12-31-2020, 10:45 PM
(12-31-2020, 10:18 PM)RDB Wrote: I don’t think the team as currently constructed will make the second round. I am not a proponent of blowing things up at all but I do feel like we need another piece and that piece needs to be a playmaker.
Right now I believe we have a team composed of 1 playmaker and 4 spot up shooters (and Kristaps isn’t going to solve that). I would argue that the best handles on our team are in order: Luka, Brunson, Burke, and Johnson and 3 of those players aren’t even starters. I have better handles than Finley-Smith and I haven’t played in 25 years. I made the point about mid range shots because I think it is POSSIBLY a reflection of their inability to create.
I don’t think you can survive if your opponent only has to guard two areas of the court...the 3 point line and the rim. And at the rim, I only need to game plan for Luka as there is nobody else who would concern me. Charlotte had it right. Sag the defense but still be able to contest the 3. If they go by you (which they rarely do) they will either pass or go to the hole as they will not pull up for the midrange. Contest Luka on drives and try to cut off passing angles. If they shoot light out, we likely lose.
I don’t think this anything drastic and I believe we have time. However, I do believe having another playmaker LIKE Oladipo would solve a lot of problems.
Yes, it seems that the lack of secondary playmaking is putting too much strain on Luka. I wonder who the team thought would take on that responsibility when they put the team together. Richardson and Burke? Johson? It has been pretty cringeworthy at times watching guys who are essentially spot-up shooters trying to create offense. Although if they're able to pick up that skill, so much the better, I guess.
I agree with KL that the emphasis on threes and shots at the rim is almost certainly intentional, and analytics-driven. I think you may have a point that it is possible to take that to extremes. You can see the sense of it when instructing players to take deep shots from just outside the three-point arc, rather than just inside, for example. But you need a capability to take those midrange shots when that's all you can get, and also to add an element of unpredictability to the offense. I don't know that the shooters they have can't make those shots, but I agree that they mostly just don't take them.
Like it or not, this team was built on the basis of penetration to the rim and spot-up shooters. Making threes and getting to the bucket is what they are designed to do. That means they are dependent on high-variance shooting from game to game, and they are inevitably going to have some cold nights. It really irritated me when the Lakers were just standing around the basket smirking at our shooters, rather than coming out to defend them. I think the answer is largely going to have to be making them pay, although some mid-range capacity would be a plus.
Maybe this version of the Mavs won't make it to the second round. But I'm not ready to say that they can't. This is a good group -- they haven't gelled yet, but I've still got some faith!