GAME 28: CLE (18-11) @ DAL (14-14) 90-105 loss

[cow]

Mavs defense has been on a downwards spiral since Green went down. Now Kleber is missing as well. Arguably the two best defenders on the roster (Frank might be better but is unplayable on offense).
On top of that Kidd´s scheme sucks. Mavs are overaggressive. Try to pressure the ball and double a lot. Any team with good spacing and/or ball movement is taking them apart.

Yep.  Trying to hide Luka on the big gave them a ton of dunks/layups as Luka had to choose between who got the ball from his doubled teammate or the baseline cutter.  Time and time again.

[BigDirk41]

This team is trash. It's probably time to blow it up. This team is going nowhere. They might make the play in. That's embarrassing after making the WCF last season.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

This team is trash. It's probably time to blow it up. This team is going nowhere. They might make the play in. That's embarrassing after making the WCF last season.

I don't think I had too many complaints with Kidd last season.
Even in their losses, I think Kidd did well.
But this season, Kidd took a nose dive.

Just awful coaching.

[Jym]

It's probably time to blow it up.

I'm not even sure what it would mean to blow up the current team. Sending out assets to dump contracts seems kind of pointless at this point. Made more sense over the summer

[BigDirk41]

I'm not even sure what it would mean to blow up the current team. Sending out assets to dump contracts seems kind of pointless at this point. Made more sense over the summer

Honestly I'm not sure how to make this mess better, but I think we are probably one more poor season away from Luka asking for a trade. Generational talents don't want to play for mediocre teams/owners/coaches.

---

The current players don't work together so something needs to change. Something needs to happen via trade, coaching change, or lineup change. This is not working. Not even close. We flat out suck.

[SwisherPrice]

Bullock will make his way back to the starting lineup soon. You know Kidd wants to do it!

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

Honestly I'm not sure how to make this mess better, but I think we are probably one more poor season away from Luka asking for a trade. Generational talents don't want to play for mediocre teams/owners/coaches.

---

The current players don't work together so something needs to change. Something needs to happen via trade, coaching change, or lineup change. This is not working. Not even close. We flat out suck.

I have this suspicion that Kidd knows he won't get Luka's ire as long as he lets Luka do whatever he wants.
With Luka at his side, Kidd can keep his job.

Kidd and Luka share the same mantra -- "ït's always somebody else's fault".

[cow]

Bullock will make his way back to the starting lineup soon. You know Kidd wants to do it!

At least he's pulling the trigger and shooting well of late.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

This team is trash. It's probably time to blow it up. This team is going nowhere. They might make the play in. That's embarrassing after making the WCF last season.

Last season was a aberration.

[cow]

Last season was a aberration.

Bullock seems to be rounding back into form.  I miss last years version of Dinwiddie (the Jalen domino effect I guess).

[cow]

https://twitter.com/BiasedSlightly/statu...1446543365

[MrGoat]

Some sort of change is coming soon. Either a trade or Luka getting rid of Kidd

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

Thanks for posting that cow. It’s hard to see in that clip, I watched on league pass and had to rewind numerous times, but Luka actually barks at Cuban. Cuban’s facial expression totally changes. I hope he’s getting the message. But I also hope there isn’t a panic trade in the offing?

[SleepingHero]

Luka's body language tonight is so confusing.  He's slumped over half the time and looks defeated but still has enough fire to try to compete.  Maybe he knows what we all know.  I hate this team so much.

Luka's body language has been awful for the last 3 weeks. Like seriously bad. I totally understand where he's coming from, but still not a good look at all. I hate seeing it, no matter how much good reason he has to do it. 

This was Wood's best game as a Mav, and it still was rife with mistakes. He was probably the only guy that was playing positive basketball the majority of the time on the court.

Mavs really missed Maxi tonight. I think they also missed Green. 


This team is really hard to watch.

[SleepingHero]

Thanks for posting that cow. It’s hard to see in that clip, I watched on league pass and had to rewind numerous times, but Luka actually barks at Cuban. Cuban’s facial expression totally changes. I hope he’s getting the message. But I also hope there isn’t a panic trade in the offing?

The clip cuts off early, but I rewatched it on League Pass. Cuban starts off with  "Lets go, lets go", Luka looks like he slightly turns to him and says something (while ignoring Powell's high five), then Cuban shakes his head in disagreement, makes a slightly annoyed face, and says "alright", while looking away from Luka. 

Vibes are totally off. Mark Cuban is a dolt. Luka deserves better.

