Why do the Mavs not have a definitive go to guy?

[Murphy3]

I've heard alot of crap about the Mavs not having a go to guy the past few weeks. You know what? Whoever mentioned that is exactly right. Now, let's examine why the Mavs do not have a go to guy.

First off, I believe we should establish the fact that the Mavs did have a definitive go to guy establish himself the last half of the season last year and on into the playoffs. Dirk Nowitzki averaged around 28 points and 11 boards the last half of the season in 2002-2003. He continued his dominance into the playoffs. Dirk developed the attitude that no one could stop him and that the 4th quarter was his. Dirk was the league MVP the second half of the season last year in my opinion. There was no one better.

What happened? Well, we can first look back to the second round of the playoffs last season. After averaging 30+ points against Portland and just tearing them to shreds in virtually every game, Don Nelson decided to make him a passer going into the Sacramento series. Now, the Mavs went on to win the series in 7 games with much help from Webber injuring his knee. But, after the Mavs failed to close out the Kings through 6 games, Nellie finally decided to allow Dirk to be the focal point of the offense. What happened? Dirk goes off for 30+ points and around 20 boards in leading the Mavs over the Kings and into the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, an injury to Dirk ended his season and ended the Mavs title hopes.

How is he rewarded for his play in the 2002-2003 season in which he averaged 25+ points for the season including around 28 the last half of the season? Of course, Nellie decides to trade for someone to take his place as the focal point in the offense. Nellie gets his dream player in Antoine Walker. He now has his point forward that he has dreamed of for years and years.

What impact did this have on the Mavs? What impact did it have on Dirk? Through the first half of the season, the ball ran through Nash and Walker. Walker led the team in field goal attempts for much of the season. Dirk struggles to get looks as he's forced to take a back seat to a vastly inferior player on the offensive side of the court. The Mavs sputtered offensively. The Mavs sputtered on the road. The Mavs had absolutely no identity as they tried to incorporate a new offensive style. Did Nellie make an adjustment? Dirk sputtered in his reduced role. It wasn't just the lack of shots that he was getting, but it was the lack of touches. When Dirk actually got touches, he almost had to shoot the ball in fear of not receiving another pass the next 5-10 possessions.

Why did this occur? Wasn't it painfully obvious that Walker should not be the focal point of the offense? Wasn't it painfully obvious that Dirk was the best offensive player on the team?

Nellie completely undermined the aggressiveness that Dirk had developed the last half of the season by forcing him to take a back seat. Nellie completely undermined the identity that the Mavs had finally established by forcing Dirk to take a back seat. There is no excuse for such a horrendous decision from a head coach.

Why? Was Nellie simply being stubborn and wanting to do things his way? What else did it do to Dirk's game? Dirk either hit his shot or got to the line over 62% of the time in which he got the ball while posting up the second half of the 2002-2003 season. With Walker becoming the focal point of the offense, Dirk was suddenly forced to the perimeter and virtually only the perimeter. Nellie completely stiffled Dirk's development in the low post as well as halting his development as the go to guy.

I don't know. I've got nothing left to say about Nellie. I sincerely believe that Nellie's the reason why Dirk isn't the most dominant offensive player in the NBA. Nellie's failure to utilize Dirk in the low post has completely halted his development. That alone is reason enough to fire Nellie. Nellie's insistance in using Walker as a point forward and making Dirk play second fiddle to him is reason enough to fire Nellie.

I'm so thoroughly disgusted with his act. He set the Mavs back at least a year. He set Dirk's development as the go to guy by at least a year. He made me sit through a year of Antoine Walker. That alone is enough to fire Nellie.

I'm out.

[kg_veteran]

Great post, Murph.

Here's an interesting thought I just had. This series really highlighted the Mavs' need for a "go-to" player in the clutch. Will this finally provide the impetus to force Nellie to develop Dirk into that player? I'm convinced that performance in the clutch comes from repetition in that kind of situation, and Dirk has to be put in that situation as often as possible.

