Prediction: We will Start a Traditional Center

[omahen]

For example, the Mavericks never had enough wings to match up with the Clippers.  They just put 5 wings out there and hunted mismatches.

Not enough wings was not the problem, imho. Clippers have arguably two of the top 5 wings in the league. There is no one on one defense against that. Five out small ball offense basically kills help defense and they get a reasonably open shot every time. The only counter offense is for your bigs to be able to punish them on the other side with higher efficiency coupled with offensive rebounding. 

Neither Gobert nor KP could do that. Actually, the way bigs are at disadvantage today, there is perhaps just a couple of guys in the league that are mobile and strong enough to do that. Ayton mostly did well and forced Clippers to play Zubac, but even him would probably not be enough if Clippers had Kawhi.

[KillerLeft]

Not enough wings was not the problem, imho. Clippers have arguably two of the top 5 wings in the league. There is no one on one defense against that. Five out small ball offense basically kills help defense and they get a reasonably open shot every time. The only counter offense is for your bigs to be able to punish them on the other side with higher efficiency coupled with offensive rebounding. 

Neither Gobert nor KP could do that. Actually, the way bigs are at disadvantage today, there is perhaps just a couple of guys in the league that are mobile and strong enough to do that. Ayton mostly did well and forced Clippers to play Zubac, but even him would probably not be enough if Clippers had Kawhi.

A really strong argument in favor of implementing the Clippers model of roster building, tbh. Maybe with guys who are just a little more mentally stable.

[ItsGoTime]

When "matching up" with your opponent calls for playing someone like Boban in the playoffs against one of the better teams in the league, something has gone terribly wrong.

Don't re-sign/play Boban! (offseason grade D)


https://tenor.com/view/focker-fockerout-...if-7188340

[KillerLeft]

Don't re-sign/play Boban! (offseason grade D)

I know you're doing some type of bit here, I just can't tell what it is. 

I actually do believe the above directive should've been followed, lol.

[ItsGoTime]

I know you're doing some type of bit here, I just can't tell what it is. 

I actually do believe the above directive should've been followed, lol.

Just trying to bring some levity to a bleak Mavs world. All I can bring for now! Also, I do believe what I'm typing.


https://tenor.com/view/focker-fockerout-...if-7188340

[omahen]

I know you're doing some type of bit here, I just can't tell what it is. 

I actually do believe the above directive should've been followed, lol.

To add to your Bobi love. This photo is a living proof he is not 30 something old. He is at least 50 something

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/14...wcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fdallas-mavericks

[KillerLeft]

To add to your Bobi love. This photo is a living proof he is not 30 something old. He is at least 50 something

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/14...wcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fdallas-mavericks

When you're as slow as Boban, adding that extra weight to your upper lip might not be the greatest idea.

[dirkfansince1998]

Absolutely. The ability to attack in different ways is really important, imo. 

The mistake people (and teams) make is thinking they can accomplish this by using down-the-depth-chart specialists. To be truly competitive, you kind of need to be able to jumble your top 8-9 guys into different lineups, each resulting in a different play-style, to accomplish that versatility. When "matching up" with your opponent calls for playing someone like Boban in the playoffs against one of the better teams in the league, something has gone terribly wrong.

This. A player that can be "played off the floor" or can be turned into a liability shouldn´t be a top 5 rotation player. Obviously shouldn´t be paid like one. The Clippers series really highlighted the situation. The Mavs had one three men combination that dominated the Clippers. When Doncic/THJ/DFS shared the floor the Mavs outscored the Clippers by 46. The combination played 29 minutes per game. What happened in the remaining 19 minutes? Looking at the lineup data the Mavs are still in the game when two of them are on the floor. Mavs lost the series when two or more of them were on the bench.

I really hope that the addition of Bullock gives the Mavs another capable and versatile "matchup-proof" wing. Maybe a healthy Kleber can be another player to fill that role. But that´s pretty much it.
Doncic/THJ/Bullock/DFS/Kleber. Have three of them on the floor at all times and hope that they can carry whoever joins them on the floor.

[omahen]

I really hope that the addition of Bullock gives the Mavs another capable and versatile "matchup-proof" wing. Maybe a healthy Kleber can be another player to fill that role. But that´s pretty much it.
Doncic/THJ/Bullock/DFS/Kleber. Have three of them on the floor at all times and hope that they can carry whoever joins them on the floor.

I don't think it is enough. Doncic-less minutes were a disaster and I am affraid Mavs didn't solve this.

[michaeltex]

Back to the original question of playing a traditional center.

To me, DAL has to up value KP somehow, to either improve the team or make him more tradeable. That's likely either a) playing him at 5 with a switchable PF to trade off on defense or b) play him at PF and hope he keeps his offensive impact at a high enough level to mitigate his defensive issues.

