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Old 06-20-2022, 06:01 PM   #58
Thespiralgoeson
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Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart View Post
This is an excellent article and one that highlights what I said about Wood's ability to defend on the perimeter. It also spotlights his terribleness as post defender.

But that perimeter defense is going to be more key IMO. With the way switches happen at lightning speed, you gotta cover basically anyone you're switched on. Just have to figure out a strategy to hide him in post iso D.

https://www.dmagazine.com/sports/202...vericks-trade/
Good article and great data. However, I'm not sure I agree with the writer's assumption- which in fairness seems to be everyone's assumption- that the Mavs' biggest weakness coming into this offseason was rim protection. Given that the Mavs were one of the best defensive teams in the league this year, it seems odd to me that the consensus is that their fatal weakness is a lack of defense. Yes, the defense got exposed against the Warriors. But I think what got exposed worse was the fact that the Mavs had virtually no frontcourt production in general. No defense. But no offense either. And worse of all, no rebounding. Rebounding was by far and away the teams biggest weakness- we got outrebounded by over 11 per game against the Warriors. It's really no wonder they destroyed us when you think about that number alone.

Powell is absolutely useless except for like his two lob catches per game. And Kleber is a good 3 and D big, but he's not a great rebounder and if the 3 isn't falling, then he's useless on offense too. Now rim protection will still be an issue, sure, but simply swapping out Powell, who I honestly think was probably the worst starting center in the league this year, for Wood who is one of the best offensive bigs in the league will make the team a lot better. Even more so when you add in that he's an elite defensive rebounder.

Add another 3 and D wing and a shot blocking big off the bench, and this team could be absolutely legit. I'm talking 60 wins legit.

The writer here alluded to Wood being effective defensively when paired with another big. Even though I expect DFS/Wood to be our starting 4/5, I really look forward to seeing the minutes where's playing with Kleber and/or a another big we add this offseason. With those combinations, the Mavs could go from being one of the worst rebounding teams to one of the best.

Last edited by Thespiralgoeson; 06-20-2022 at 06:19 PM.
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