[SleepingHero]

For posterity

Luka Giving Cuban the Death Stare

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

This was Wood's best game as a Mav, and it still was rife with mistakes. He was probably the only guy that was playing positive basketball the majority of the time on the court.

The coaching strategy is specially bad on this game.
And as always, there's this "WE" comment of his: "We didn't get to the cutters quick enough"

For the couple times the Mavs have been scored on with that defense, Kidd should have made the adjustment.
But as often with Kidd -- he's that guy not quick enough to adjust.

[DanSchwartzgan]

 
This was Wood's best game as a Mav, and it still was rife with mistakes. He was probably the only guy that was playing positive basketball the majority of the time on the court.

Mavs really missed Maxi tonight. I think they also missed Green. 

It really was his best game (so my evil plan to harshly criticize him so he'd make me look bad is working).   Dallas is 1-5 in games without Maxi, which are the games where Wood has gotten the most time as a solo-big besides two minute stints here and there (which rarely work).  He was positive on/court only one other time when Maxi missed (the Denver game where they sat everyone).  So last night was the first time it worked against a winning team playing real NBA players.

He made open 3's largely because the Cleveland bigs didn't want to chase him out to the 3 point line...smart.  But, I haven't seen the usual crowing about the virtues of 5-out and "modern" lineups.  The reason is probably that Cleveland's two big lineup (where neither made a 3 point shot) just choked the life out of our offense.  That is what the number one D in the league looks like and it couldn't be less "modern" or 5-out.  

Still, on this one night, Wood as a solo-big worked.  So, the question is whether this is an anomaly based on something about the opponent or an answer that has been hiding in plain sight.  I lean toward the former as Cleveland is unique.  But, if I wanted to build an argument for the latter, I wouldn't base it on the +19 Wood built when Love (man he looks old) was on the floor with either Mobley or Allen.  I'd base it on the +0 Wood achieved to start the second half against both Mobley and Allen.  That run of +0 turned into a 12-2 run when DFS came in for Dinwiddie and Love came in for Mobley.  I thought that was an impressive stint despite the fact we were already down 20.  Our total offensive output for that six-plus minutes was two Wood threes and two Reggie three's.  But, Luka, SD, THJ, Reggie and Wood held Cleveland to that same 12 points.

One thing we know with certainty is the Powell at center and Bertans at center minutes absolutely did not work in this game.  The stretch we have coming up is just brutal.  I hate the idea of seeing these guys again on the second night of a home/away < 24 hour BTB.  But, if you are ever going to experiment more with Wood as a starter, Nurkic on Friday night, Cleveland on Saturday and the two games against the T-wolves seem like the time to try it.

There was some talk in threads yesterday about what it means to have flexibility in your 4/5 rotation.  The fact that it even comes up means you don't have players who can dictate a style to the other team.  So, you have to have players who can handle the large variance of approaches NBA teams can throw at you.  Powell just isn't the answer in certain situations.  The 'idea' of McGee was supposed to be, but obviously that didn't work.  Maybe we'll see if Wood can be an answer in certain situations.  My fear continues to be the defensive end.  I thought Rob Mahoney put it well in his write-up that I posted yesterday.  Wood is in a class of 'tweener bigs'.  They can't defend the four or the five (so the answer to the debate about his position is neither since you "are what you guard").  Many of these 'tweener bigs' bring some offense to the table, which is why they are in the league in the first place.  Seems like the definition of a bench big to me.  We will see if Kidd changes anything based on last night or if it was simply desperation that caused him to start Wood as a solo-big in the second half.

[Chicagojk]

What happens with McGee is going to be really interesting.  He doesn't even get a sniff against the exact type of team he was signed to be productive against.   He also doesn't play mop up duty.   What happens if the Mavs cannot trade him?  Is he here for two years until he is an expiring?  I can't think that is a possibility.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

Wood is in a class of 'tweener bigs'.  They can't defend the four or the five (so the answer to the debate about his position is neither since you "are what you guard").  Many of these 'tweener bigs' bring some offense to the table, which is why they are in the league in the first place.  Seems like the definition of a bench big to me.  

He is a bench big.
I'm not sure if people are debating that.
But on this Mav team with no real starting C to speak-of, he is a starter.
Despite Wood's flaws, there isn't any team in the league who'd pick DP or McGee over Wood.
That's what people are saying -- your best players need to get minutes.

And this Mav team is so bereft in talent that a flawed Wood is one of the team's top 4 players.