Is the Mavs' coaching job a total nightmare?

[DrMav]

None of those had Covid riddled offseason. And Luka came in better than year before. Or did that midrange just appear out of nowhere? I think you are unfair with your harsh critique looking at the world in black and white. There are objective reasons which were given.

I still marvel at and wonder where that mid range came from. I coulda sworn reading that Luka had basically been stuck in his home without access to a spot to practice for the lockdown. Now maybe I’m totally making that up, or maybe he’s just so talented he basically worked it in over the course of a very limited offseason and regular season.

[dirkfansince1998]

I still marvel at and wonder where that mid range came from. I coulda sworn reading that Luka had basically been stuck in his home without access to a spot to practice for the lockdown. Now maybe I’m totally making that up, or maybe he’s just so talented he basically worked it in over the course of a very limited offseason and regular season.

He was a high volume midrange/floater shooter in europe. Adjusted his game to fit the NBA style and increased his 3-point volume.

[omahen]

I still marvel at and wonder where that mid range came from. I coulda sworn reading that Luka had basically been stuck in his home without access to a spot to practice for the lockdown. Now maybe I’m totally making that up, or maybe he’s just so talented he basically worked it in over the course of a very limited offseason and regular season.

Last season practice facilities in Slovenia were opened approximately until late September before Covid related lock down. 

Let me explain a bit more about my stance. Luka is arguably a top 5 player in the world. I think he deserves the chance from us to believe him that his summer situation was a one time thing with objective reasons behind it. I think it is extremely unfair to call him unproffesional/immature because it is absolutely clear he worked extremely hard troughout his career since he was very little to come to where he is. I am sure he was working last summer too and it showed during season.

[DallasBasketball]

This job can only be a nightmare if viewed downwind from Cuban. Parcels had a team about ready to win a championship in Dallas and for whatever reason walked away. IMO, he left bc he was tired of Jerry.

Looking at Luka, Luka is a man. Stop calling him a kid. If you come here you better respect Luka. If you are afraid, don’t come here. If you can’t handle pressure, don’t come here. I’m sure there are coaches who would come here and handle that just fine and treat Luka like their peer. I don’t know if Mike, Dan & Toni are the guys but I believe they would fit my above criteria.

[cow]

Parcels had a team about ready to win a championship in Dallas and for whatever reason walked away. IMO, he left bc he was tired of Jerry.

That botched snap probably broke his heart.  They had a real shot that year.  I'm sure Jerry had a lot to do with it too.  It's a great sports "what if" moment.  What if Romo hadn't muffed it or what if Romo would have been able to scramble in for a score after the successful recovery.  I've always had a soft spot for Tony because I think a lot of the media criticism was unfair.  He's living the best life now though.

[Dahlsim]

You lost me at Skip Bayless. I honestly have no idea why anybody listens to the guy at all. He's just a professional troll.

I don't disagree but I do listen in now and then, selectively of course.  I can say they are generally entertaining, them that entire breed of new online media that is, and then occasionally something is also insightful.  

Professional trollism is kind of what youtube for profit is all about though isn't it? 
I just separate the message from the messenger.

I watched it before and thought about sharing it too, I didn't because I know the 1st response was "you lost me at Skip" 

But he has a point.
I am not sure people here will get the comparison but it reminds me with fc Barcelona job after Guardiola. 
Goat of a player, great success,  but as a coach you will get zero credit during wins, and all blame during failures (I guess it is a bit like Lebron) and no one who had no connection to the team was ever that interested. 

Luka has picked many bad habits in past couple of years, Mavs looks like a mess right now.

That being said, there are only 30 HC jobs and very few vacancies.  Non of them are world beaters either 
So, even if nightmare,  our top candidate is unlikely to turn us down

Yeah, I don't know enough yet about how much DIVA there is to Luka.  He's so young, and been star almost all his life like a lot of these star players.   Cuban is a much more a known quantity, so maybe listening to Donny Nelson post stuff provides some more insight as to what the GM position is likely to hold for the next Mav top Exec.

[Dahlsim]

Setting aside my disdain for Skip for a moment and assuming it's just a general claim from anyone, I still think it's a bad take. Surveying the landscape of divas around the league, if a coaching candidate is so insecure that he doesn't think he can handle Luka Doncic then I'd argue he's not qualified to coach at least half the teams in the NBA. I wouldn't want him anyway.

Excellent point.  How many modern NBA super stars are NOT DIVA's to some degree?  That might be the better question for a potential coach to ask.

There was one predraft rumor Luka is a Diva and not liked by teammates. Nothing like that was heard in Europe. ....

Anyone who thinks a 22 year old kid should be the most mature person on the team is dead wrong. As good as Luka is at playing basketball he is still a 22 year old kid. So please stop trying to turn him into something he is not (a 30 year vet) and rather bring in a couple of vets to steer the ship the right way. Sort of what Atlanta (Bogi, Gallo, Rondo - Williams) or Phoenix (CP3, bunch of exception money vets) did.

Agreed.  A 22 year old superstar, period, is part of the reason any NBA coach should be well compensated as a manager alone.   I actually can't imagine myself if I had been a superstar athlete at that age.  

