11-06-2020, 02:39 PM
(11-06-2020, 10:13 AM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: Coaching > everything else when it comes to defense.
Right now I fully expect any good defender that potentially ends up in Dallas to look worse than he did before. That said a KP/Gobert duo offers a lot of options. Especially when it comes to zone schemes.
In the end there is a point where talent>fit. Gobert has been a top 20 player by nearly all impact metrics for multiple seasons. Most discussed wing/guard options (except for Holiday, healthy Oladipo, healthy Hayward) aren´t even in the top 50.
Dallas has right in the middle of the road most years since the championship. 2012 after Casey left they were a top 10 defense. Casey always has a great defense and they did take a bit of a step back (they also lost Chandler of course). But they were still a good defense with different assistants coaching.
It wasn't until Kidd and the other centers were gone the next summer that the Mavs took a huge drop. Having a lockdown perimeter defender and rim protecting center was a huge difference.
Defense always picks up in the playoffs. We haven't even gotten to see how the Mavs look there in the last decade because our roster has been so empty of defensive guys.
Scheme and coaching can make up for lack of defenders to an extent but personnel and matchups matter. Look at Denver and the Clippers. Even when going down 3-1 they were playing really solid defense and then stepped it up in the last 3 games. Kawhi struggled big time. Grant earned himself some money in that series. But in short they were able to use a few different guys to contain Kawhi and George enough. Against the Lakers they could not because they had nobody who could even phase AD.
When you are running out Boban as your main center... That's how you have Clippers scoring 130 a game against you in the playoffs.