[Rod1975]

In my opinion, the Mavericks entire mentality eliminates the idea of a go-to guy.

I'll explain....

1)Nash and Nowitzki don't want to alienate Finley.

2)Nellie wants to keep everyone happy.

3)Too many big chiefs and not enough little indians....we need fewer players that crave the ball and more players that play the game without the ball. The reason the Mavericks are so good and talented yet still lose is because...this is key... they don't play good, smart, solid off the ball basketball, period. We need more players that know how to play without the ball.

4) As long as Finley is a Maverick, loyalty to him will dictate the fact that no one will take on his mantle as the so-called "leader" of this team.

5) And this is the hardest to swallow, Dirk refuses to rock the boat and be demanding as he should be.
MJ, Bird, and Magic all asolutely demanded effort from their teammates as well as the ball in crunch time. Dirk absolutely won't assume anything even closely resembling that kind of authority as long as Finley is a Maverick.

[Murphy3]

Dirk demanded the ball and got the ball last year. Dirk was the go to guy.
That all came crumbling down when Nellie decided to make Walker more of the focal point of this offense ahead of Dirk.

[Rod1975]

I disagree Murph, Dirk only got the ball because he was the hot man. It's just another example of Nellie's attitude toward grooming a superstar. I think Dirk has become a superstar in spite of Nellie. Nellie calls Dirk "our best player", yet he refuses to treat him as such.

[PubaNWO]

Nellie just likes to experiment with his "toys" and see which mismatches he can take advantage of next......

he should realize these guys are human beings who need to feel good about themselves and their games to hit big shots.....

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Rod1975
I disagree Murph, Dirk only got the ball because he was the hot man. It's just another example of Nellie's attitude toward grooming a superstar. I think Dirk has become a superstar in spite of Nellie. Nellie calls Dirk "our best player", yet he refuses to treat him as such.

Dirk was taking around 20 shots a game the second half of the season while shooting a lower percentage than he did in the first half...

Dirk was the man. Nellie decided that Walker should be the man instead.

[Rod1975]

Originally posted by: Murphy3

Dirk was taking around 20 shots a game the second half of the season while shooting a lower percentage than he did in the first half...

Dirk was the man. Nellie decided that Walker should be the man instead.

Exactly, Dirk <u>was</u> the man on this team, because he made himself so. However as long as Nellie allows long stretches of the game without Dirk getting touches to continue, it is going to sabotage any further development.

Dirk has proven his worth, now it is up to coaching to put him where he needs to be.

Back to the old cliche's, MJ, Magic, Bird (as well as Hakeem and Tim Duncan) were absolutely central to their team's success.

We're not the Lakers, we can't just throw abunch of spares around 2 megastars and expect to win.

If Dirk is indeed "our superstar", he has to be treated as "our superstar" for this team to be successful.

<u>We need role players!!</u>

[DirkNash1341]

I think it's a bit of both guys.

Dirk seemed to have become our go to guy. This was not in an all encompassing role, however. He was still not the unquestioned leader of the team--the Bird role, that was alluded to. Walker's addition definitely took away from this process of making Dirk the man.

Right now, however, I see the problem of stepping on Finley's toes as having been an issue again. Towards the end of the season and in this series, it was clear that Walker was no longer anything near the focal point of the offense, but Dirk still didn't take his rightful spot. WIth Walker hopefully gone, Dirk is going to have to step into that role once again. But more than that, he needs to expand that role beyond what it was the season before this one. This requires taking the reins from Finley moreso than has been done before.


EDIT: Role Players are exaclty what we need. Right f*cking on.

[Rod1975]

Relating to the whole, no go-to guy, no role players motif, did anyone else notice the role players got exactly 9 mins total?

I know it's the playoffs but jeez, give Howard and/or Najera more than 7 and/or 2 mins!

[bernardos70]

Originally posted by: Rod1975
In my opinion, the Mavericks entire mentality eliminates the idea of a go-to guy.

I'll explain....