I think Skip is a clown. 

However, I also think Cuban is a clown.

Being stuck between Cuban, a clown, and Luka, a 22 year old who has the power to get you fired (without even meaning to) simply by making an off-handed comment in an interview or being overly demonstrative during games IS something that could be a problem. This WOULD occur to me if I were a coach looking for a job. There are a zillion GREAT things that come from the opportunity to coach Luka, obviously, but I don't think this thought is crazy.

Being the MOST accountable person when it comes to results, while being like the FOURTH most in-charge person...that seems like a raw deal to me.

Nice non-homer perspective considering we are all homers.  I thought several of the points made in the video were not-completely-crazy.  It will be interesting to see of the Mavs go with an inside the organization elevation, which might make the acclimation much easier, or an external higher profile hire.

Luka apparently did have issues with RC and also mocked RC as to whether RC or Bob was in charge.  Whether we agree with everything RC did or not, he was a championship coach who was widely respected for his basketball mind. If that was not good enough for a 22 year old, which coach will be?  

Even if you put everything else aside as heresy , Luka came out of shape. There is no debate on that. He also put very little effort on defense. He seemed to get better a little bit over the season,  but part of his 4th quarter struggles in the playoffs probably had a lot to do with his fitness. Let us not forget that a 22 year old came out of shape. 

So to me it is irrelevant what Luka was in Europe or not. Things change and going from the possibility of being the next great star before he got to the NBA to actually realizing that and getting widespread acclaim, are two different things.  He is a great talent but there are definite signs of immaturity there that he has to address. We don’t need to go and check his past when that evidence is right there in front of us. I said the same thing about KP when the Mavs got him and everyone here was saying how the Knicks were a dumpster fire and that’s why KP wanted out of there. I said then that whatever the past evidence with the Knicks were, they did go out of their way to placate KP and the way he treated them was not correct. We saw KP’s pouting this year.  I see similar signs with Luka. He needs to change.

Luka's out-of-shapeness is a valid point raised in the video.   It sounds like Luka plays basketball a lot, like year round but targeted body shaping workouts is something else.

The Rick Carlisle point is interesting.  Shannon made the point that when Rick Carlisle resigned and gave his closing remarks he thanked and recognized a lot of people but one of them was NOT Luka Doncic.  I haven't heard the remarks yet so I'm curious now as to what Carlisle had to say about his Star player on the way out, if anything?

[Dahlsim]

First off, no body should watch these shock jock shows BUT for those who actually listened, and out of respect for the good intentions OP, Shannon is pro Luka and declares DAL as a very desirable destination for any HC. No brainer there, 22-year old top 5 player locked in for several more years. There is nowhere else to go but up. 

Worst case scenario, you make the playoffs and get knocked out of the first round every year like 1-trick-Rick, which many fans were cool with and praised Carlisle every year for it. What potential head coach wouldn't sign up for that kind of unconditional love? 

I don't buy into the Cuban the GM theory like many fans do but for those who dislike Skip, he actually agrees with you. Says he is worse than Jerry Jones.

Is Luka a Diva? Skip accuses Luka of this, and we all know he is a known Mavs hater who says Ginobli was better than Dirk. But only time will truly answer that question. I do not see any glaring Diva-ness from Luka thus far but it is clear to me the Harden/Westbrook style ball needs to be alleviated.

Good stuff, although I think you just have to take the shock jock shows for what they are, entertainment, occasionally insightful.  Its not any higher a bar than you might apply to a movie or tv show.     Its NOT the traditional 'journalism media' of the old news paper the broadcast television days.

It's easy to take for granted how spoiled we've all become from Dirk's behavior his whole career. He is the true unicorn.

Yup.  Guys like Dirk, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Julius Irving just to name a few off the top of my head were kind of the Sports Statesmen I could root for even if you didn't root for their Jersey.

But tbh, you really can't compare the treatment of Dirk and Luka (maybe more so Luka) due to the different playing field today. The player empowerment, super teams and the very real threat of losing an elite player before his contract was up has changed things. If nothing else look at the Pelicans. They have Zion, Ingram, Hayes and a couple of other young players. Not to mention a bunch of picks from the Lakers and the Bucks.

That fan base should be excited about the future. Instead due to comments by Zion's family now they are in a panic he will be gone after his rookie contract. Which one way or another is going to affect their immediate moves. It might not be a direction they were looking at before this. And in a way, the gm and coaching situations are similar.

Excellent points.  The Lebron Super-Pickup-Team era has changed the dynamic for GM's like perhaps it already had been changed for coaches. 
Player enpowerment, love it or hate it, Thanks King James!

You misunderstand Skip. If Skip has real opinions, he doesn't share them. He is for or against things based on business decisions. When in Dallas he chose to be against Aikman. Once in the national media he positioned himself as the guy criticizing LeBron. Luka is his next target because that's what will get him noticed. He's THE coattail rider. If he has a genuine bone in his body, he doesn't show it on the job.

Totally   I enjoy that you say IF Skip even has a real opinion and IF he even has a genuine bone in his body.
I'm imagining someone without any real opinion and without a single genuine bone in their structure. 

