Ian Mahinmi Developement Thread - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

mavs777 · 12-30-2011, 11:02 PM

I thought since we have one on Jones and Roddy, we should have 1 on Mahinmi. Today he really made a statement and at least for the time being will be the backup center.

grndmstr_c · 12-30-2011, 11:05 PM

Best game in a Maverick uniform for him, with the possible exception of the Finals game 6. To be sure, he should have a solid performance against a team that has Bargnani at C, but you still have to go out there and do it, and he was excellent tonight. Well done, Ian.

Kante · 12-30-2011, 11:06 PM

Yep, good game. Still, he needs to get more consistent!

FINtastic · 12-30-2011, 11:10 PM

He's not a bad offensive player at all for a center, although he doesn't always look graceful doing it. Defensively he's pretty shaky. He looked fine tonight on the defensive end, however that probably had something to do with the fact that he faced a team that doesn't really attack the teeth of the defense very well. He needs to rebound better because he hasn't been doing that very well at all this year.

Melonhead · 12-30-2011, 11:46 PM

Was really impressed with Ian tonight. Makes us fans feel a tad better about the C position.

BGMaverick9 · 12-31-2011, 12:42 AM

He's built a lot of positive momentum off of the last few games of the Finals. He actually was starting to play off of fear for losing his role based on the fact Williams started to push him.

Looks like the center position will be a stable of different bodies that can hit you in different ways.

nowhereman · 12-31-2011, 01:05 AM

If you have 4-5 centers you rely on, you really have zero centers you rely on.

BGMaverick9 · 12-31-2011, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nowhereman

If you have 4-5 centers you rely on, you really have zero centers you rely on.

Isn't that like saying if you have 4-5 players you're relying on to support for Dirk, you really have no one to rely on?

Seemed to work fine for the team last year.

nowhereman · 12-31-2011, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

Isn't that like saying if you have 4-5 players you're relying on to support for Dirk, you really have no one to rely on?

Seemed to work fine for the team last year.

Well I just mean that if we have to trust 4 or 5 guys to play one spot, we're not really "trusting" any of them

BGMaverick9 · 12-31-2011, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nowhereman

Well I just mean that if we have to trust 4 or 5 guys to play one spot, we're not really "trusting" any of them

I guess so, but you're just looking for the player to do what they're in there to do until it's time to work someone else in.

Haywood, go protect the middle and crash the boards. Set screens and flash to the rim. Not working...?

Ian, go protect the middle and crash the boards. Show some weapons on offense, bring energy, set screens and flash to rim. Not working...?

Williams, go be a wildcard in the middle and crash the boards. Stay out of foul trouble, bring energy and flash to the rim.

nowhereman · 12-31-2011, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

I guess so, but you're just looking for the player to do what they're in there to do until it's time to work someone else in.

Haywood, go protect the middle and crash the boards. Set screens and flash to the rim. Not working...?

Ian, go protect the middle and crash the boards. Show some weapons on offense, bring energy, set screens and flash to rim. Not working...?

Williams, go be a wildcard in the middle and crash the boards. Stay out of foul trouble, bring energy and flash to the rim.

Yeah - sometimes you have to play a position by committee out of necessity, and there's some value to being able to play matchups. But I'm really just not a huge fan of that approach. For one thing, I think it's hard to develop on-court chemistry when you're not sure what to expect at one position at crucial moments.

Like - last year, starting really with that Utah game, when we really figured out what our closing 5 would be when we went on that defensive run. That same lineup fueled so many comebacks. It's hard to build that kind of rapport without reps and developed chemistry. And even if we know the closing center, I think the second unit would perform better if it came in consistently with the same center.

I do think Coach will get that hammered out in time. I think he'll have to. I'd much rather see the team have a defined 1-2 punch at the position.

It's definitely nice to have all those tools available, and I know the team isn't going to expect a lot out of the position this year, but it would still be nicer if all the tools weren't spread out over so many bodies.

BGMaverick9 · 12-31-2011, 02:19 AM

With this being the "dirty work" position as Carlisle called it, you need bodies. These guys are asked to take on the primary low post option, get boards and set the tone defensively. I don't see how it can be easy to do all of that and avoid foul trouble of major fatigue.

Sitting Bull · 12-31-2011, 11:18 AM

Really impressed with ian,
hard working kid!

sike · 12-31-2011, 11:20 AM

I'd like to see more hard fouls out of the 5 spot for the Mavs no matter who is back there...Set the tone that it just might cost you something to step in here.

Dale4Saul2Red0 · 12-31-2011, 11:37 AM

Going to be musical Centers all year. Rick is going to ride the hot hand. Still Ian's movement makes Haywood look slower than slow.

