Game 10: New Orleans Pelicans (4-6) vs. Dallas Mavericks (8-2) | 124-136 WINNNN!!

[SkenfromLMF]

The irony here is that Kidd has made the adjustment. I am much more of Rick apologist, and would have bet he was more capable of adapting than Kidd. The biggest complaint at times he should have committed to helping develop young talent - and that was probably overstated on occasion. By the same respect, Rick did not lose a lot of games by expanding rotations past his core players, Kidd did - especially early in the season over the last 2 years. This year it looks as if Kidd is much tighter with the rotations and as a result the Mavs have not given away much in the way of games we should win. Kudos for that "growth" as a coach. Kidd is better at getting those opportunities even this year with adjusting/tightening of his rotations - look no further than O-Max over the last 3 days: Mavs game, Legends Assignment, Mavs game. Not sure that would ever have been done on Rick's watch.

There are still certain things we miss with Rick who was phenomenal on out of bounds sets and using timeouts to interrupt a run by the opposing team. I also believe Rick was more nuanced in his use of defensive adjustments than just about any coach, but Kidd has once again pleasantly surprised this season and closed the gap on certain weak points the last two season exposed.