This job can only be a nightmare if viewed downwind from Cuban. Parcels had a team about ready to win a championship in Dallas and for whatever reason walked away. IMO, he left bc he was tired of Jerry.

Looking at Luka, Luka is a man. Stop calling him a kid. If you come here you better respect Luka. If you are afraid, don’t come here....

So you nailed it, Mav land is now Luka Land for anyone who decides to come enter the borders.

[fifteenth]

I'm imagining someone without any real opinion and without a single genuine bone in their structure. 

[khaled1987]

The Rick Carlisle point is interesting.  Shannon made the point that when Rick Carlisle resigned and gave his closing remarks he thanked and recognized a lot of people but one of them was NOT Luka Doncic.  I haven't heard the remarks yet so I'm curious now as to what Carlisle had to say about his Star player on the way out, if anything?

He thanked those in organization and only 2 players: Dirk and Kidd.
I don't think it is a dig to Luka, but with Kidd and Dirk they are legends and HOF (Luka ain't there yet) whom he won a ring with, iirc they led the team in minutes in playoffs the championship year.
Is it more worthy for RC to thank Luka more than Jet? Marion? or even TC? They had been here longer and won more under him. 
I would have actually found it disrespectful if he mentioned Luka as 3rd player.

[TXBamanut]

If you (generic "you", not the OP) don't listen to Skip, you may not know this, but he absolutely HATES Luka.  He thinks Luka isn't a superstar or is anything remotely special.  He claims he can't shoot, so he's way overhyped.

He's going to say anything that is a dig at Luka.  I'm going to take a wild guess and say that he's not very complimentary of Luka in the video...I may have egg on my face, but I would be shocked if even a compliment was just a rope a dope to swing it back around and talk about how Luka isn't all that.

[khaled1987]

If you (generic "you", not the OP) don't listen to Skip, you may not know this, but he absolutely HATES Luka.  He thinks Luka isn't a superstar or is anything remotely special.  He claims he can't shoot, so he's way overhyped.

He's going to say anything that is a dig at Luka.  I'm going to take a wild guess and say that he's not very complimentary of Luka in the video...I may have egg on my face, but I would be shocked if even a compliment was just a rope a dope to swing it back around and talk about how Luka isn't all that.

I think everyone knows he hates Cuban, hates ( or at least dislikes) the Mavs and he picked Luka as his new Lebron (a superstar to hate on him) 

But, the thread isn't about Skip but about the point being raised. 
Is it good job to be a Mavs coach? 
-Let's say Greg Popovich or Steve Kerr or Spoelstra (or whatever coach you believe he is elite) is suddenly became free agent and he has the whole league trying to get him: is Mavs job going to be high in his list? 
-Let's say that a good coach came in, would he actually enjoy being here or it will be like David Blatt (who is a good coach btw) during his time in Cleveland?  

Those are valid points for discussion tbqh

[TXBamanut]

I think everyone knows he hates Cuban, hates ( or at least dislikes) the Mavs and he picked Luka as his new Lebron (a superstar to hate on him) 

But, the thread isn't about Skip but about the point being raised. 
Is it good job to be a Mavs coach? 
-Let's say Greg Popovich or Steve Kerr or Spoelstra (or whatever coach you believe he is elite) is suddenly became free agent and he has the whole league trying to get him: is Mavs job going to be high in his list? 
-Let's say that a good coach came in, would he actually enjoy being here or it will be like David Blatt (who is a good coach btw) during his time in Cleveland?  

Those are valid points for discussion tbqh

I understand what the thread is about, BUT if we are pointing at Skip Bayless as the starting point for the discussion, then we need to understand the snake oil salesman that we are starting with.  It's relevant to the discussion.

You know that...great.  Not EVERYONE knows Skip Bayless or listens to him, because he freakin' sucks...

[Dahlsim]

I understand what the thread is about, BUT if we are pointing at Skip Bayless as the starting point for the discussion, then we need to understand the snake oil salesman that we are starting with.  It's relevant to the discussion.

You know that...great.  Not EVERYONE knows Skip Bayless or listens to him, because he freakin' sucks...

[Benskix2]

Mavs job seems pretty cushy.  You can go along time without winning anything and keep your job.  You have input on roster decisions but no responsibility for the results of your recommendations.  And you're going to have a weak GM and an owner desperate to be your friend.

[KillerLeft]

Mavs job seems pretty cushy.  You can go along time without winning anything and keep your job.  You have input on roster decisions but no responsibility for the results of your recommendations.  And you're going to have a weak GM and an owner desperate to be your friend.

All fair, lol.

[Dahlsim]

Mavs job seems pretty cushy.  You can go along time without winning anything and keep your job.  You have input on roster decisions but no responsibility for the results of your recommendations.  And you're going to have a weak GM and an owner desperate to be your friend.

The Kidd selection adds another dimension.  

You have a coach now who comes with his own brand recognition and respect, a big name but also one that knows Mark Cuban quite well we must assume, after all they did win a championship together. 

I don't see Kidd as getting pushed around easily.  Its also interesting the Coach seems to be selected before the GM?