(05-27-2021, 07:32 PM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: RC coached the 00s Pistons and Pacers (Pacers in the "Malace at the Palace" season). He certainly knows a thing about enforcers and goons. And it´s not like the championship team lacked the "DAWG" nature. Stevenson had a bad reputation (similar to PatBev). Butler as well. Cardinal had two jobs. Hard fouls and 3-point shooting. Kidd was the original master of the sneaky dirty play. Nowadays it is CP3.
I don´t think RC is a fan of those kind of things. He would never openly encourage his team to go after a player or allow Harrell´s and Pat Bev´s chirping.
Personally I don´t want the Mavs to turn into a "dirty" team but more toughness wouldn´t hurt. A hard foul every now and then just to send a message. Especially against players that like to flop or try to draw fouls. A no layups/dunks/fastbreaks approach. Make them earn it on the FT line.
Just a more physical play style in general. Boxouts, defense, screens. Right now Luka is by far the most physical player on the team but he is also the one guy that cannot get in foul trouble. Guys like WCS or Powell don´t have to worry about foul trouble. Same for the rest of the bench guys.
I guess the Mavs added Johnson to fill that role but this isn´t the MMA. If a guy cannot get on the floor because he lacks bball skills the rest doesn´t matter. Wouldn´t mind another attempt to add a guy that brings all the intangibles (leadership, toughness...). Be it a small guard like McConnell (pesky waterbug guard that loves to full court press and doesn´t shy away from contact) or a wing/big like Tucker/Batum/Millsap.
All good. I'm very aware that Coach Carlisle used to operate different strategically like pretty much all NBA coaches have had to evolve and adjust to the changes of the current game.
In fact back in his Pacer days Rick Carlisle had Jermaine O'Neal who operated one of the best offensive Big man games in the league complete with *gasp* POST UPS and a powerful paint game. That team worked the classic inside/out game very well under Coach C.
What we're talking about now is the way his strategic approach is today which includes a coach that has said publicly "Let's face it, the Post up is dead.".
I'm not arguing that point here at all either, Carlisle has a great high powered offense and right now seems to have a great roster mix that could really execute it well.
As far as the Goon thing, I don't think we're necessarily talking about trying to injure someone, although that is certainly a possible when play gets too rough for too long.
An enforcer can put a body on people, take some harder fouls and generally annoy or get under the skin of the other teams key players without any intent of causing an injury.
Now there are also dirty and dangerous plays, which is really another category and discussion in and of itself. I recall earlier this season when Lebron executed what many saw as a dirty play that injured and could have very seriously injured Joel Embiid. He 2 handed shoved him in the air during a high flying dunk.
Lebron however has no reputation as an enforcer let alone a dirty player so most media gave him a pass along with the fact that he pretty much owns the league.
On the other hand there are occasionally some flat dirty and dangerous plays that seem quite deliberate.
I would hate to think any NBA coach would send someone into the game with an intention of doing that.