GAME 17: DAL (9-8) @ BOS (14-4) | 112-125 loss

[hakeemfaan]

Thank You Dan for providing some sanity about Wood. 

Look I love his offensive talent too but this guy has had many stops and never stuck anywhere even though you can see just the raw talent within 10 seconds of watching him play.  We knew his defensive weaknesses when we got him. The best argument being made in his favor right now is that since there are other poor defenders, let’s at least use his offense. 

However coaches might be rewarding those who are at least in the correct positions. When players start doing their own thing it becomes very difficult to have consistent success. 

I am still hoping he can figure it out because what other choice do we have?  The names being floated around like Collins and Hayward don’t move the needle at all for me.  However the majority of the change has to come from Wood.

[DanSchwartzgan]

 
Need to play your best players, and you will not get behind in games early. Luka, Wood, SD, Maxi and DFS is by far the best unit. On the bench I would give the most minutes to Powell, Green and Bertans and McGee. Bullock and THJ have been so terrible, its important to scale down their minutes in order for us to get more wins.  

Funny thing, the starters you mention haven't played a single minute together this season.  I like subbing Green for Dinwiddie as I think the group has plenty of O and much better D with Green instead of SD.  That group has only played five minutes together all season.

[DanSchwartzgan]

Thank You Dan for providing some sanity about Wood. 

 
I am still hoping he can figure it out because what other choice do we have?  The names being floated around like Collins and Hayward don’t move the needle at all for me.  However the majority of the change has to come from Wood.

No, thank you.  I do disagree a little on Collins not moving the needle.  I think he and Wood are roughly equivalent.  So, imagine if Wood could actually be where he's supposed to be consistently and Kidd could therefore trust him.  Despite the record, Dallas has the seventh highest 'Expected Wins' in the league (and I think it was 5th before last night).  The needle doesn't have to be moved that much for us to host a first round playoff series.  From there, who knows what happens.

Hayward is a different deal for me.  I'm envisioning moving THJ in a Hayward deal where I suspect Bullock would be the outgoing in a Collins deal.  There are team building benefits to expiring Hayward (this summer) that go beyond the current season.  But, even this season we'd be back to most of the team that made the WCF finals.  McGee would be added to the super thin Big rotation we  used.  THJ would again be gone (just like the playoffs) and Hayward would essentially replace Brunson.  On top of that, you'd have the much improved Green (imagine where he'll be in five months rather than anchoring to what we saw last season...he's not the same player).  Do we win it all?  Probably not, but we would be more competitive than we are now and better positioned for the next trade with THJ off the roster.

[JamesConway912]

Defense is slightly better with Wood than without him according to on/off numbers. Offense is MUCH better with him than without him. (see bball ref com)

So I don’t see what‘s the argument against starting him impact-wise. Production-wise his numbers speak for themselves anyway. 

OTOH we know the reports about Kidd‘s stance on Wood. This isn’t on court-related Imo.

Right now I’d say we’re headend for the typical annual offseason-disaster with the most likely outcome being Wood leaving for another team. 

If the money is similar I’m convinced he’d give another team the benefit in FA over the Mavs given how his stint has went so far (announcing McGee as the summer in July already told you what to expect from the getgo)

There’s clearly some political stuff going on behind the scenes. I fully expect him to walk in July at this point barring any major changes.

Probably Kidd going against Harrison or something similarly dysfunctional. This is a poorly run organization, you know what to expect.

[Kammrath]

One other note on Wood.  He's +47 for the season.  So, his overall +/- contribution is positive.  But be careful with that number.  The two blowouts make up 43 of that 47.  He's positive in only two of the last 11 games.  For the full season, his +/- has outperformed the team's +/- five times and two of those came in the first 3 games.

In the last five games Wood's on/off +/- is +2.0, behind only JG, Luka, and THJ in that stretch (and is +3.9 DEFENSIVELY in that stretch).

In the last ten games Wood's on/off +/- is +6.7.

In all 17 games Wood's on/off +/- is +7.6. 

There is nothing in those numbers that point to Wood's impact being fool's gold. The team has been consistently better with him the whole season. Even in this last garbage stretch he has been one of the most important players for winning.

[ThisIStheYear]

Wood makes a lot of boneheaded defensive plays and isn’t really good on that end. But, he’s a very good rebounder, which is by a mile the most important defensive play. So it’s not surprising that he (and a player like Luka for that matter) can have a decent defensive plus-minus.  But, whatever the case, Luka needs someone on the floor who can play off of him. Wood is the only hope for that now.

[DanSchwartzgan]

In the last five games Wood's on/off +/- is +2.0, behind only JG, Luka, and THJ in that stretch (and is +3.9 DEFENSIVELY in that stretch).

In the last ten games Wood's on/off +/- is +6.7.

In all 17 games Wood's on/off +/- is +7.6. 

There is nothing in those numbers that point to Wood's impact being fool's gold. The team has been consistently better with him the whole season. Even in this last garbage stretch he has been one of the most important players for winning.

Except that almost all of it comes against backups and almost all of that is accounted for in the two blowouts.  Look at his game log and tell me you don't come to the same conclusions.

[dynamicalVoid]

We have a lot of money caught up in players that arent very good, imo.

I understand that Wood is older and you supposedly cant teach an old dog new tricks...I also understand that Wood has bounced around for known reasons...

But...Mavs being a competitive team...Wood has never played on a winning team before...is it not worth investing time and money in Wood to see if we can sort his defense out a bit?

