MAVS NEWS:

[Winter]

One thing that bears watching re the Mavs roster imo is that Hardy is way out of the rotation. Even with them being so short-handed, he has played (in the last 5 games) 0, 0, 0, 9, and 5 minutes. Last night Williams, who is smaller than Hardy, played 15. (SD's minutes also dropped to 18 last night.)

Hardy is an all-offense player, get as many shots as possible with not much regard for anything else. With Luka gone, you'd think there is a huge need for more offense. Yet he sits.

My guess is that Kidd, now that Luka is gone, is hanging his hat on defense, and trying to instill a mentality that you MUST defend or else your minutes get cut (or erased).

Any other theories?

I thought Dinwiddie's minutes might be closely tied to tonight's back-to-back game, but that excuse doesn't exist for Hardy who hasn't played much at all lately.

I suspect that the "we think defense wins championships" trade was a wake-up-call for players, and I also suspect that the coaches have made it even more clear this team has to re-learn some things. So yes, your theory is probably correct.

Hardy will likely get some minutes tonight to see if he got the message. 

My eyes tell me that this team would likely see some statistical defensive improvement if it had any center rotation at all.