GAME 58: DAL (31-27) @ SAC (32-24) | Dallas lost 133-128 in OT

[Jason Terry]

I don't think we are going to see that test absent some more injuries.  The good news is I think we are likely to get him some help soon.

What people miss in all of this 'Wood is great and Powell sucks' commentary is Kidd is hiding Wood.  He now only plays when the opponents best big is sitting.  It isn't a knock.  That's the role...feast on lesser players when the opportunity presents itself.  The issue last night was Wood/Kyrie couldn't carry Pinson and Hardy.  That will presumably change when Maxi comes back.  It will be Wood, Maxi, Reggie and Kyrie against the opponent bench.  Instead of massive negatives On-Court, we should be seeing net positives.  The starters will be fine and the bench minutes will eventually improve given good health.

I think Green officially graduated to starter last night.  Yeah, he's been starting, but there has been someone out and we weren't quite sure what Kidd would do on a night Luka, Kyrie, Bullock and THJ were all available.  The answer was Green/THJ with a big and two ball handlers.

We spend a good bit of time debating here about what we need to add.  A wing vs. a ball handler vs. a center.  I've tended to lean toward center.  The team seems to think it can develop Green/Hardy into that third ball-handler role.  I'm fine with that largely because if we pay up for such a player, it will block Hardy from developmental time.  Sefant presents good numbers that show the wing minutes are in decent shape between Green, Reggie and THJ.  Would it be nice if one of those guys was bigger...yes (we really missed Dorian's size last night).  But, we have Maxi for that.  The place of biggest need in terms of a starter is center.  Powell and Wood are both fantastic bench bigs.  Neither will hold up against the beasts in the playoffs and neither can stand on their own without a little size next to him.

Green/Hardy getting the minutes behind Kyrie/Luka i think is the way forward. Yes we will need Dragic-lol or another vet min capable PG in the offseason. Right now though these guys getting these minutes is invaluable. Especially the playoffs minutes. We don’t want anyone blocking this from happening with Hardy. Yes Hardy will make stupid mistakes, but this team needs to live with that and coach him up rest of season………Green is the 3rd best player. He is untouchable. His current trajectory is near max rookie scale player if we were to make the finals. That good. Bigger leap: Brunson last year or Green this year? 

I agree that center is the biggest need for starter. I just don’t see where we get that in buyout(it wasn’t really there in trade either). Is Noel a starter? I don’t know. We could try. I would still want Wood to get some more looks to try to improve defensively even if it’s just a backup plan. I don’t which ones of our current guys will be able to play in the playoffs. Maxi is Plan A but we need alternatives. Utilizing Luka as a big is a strong option. He scores best in the paint. If Kyrie runs the show we can dominate the paint with Luka and i think this will free up his energy for defense and rebounding. He’s been guarding bigs his whole career 

We could also go small against certain teams with Maxi only. Stanley Johnson is interesting in this big wing role we’re missing. If something like that worked out i could see him getting burn as the small ball 5 until Maxi gets back