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If Wood does start, my goal if I was Luka would be to get him 10 points in the first quarter.  That would be my goal every game.

Also if Maxi does eventually start, I would be fine holding auditions on the backup center again.  Who plays better with Dinwiddie and the second unit.  Maybe it depends on the game but have thought Powell hasn’t separated himself the last few weeks.   McGee is going to be here for awhile so let’s see if he handles a bench role better.

Toronto has been banged up. Can't get a real read on how they would be if they were whole. But you can say that about numerous teams. Injuries are rampant this year.  Mavs should prevail, but Toronto is a tough place to play.

My prediction for the starting lineup is Luka - THJ - DFS - Wood - McGee

Kidd has to find a way to get THJ going, even if only to showcase him for a trade. Green’s day will come but I like him as a game changer and part of a high energy bench. 

McGee also gets the start. It will allow Wood to play his natural PF spot and open games with much needed size. 

Best of all Kleber can enter the game for McGee at the six minute mark. Then Powell can enter for Wood at nine minutes. That gets you maybe 18MPG of the magical Kleber-Powell pairing that always seems to work. 

Dinwiddie provides bench scoring and can close games if THJ isn’t making shots.

(11-26-2022, 11:52 AM)vfromlmf Wrote: [ -> ]My prediction for the starting lineup is Luka - THJ - DFS - Wood - McGee

Kidd has to find a way to get THJ going, even if only to showcase him for a trade. Green’s day will come but I like him as a game changer and part of a high energy bench. 

Replace McGee for Kleber and this is exactly the way I'd go if I were in his shoes. Totally agree about THJ. 

But, I thought I read that he wasn't ready to mess with the starting lineup yet? Maybe I just misinterpreted the tweet.

THJ should not get any minutes with guys needing to develop offensively.

(11-26-2022, 12:04 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Replace McGee for Kleber and this is exactly the way I'd go if I were in his shoes. Totally agree about THJ. 

But, I thought I read that he wasn't ready to mess with the starting lineup yet? Maybe I just misinterpreted the tweet.

This article was surprisingly glossed over on this board when it was posted. Feels like most just missed it.

https://twitter.com/dmn_mavericks/status...01696?s=46

Could be that Townsend misinterpreted Kidds words though…we’ll find out today.

If Kidd trots out the same starting lineup, that would be a shock to me.  Wood absolutely needs to start.  The question is will Wood be our starting PF or C?  I would also consider replacing Bullock with Green and bringing Dinwiddie off the bench.

My starting lineup:

Luka
Green
DFS
Kleber
Wood

Bench:

Dinwiddie
THJ
Bullock
Powell
McGee

That may be right - haven’t been keeping up with all the tweets. Plus Toronto doesn’t have a typical starting lineup so not a representative opponent. I expect to see Luka-THJ-DFS-Wood-McGee eventually though. 

Kleber can enter the game for McGee earlier if things aren’t going well. And obviously Kleber can close.

(11-26-2022, 12:18 PM)vfromlmf Wrote: [ -> ]Wood-McGee eventually though. 

What is it about this combo that you like? 

For me, this is the single worst pairing of any two players on the roster, but maybe I'm missing an angle.

(11-26-2022, 12:41 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]For me, this is the single worst pairing of any two players on the roster

That would be McGee/Powell

(11-26-2022, 12:43 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]That would be McGee/Powell

Offensively, yes. 

Defensively, I'm not so sure.

I think Wood-McGee needs to be given a shot. First of all, if you can turn McGee into a valuable contributor, that’s a big win. Wood is only 6’9” (with really long arms) but more importantly he only weighs about 210 — and that matters when games turn more physical. The ideal McGee brings size, physicality, solid screen setting etc. He done that at a high level as recently as last season. He needs to figure it out in Dallas and I think he will. Next, McGee is on the record saying he likes playing with Wood and prefers to play next to a scoring PF. Let McGee play the roll man early and Wood can space the floor. The you can go to the Luka-Wood pick and roll in the fourth quarter. 

The second big reason why you want to start Wood is i think it’s a smarter way to play your cards. If McGee isn’t effective, you just bring in Kleber. And when Powell enters you have Kleber-Powell on the floor together.

(11-26-2022, 12:57 PM)vfromlmf Wrote: [ -> ]The second big reason why you want to start Wood is i think it’s a smarter way to play your cards.

Oh, I'm all for starting Wood. No argument there. 

I just feel like the McGee/Wood combo is basically pairing your two worst front court defenders together, doubling down on slow feet. 

I feel like part of how you're getting there is an attempt to find regular rotation time for all four bigs (McGee, Powell, Kleber and Wood). I just don't think that's possible, and more to the point I don't think it's necessary or even of any benefit.

