01-22-2021, 03:50 PM
(01-22-2021, 12:02 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Can't believe I'm about to compare these two franchises, but I think the Mavericks made a mistake this year that parallels ONE of the many annual Cowboys mistakes we all know will never stop happening.
The biggest thing the Cowboys did wrong this season (there are always so many to choose from) was installing a completely new defensive scheme during an off-season when they didn't have the time or ability to do so. Now, the new scheme might have been better, and so this might have been born from a good thought, but we'll never know, because there really wasn't a single game all season where it looked like the players understood what they were supposed to be doing out there.
I think the Mavericks made a similar mistake, although I hope it's far less catastrophic. They REALLY got serious on this whole "defense first" thing. New players, new schemes, new approach to practices, new lineup philosophies, etc, etc, etc. So, maybe this was exactly the right thing to do in the bird's eye view of the team's timeline, and to their credit, it wasn't just lip service. It's clear that they really mean business with all of that. But, maybe this off-season, with its condensed schedule, wasn't the ideal time to do it?
I mean, Carlisle has basically told us that they barely worked on offense at all during training camp. To me, the idea should've been to ADD improved defense to the GREAT offense they had last season. They've essentially just FLIPPED their great offense for a pretty good defense. As they get healthy, there will be time to practice throughout the year, and some of this should improve, but even in-season practice time is more scarce than in other seasons, so I'm honestly not sure how much better they'll get. I hope they work a lot of this out, but I don't KNOW they will.
To me, this would've been a great year for continuity. They have more than enough of it with the roster, but they shot themselves in the foot a bit with play style, imo. Is there any question that simply continuing last season's approach would've resulted in a better record at this point? Again, I'm not saying the changes were bad, just raising the question of whether this was the right time for them. Nothing to do now but hope the team gets better as the year goes by, and honestly, it might!
Very interesting. I have had some of the same thoughts myself.
In the case of the Mavericks, I think there is a pretty good chance that this wasn't a "mistake," in the sense of being caught unawares and making the wrong decision. I think that, with the whole COVID thing, they were aware that this would be an asterisked season, with a lot of absences and postponements likely, and no particular assurance that all 72 games would even be played.
I suspect they had already concluded that they were not going to win it all without a much more solid defense, and decided to go ahead and move forward with their plans to fundamentally change their approach on that end, live with the consequences in this shortened weird season, and get a jump on the following season.
I could be wrong, but I feel like there is a certain amount of method in all this madness.