Free Brandan Wright

[Corto Maltese]

I am not a fan of Wright as a PF because of his irregular shoot.
With both Mahinmi and Wright on the floor, it could work because Mahinmi has a decent shoot but Haywood+Wright in the same time...

[EricaLubarsky]

I hope Wright gets some minutes at the 4. The guy has a very complete set of moves and is surprisingly good defensively. In fact his net PER (his PER vs the guy he's defending) and win% overwhelmingly supports that the team is better with him at PF than C.

[clutch#41]

i like the wright-mahimi combo. looking forward to it. it has been used this season before and was actually pretty decent.

[mavsfan1000]

So Wright is our decided backup PF with Mahinmi getting some minutes as a backup C. Sounds good to me. Better than Odom.

[mavs777]

Originally Posted by clutch#41

i like the wright-mahimi combo. looking forward to it. it has been used this season before and was actually pretty decent.

It was used with Cardinal at the 3, the chances of that working in a playoff aren't that high. Vince needs to start to make threes again

A lineup like
Kidd/West
Terry
VC
Wright
Mahinmi/Haywood

Could work for small stretches

[grndmstr_c]

I haven't gotten the impression that anything was decided regarding the backup PF spot other than that it won't be manned by Odom. The relevant part of the article:

“We’ve done it in certain stretches this year,” Carlisle said. “This morning we looked at the film of those stretches. There’s some adjustment, but we’re not going to reinvent our style of play. There’s got to be a few tweaks if he plays that position and we’ll go from there.”

Sounds to me like Rick is just talking about covering all the bases in the wake of Odom's dismissal.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

I hope Wright gets some minutes at the 4. The guy has a very complete set of moves and is surprisingly good defensively. In fact his net PER (his PER vs the guy he's defending) and win% overwhelmingly supports that the team is better with him at PF than C.

He's played 1% of the team's PF minutes. Those numbers mean nothing.

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

I haven't gotten the impression that anything was decided regarding the backup PF spot other than that it won't be manned by Odom. The relevant part of the article:



Sounds to me like Rick is just talking about covering all the bases in the wake of Odom's dismissal.

Yep. People are jumping the gun a bit here. The Mavs have spent multiple games playing without Dirk and without Odom. If the Mavs truly believed in Wright as a PF he would have gotten minutes there by now.

I believe that they'll try it, but I think it's far from a certainty that he sticks there.

It's interesting to me that people keep clamoring for him to be played at PF. I understand wanting to see more of the guy, but the Mavs appear to have made a very shrewed assessment of him by playing him at center. No other team has gotten this sort of consistent production out of Wright yet. So why are we so anxious to see him back at the position that he'd essentially failed at? I realize injuries played a large role in his failure, but he also didn't nail down consistent minutes when he was healthy.

I'm curious to see what happens, and I'm not saying it can't work. But I think people need to be careful assuming that Wright can be effective at PF.

[sefant77]

In the Mavs system the PF need to have range. Wright not even have a midrange game. Thats why he isnt playing PF. At center he cant match up the few really big guys. So it will be a matchup thing and for some matchups we still need Haywood (Ian). Wright against Bynum, M.Gasol....hell no.

Same goes with Jones. Guards/wings need to knock down the open shot. He cant. Thats why he will be gone after his rookie contract.

[Underdog]

It's not about what Wright can and can't do - it's about whether you want to see Cardinal or Yi out there... Otherwise, we're going to be running the 3-guard lineup way more than we should.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by jthig32

So why are we so anxious to see him back at the position that he'd essentially failed at?

He's so far failed at both positions and this has been his first year of production, so you may as well say that he failed at every position he played. Really every season he's played, he's been more effective at the 4 than any other position other than a brief stint in NJ playing the SF.

When a guy consistently shows that he's better at the 4 than 5 throughout his career and the numbers THIS year (however small they may be at around 30minutes) also show that he's better for the team at the 4 than 5, its obvious why people would like to see him give it a shot. I'm not saying it won't work but considering who else we have and considering the numbers he's put up when allowed to play the 4, I'd say its not a bad gamble particularly if it gives Dirk some rest.

The real reason that Wright hasnt hit the floor at the 4 so far is that he doesnt have a midrange game and thus is not interchangable with Dirk. If the Mavs want to rest Dirk now that Odom is gone, they can go to Marion (who also has no outside game) and Wright or they can turn to Yi simply because he has a jumper. I'd go with the better player instead of sticking to the old strategy simply because you aren't going to have a serviceable player out there at the PF position that can shoot from midrange and three without playing the awful Yi.

I'm not saying he'll be an adonis, but I will say that its worth a shot. 30minutes isnt a lot but as long as the team can succeed with him there, why not let him play. I'm excited about the possibility of it even if I'm uncertain of the outcome.

[sefant77]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szkgylvDYA4

[sefant77]

1) Wright
2) Haywood (if opp plays really big guys)
3) Ian towel boyband with Cardinal and Yi.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Wright seemed mildy perturbed about the Utah and Lakers games.

(about 28 seconds into the video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=z3iQATUJ6d8#!

I like his confidence later in the video when he says "I produce"...you tell 'em Brandan.