Zach Lowe's pod has a segment on the "reeling Mavericks," with McMahon as his team source.
A few niblets --
Think the Mavs have made moves that made sense at the time, but which they might well do differently if they had had the benefit of hindsight. Tim thinks the Mavs, in retrospect, did Luka a real disservice by hyping him as the team leader and turning the keys over to him on and off the court when he wasn't really ready for that. Not his fault, he's only 21.
Part of Mavs problem is that there isn't a real team leader. Luka is too young. Johnson is trying to fill in the gap, but there's a limit, since he's (a) just a guy, and (b) just passing through. None of the role players has enough gravitas to assume that responsibility. Barea was Luka's Yoda, exercising "ferocious" leadership in the locker room, and mentoring Luka in particular. Looking back on it, would probably have been better to keep JJ another season.
Real question mark about the Mavs is KP, for reasons that have been discussed by this board.
Some of the role players' ceilings may be a little lower than Mavs fans have hoped. WCS is very athletic, but one of the worst finishers ever for that type of player. Josh Richardson had a great game last night, but may not be likely to end up as much better than okay as a consistent matter. And so on.
The offense is missing the "pop" it had last season. Just a slog. Sometimes painful to watch.
Of course, it's very difficult to make a judgment based on this season, so far. Doubtful that the Mavs will make any panic moves in the trade market. Patience is more warranted than panic at this point.
https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/30822146
A few niblets --
Think the Mavs have made moves that made sense at the time, but which they might well do differently if they had had the benefit of hindsight. Tim thinks the Mavs, in retrospect, did Luka a real disservice by hyping him as the team leader and turning the keys over to him on and off the court when he wasn't really ready for that. Not his fault, he's only 21.
Part of Mavs problem is that there isn't a real team leader. Luka is too young. Johnson is trying to fill in the gap, but there's a limit, since he's (a) just a guy, and (b) just passing through. None of the role players has enough gravitas to assume that responsibility. Barea was Luka's Yoda, exercising "ferocious" leadership in the locker room, and mentoring Luka in particular. Looking back on it, would probably have been better to keep JJ another season.
Real question mark about the Mavs is KP, for reasons that have been discussed by this board.
Some of the role players' ceilings may be a little lower than Mavs fans have hoped. WCS is very athletic, but one of the worst finishers ever for that type of player. Josh Richardson had a great game last night, but may not be likely to end up as much better than okay as a consistent matter. And so on.
The offense is missing the "pop" it had last season. Just a slog. Sometimes painful to watch.
Of course, it's very difficult to make a judgment based on this season, so far. Doubtful that the Mavs will make any panic moves in the trade market. Patience is more warranted than panic at this point.
https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/30822146