GDT: Mavs (2-6) at Knicks (3-6) 6:30pm FSSW, MSG

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Bryan_Wilson

I think it's hard to evaluate any of the guys at this point. With Dirk and Dwill missing games that's about 25-30 shots worth of offense we are missing. If you throw in Harris it's even higher. Guys like Simba should not be shooting 11-19 shots like he has the last 2 games. Barring a heat check he shouldn't be above 7-8 probably. His value right now is defense and rebounding. Nobody should be surprised he is struggling when he is shooting 30 times in the last 2 games. Same with Seth and even Wes. Seth, barring heat check, shouldn't be shooting 12-17 times. Wes certainly should not be shooting as many as 25 times.

Until Dirk and Dwill come back the shots have to come from somewhere. Barnes and JJ are the only ones who have shown they were capable of a bigger role. All I've seen so far from everyone else is that they are either not ready for an increased role(all the young guys), or they are playing a role larger than what their skillset is capable of(Wes).

I actually don't think Dirk and Deron have a place on the team. We basically have two identities. Deron and Dirk fit into the old Mavs -- vets who love to slow it down and pound it. The rest of the team is built for speed, aggressiveness, and fullcourt play.

We'll have to see what happens when they both return. They certainly provide an offensive spark (we've seen it from Deron this year-- not from Dirk, but he's Dirk and will eventually start making shots). I just saw them help our offense while destroying our defense. The young team struggles to score but can defend. The old guys can score but can't defend. It'll be interesting to see how Rick squares that circle.