he needs to put his money where is mouth is.
If he isn´t willing to do that or simply cannot compete with the Warriors or Clippers that´s okay but it needs to go along with a change of strategy. Less LA/NY like mentality. More Grizzlies/Spurs.
This is a fantastic post. Absolutely 100% agree with this. This is BY FAR the best and most legitimate criticism of Cuban I have seen, put very succinctly and simply.
This is what Cuban can control and this is his place. And he needs to be ALL IN on a coherent big picture strategy that reflects his ability to financially contribute.
(11-21-2022, 11:14 AM)hakeemfaan Wrote: [ -> ]We don’t know who is calling the shots on key personnel decisions Yet we blame the coach?
It has been reported that key roster decisions (like Dragic) were directly KIDD'S decisions. It is not speculation to say that Kidd has a lot of say and power over roster decisions.
Is it ALL Kidd? Probably not.....the Wood trade for instance seems to NOT have been Kidd's call.
But my biggest complaint about Kidd hasn't been roster decisions (though I do NOT like that), it has been his rotations and minute distributions. Could Wood be some terrible, uncoachable person behind the scenes? I guess its possible, but the way his TEAMMATES speak glowingly of him I do not think that is the issue at all. And we know JG is a good and ready soldier, yet he gets buried on the bench while other guys get lots of burn while contributing virtually nothing.
(11-21-2022, 11:26 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]This is a fantastic post. Absolutely 100% agree with this. This is BY FAR the best and most legitimate criticism of Cuban I have seen, put very succinctly and simply.
This is what Cuban can control and this is his place. And he needs to be ALL IN on a coherent big picture strategy that reflects his ability to financially contribute.
That's what I try to do: Look for Prada, Ralph Lauren and Gucci at Texas Thrift.
(11-21-2022, 11:32 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]It has been reported that key roster decisions (like Dragic) were directly KIDD'S decisions. It is not speculation to say that Kidd has a lot of say and power over roster decisions.
Is it ALL Kidd? Probably not.....the Wood trade for instance seems to NOT have been Kidd's call.
But my biggest complaint about Kidd hasn't been roster decisions (though I do NOT like that), it has been his rotations and minute distributions. Could Wood be some terrible, uncoachable person behind the scenes? I guess its possible, but the way his TEAMMATES speak glowingly of him I do not think that is the issue at all. And we know JG is a good and ready soldier, yet he gets buried on the bench while other guys get lots of burn while contributing virtually nothing.
Kamm. If Kidd has had a say in key personnel decisions it is Cubans fault for not hiring an experienced GM who can tell a coach to stay in his lane. Do we even know what sort of authority Nico has over Kidd? Both were hired at the same time. Where do you think the clear blame lies here with? It is not just that the buck eventually stops with Cuban. It is completely his fault if this is happening since the same thing happened with the previous regime and Cuban not clearly explaining roles and boundaries. So if he immediately turns around and lets it happen with the next regime, I put 0 % of that on Kidd.
On Wood, as I said why do you think Kidd won’t play him? At least with RC you knew he sometimes could be hardheaded when it came to certain players. Kidd is playing even Josh Green. Wood, no matter what you say his teammates say, has never stuck long in any place and go check his profile on how many stops he has had. Kidd knows Luka won’t listen to him. At least he can try some things with the other players. What leverage does a coach have other than minutes?
Again my thing in all this not to say Kidd is a great coach There are many other core issues that I see with this team that needs to be addressed before we get to the coach. First and foremost is the owner.
Mavs are bad. Mavs are not even a joke, it is worse. They are dysfunctional. And I said two summers ago - the only way to show the league that you are serious about cleaning the dysfunctions is to hire a name so big, that no one would doubt otherwise. Someone like Masai, Ainge or similar. But Cuban hired a nobody and everything stayed exactly the same. Cuban still has his circle of trust that he listens to and he makes the final decision. Only the names have changed a bit. He might choose to listen to Nico for a while, but who knows how long that will last.
Cuban is also last person to set an example to a young man growing up what controlled and responsible behaviour looks like. He is acting like a fan with his blinds on, often behaving like a child, so go figure why Luka can't figure it out what is right and what is wrong. Who is the one person on Mavs that has a huge history of complaining about the refs? A serious GM would start by removing Cuban from the bench midgame - he has nothing to do there. I totally agree Luka needs a serious figure he will respect and listen to. That is why I was very much in favour of Lowry - despite some of his limitations and his age. His leadership could be invaluable, he could be our CP3. People arfe expecting that a 20 something guy will be the most mature man on the team. Not going to happen.
I don't believe Luka would actively sabotage a play. I find it far more likely the play is simply give the ball to Luka and lets hope he can do something. Look at the last play, there was never a plan to do anything else but pass the ball to Luka. No screens for any other guy to become wide open. No movement from other guys, just watching Luka. Bertans was in one corner, Bullock in the other one, both checked. Green was setting a screen for Luka than ran to the same corner Bullock was in allowing Hyland to check DFS. Luka received ball nearly halfcourt. He could try driving against two defenders and it would very likely not be enough time for a pass and shot or he would have to try a very heavily guarded midranger. So he decided to just hoist a three.
And as a final word - losing Brunson was the ultimate sign for me, that Mavs are not capable of building a contender. If you allow yourself to get to a situation where the only option is to pay the guy, you do it. Unless money is more important than winning.
(11-21-2022, 11:14 AM)hakeemfaan Wrote: [ -> ]You and I had the same complaints about RC. Now it is Kidd.
I never complained once about RC. Not once. I wish he was STILL the coach here.
Kidd, on the other hand...I don't want to overreact, because I didn't like the job he was doing at this time last season and that turned out great, but let's just say I'm not a huge fan of how he's approaching the job.
(11-21-2022, 12:07 PM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]And as a final word - losing Brunson was the ultimate sign for me, that Mavs are not capable of building a contender. If you allow yourself to get to a situation where the only option is to pay the guy, you do it. Unless money is more important than winning.
I have to say, of all the things that have happened over the years, I was pretty surprised by how fast fans convinced themselves this wasn't such a big deal. Shocked, actually. This was a disaster, for so many reasons.
(11-21-2022, 12:38 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]I have to say, of all the things that have happened over the years, I was pretty surprised by how fast fans convinced themselves this wasn't such a big deal. Shocked, actually. This was a disaster, for so many reasons.
Same! And to this day, some Mavs fans still try to convince themselves that it was for the best somehow.
(11-21-2022, 12:35 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]I never complained once about RC. Not once. I wish he was STILL the coach here.
Kidd, on the other hand...I don't want to overreact, because I didn't like the job he was doing at this time last season and that turned out great, but let's just say I'm not a huge fan of how he's approaching the job.
I just want to know why RC all of a sudden looks like a coach that is all about youth and player development. Why wasn´t he able/allowed to do the same in Dallas. Starting to think that plan powder wasn´t Rick´s choice. We also know that Donnie proposed various first round picks over the years (including Giannis) but in the end the Mavs traded most of them.
Leads me to the conlusion that the all out veteran and win now focus was mostly about Cuban. And as much as it hurts to say it. Also Dirk pushing for veteran help and/or a co-star.
(11-21-2022, 12:35 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Kidd, on the other hand...I don't want to overreact, because I didn't like the job he was doing at this time last season and that turned out great
Kidd was doing MUCH better as a coach at this time last year. Yes, the team struggled early to an extent but that was because the team wasn't making shots and Luka was out of shape and looked terrible. Last year my eyes told me to be patient and it would come around.
This year? Totally different. My eyes are telling me the results are direct result of coaching choices and not because of things coaches cannot control.