1)Nash and Nowitzki don't want to alienate Finley.

I know that, but asked who's the best shooter in the NBA, finley says nowitzki. He knows this. I'm sure he knows Nash is a better shooter than him as well.

2)Nellie wants to keep everyone happy.

Agreed.

3)Too many big chiefs and not enough little indians....we need fewer players that crave the ball and more players that play the game without the ball. The reason the Mavericks are so good and talented yet still lose is because...this is key... they don't play good, smart, solid off the ball basketball, period. We need more players that know how to play without the ball.

We have three players that are big chiefs, and that's enough. None are selfish, but I tend to think all three of them know which one of them is the best player.

4) As long as Finley is a Maverick, loyalty to him will dictate the fact that no one will take on his mantle as the so-called "leader" of this team.

Maybe true. He's not a bad go to guy, just not the best. He can be a leader without being the best player on the team. Think Tim Duncan is to D. Robinson as Dirk Nowitzki is to Michael Finley. Finley, pass the throne (if you already haven't)

5) And this is the hardest to swallow, Dirk refuses to rock the boat and be demanding as he should be.
MJ, Bird, and Magic all asolutely demanded effort from their teammates as well as the ball in crunch time. Dirk absolutely won't assume anything even closely resembling that kind of authority as long as Finley is a Maverick.

I don't think this will last forever, as finley fades in the background I see Dirk playing alongside him but taking it over. But who knows when this might start to happen.

[Turkey]

Why do the Mavs not have a definitive go to guy?

Actually they do.
Unfortunantly, they all really really stinky.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: Rod1975
And this is the hardest to swallow, Dirk refuses to rock the boat and be demanding as he should be. MJ, Bird, and Magic all asolutely demanded effort from their teammates as well as the ball in crunch time. Dirk absolutely won't assume anything even closely resembling that kind of authority as long as Finley is a Maverick.

And you think that Dirk is going to DEMAND that Nash play better defense? Dirk can't even get Nash to pass him the damn ball. I think the biggest obstacle in Dirk's development is Nash - it is hard to make demands that your best friend in the NBA. Unless Dirk treats Nash like a teammate instead of a friend, Dirk will never take that last step.

And Walker might have been the best thing to ever happen to Dirk. It forced him to step forward a little as a leader. There has never been a question about Dirk's play, just his leadership.

[Murphy3]

MaxPower, for perhaps the first time in his career, Nash actually allowed Dirk to re-post a couple of times.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
MaxPower, for perhaps the first time in his career, Nash actually allowed Dirk to re-post a couple of times.

Too little, too late.

You should never go into business with a friend. Why? Because either the business or the friendship will suffer when times get rough. The NBA is a business and Dirk needs to be more serious about it. Which by definition means getting rid of Nash.

[Simon2]

The answer is simple as to why the Mavs don't have a go-to-guy. Nellie always goes with the mismatch. Doesn't matter if the guy is hot or not, if he has a mismatch, he's getting the ball. What Nellie fails to realize is Dirk is a mismatch to anyone.

[dalmations202]

Funny thing about all of this. Fin is the leader, and he didn't get it done in game 2. So in Game 4 they turned it over to Nash, who didn't get it done. So Game 5 on the line, and Dirk didn't get it done. All three of the co-captains had their chance. All three were not allowed a second chance. All failed this year.

Personally. Like it or not, Fin is the "Big Dog". He is the old vet. He may not be the best, but he is the old vet. As long as Finley is on the Mavs, he will be it. Nellie should have either stayed with Fin, or made sure that Dirk was the man from the beginning of the year. Nellie tried all of them, and none came through.

IMO, next year, every close game has Nowitzki getting the ball, and either shooting, driving or passing. Their should not be a game that Dirk doesn't take the last offensive posession.

[Murphy3]

Dalmations, in all honesty, I think people are making WAY too much of the last second shots. No, they didn't fall.

What is important is getting the ball to your best player down the stretch of close games. The Mavs didn't execute down the stretch and didn't get the ball to their best player. None of those games should have come down to the last shot.

