2021-2022 MAVS NEWS: 4th in West | WCF loss [ARCHIVED]

[DanSchwartzgan]

Thanks for the analysis. I think it has to be taken into account that samples are small and there is a lot of noise. I think there is some difference in data used. NBA.com has Dallas O/D rating in last four games at 119.1/114.3 - 4th O and 18th D.  I am also not sure why do you think defense is bad in last four games - speaking about the word routinely. Perhaps I don't understand the word correctly. I understand it in a meaning as: routinely bad D = bad D in every game. 

Based on my understanding of the word, I would say that results don't confirm it. Results show that the defense was good against Miami and GSW. It was not that good against Utah and NOP. But in this last case defense was good for three quarters, only later Mavs basically stopped playing due to high advantage - NOP scored 37 points in last quarter. You also have to take into account the shooting - was Utah shooting good because defense was bad or because they hit tough(er) shots? And the opposite with GSW. 

So I can't really say that defense is really any worse than it has been before. There was at least one 4 game stretch in January/February where defense rating was worse than in this last four games. 

SMH...I looked at the box scores of the four games and averaged the O-Rating and D-Rating for each.  It would have been easier to just screen for it.  The rankings I compared to were the season long ratings rather than the period of time that contained those games.  As to the D being "bad".  I think it is "bad" when you are running a top five D and drop down to 18th for a stretch of games.  I would define "routinely" as similar to "frequently" as opposed to something that happens in every game.  If it happens in every game, it qualifies as "always".

As you say, it is a small sample size against pretty decent opponents.  We held LAL to a pretty respectable O-Rating of 108 last night (including one REALLY bad quarter).  Did we really win the rebounding war last night?  I wouldn't have guessed that real time.  It is my impression that we didn't have this many one quarter let down's on the defensive end from about 12/30 til about the time the new guys started playing.  It was interesting to read that you found another four game stretch of bad D during the new year.  I still think it is worth "keeping an eye on", but I have greater hope that we already recovered from a defensive slump once during this run of really good play.  We are on a 61.5 win pace the last 28 games.  At some point that is no longer a small sample size.  It is who we are.