Seems like we paid other players that are one dimensional.  Also seems like Wood at least tries on defense...even if he mentally doesnt get it...shouldnt we invest time to see if he can turn a corner?  Maybe the rumors about him and what Mavs are witnessing in practice and games lead them to believe he will never be mental enough to grasp the game on defense and maybe even offense...but I am reluctant to let him walk or trade him.  I dont have the info needed to make a good decision on it though.

[Kammrath]

Except that almost all of it comes against backups and almost all of that is accounted for in the two blowouts.  Look at his game log and tell me you don't come to the same conclusions.

I did in the other thread. Looking at each gamelog and the everyone's on/off in those games I see Wood with two bad games (games 7 and 8), that is it. Only one of the blowouts was positive for Wood's on/off. 

And I don't care that he has done it "against backups", he has done it without Luka in a lot of minutes and alongside some of the worst on/off players on the Mavs.

[MrGoat]

For me it's becoming obvious that we need to shake the starting lineup up. I can live with Wood coming off the bench as long as he gets minutes although I want him getting a lot of minutes next to Luka. At this point I'd replace Bullock with Green

[HAguiar95]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpDYP4Xzkjw&ab_channel=FilmSession

[Kammrath]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpDYP4Xzkjw&ab_channel=FilmSession

I don't agree with everything this guy analyzes, but that was some horrible D. Especially by the Mavs perimeter defenders.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpDYP4Xzkjw&ab_channel=FilmSession

Most of the plays were legit terrible defensive possessions.

And yet there are some which one wishes the defender could have done differently. Looking at this angle, you can see the absolute faults of the players, but players have to look at plays developing at level ground and decisions had to be made in an instance. And a defender not only has to account for the skill of the player in front but the skills of those around him, including his own team mates. Simply put, some defensive plays on the video were avoidable, and yet some are due to decisions the player has done at the spur of the moment. The Analyst can simply point out the faults knowing fully well what the offensive player decided to do, the defender on the other hand, doesn't have that perspective, and he has to work on what he sees in real time.

But yeah, some of those plays on the video are head scratchers. On both effort and IQ.

[KillerLeft]

Killer, I'm a bit surprised you pick this game to tout the benefits of Wood solo-big.  Breaking it down by quarter it was -3 in Q1, -14 in Q2, +3 in Q3 and +0 in Q4.  That is -14.  Powell was -6 and we had 1:19 where McGee was by himself at -2.  Without Maxi, there was only 2:17 of two big's at the same time and that was +6.  

First of all, I totally agree that Kleber being unavailable has caused major problems on multiple fronts for the Mavs, recently. 

Second…thought a lot about your point above, and I guess I’m just to the point where I don’t even care what’s working best right now. All I know is that when Wood and Luka are out there together, the team can SCORE. The offense actually seems dangerous for those stretches in most nights. They simply MUST lean into that, because, in my opinion, there kind of is no other option. My opinion has been, is, and will continue to be that they should give that tandem a shot and hope that either their defense improves or that they can find the right type of players to fill in the gaps and cover for them. 

Wood is special on offense when matched up with a big and not a forward, imho.

[KillerLeft]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpDYP4Xzkjw&ab_channel=FilmSession

A little harsh in some spots, but pretty sad, nonetheless. 

I thought “old-school, can’t connect with modern players” Carlisle being unable to motivate guys was the problem.

[hakeemfaan]

First of all, I totally agree that Kleber being unavailable has caused major problems on multiple fronts for the Mavs, recently. 

Second…thought a lot about your point above, and I guess I’m just to the point where I don’t even care what’s working best right now. All I know is that when Wood and Luka are out there together, the team can SCORE. The offense actually seems dangerous for those stretches in most nights. They simply MUST lean into that, because, in my opinion, there kind of is no other option. My opinion has been, is, and will continue to be that they should give that tandem a shot and hope that either their defense improves or that they can find the right type of players to fill in the gaps and cover for them. 

Wood is special on offense when matched up with a big and not a forward, imho.

I am at the same point. I don’t agree with a lot of criticism on this board at this point about Kidd or about how different combinations can be a magic pill. This roster has a lot of holes. However if we are going to be bad anyway might as well score more. Plus no more Luka, DFS and RB together. Put some more versatility around Luka. Josh Green or FN even though again it most likely won’t make much difference in the long run in the w/l column.

[KillerLeft]

Plus no more Luka, DFS and RB together.

I, too, have started to question the logic of "Luka plus a bunch of 3&D guys" lately. It works if the defense plays into it, and when the guys are hitting shots, but man when it doesn't work things get UGLY.

[Kammrath]

I, too, have started to question the logic of "Luka plus a bunch of 3&D guys" lately.

Ummm, 3&D isn't the issue, it is that these guys have neither 3 nor D right now.

[KillerLeft]

Ummm, 3&D isn't the issue, it is that these guys have neither 3 nor D right now.

Yeah, that was kind of my point.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

All I know is that when Wood and Luka are out there together, the team can SCORE. The offense actually seems dangerous for those stretches in most nights. They simply MUST lean into that, because, in my opinion, there kind of is no other option. My opinion has been, is, and will continue to be that they should give that tandem a shot and hope that either their defense improves or that they can find the right type of players to fill in the gaps and cover for them. 

This is what I’ve been harping on as well. You have a duo that is the second best PNR duo in the league behind Harden/Embiid. Our defense came together over time last year and will most likely be the same this year as we integrate new players but those players have to be on the court and get reps for that to happen.