It's interesting how different people analyze this stuff in completely different ways. Thanks for explaining your thinking!

I personally think it is too early in the season to do McGee/Wood together.  You’d basically have two guys who don’t know where to stand.  I like Maxi/Wood, but you are probably limited in how many minutes they can play together.  Closing is more important than starting.  If Kidd does that, it is basically first six and last six of each half and Maxi sits for 12 each half while you get  a bunch of either Wood or Powell or McGee as the solo big during those 12 minutes.

The logical sub is to bring Wood into the current starting lineup for either SD or Bullock.  I’d be pleasantly shocked if Kidd does a Green swap at the same time, but I don’t see it happening yet.  Like I’ve said in other posts, one way to know Kidd isn’t serious about this working is if he subs Wood for Powell with the other starters.  You don’t bring along as slowly as they have and then throw him into the deep end against good competition if you are serious about it working.

(11-26-2022, 12:57 PM)vfromlmf Wrote: [ -> ]I think Wood-McGee needs to be given a shot. First of all, if you can turn McGee into a valuable contributor, that’s a big win. Wood is only 6’9” (with really long arms) but more importantly he only weighs about 210 — and that matters when games turn more physical. The ideal McGee brings size, physicality, solid screen setting etc. He done that at a high level as recently as last season. He needs to figure it out in Dallas and I think he will. Next, McGee is on the record saying he likes playing with Wood and prefers to play next to a scoring PF. Let McGee play the roll man early and Wood can space the floor. The you can go to the Luka-Wood pick and roll in the fourth quarter. 

The second big reason why you want to start Wood is i think it’s a smarter way to play your cards. If McGee isn’t effective, you just bring in Kleber. And when Powell enters you have Kleber-Powell on the floor together.

I'm fine with playing them a few minutes together, but McGee has been completely useless as a starter and a decent contributor coming off the bench.  I have no interest in putting him back in the starting lineup.

To me the easy answer is to pair Wood with Maxi to start and finish games.  You want Wood playing more minutes than Maxi, but I think it makes more sense to sneak that in throughout the game, ideally against second units.

(11-26-2022, 01:41 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]I personally think it is too early in the season to do McGee/Wood together.  You’d basically have two guys who don’t know where to stand.  I like Maxi/Wood, but you are probably limited in how many minutes they can play together.  Closing is more important than starting.  If Kidd does that, it is basically first six and last six of each half and Maxi sits for 12 each half while you get  a bunch of either Wood or Powell or McGee as the solo big during those 12 minutes.

The logical sub is to bring Wood into the current starting lineup for either SD or Bullock.  I’d be pleasantly shocked if Kidd does a Green swap at the same time, but I don’t see it happening yet.  Like I’ve said in other posts, one way to know Kidd isn’t serious about this working is if he subs Wood for Powell with the other starters.  You don’t bring along as slowly as they have and then throw him into the deep end against good competition if you are serious about it working.

Yeah, I get where you're coming from with the majority of this. 

One thing I'm slightly worried about that I haven't seen mentioned: DFS at the 3. There was a time when we were arguing stats that could have possibly indicated the team was better off when DFS was at the 3, and for all I know that might still be your interpretation of things, but...idk...my eyes tell me DFS is much more effective at the 4. I know the 3 should be his natural position, but I'm not sure it actually is. I worry a little about his ability to contribute in that scenario. Then again, with the way the team has been going lately, it might be time to find out.

(11-26-2022, 01:41 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]You’d basically have two guys who don’t know where to stand.

This is a great point. Regardless of where you fall on the "size up front is important" scale, these are literally the only two new rotation players and probably the two least comfortable with the defensive schemes.

I want to see THJ and Bullock prove they are starting material by slaying weaker units.

Either they do or they dont and you have your answers on their capabilities.

(11-26-2022, 02:04 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah, I get where you're coming from with the majority of this. 

One thing I'm slightly worried about that I haven't seen mentioned: DFS at the 3. There was a time when we were arguing stats that could have possibly indicated the team was better off when DFS was at the 3, and for all I know that might still be your interpretation of things, but...idk...my eyes tell me DFS is much more effective at the 4. I know the 3 should be his natural position, but I'm not sure it actually is. I worry a little about his ability to contribute in that scenario. Then again, with the way the team has been going lately, it might be time to find out.

I'm not great at doing the on/off stuff, but so far it looks like Dorian has a better defensive and net rating when on the court with Wood and Maxi.  I'm guessing that right now putting Dorian at the 3 is less of a defensive hit than Wood as a single big.