(01-24-2021, 09:10 AM)DanSchwartzman Wrote: Yeah, missing KP AND the Covid 4 is a bridge too far for this team. We've yet to put the entire lineup on the court for a single game this season. Assuming we ever do, I suspect Luka will look better as a leader and spacing will improve dramatically. To your point, you might be able to hide one of your non-shooters with KP as center and other good offensive players around them, but not without them. Even JRich has struggled without the spacing KP provides.The Mavs' offensive struggles this season have caused me to reconsider their strategies through that lens. In a team constructed to rely on good shooting, we somehow have only five players who are shooting an average or above percentage on threes -- THJ, Maxi, Brunson, KP, and Burke. With offense at a premium, JRich and DFS may need to pick up their shooting percentages, or risk losing minutes to guys who can put the ball in the basket. And if the team ever gets the full roster back, it might be pretty hard to play WCS with another non-shooter like Johnson.
I hope, like you, that these issues solve themselves when guys return. But even then, I'm not sure these all-defense lineups that some fans are expecting are really going to materialize to any large degree.