12-26-2021, 01:37 PM
Tim Cato ponders why this game was oddly pleasant to watch --
Although the Mavs have lost four of their last five games, these contests have offered a strange sense of gratification.
For much of this season, the Mavericks have felt stale. Luka has been critiqued more than admired. The roster is largely the same. The incremental changes have not been effective, so far. The new coaching staff feel like a new ship captain brought in when the vessel is already sinking. Instituting a more positive outlook doesn't change the fact that they're still taking on water.
However, with the COVID developments, the team has temporarily evolved from an underachieving squad with expectations to an overperforming one with scrappy performances. Will the accompanying losses be a problem in April? We can worry about that in April. Meanwhile, we have the joy of watching a lot of fresh new faces, and games where anything might happen.
Most of the emergency players weren't in the league for good reasons. The brief excitement generated by their presence probably won't last as long as their ten-days. But after years of stewing with players who just aren't good enough, at least these players are new.
Circumstances aren't ideal. Practices and shootarounds have been cancelled. The traveling party has been reduced to a bare minimum. Tests are surrounded with anxiety. The team is short-staffed and exhausted. Christmas was supposed to be the time the organization conducted a meaningful analysis of the squad. Kidd admitted that such an assessment is difficult with all the absences. In the meantime, it is easier to see new faces run up and down the court and miss shots than to keep watching the same old same old.
The best chance for the Mavs to put a better team around Doncic is to give the coaching staff meaningful options to do so, not just hope Kidd can fix things by being a nice guy. In fairness, the organization probably knows these issues exist. They really thought that Kyle Lowry was coming here in the summer. They really may not have had other meaningful options to improve in the offseason. Nico is literally still learning the job.
By March, the roster/rotation will look different, if only at the edges. For now, watching these new players gives us a sense of hope that the process is truly underway.
https://theathletic.com/3035403/2021/12/...ed-article
Although the Mavs have lost four of their last five games, these contests have offered a strange sense of gratification.
For much of this season, the Mavericks have felt stale. Luka has been critiqued more than admired. The roster is largely the same. The incremental changes have not been effective, so far. The new coaching staff feel like a new ship captain brought in when the vessel is already sinking. Instituting a more positive outlook doesn't change the fact that they're still taking on water.
However, with the COVID developments, the team has temporarily evolved from an underachieving squad with expectations to an overperforming one with scrappy performances. Will the accompanying losses be a problem in April? We can worry about that in April. Meanwhile, we have the joy of watching a lot of fresh new faces, and games where anything might happen.
Most of the emergency players weren't in the league for good reasons. The brief excitement generated by their presence probably won't last as long as their ten-days. But after years of stewing with players who just aren't good enough, at least these players are new.
Circumstances aren't ideal. Practices and shootarounds have been cancelled. The traveling party has been reduced to a bare minimum. Tests are surrounded with anxiety. The team is short-staffed and exhausted. Christmas was supposed to be the time the organization conducted a meaningful analysis of the squad. Kidd admitted that such an assessment is difficult with all the absences. In the meantime, it is easier to see new faces run up and down the court and miss shots than to keep watching the same old same old.
The best chance for the Mavs to put a better team around Doncic is to give the coaching staff meaningful options to do so, not just hope Kidd can fix things by being a nice guy. In fairness, the organization probably knows these issues exist. They really thought that Kyle Lowry was coming here in the summer. They really may not have had other meaningful options to improve in the offseason. Nico is literally still learning the job.
By March, the roster/rotation will look different, if only at the edges. For now, watching these new players gives us a sense of hope that the process is truly underway.
https://theathletic.com/3035403/2021/12/...ed-article
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