A Few Thoughts on Mavs 120, Blazers 112

[Dahlsim]

Go get another rim enforcer behind KP or coach up Boban's rim defense

You make some interesting points in your post, and I hear what you are saying. However, in terms of the Mavs, I would be surprised if they aggressively go after another big man mid-season. (If one falls into their lap, I think they would consider it, though.) The reasons -- 


When the Mavs put this roster together, they envisioned Luka as the fulcrum of the offense, and KP as the anchor of the defense. I don't think they are going to make substantial changes to address the issues caused by KP's absence if they indeed consider the absence a short-term problem. 

I have noted your questions about why the Mavs, especially when they have a lead, don't use Boban as an offensive tool and make the opponent match up to them, rather than trying to match up to the opponent. The reason that I think is most logical is that Rick is more concerned about molding his squad into a defensive machine than winning any particular game this season, and, with an eye to the future, he uses older guys who are not going to be part of that future (like Barea and Boban) sparingly. You hear this kind of philosophy from the players after games (this is just one game, the important thing is that the team is getting better, e.g.), and I assume this is emanating from Carlisle. 

In the summer, the Mavericks may well try to shore up the interior defense with new personnel in some more "permanent" way. Maybe even tweak it during the season if they see an opportunity that doesn't alter their grand plan. It's definitely an issue. 

As for coaching up Boban's defense, that would be great if he still has room to grow. I'm not sure the problem is that he is too gentle by personality, which might be a coachable thing. It seems to me that he is just a bit slow, and has limited mobility. If those are the issues, he might just be who he is at this stage in his career. 

Agree that this will be an issue to continue to keep an eye on.

Agreed that I'm not expecting the Mavs to actually pursue a rim protector.  As I said I like the current roster pretty well as is.  The main area to shore up at some point is rim protection behind KP and even with KP the lack of good physical bigs to counter the top front lines like AD/McGee/Howard. 
Pretty much the rest of the top teams in the league are going to have beat up Luka and the Mavs as their primary strategy. 

Good point on Carlisle opting for development over winning every winnable game.  That makes sense. 
On my man Boban being too gentle, sure he's slow but if you watch closely he's actually not so slow that he cannot close out and get to many of the drives at the rim. 
Sometimes he's right there to make the play at the rim or could easily get there especially with his massive wingspan and stride.  
He just doesn't seem to have those instincts and I'm not sure it is something he could be coached up on.  
I'd sure like to see the Mavs try though, because when he's in the game he does disrupt the general beat-up-rough-up-Dallas strategies used against Luka and company.