THE CRUCIFIX: Cato: Wood isn't thrilled w/ his role...Will depart in the summer

[dynamicalVoid]

How does one know that Wood isn't a starting center on a winning team if he hasn't started yet?  

McGee got a chance to start and sucked.  Check. 

Powell got a million starts no matter how poorly he played.  Check. 

Wood was second in PER behind only Luka in the first three games.  BENCH AND 25 minutes per game no matter what!

We will never know if Wood is that good until he gets the chance.

And this post right here makes Dan and F Gumps stance seem weird.

Powell and McGee were/have been trash in the past but got starts.

But Wood has to earn his?  Something isnt making sense.

Kidd just flexing power in the name of "earn it".  Seems childish.

[KillerLeft]

So, are Siakam and Collins and Grant not highly paid?  I’d submit they are the better comparisons than the big scoring centers of the league.  Is there something wrong with adding our version of Siakam or Collins to this roster?  Why does he have to be something he isn’t.

There it is. We are just seeing a completely different player out there. 

He is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much farther from being Siakim to me than he is from being a center. Like, I never would have even considered that comparison. It would not have occurred to me. I simply disagree with this opinion submitted. 

If, in the Mavs' plans, they're trying to go that direction with Christian Wood, I think we're all in for misery, in one form or another.

---

Which isn’t the point Killer is making at all.

True. @"Kammrath" and I probably see this a little differently, even if we end up at the same destination. 

MY point is that I do not care in the least what "data" Wood brings from Detroit or Houston, both of which were abysmal teams at the time. 

I look at him, I watch him move, I see what he can do, what he can't do, imagine what would highlight his strengths and offer the best chance to hide weaknesses, and the word that pops into my head is CENTER.

[Moviemavguy]

And this post right here makes Dan and F Gumps stance seem weird.

Powell and McGee were/have been trash in the past but got starts.

But Wood has to earn his?  Something isnt making sense.

Kidd just flexing power in the name of "earn it".  Seems childish.

Well I think it's pretty obvious that Wood has earned it which is why this is a head scratcher for so many people.  I mean, pure talent alone puts Wood way ahead of Powell and McGee.  I'm fine with Powell earning his minutes by working hard, but Wood is a different level of player.

[F Gump]

Well I think it's pretty obvious that Wood has earned it which is why this is a head scratcher for so many people.  I mean, pure talent alone puts Wood way ahead of Powell and McGee.  I'm fine with Powell earning his minutes by working hard, but Wood is a different level of player.

I will say this again because I don't think people are getting it -- I see evidence that this is an issue of Kidd demanding "team" takes precedence over "me and my minutes/stats" whereas Wood doesn't tend to operate that way. And this is Luka's team, not Wood's, so this issue is NOT negotiable.

Whether it's a major fight, where Wood simply refuses to care and expects to just do what he prefers, or whether it's just a process of doing the "training" work game after game (minutes, etc being used to remind and reinforce) remains to be seen. I'm hopeful it's the latter, not the former. And Kidd definitely has the skins on the wall of being a real teacher, who figures out how to get willing players to form good habits to the benefit of both them and the team, so there's that.

[Kammrath]

Kidd definitely has the skins on the wall of being a real teacher, who figures out how to get willing players to form good habits to the benefit of both them and the team, so there's that

Kidd has last year and last year only as a positive head coaching "skin." His previous stints before are riddled with well-chronicled issues of being too controlling with roster decisions AND with playing mind games with his players. The book on Giannis in particular shed light on Kidd as a coach and "teacher" during his time in MIL, which was previously his most "successful" stop.

Don't get me wrong, Kidd was great last year from my seat. But this year there are lots of signs that his issues from BRK and MIL are resurfacing. He has not earned the "benefit of the doubt" yet as his track record is not established. It is messy.

[dynamicalVoid]

I just keep reading "dancing" around type excuses for the Wood situation.

None of it is making any sense what so ever.   Every excuse can be met with situations in the past that contradict the current situations excuse.

You can dance around it...but trying to feed the masses horse manure such as "Tom Brady needs to earn his spot over Cooper Rush" is going to be met with push back after witnessing both players play.

Powell is not better than Christian Wood.  And using "team" as an excuse is only hurting the team.

