12-22-2022, 12:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-22-2022, 01:02 PM by KillerLeft.)
What's frustrating to me is basically this:
Here's Wood, a guy who very plainly can actually DO all of the things we thought Porzingis could do back when the original trade with NY happened. Turns out KP absolutely can't handle the ball in space and drive around people. He can't score in the post efficiently. He can't really be a plus on defense, because for every instance when his length causes problems in the paint, there are three instances of his statuesque stone feet getting your defense smoked when he's in space. He can't score efficiently from the midrange, or even create space for passable attempts...all he can do is that silly, inefficient, awkward "give up" of a turnaround shot.
Wood has demonstrated that he can do all of that much better than I anticipated, and he's even showing signs of learning to make the right pass in 4 on 3's which I personally don't believe he could do when the season started. In short, contained within his immature, late blooming ass is a special offensive player, and I don't use that word lightly.
It seems to me that the only thing holding him back is a lack of understanding of how consistent a good team's second or third most important player has to be, both in games and in practice. When I think of the word "coach" the association that immediately pops into my head is "teacher."
I can understand the desire to give up on a guy who's hard to reach in most situations, but to look at it from a different angle, this team just fell on its face with one of the most disastrous big-swing trades (Porzingis) I can remember and then crippled themselves even further by bungling the Brunson situation more than I would've dared to imagine, beforehand.
Isn't taking the time to reach the journeyman with rare talent who you were able to acquire relatively cheaply one of the only ways to recover quickly from the hell-scape that has been the Mavs' plan for the past 2-3 seasons? Don't we think, given where they are today, right now, that this is at least worth giving the kid a chance to prove he can or can't do it?
I, personally, have enjoyed watching the recent stretches wherein Wood is played as a solo big and shooting has provided him with space. If it turns out he can't perform well enough in those circumstances to win games, then fine, but my goodness, I sure think he's doing well enough already to justify extending this experiment a little longer. If they had just started with this approach, there's a chance he'd be even better by now. There's also a chance it would've been horrific, sure, but I doubt it, and it's not like they were tearing up the Western Conference before everyone got hurt.
IMHO, not only should the Mavs be trying/hoping to make things work with Wood, they should be DESPERATE to do so. If this was playing out for another team in less dire circumstances I might feel totally differently.
Here's Wood, a guy who very plainly can actually DO all of the things we thought Porzingis could do back when the original trade with NY happened. Turns out KP absolutely can't handle the ball in space and drive around people. He can't score in the post efficiently. He can't really be a plus on defense, because for every instance when his length causes problems in the paint, there are three instances of his statuesque stone feet getting your defense smoked when he's in space. He can't score efficiently from the midrange, or even create space for passable attempts...all he can do is that silly, inefficient, awkward "give up" of a turnaround shot.
Wood has demonstrated that he can do all of that much better than I anticipated, and he's even showing signs of learning to make the right pass in 4 on 3's which I personally don't believe he could do when the season started. In short, contained within his immature, late blooming ass is a special offensive player, and I don't use that word lightly.
It seems to me that the only thing holding him back is a lack of understanding of how consistent a good team's second or third most important player has to be, both in games and in practice. When I think of the word "coach" the association that immediately pops into my head is "teacher."
I can understand the desire to give up on a guy who's hard to reach in most situations, but to look at it from a different angle, this team just fell on its face with one of the most disastrous big-swing trades (Porzingis) I can remember and then crippled themselves even further by bungling the Brunson situation more than I would've dared to imagine, beforehand.
Isn't taking the time to reach the journeyman with rare talent who you were able to acquire relatively cheaply one of the only ways to recover quickly from the hell-scape that has been the Mavs' plan for the past 2-3 seasons? Don't we think, given where they are today, right now, that this is at least worth giving the kid a chance to prove he can or can't do it?
I, personally, have enjoyed watching the recent stretches wherein Wood is played as a solo big and shooting has provided him with space. If it turns out he can't perform well enough in those circumstances to win games, then fine, but my goodness, I sure think he's doing well enough already to justify extending this experiment a little longer. If they had just started with this approach, there's a chance he'd be even better by now. There's also a chance it would've been horrific, sure, but I doubt it, and it's not like they were tearing up the Western Conference before everyone got hurt.
IMHO, not only should the Mavs be trying/hoping to make things work with Wood, they should be DESPERATE to do so. If this was playing out for another team in less dire circumstances I might feel totally differently.