Kante · 12-31-2011, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale4Saul2Red0

Going to be musical Centers all year. Rick is going to ride the hot hand. Still Ian's movement makes Haywood look slower than slow.

A post from you to diss Haywood? New to me...

mavs777 · 01-02-2012, 11:06 PM

His per 36 numbers in his last 3 games.
PPG: 18
RPG: 9.26
BPG: 1.56
SPG: 1.03
FG %: 76.5
FT %: 64.3
FTA: 7.2

Kante · 01-02-2012, 11:10 PM

Being consistent right now, now reduce those dumb fouls and we got a tandem!

FINtastic · 01-02-2012, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kante

Being consistent right now, now reduce those dumb fouls and we got a tandem!

He needs to work on his footwork defensively because I think that's the source of his foul trouble. He gets sloppy when he's sliding to make his rotations and ends up out of position. This causes him to get beat so his last resort is to foul to keep the opponent from getting an easy bucket. Also, that decision to try to draw the charge for his 4th or 5th foul was just a poor decision because he wasn't going to close and get set before the offensive player got to the spot.

mavs777 · 01-02-2012, 11:41 PM

He is almost never in good position on the defensive end.

FINtastic · 01-03-2012, 12:10 AM

Since I've spent so much time ripping his defensive play, I should point out that in the 1st 5 games the Mavericks have allowed only 94.9 Points Per 100 Possessions when Mahinmi was on the court. This is especially notable due to the fact that they've been roughly 20 points per 100 possessions worse when he's off the court.

Granted, I believe this is most likely an aberration for reasons already mentioned in addition to the fact that the Mavericks allowed 106.2 points per possession when he was on the court during the 2010-11 season. Given how wheels off the start of this season has been, we should probably take all of this with a grain of salt at this point, but it's something worth monitoring as we move forward.

clutch#41 · 01-03-2012, 12:14 AM

Even though his defense may not be where we want it to be, he's still providing energy, offense, grabbing boards, and gaining confidence with his teammates and coach carlisle.so any improvement for him is positive improvement IMO!! i like what i've been seeing from Mahimi!!

rabbitproof · 01-03-2012, 01:26 PM

He can still use some defensive awareness (some bad fouls) but his energy, rebounding and points are needed for this older and outside shooting team.

Anyhow, best of the young prospects by far. I'd rank them as such:

-Ian
-Roddy
-Sean
-DoJo
-Wright/Yi

It's a bit crazy we have 6 projects (5 if you don't count Ian) on a defending championship team in a short year.

Underdog · 01-03-2012, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbitproof

It's a bit crazy we have 6 projects (5 if you don't count Ian) on a defending championship team in a short year.

Trade bait.

clutch#41 · 01-03-2012, 02:29 PM

I want to keep Ian in a mav uniform as long as possible. Reminds me alot of brandon bass(who i wanted to keep) and will be Dwights backup next year after we amnesty haywood

ibivibiv · 01-03-2012, 05:12 PM

I think one of the greatest things Ian does is provide competition for Haywood. They are very different players, but at least Haywood knows that if Ian keeps getting better then he (Haywood) has to get that much better as well or it will mean less minutes.

rabbitproof · 01-03-2012, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibivibiv

I think one of the greatest things Ian does is provide competition for Haywood. They are very different players, but at least Haywood knows that if Ian keeps getting better then he (Haywood) has to get that much better as well or it will mean less minutes.

Kind of a side compliment to Ian but yeah, Ian's emergence has coincided with Haywood's resurgence. Not a coincidence.

Brendan seems like a guy who plays just hard enough so if someone is pushing him, that's a doubly good thing. Haywood is taking some funky shots on offense but his defense and rebounding energy are up.

I also don't think it's entirely out of the question that Ian could take Brendan's starting job, or atleast an even share of minutes at center, if his current trajectory maintains.

grndmstr_c · 01-03-2012, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbitproof

Kind of a side compliment to Ian but yeah, Ian's emergence has coincided with Haywood's resurgence. Not a coincidence.

Of course it's not a coincidence. Both were elevated in the rotation (backup to starter, third-stringer to backup) at the same time.

xrobx · 01-03-2012, 05:49 PM

I wonder if the Spurs are kicking themselves yet for letting us have him

rabbitproof · 01-03-2012, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

Of course it's not a coincidence. Both were elevated in the rotation (backup to starter, third-stringer to backup) at the same time.

I mean even more recently. The sample size is tiny but look at the gamelogs. As Ian's minutes have increased (and surpassed) Brendan's, I doubt Brendan did not take note. I think people are on his ass but nothing like watching your backup collect better stats and play more minutes than you to get a starter going, especially for a cat like Big Wood.