If it's "b", then why does he just have to run down and spot up? I know he's not fast, but it seems like movement will help him get open and keep him engaged in the offense rather than just watching the Luka Show. Seems like that could be a improvement over just standing around. 

But I make no claims to being a basketball strategist...

[HAguiar95]

If that was/is the plan, we gotta look again at Holmes and why didn't we offer him more money (60/4 would have done it). Now we're stuck with WCS/Brown/Powell/Boban and I'm not really sure any of them can play meaningfull minutes come playoff time.

[Mapka]

The Mavs had one three men combination that dominated the Clippers. When Doncic/THJ/DFS shared the floor the Mavs outscored the Clippers by 46. The combination played 29 minutes per game. What happened in the remaining 19 minutes? Looking at the lineup data the Mavs are still in the game when two of them are on the floor. Mavs lost the series when two or more of them were on the bench.

I really hope that the addition of Bullock gives the Mavs another capable and versatile "matchup-proof" wing.

That´s a great observation. We knew we were short on good wings. Bullock might be a more important add than we realise yet.

This. A player that can be "played off the floor" or can be turned into a liability shouldn´t be a top 5 rotation player. Obviously shouldn´t be paid like one. The Clippers series really highlighted the situation.

I guess this is pointed to KP. But the reality is: every player can be made a liability on the defensive end. As long as your offensive impact is great enough it doesn´t really matter.

The clutch defense is another beast and I believe a team with KP can turn it up in the half court. If we f*ck it up at the offensive end, there is no cure on defense.

[ItsGoTime]

23/9/2!

Focker out!

[Jason Terry]

Not enough wings was not the problem, imho. Clippers have arguably two of the top 5 wings in the league. There is no one on one defense against that. Five out small ball offense basically kills help defense and they get a reasonably open shot every time. The only counter offense is for your bigs to be able to punish them on the other side with higher efficiency coupled with offensive rebounding. 

Neither Gobert nor KP could do that. Actually, the way bigs are at disadvantage today, there is perhaps just a couple of guys in the league that are mobile and strong enough to do that. Ayton mostly did well and forced Clippers to play Zubac, but even him would probably not be enough if Clippers had Kawhi.

We were destroyed by three 6’8”, one 6’7” wings and a 6’2” guard. Too big(Zubac, Ibaka). And too small( Rondo, Beverley). Along with anyone who can’t shoot 3’s eventually gets played off the court in the playoffs. 

So what did we do? We added a wing who actually could’ve been on the court in the series and made a big difference. THJ and DFS as your only real wings in 2021 playoffs won’t cut it

[omahen]

So what did we do? We added a wing who actually could’ve been on the court in the series and made a big difference. THJ and DFS as your only real wings in 2021 playoffs won’t cut it

Who exactly would that wing replace in last season playoffs?

[DanSchwartzgan]

Who exactly would that wing replace in last season playoffs?

First four games Maxi started and got 34+.  JRich came off the bench averaging 18+.  I suspect Bullock would have taken more than 18 minutes of the 52 JRich and Maxi shared, not to mention minutes Melli and Burke got.  So, I think it is fairly easy to see him getting minutes…possibly as a starter.

I don’t know what to say regarding games 5, 6 and 7.  We basically had four guys Carlisle trusted to play seven slots.  I bet Bullock could have had all the minutes he could stand in those games.

[omahen]

First four games Maxi started and got 34+.  JRich came off the bench averaging 18+.  I suspect Bullock would have taken more than 18 minutes of the 52 JRich and Maxi shared, not to mention minutes Melli and Burke got.  So, I think it is fairly easy to see him getting minutes…possibly as a starter.

I don’t know what to say regarding games 5, 6 and 7.  We basically had four guys Carlisle trusted to play seven slots.  I bet Bullock could have had all the minutes he could stand in those games.

That is all true, agree. But please mind the discussion was not about if Bullock is good enough to play, never claimed he is not. It was about him being the difference maker. I don't think those minutes/players listed were a reason why Mavs lost. Imho Mavs lost because there was no one to lift the team when Luka sat and because KP was not able to punish Clippers small ball on offense leading to their small ball killing our offense and defense creating mismatches. Bullock doesn't solve that either. He is (at best) a marginal improvement in areas that were not the core of our problem. Mavs just removed one option that didn't do well last season and added another, that we hope will be better while failed to address the biggest problems.

[DanSchwartzgan]

That is all true, agree. But please mind the discussion was not about if Bullock is good enough to play, never claimed he is not. It was about him being the difference maker. I don't think those minutes/players listed were a reason why Mavs lost. Imho Mavs lost because there was no one to lift the team when Luka sat and because KP was not able to punish Clippers small ball on offense leading to their small ball killing our offense and defense creating mismatches. Bullock doesn't solve that either. He is (at best) a marginal improvement in areas that were not the core of our problem. Mavs just removed one option that didn't do well last season and added another, that we hope will be better while failed to address the biggest problems.

