Listened to Locked on Mavs, which had some interesting observations. As an example, they had a segment analyzing the team weaknesses that the Clippers exposed. In a positive way, as areas for improvement.
-- On nights where the other team closes Luka down, they need KP to reliably step up. As long as KP is unable to take advantage of mismatches, he can't be that player. The Clippers may have put down the blueprint for defending KP by putting a smaller player on him, and taking advantage of the fact that he isn't good at posting up, so they can switch without penalty. Having said that, they observe that not many teams have good enough smaller defenders to pull it off. However, the Mavs cannot be an elite team without a reliable second option.
-- The Clippers limited Luka by letting him into the paint and then cutting off all the passing lanes, leaving him to tussle with a big guy and try to figure something out by himself with limited options. This also might be a blueprint that not many teams have the personnel to follow, though.
-- The Mavs need some roster upgrades to contend with a team like the Clippers.
Kawhi is way too strong for DFS et al. to successfully defend. In fairness, most teams don't have anyone who can shut down Kawhi. But they need a guy or guys who can deal with that type of size and strength if they want to compete at that level. In the Clippers' case, Paul George is their other primary wing, and the Mavs couldn't defend him, either, especially when both of them were on the court.
The Clippers have multiple guys that can jump in and score in bunches. The Mavs have no third option at all. When Luka and KP are both off the floor, there is no clear go-to guy that can dependably create and/or score. One could think about giving Barea that responsibility, but then they would have to cut down the minutes of one or more of (1) Wright, who does a lot of things Barea doesn't do, (2) Seth, who is the bench's best shooter, and (3) Brunson, who provides important playmaking. They think THJ should be funneled into more of a 3 and D position, as opposed to trying to be a creator. As far as this match goes, they think it might have helped to bring JJB in a little earlier, but doubt that it would have made the difference between a W and an L. They also note that JJB's presence on the roster enables the front office to use one of the other backup guards in a trade, if that seems warranted.
-- The bench was completely overmatched and looked lost. The lack of a sixth man, discussed above, is part of the problem. Other than that, they don't necessarily consider reinforcing the second unit a high-priority issue in and of itself, because there are so few teams that have a bench that is substantially better than the Mavs. However, it's still an item.
-- They thought that Dwight Powell was exposed by LA. He was missing passes, stumbling through the lane, and generally playing badly. The Mavs need a big man who is consistently elite in the paint if they want to contend. In this match, the Clippers held a 48-30 advantage in PIP.
They do make it clear that these are weaknesses if the Mavs want to be considered an elite team. While they are already pretty good, issues like these need to be addressed to take it to the next level.
One might or might not agree with these comments, but they're interesting to consider after a game like this one.
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/locked-...oplay=true
-- On nights where the other team closes Luka down, they need KP to reliably step up. As long as KP is unable to take advantage of mismatches, he can't be that player. The Clippers may have put down the blueprint for defending KP by putting a smaller player on him, and taking advantage of the fact that he isn't good at posting up, so they can switch without penalty. Having said that, they observe that not many teams have good enough smaller defenders to pull it off. However, the Mavs cannot be an elite team without a reliable second option.
-- The Clippers limited Luka by letting him into the paint and then cutting off all the passing lanes, leaving him to tussle with a big guy and try to figure something out by himself with limited options. This also might be a blueprint that not many teams have the personnel to follow, though.
-- The Mavs need some roster upgrades to contend with a team like the Clippers.
Kawhi is way too strong for DFS et al. to successfully defend. In fairness, most teams don't have anyone who can shut down Kawhi. But they need a guy or guys who can deal with that type of size and strength if they want to compete at that level. In the Clippers' case, Paul George is their other primary wing, and the Mavs couldn't defend him, either, especially when both of them were on the court.
The Clippers have multiple guys that can jump in and score in bunches. The Mavs have no third option at all. When Luka and KP are both off the floor, there is no clear go-to guy that can dependably create and/or score. One could think about giving Barea that responsibility, but then they would have to cut down the minutes of one or more of (1) Wright, who does a lot of things Barea doesn't do, (2) Seth, who is the bench's best shooter, and (3) Brunson, who provides important playmaking. They think THJ should be funneled into more of a 3 and D position, as opposed to trying to be a creator. As far as this match goes, they think it might have helped to bring JJB in a little earlier, but doubt that it would have made the difference between a W and an L. They also note that JJB's presence on the roster enables the front office to use one of the other backup guards in a trade, if that seems warranted.
-- The bench was completely overmatched and looked lost. The lack of a sixth man, discussed above, is part of the problem. Other than that, they don't necessarily consider reinforcing the second unit a high-priority issue in and of itself, because there are so few teams that have a bench that is substantially better than the Mavs. However, it's still an item.
-- They thought that Dwight Powell was exposed by LA. He was missing passes, stumbling through the lane, and generally playing badly. The Mavs need a big man who is consistently elite in the paint if they want to contend. In this match, the Clippers held a 48-30 advantage in PIP.
They do make it clear that these are weaknesses if the Mavs want to be considered an elite team. While they are already pretty good, issues like these need to be addressed to take it to the next level.
One might or might not agree with these comments, but they're interesting to consider after a game like this one.
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/locked-...oplay=true