Last four games:
Ian averaging 23 minutes
Brendan averaging 21 minutes

It's not foul trouble, too. If anything, Ian has been in more foul trouble than Brendan.

EDIT:
I'm not saying Ian should be playing more minutes than Brendan definitively but it's conversation-worthy now.

grndmstr_c · 01-03-2012, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbitproof

I mean even more recently. The sample size is tiny but look at the gamelogs. As Ian's minutes have increased (and surpassed) Brendan's, I doubt Brendan did not take note. I think people are on his ass but nothing like watching your backup collect better stats and play more minutes than you to get a starter going, especially for a cat like Big Wood.

Last four games:
Ian averaging 23 minutes
Brendan averaging 21 minutes

It's not foul trouble, too. If anything, Ian has been in more foul trouble than Brendan.

EDIT:
I'm not saying Ian should be playing more minutes than Brendan definitively but it's conversation-worthy now.

There's not a single rotation player on the team that hasn't gotten better as the season has progressed. Brendan's far from unique in that respect, and IMO sucked far less relative to his personal ceiling through the first few games than a number of Dallas' more high-profile players. Bottom line, I see no reason to go searching for alternative explanations for his improvement when everybody else on the roster gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the impact of having to work their way into game shape and the need to establish familiarity with their teammates.

As for the minutes that Brendan and Ian are getting, I don't disagree that Ian's making a strong push for 20+ mpg on average. That said, I think there's good reason to expect that the minute distribution for the centers may vary quite a bit depending on matchups. You mention per-game averages over the last four, but on closer inspection Brendan got the larger minute share in both OKC games in the matchup against Perkins, and had his minutes dialed back against Toronto and Minny, neither of whom have anything like a traditional big. To me that just looks like Rick taking advantage of the fact that he appears to have two very different but nonetheless capable rotation centers.

Budapest Maverick · 01-03-2012, 06:52 PM

If he continue to score this efficiently, he'll command even more minutes. Hopefully he can keep that up (not 70% obviously, but efficient scoring) and improve his rebounding, and we may are in better shape than we thought.

rabbitproof · 01-03-2012, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

There's not a single rotation player on the team that hasn't gotten better as the season has progressed. Brendan's far from unique in that respect, and IMO sucked far less relative to his personal ceiling through the first few games than a number of Dallas' more high-profile players. Bottom line, I see no reason to go searching for alternative explanations for his improvement when everybody else on the roster gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the impact of having to work their way into game shape and the need to establish familiarity with their teammates.

As for the minutes that Brendan and Ian are getting, I don't disagree that Ian's making a strong push for 20+ mpg on average. That said, I think there's good reason to expect that the minute distribution for the centers may vary quite a bit depending on matchups. You mention per-game averages over the last four, but on closer inspection Brendan got the larger minute share in both OKC games in the matchup against Perkins, and had his minutes dialed back against Toronto and Minny, neither of whom have anything like a traditional big. To me that just looks like Rick taking advantage of the fact that he appears to have two very different but nonetheless capable rotation centers.

Fair enough about treating Brendan's revival equally as the other vets. His reputation doesn't benefit him though.

The bigger point is your last sentence. Ian's rotation minutes and capabilities are now comparable, although differentiated, to Haywood's. This is only an emerging trend but if it sustains, the Mavs will be in very good shape.

dude1394 · 01-03-2012, 09:03 PM

I was just glad to hear Carlisle talking about having a big on the floor at all times. Music to my ears.

yann2808 · 01-11-2012, 07:51 AM

you want more of IAN...?
check this video of IAN playing during the NBA lockout :

http://youtu.be/O6aW6zr7dbk

LSMF · 01-20-2012, 07:28 PM

I haven't been happy with all of Coach Rick's decisions this season, but I really do respect the way he's brought Ian along. Ian is becoming a solid player thanks to Carlisle and his coaching staff. Can you folks imagine if Avery was the one who tried to develop Ian? The kid would've become a "whipping boy" with no confidence if that man was his coach. I just want to see Ian continue working hard because he really has so much potential.

JeffViggiano · 01-21-2012, 11:51 AM

it's not important who starts the game(Ian or 'Wood)...we need both guys.

BGMaverick9 · 01-22-2012, 12:59 PM

http://www.mavsfastbreak.com/?p=9919

endrity · 01-24-2012, 10:54 AM

It would be nice to retain him for less than a mil per year again.

Firnen · 01-24-2012, 11:18 AM

He should get better offers in the summer. think he will get a nice payday