10-23-2021, 08:33 AM
(10-22-2021, 05:28 PM)mavsluvr Wrote: FWIW, I'm not sure how committed Kidd is to the two-big lineup. He acknowledged that analytics don't favor it, but said the Lakers made it work well. I am wondering if he is trying some stuff that worked for the purple and gold, but may or may not prove useful with the Mavericks roster.
I don't really fault Kidd for trying some things that turn out not to work. He isn't very familiar with these players yet, and probably doesn't have the sense of what they can and can't do that Rick might have. However, he needs to be able to judge quickly when something that isn't working is still worth perfecting or is a dead end that needs to be discarded.
Personally, I think Kidd is one a number of people at the organization who has not yet proven that he is up to the job he has been given. I hope he is, of course, or that at least he can grow into it, but that is still TBD, as far as I can tell. I get that the players didn't like Carlisle constraining them, but I'm not yet a fan of this everyone-does-whatever-he-wants philosophy. DFS can post up! Powell can shoot threes! KP doesn't have to space the floor if he's not in the mood! Whoever feels like it can camp out in the paint! Whoever wants to can and should take a bunch of mid-range shots! Everyone has a green light! I mean, it's great that the players think it's cool, but it's too playground-like and disorganized for me.
I wasn't thrilled with the Kidd hire, but I have decided to give it some time to see if he can figure it out. Even if he can, I question how far even a good coach can take this roster. A coach can squeeze every drop out of these guys, and turn them into a little more than the sum of their parts (and I think Rick often did), but at some point, the superior talent of a fine opponent tends to take over. And we don't really have any proven capacity in the front office as far as acquiring better players, either. I think I share your frustration.
I think they can and will do better. How much better is the question. Mediocre coaching, if that's what we have, won't help, but with a talent like Luka's, you would think that the playoffs should be the floor. I think the ceiling is limited for this group of players absent a phenomenal run of everything going just right, but a middling playoff seed, and even a first-round win if they have some luck with their opponent, should be doable.
I'm hanging in for a while, because I'm a long-time Mavs fan, and that's what I do. But I've tried to keep my expectations dialed back.
The board will miss you if you decide you need to abandon ship. I always enjoy your comments.
Pretty much agree with most of the things you have written here. However I differ in that Kidd did call the plays during the championship run. While he has done or said some questionable things, no one has questioned his basketball IQ. I was not too enthused with the hire only because with ex stars you don’t know how committed they are to go through a thankless job like this. Ironically what ended up reassuring me is reading how Kidd was too tough with the Bucks. Something that was purportedly showing his flaws.
Unless you are a serious contender, I feel a season is a good one if you did some things that you can consider as positive building block towards a title. The offense the last couple of years is not one that IMO has helped Luka grow. Sure it helps his numbers but Harden has found over the years that sort of an offense gets exposed as you go deeper. Ours got exposed in the first round. We can point to talent discrepancies or injuries but even with better casts a 5 out chucking offense has not shown to work.
I loved Luka showing more of his post up and mid range game last year. This year I would like him to be a bit more committed to cutting down inefficient shots and improving his FT percentage. As a coach, I would like Kidd to help him with that. A good coach is not about just letting a young stud do whatever he wants. Sure the numbers will look great. To me it is also about the ability to get through to the stud to help him grow as a person which will help his growth as a player too. Unfortunately for RC, indications now are that Luka had tuned him out to an extent. Let’s see if a new voice can make a difference. If so then it is a good season