Quote:
Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart
But the FO, at the very least, did address it by signing McGee. Had he been given Phx's role, then this might be a very different season.
Kidd just wouldn't play him. I'm not really sure ANY center would have succeeded under him unless it was Embiid or Jokic.
We have this toxic combination of not good big men combined with a coach that doesn't have any clue how to use a big man. That's never going to work.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SMC0007
IMO it doesn't matter what is more to blame scheme or players. We lost JB who was NOT a good defender. We lost Dorian who was decent defender but we sucked with him too this season. He was our best defender but that's not saying much, he wasnt stopping anybody.
We replaced JB with Wood which should net you more boards, but the dude came off the bench and it negated the potential extra rebounding.
I think it's equal parts interior presence as it is perimeter defense and scheme. We got blown off thr dribble a ton. Bigs come away from the basket and the fiasco ensues. How many times have we failed to defend simple PnR? Scrambling to rotate is inevitable, but damn, we are constantly trying to catch up and guys have to collectively make instant decisions on where to go. In crunch time, games where we almost always lost this season, none of our guards or forwards can defend. We can't even slow down the attack. Not even when we had Dorian.
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If McGee was our answer, then the FO massively failed, is basically what I'm trying to say. I have doubts that Kidd is the issue when I look at what is being provided to work with...it's been an issue for the Mavs ever since Tyson Chandler left. Rick Carlisle would have the same struggles...
As for DFS, he is an above average defender at the very worst. I'm simply not buying into anything else. He may have looked worse this year but that was simply due to the overall team and team defense struggling.
I can give some credit to the perimeter defense being too passive and leading to some of the interior defense's flaws. But then again, it's the same scheme and personnel as last season, minus DFS. What's the rub? It was definitely better with him here than without, but not to a championship level or even to the level of last year.
I still firmly believe that the Mavs as a whole have devalued both the PF and C spots for more than a decade now. They were at their peak with a competent, starting center with wings to fill in. Even Marion can be duplicated due to his age.
I think if Luka and Kyrie buy into defense a bit more (which the latter seems engaged), then this team can get there. Still need to add a defensive first wing to help when guys go down. But you can definitely start with Bullock and Green and go from there on the wing. The biggest shortfall of this team is the big man and lack of true production.