GDT: Wolves at Mavs (Kyrie plays for the home crowd)

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Mavs have had a good, starting-caliber center once since 1999 when I started watching

And that year they had a championship

We?ve suffered through Diop, Dampier, LaFrentz, McGee (both times), Bogut, Mahinmi, Zaza, Dalembert, Kaman, and so many more

And we seem to have always coaches that have no idea how to coach big men.

I feel that's Kidd's greatest flaw of all. He has no clue what to do with our bigs. Yes, our bigs aren't that good, but he can never seem to get any sort of consistent rotation with them either. Kidd was a guard just like Rick. They coach guards in a guards league. Center are just things that are necessary to put on the court for them. Dirk and Tyson are the only exceptions in 20+ years of Mavdom.

Good news is Maxi was playing well before he got hurt. Sad that we are going to rely so heavily on whether he comes back to form or not.

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

You can forget defense btw...

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/sta...52008784924672

I think he just realizes they don't have enough guys to defend anyone.

Either that he knows asking Luka and Kyrie to defend ain't going to happen.

I also don't believe you're going to win many playoff games trying to simply just outscore anyone.

2nd round might this teams ceiling which is a disappointment considering they were just in the WCF's not too long ago.

[Dallas41]

I think it's time Luka starts to take defense serious

MMB said what no one else will say about Luka and the team follows his lead on that side of the floor

The Mavericks defense is absolutely cooked
On Saturday the Kings lit the Mavericks up to the tune of 74 points in the paint. While the Mavericks defense is short staffed with the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber still on the mend, you?d think the team would have some sort of pride and at least put forth a better effort?

Nope. Minnesota scored 64 points in the paint on Monday, and would have likely exceeded the Kings total if they too were granted an additional five minutes of basketball.

The Mavericks defense is putrid right now. You can?t even argue ?well, it?s just one of those nights? because the Wolves only made 9-of-29 from three. Minnesota went an astonishing 23-of-26 at the rim, and 9-of-17 in the paint but outside the restricted area. That?s 32 of the Wolves 48 made field goals coming in the paint.

Luka Doncic was especially bad, allowing guys like Taurean Prince and Kyle Anderson to beat him to the rim. For Luka?s sake, he wasn?t alone, as just about every Mavericks player had bad beats. To make matters worse, the trio of Dwight Powell, JaVale McGee, and Christian Wood did zero to help on the backline, getting pushed out of the way and failing to do much contesting. Blocks don?t tell the whole story of rim protection, but the Mavericks only had one and it was from Irving.

There will likely be some griping about how Wood could only play 23 minutes despite scoring 24 points, but he just about gave it back on the other end almost every trip down the floor. The only quarter the Mavericks held the Wolves under 30 points was the fourth, when Wood didn?t play and the Mavericks used a small-ball lineup for the entire quarter.

[Dallas41]

MMB also had this to say about Luka

Luka Doncic needs to decide what type of team he wants to play on

The first outing against the Kings wasn?t great, as the team fell into the Luka-ball trance almost immediately after tip-off, although Doncic and Irving?s sheer talent outweighed the bad process (Dallas scored well with Irving and Doncic on the floor).

In this game however, it was bleak. Dallas offense looked rudderless in the first three quarters, as for some reason Irving was relegated to the corner while the Mavericks kept doing the same old Doncic dominating the ball at the top of the key or in the post. It was maddening, as the Wolves piled up a 26 point second half lead, to watch Irving treated like just another role player or spot up shooter.

[FreshJive]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

You can forget defense btw...

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/sta...52008784924672

Pretty sure he was joking about not being concerned, but the rest of the answer seemed to be an excuse or an explanation of his conundrum.

[SMC0007]

Get Luka on the block to post up in last possessions. Ffs. At the very least pnr with Kyrie for some space.

[BPo001]

I didn?t realize Wood didn?t play at all in the 4th. Wtf is Kidd doing?

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by BPo001

I didn?t realize Wood didn?t play at all in the 4th. Wtf is Kidd doing?

I love that Wood is making Kidd's life difficult, as he should. The entire Wood situation is one created by the FO/coaching staff.

[tap2390]

Kidd MUST go. He is one of the worst X?s and O?s coaches I?ve ever seen in my life.

[washedklean77]

The Mavs have to be the worst team at allowing inferior teams to get out early on them at home. They typically lose these long uphill battles.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Kidd MUST go. He is one of the worst X?s and O?s coaches I?ve ever seen in my life.

100%. We can easily forgive Luka and Wood since they are both coming back from injuries (and still ballin') but Kidd still hasn't figured out a simple end of game plan yet. This isn't rocket science type stuff.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

100%. We can easily forgive Luka and Wood since they are both coming back from injuries (and still ballin') but Kidd still hasn't figured out a simple end of game plan yet. This isn't rocket science type stuff.

Even the pressers are a joke/sarcasm/insert something smart ass. He doesn?t even feign the idea of knowing what he?s talking about post game.

[BPo001]

I just don?t see Cuban pulling the plug on the Kidd experiment unfortunately. He?s a fan favorite here from his playing days, and he did just lead us to the WCF. I think we are stuck with him until next season.

[tap2390]

If Mavs underperform in the playoff I could see Kidd "stepping down."

Would like to see Charles Lee (Bucks associate head coach), St. Jean, or Sweeney get a chance.

Kidd can't fix the fact that we don't have a physical big, but the end of game execution is 100% on him.

[saclare]

Sweeney seems like a up and comer and would hate to see him get his shot and succeed elsewhere. His activity and interaction with players seems to be highly regarded and listened to...

That being said, no coaching change will happen until the offseason at least, so a lot of wasted characters/breath here. I do find it increasingly annoying that the end of the game situations still escape this staff. Now they have another kick the can excuse as they'll say they are figuring it out with Luka/Kyrie. I mean, should have been worked out prior to his arrival, but even with him here, you can't at least go back and look at similar situations and plays run? You have to have 2-3 bread and butter plays for that scenario where the players are plug and play.

[SMC0007]

Yea count me in on Sweeney. No doubt.