[IamDougieFresh]

Dan said Boogie was best at PF back in the day. I have tabs on all of you.

Also those thinking Dwight can start as the lone big, but Wood can’t??????????

[DallasMaverick]

I just keep reading "dancing" around type excuses for the Wood situation.

None of it is making any sense what so ever.   Every excuse can be met with situations in the past that contradict the current situations excuse.

You can dance around it...but trying to feed the masses horse manure such as "Tom Brady needs to earn his spot over Cooper Rush" is going to be met with push back after witnessing both players play.

Powell is not better than Christian Wood.  And using "team" as an excuse is only hurting the team.

Exactly my argument about why Roddy B should be starting.

[F Gump]

He has not earned the "benefit of the doubt" yet as his track record is not established. It is messy.

I think you're flat wrong on that when it comes to developing players -- and that's what the question on the table right now: Has Kidd earned the right to be trusted in his ability to develop raw talent? 

In BKN, Kidd - with no coaching experience and dealing with crusty veterans who had to be made into a cohesive team and had to be catered to - had a challenging season start but still won 44, and the team was worse after he was traded to MIL. (He was not fired.) But that stint told us nothing re his ability (or lack of) to develop raw talent.

But MIL did. There, the team was way better with him (it was a 15-win team the year before he arrived, and hadn't had a winning season in a decade), jumping an extra 26 wins in the first year, and making the playoffs and finishing .500 or better every year under him but 1. 

More importantly, he was universally credited with making young raw players into really good players, specifically Giannis, Middleton, and Brogdon. The one or two notable exceptions were thought to be why he was fired - he clashed with Jabari Parker who had been drafted #2 overall, and he also didn't turn Thon Maker into a star - and in hindsight, maybe Kidd wasn't the problem in getting more out of those players.

The evidence is that he definitely is a great teacher and developer of talent, and that's certainly what's in play with Wood. There's no question that Wood, before Dallas, has only been a player with "potential" but has never figured out how to round out the rest of his game to become a key trusted player on a good team. I'm confident that Kidd would be able to help him fill in the missing skills, but only if he is willing to learn, and I think it's much smarter to defer to Kidd as to how to best navigate the player down that path.

[dynamicalVoid]

Exactly my argument about why Roddy B should be starting.

I at least hope he was given a shot.

[IamDougieFresh]

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

The evidence is that he definitely is a great teacher and developer of talent, and that's certainly what's in play with Wood. 

I don't see how calling out Wood in a game where a lot of factors where in play was necessary.
Doesn't seem like someone who's  a "great teacher and developer of talent" to me, he's more of a schmuck.

[F Gump]

I don't see how calling out Wood in a game where a lot of factors where in play was necessary.
Doesn't seem like someone who's  a "great teacher and developer of talent" to me, he's more of a schmuck.

You seem to assume this call-out happened the first time Wood screwed up - rather than after yet another in a long line of screwups and inattentions to task that have been happening repeatedly. I do not.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

You seem to assume this call-out happened the first time Wood screwed up - rather than after yet another in a long line of screwups and inattentions to task that have been happening repeatedly. I do not.

Go back to what Kidd said.
The call-up was on one particular game, maybe even one particular stretch.
It was very specific.
Kidd might be pointing out to defensive deficiencies Wood has in all games and even in practice, but the call-out was made for one game --- as an example.
And to me, it wasn't even for Wood.

It's for reporters which seems to be on Kidd's mind.
He wanted to go straight at their faces and tell ém -- "see, is just doesn't work with Wood, thus the playing time".

That's throwing the bus at a player, just to prove a point. And at that time, Kidd needed that one stretch of "not woking out".
And that's even more concerning -- he let that occurrence happen, he relished it and called no time-outs.

[Jym]

You seem to assume this call-out happened the first time Wood screwed up - rather than after yet another in a long line of screwups and inattentions to task that have been happening repeatedly. I do not.

Wait. I didn't think anyone would actually defend that call-out
Not even Kidd

[F Gump]

The call-up was on one particular game, maybe even one particular stretch.
It was very specific.

Of course. That's how you do it when you are training someone and it's time for second level correction. Every time you want to make it about a specific, not about "always" but rather about this time.

