(04-03-2023, 12:21 PM)SwisherPrice Wrote: Wood and McGee lineup was fun...but too little, too late for Kidd. They should have been getting lots of playing time since November. Instead, Kidd gave us the Powell and Kleber Experience
This is absolutely spot on. I see Kidd as a talented but still YOUNG Coach. He and his staff needed more time because Kidd as a young coach still tended to want to make the player hand he was dealt work within his system/scheme/style of coaching. It takes even higher level coaches to make their style fit the combination of player talents on the roster.
Wood and McGee showed plenty of NBA talent still in the tank. Kidd and company took too long to figure that out. They literally had a decent chunk (not all) of what they needed (defense, rebounding, inside scoring) sitting on their bench all season.
With a strong defensive replacement for DFS (which they evidently didn't feel they had in house) this is a playoff team with healthy Luka and Kyrie. Maybe even still a high playoff team.
JaVale McGee had a similar issue in Dallas with Coach Carlisle. He would have some good games in limited minutes given him but just never fit the way Carlisle wanted to play. No matter how well he played in any given game, he could never get consistent role and opportunity in Dallas. He left Carlisle/Dallas and went on to legitimately contribute to THREE NBA Championships on 2 different NBA teams.
Coaching and roster that FIT the player = opportunity.