It is hard to argue that we addressed the need many cite as our biggest (secondary playmaker/creator).  But, I don't think you can argue that Bullock isn't improvement either.  The discussion, at least the part I joined, seemed to be about the Clippers series.  We can argue all day about whether he'd have been a "difference maker".  Much depends on how close you think we came in games three and six.  JRich couldn't defend anyone from the bench and couldn't hit threes from the bench or the court.  I don't envision a way LAC would have played Bullock off the court.

Does Bullock answer every question.  No.  Did Dallas do as much as we hoped with the resources they had.  No.  Does the Dallas bench have enough juice.  I've said I think they need one more real NBA player there (pray for a big step up from Green).  But, in the specific case of the LAC playoff series, it isn't hard to imagine Bullock making a timely stop or made three that could have flipped the series.  How many times did I pine for just some MLE type of guy like Crowder or Batum?  I think Bullock's potential to flip the series fulfills the definition of "difference maker" in the specific case that your question and my answer seemed to be addressing.

Edit:  I think an issue with the board (and certainly with Cuban) is the lack of value placed on singles and doubles.  If it isn't a home run, it isn't worth doing.  The good news, is there is still time for the new addition.  Could be before the season opens.  Could be at the TDL.  Part of me wonders if Dallas will forgo both of those opportunities and wait until between the draft and the end of the 21-22 NBA year where we will have a trade-able pick, still have the TPE and have expiring Powell or Maxi to play around with.

[ItsGoTime]

The better team won the last 2 playoff series with or without the addition of 1 more guy to our team. Simple as that. If we continue to think like MC and tell ourselves we’re closer than we actually are, I think that is doing us a disservice. The alternate universe being envisioned here doesn’t take into account what the much better players would have done to win had we had 1 more better player.

[omahen]

It is hard to argue that we addressed the need many cite as our biggest (secondary playmaker/creator).  But, I don't think you can argue that Bullock isn't improvement either.  The discussion, at least the part I joined, seemed to be about the Clippers series.  We can argue all day about whether he'd have been a "difference maker".  Much depends on how close you think we came in games three and six.  JRich couldn't defend anyone from the bench and couldn't hit threes from the bench or the court.  I don't envision a way LAC would have played Bullock off the court.

Terry claimed Bullock could have made a big difference. I claim the big difference can only come from two spots - non Luka minutes and KP on both sides of the court. We didn't add a wing, we replaced one and the result is yet to be seen. Both are actually very similar players before coming to Dallas, similar also in height and weight. JRich actually was 3-10 from three in the series, which was not bad. 4-10 wouldn't make much of a difference. But I agree, Mavs defense somehow collapsed everytime he stepped on court. That wasn't the case in the regular season (not to such extent) and certainly wasn't the case before coming to Dallas. Exactly the same thing happened to Wright. Where is the guarantee it won't happen to Bullock? Interesting stat - NY was better when Bullock sat in playoffs. 

But, in the specific case of the LAC playoff series, it isn't hard to imagine Bullock making a timely stop or made three that could have flipped the series. 

Closest loss was game 6, by 7 points. A game Richardson actually played reasonably well in his limited minutes. It was Kawhi going supernova and Luka below his average that won the game for Clipps. All other losses were arguably way too far apart to claim that a wing change would make such a difference. 

I think Bullock's potential to flip the series fulfills the definition of "difference maker" in the specific case that your question and my answer seemed to be addressing.

 

I think it is important to note Mavs didn't add a wing, they just changed one. Replaced one option for another. I don't think it is as simple as to just take bad wing minutes from last season and replace them with a guy that had solid (but nothing more!) wing minutes last season in a different environment. When taking everything into account, I think there will always be guys with good and bad minutes, rarely just guys playing well, in a specific match or even series. Based on stats players had before coming to Dallas, it is actually difficult to say that Bullock is a definite upgrade over either Wright or JRich. Before claiming that Bullock is an upgrade we would have to understand what made both Wright and especially JRich worse players in Dallas than they were elsewhere and why they were essentially played off the court in playoffs. JRich was a good defender in both Miami and Philly. So why he suddenly became a bad defender in Dallas? I honestly have no answer. But that also makes me very careful before accepting as a fact, that Bullock will be a good defender, because he was a decent defender in NY. Both JRich and Bullock were surrounded by good defenders with their previous teams, playing good team defense. They both came to a different situation. They even had similar introduction speaches   The only thing that certainly makes Bullock different from Wright and JRich is his better three point shooting. 

Let me just repeat - I don't want to bash Bullock, I think he is a decent player. But I don't believe he is enough of an upgrade to be sure Mavs would win the Clippers series.