I am assuming this isn't the first time Wood has been called out, where this was out of the blue, but rather we saw a case of taking it up a notch (public) when getting deaf ears on previous tries to get different behavior (private). The fact that you and I didn't hear it before doesn't mean this issue and Kidd/coaches pointing it out didn't happen before.

[Dundalis]

I will say this again because I don't think people are getting it -- I see evidence that this is an issue of Kidd demanding "team" takes precedence over "me and my minutes/stats" whereas Wood doesn't tend to operate that way. And this is Luka's team, not Wood's, so this issue is NOT negotiable.

Whether it's a major fight, where Wood simply refuses to care and expects to just do what he prefers, or whether it's just a process of doing the "training" work game after game (minutes, etc being used to remind and reinforce) remains to be seen. I'm hopeful it's the latter, not the former. And Kidd definitely has the skins on the wall of being a real teacher, who figures out how to get willing players to form good habits to the benefit of both them and the team, so there's that.

This might or might not be the case, but there is literally no evidence of it happening on the court. Wood is actively and consistently giving up on opportunities where he could totally create a scoring opportunity for himself. In fact I wish he would take more shots and be more aggressive offensively some possessions because his offensive skillset for his size is super impressive, and he has a fricken 68% TS! Almost all the shots he takes are within the offensive flow. His willingness to pass the ball for someone who is apparently a selfish ballhog, is pretty impressive to me.

So if this mentality exists, it must exist off court only, because someone like THJ on the other hand, gets no criticism from the coach, and is far more selfish than Wood taking forced shots outside the offensive flow, while also being completely inefficient and also playing even less defense. Wood has been defensively solid at a minimum, his rebounding and off ball shot blocking make him a defensive factor even if his on ball work isn't very good.

It's almost like Wood is being criticised for reputation and play PRIOR to Dallas as opposed to what he's actually doing in Dallas. Which is dumb. Now if he's causing mayhem in the locker room and practice court then fair enough. But usually you see some evidence flow on court. And to be perfectly honest, the whole this is Luka's team and his alone thing and any threat to that needs to be cut off is stupid when the whole issue is Luka carries too much load. You WANT someone who might have the talent to step up and take some of that load, it will still be Luka's team purely because he's arguably the most talented player in the league, but if that means when you hear the Mavericks you think duo rather than solo, that should be a good thing.

[F Gump]

This might or might not be the case, but there is literally no evidence of it happening on the court. Wood is actively and consistently giving up on opportunities where ....

Actually I think there is.

It's impossible to say for certain, without knowing objectively what Wood is being tasked to do. But it looks to me like Wood has been kinda doing his own thing on both ends of the floor.

On defense, that would show up on whether or not he participates in defensive rotations, and engages the offensive player where he is supposed to engage. Even if he isn't naturally good on defense, being in the right place, and using his size and length, can be very useful. Giving up and not bothering would be very concerning for a coach. And for other players too, when the team mindset is "accountability."

On offense, it would show up not only in whether he forces shots and ball hogs, but also in his positioning (is he where is supposed to be, to space the floor for others), and does he do things like move, set picks, and roll to the basket (as a big after setting a pick). Failing to do such things in a PNR-heavy offense will clog up the ball movement, the spacing, and make it harder for others to get easier shots while he's on the floor.

Without mentioning anyone's name, Dinwiddie mentioned that ONLY Powell (among the centers) has been willing to do the things that are needed to space the floor for the creators and get open looks for the shooters from the arc. He mentioned specifically the willingness to roll to the basket after the pick. While he didn't say Wood by name, he's one of the players whose DP's minutes are coming from.

It was shortly after this that Kidd called out Wood in public. I think he was probably just carrying the water for Luka and SD, frankly. A bigger call for accountability.

And if you think about it, how is Wood going to get more minutes and shots, if he's making the game harder for Luka and SD where they don't want him on the floor with them? He won't run PNR with a hard roll? He won't play D either? This team revolves around what Luka needs, not what Wood feels like doing (and that won't change, nor should it -- this is Luka's team).

[IamDougieFresh]

Don't worry guys. Learning how to use some video editing software to save the Mavs. In my first video I will be looking at every defensive possession and comparing any found errors by Wood to errors from other Mavs. 

Which narrative will prevail? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z.

[IamDougieFresh]

Also going to show some clips of offensive spacing...