[dalmations202]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Dalmations, in all honesty, I think people are making WAY too much of the last second shots. No, they didn't fall.

What is important is getting the ball to your best player down the stretch of close games. The Mavs didn't execute down the stretch and didn't get the ball to their best player. None of those games should have come down to the last shot.

I agree. I just don't see Dirk taking the reins from Finley without a push. I also don't see Nellie mandating it. I have no problem with Dirk being the #1 option on this team, and being it's leader. They do have a problem with their not being that one true leader though.

I only bring up the last shot as an example of how Nellie tried all of them, and none of them came through.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Dalmations, in all honesty, I think people are making WAY too much of the last second shots. No, they didn't fall. What is important is getting the ball to your best player down the stretch of close games. The Mavs didn't execute down the stretch and didn't get the ball to their best player. None of those games should have come down to the last shot.

Great point Murphy. And this is where the biggest failure has been. The ball should either go to Dirk every single time down the stretch or the defense should absolutely force the Mavs to go elsewhere which will result in a wide open shot for someone. Of course with Walker on the floor, 99 times out of a 100 it will be him getting the open shot, and an open shot for Walker usually isn't as good as a highly contested shot for anyone else on the Mavs roster.

Bottom line is this is a huge coaching failure. I'm not saying that players aren't doing some things wrong, becaue they are. But Nellie wrecks everything with his coaching and the only way the players could get it right is to totally ignore Nellie. This is why I say Nellie needs to go and go now.

[PubaNWO]

The Mavs do have a definite go to guy and that's Dirk.

This year the problem was too many weapons. They Dirk, the big 3, AJ, AW, the rookies and there was just too many choices to "try" and exploit even down the stretch in game decidiing offensive situations.

It's like if you're going to war and you have a bag full of different kinds of guns, grenades, knives and you're suddenly rushed at by an ambush you drop your bag and you fumble around and panic! You end pulling out a fork and get your head shot off!

Nelllie just had too many weapons and oftened panicked. When he did pull out a true weaponed the guns usually ended up jamming, the bombs ended up being a dud, and the knives ended up being too dull but too often Nellie pulled out a fork (bad shot).

One can really be amazed how this team actually won 52 games. I mean if the Mavs just had a good home record they may not even have made the playoffs!

I hate this game....

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[PubaNWO]

Originally posted by: LRB

Great point Murphy. And this is where the biggest failure has been. The ball should either go to Dirk every single time down the stretch or the defense should absolutely force the Mavs to go elsewhere which will result in a wide open shot for someone. Of course with Walker on the floor, 99 times out of a 100 it will be him getting the open shot, and an open shot for Walker usually isn't as good as a highly contested shot for anyone else on the Mavs roster.

Bottom line is this is a huge coaching failure. I'm not saying that players aren't doing some things wrong, becaue they are. But Nellie wrecks everything with his coaching and the only way the players could get it right is to totally ignore Nellie. This is why I say Nellie needs to go and go now.

LRB I think you're giving AW a little too much grief. AW with an open shot inside the paint is by far a better shot than a challenged one by another Mav. AW just found himself in a place he isn't in a lot and that's INSIDE....this has also been his first time traded and psychologically and emotionally he wants to impress his new team (the better team) and that leads to trouble. He's also playing in the West which is known for it's big men.....this leads to rushed shots and bad shots.

All that can easily be fixed with a trade!

All kidding aside AW as a fiinisher on this team is by far better than AW as the ball handler/creator. Early in the year if the Big 3 were still the established and focused offensive threat AW would have had more and more open layups and dunks so later on he would have gotten used to taking his time and using the low posts moves he has.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want AW to be on the Mavs again next year because I do. I really like the Mavs and they're a fun team to watch. So if he is on the team next year hopefully he's used to the idea of playing 20-25 minutes most nights and sometimes 30 plus.....and playing less and less without the ball and not scoring as much.

It's more likely he's gone though so you can all rejoice!