11-10-2024, 11:41 AM
(11-10-2024, 09:16 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: I am no Kidd defender, but it strikes me that many are missing what's right in front of them. Kidd dropped several F bombs in his presser the other day, and sure didn't seem like someone who hadn't just tried to win that Suns game. He sure seemed like he cared about that loss to me.
The guy who doesn't care about early season is Luka, not Kidd. Sure, Kidd is doing some experimenting, but he kind of has to, with injuries, and as a result of three of his guards (two of whom were supposed to be in the rotation) starting the season less than ideally. He's very clearly disappointed with ALL of Grimes, Hardy and Dinwiddie, and we should be, too (so far). But, Luka is the one who started the season not playing defense, taking bad shots and missing them. He's looking better with each game, but the Mavs are 5-4 because they're built around a superstar who isn't super starring. Their two best defenders being out isn't helping, either.
The good news is that there's no need to panic. Luka will get into shape and start playing, eventually. They'll get 1-2 of those guards playing well behind Luka/Kyrie, eventually. Marshall and Thompson are going to continue to figure out how they fit in with this team, and eventually, Lively will come back and be the force we all know he is.
I agree with all of this and am certainly not saying that the loss was all on Kidd and that experimenting at this point of the season is a bad thing by any means but in Kidds case it always does feel like there’s some sort of weird mind games he’s trying to play vs looking for an actual on court solution. We are thin for sure but we aren’t “have to play the two-way guy” thin at this point.
The slow starts fall on Lukas level of seriousness more so than Kidd but I would say it does feel like both view games before Christmas as preseason at times which is a little frustrating. I do appreciate Kidd trying to light a fire under the team, specifically Luka, after the game. Those words were directed towards Luka and all the things you mentioned before. This is the dude who led the league in first quarter scoring last year after all so Kidd has to find a way to get him going again.
Again, far from concerned, just odd that this is 4 straight years of this. It will (should) all wash out in the end because there’s just too much talent on this team and Luka is always the last guy I’m worried about big picture. Honestly I’ve gotten over my Kidd concerns from a big picture standpoint too, this is really just a small critique and not something I think holds the team back in the long run at all (although some players may not respond well to this coaching style but that’s on the front office to figure out).