The Rotation (2020-2021)

[StepBackJay]

I will caveat to say I could be wrong but there's no evidence I have seen to show me Rick is going to go back to a rim roller next to KP. I feel like this board wants to "will" Carlisle into this type of offense where KP is the new Dirk next to a 5 but I haven't seen anything to show me he wants to do that. Every step of the way he has been going more towards small-ball.

Well, you got the wrong guy. I've been preaching 1-big with KP as the center since last preseason. This preseason, in fact, in this very thread (and other threads) I speculated that KP would be the 1-big in the starting lineup and that DP/Maxi would man the second unit. And I got a lot of pushback just for including Powell in the rotation. 

I only began to consider that Powell might start in the last few pages based on Dan's and Kam's evidence, which I find quite compelling. I find them compelling as discussion pieces about what the Mavs might be thinking, not about what I want. 

I don't buy the "no evidence" claim for two reasons. You're claiming "no evidence" for Powell in the starting lineup based on a time frame that didn't have Powell as an option. The evidence is that Powell was a starter the last time we saw him, and that the Luka/Powell pariing was lethal. Dan lists other reasons why the Mavs might be thinking this way. Kam lists lineup data that suggests the Mavs might think this way. We don't KNOW what's going to happen, but I'll say no to "no evidence". 

As far as that goes, here's one more piece of evidence that suggests returning to Powell is at least a possibility. Based on watching Sir Carlisle for more than I decade I'd suggest that 3 months or so of evidence that he likes to do things one way doesn't necessarliy mean that he'll do it that way again, especially when his chess pieces have changed a bit.

So I would say Kamm's love for the 2 bigs is a reason why this conversation keeps ongoing. He was all in on Vucevic last year next to KP. In reality 2 7 foot bigs means one of KP/big are chasing around a PF outside. Now Powell is not Vucevic or Adams or anything like that. He is a hybrid and yet the problem is not only does he have 1 leg, he has never been able to get his outside shot going. Yes he does well in the PnR for both himself, Luka and the offense but then so does KP in the 5 spot.

I am saying that Rick has had ample opportunity to pair a non-shooting big next to KP one way or another and has opted not to do so. From my count of lineups he started a non-shooting big all of 1 time since the Powell injury. One time. Rick had Boban, WCS (sometimes) and MKG at his disposal last year and chose never to start them (save 1 Boban start) next to KP. On the entire roster the Mavs have only 3 non-shooters: Powell, WCS & Boban.

Further, when Rick runs out of players due to injury we see him go smaller, not bigger. Boban was playing great so in theory he could have ran out Boban and Maxi together in the playoffs. Boban would have played the Powell role. Instead he went ultra-small with 6'0 Trey Burke at the 2, THJ at 3, DFS at 4 and Maxi at the 5. If Rick didn't invent the 3 guard lineup he certainly popularized it. I don't see any reason or evidence we have before us that Rick is going to all of a sudden going "bigger" with a non-shooting big next to KP, especially considering we are likely getting 70% of what Powell was before.