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Originally Posted by dude1394
Jeff foster is starting for the same reason that damp does. So that he can pick up the fouls contesting shots in the paint as well as why they have a center with duncan. You just don't want you stud offensive player picking up cheap ones. IMO.
...., what I'm arguing about is that somehow he wouldn't fit here because he's not damp.
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But it IS about fit. About players being wiling and able to assume roles and be productive in those roles.
It's not just that you don't want Dirk getting cheapies contesting shots at the rim(though it's true that you don't), it's also that you have to have a player like Dampier (or better yet a combined 12 fouls between players like Dampier and Diop) who will accept that role and be content not being a marquee scorer---a player to protect the rim, clog the middle, engage other players physically to keep them off the board, set picks on offense, crash the o-boards, and not be a malcontent because he's not having the offense run through him.
JO'Neal is a talented, skilled player. And that's part of the problem in this hypothetical. He would NOT be happy being relegated to the basketball equivalent of a lineman. He's too skilled a player to adapt to that mindset and be productive doing the things that Dampier/Diop do. For him to be a productive player, he would ultimately detract from Dirk's game. The Mavericks have an excellent balance now that they've been developing over the last couple or three years. There would be no reason whatsoever to bring in a skilled player like JO'Neal and ask him to be a role player.
Even before his injury problems LaFrentz was not a skill player at the level of O'Neal, but he did come to Dallas having shown himself to be more than a role player. He was misused in Nelson's system, basically sacrificed. That team was almost always overmatched (not to mention grossly overrated) with him trying to fill the middle.
And then there was 2003--why couldn't Dirk, Jamison, Walker, Finley and Nash all score 20ppg? Why was that the worst Mavericks team in the last 10 years?
It's about fit, complimentary skills, and players willing to accept roles. Johnson has done a great job getting Dampier and Diop to be productive in their roles, which in turn, lets Dirk get the most out of his abilities.
No way you'd be getting the same production out of Dirk, or the team as a whole by bringing a player like JO'Neal in to play center. No way.