Apologize to Coach Rick

[Branduil]

He was the only thing keeping this tire fire of a roster afloat. Now we're seeing the real quality of Donnie and Mark's last 5 years of work

[Kammrath]

The coach that has the Pacers 1-5?

[cow]

If Rick taught us anything, it is to never apologize.

[dirkfansince1998]

The coach that has the Pacers 1-5?

Missing two starters. Now probably three. Brogdon left the game against the Raptors.

[Kammrath]

Missing two starters. Now probably three. Brogdon left the game against the Raptors.

Not saying his situation has been perfect, but neither has Kidd's. 

My stance? What we are seeing isn't primarily a coaching issue and scapegoating Kidd doesn't fix the root issues. I am not here to rag on either Kidd or RC, that's barking up the wrong tree IMO.

[Branduil]

Who cares about RC's record with another team, the fact is this was the best offense in the league despite obvious roster limitations. Now with a worse coach we're seeing what this team really is.

[JamesConway]

He had a decade of time and more influence in the organization than probably 90% of the Nba‘s coaches. His track record since 2011 speaks for itself. Change was LONG overdue. Not ending up with a premier replacement is the issue. The same goes for Donnie/Nico. It’s still mindboggling that we didn’t chase Masai. 

But you can’t fire the one guy who needs to step away the most unfortunately...

[dirkfansince1998]

Not saying his situation has been perfect, but neither has Kidd's. 

My stance? What we are seeing isn't primarily a coaching issue and scapegoating Kidd doesn't fix the root issues. I am not here to rag on either Kidd or RC, that's barking up the wrong tree IMO.

I see a clear defensive improvement and think that Kidd should get the credit for it. Same for ther offense. It´s not like the Mavs have a completly different roster. The starting five in the first two games was the same one that RC used in 19/20. Under RC they finished with the best O-rating in the league. Under Kidd they struggle to score 90pts per game. We are seeing a differnt approach. Less Luka. More ballhandling opportunities for others. More inside game. more midrange. So far it isn´t working.

I am not going into final judgement mode right now. Both deserve some time to establish their systems. Both are facing difficulties. Both did not build the roster they have to work with. RC has to deal with injury problems in the back court and bad fit in the front court (Sabonis/Turner). Not to mention that the Pacers don´t have a talent like Luka. Kidd has to figure out the KP situation and overcome the lack of perimeter ballhandling/playmaking.

[Kammrath]

Who cares about RC's record with another team, the fact is this was the best offense in the league despite obvious roster limitations. Now with a worse coach we're seeing what this team really is.

It was also one of the league's worst defenses.

Kidd isn't making the Mavs miss wide open threes and RC didn't make them make wide open threes. There is so much more going on than to scapegoat coaching at this point. 

Also, this team is 3-2 (same record as DEN and better than LAL, for example) with its only losses against two of the top teams in the league ON THE ROAD. Yes, they were UGLY. Yes, there are ISSUES to discuss. But this team is still 3-2 and has showed lots of promise on D and has also missed a lot of wide open shots. Let's let this play out some more before concluding it is coaching.

[burekemde]

I think RC was doing really well. Mistake was letting Curry go. And not bringing in better talent. I believe the scheme was there previously for these players. We needed to keep Curry and getting more talent to the team. Oh, and KP was a mistake. Too soon to evaluate Kidd, he is trying different stuff, most of it that doesnt work. Doesn't mean he wont figure it out. But in general, things were working with RC. We just needed another player than KP, and one or two other valuable pieces.

[dirkfansince1998]

It was also one of the league's worst defenses.

18th and 20th in the last two seasons. Below average but not exactly worst in the league.

[Branduil]

Easy to look better on D when you play 3 of the worst teams in the league. KP, to his credit, has played harder on D, but none of this can make up from going from the best O in the league to the worst.

[Kammrath]

18th and 20th in the last two seasons. Below average but not exactly worst in the league.

Fair enough. Got caught up in the hyperbole.

[ItsGoTime]

Correction, it was the Curry trade!

[cow]

Shots will start falling.  Team shooting will not be this abysmal in the long run.  Playing Dwight Powell is inexcusable, leadership council or not.  It's time:

[Kammrath]

Shots will start falling.  Team shooting will not be this abysmal in the long run.

Mavs were shooting 28.9% on OPEN threes (vs 36.9% last year) and 39.2% on OPEN twos (vs 45.2% last year) going into this game....and those numbers just got worse.

[dirkfansince1998]

One thing that both said prior to the start of the season. Mavs preseason focus was the defensive end. Last season the Mavs started the season with a top 5 defense but once KP returned and players missed games due to COVID the defense tanked. Offense wasn´t as good as it was in 19/20 but improved as the season progressed. Season trend was an improving offense/tanking defense.
This year the Mavs once again started with a good defense and an even worse offense. Can they improve the offense without tanking the defense. Last season it felt like RC gave up on the defense minded approach and went back to more offensive minded lineups that worked in 19/20. Cannot really argue with the results. At one point the Mavs were 15th in the west. They finished 5th.
Will Kidd make similar changes or can he find a way to balance it out?

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

Not apologizing.
I love RC, and like what some has pointed out, he makes this team better than it actually is.

And as for Luka, I don't know if it's Kidd's system or not, but he looks lethargic out there, apart from looking slow and heavy (which isn't Kidd's fault of course). He seems to be holding back and would only be aggressive in spurts.

As for the Denver loss -- it's expected that Jokic would dominate the Mavs, but extra domination happens when you let DP out there.

This loss is on Kidd as well as Luka.

[Kammrath]

he looks lethargic out there, apart from looking slow and heavy (which isn't Kidd's fault of course). He seems to be holding back and would only be aggressive in spurts.

[MangaAfterDark]

It was time for a change, the last regime ran its course. RC should get credit for prolonging how long it took for this ship to finally sink, but we were going to sink regardless due to a poor roster. Roster mismanagement doomed this team. Whether its draft picks, trades, or cap space have we ever gotten the most out of a particular asset?