MAVS NEWS: Luka Is Hurt, But is Trudging On | DLive's Mom Passes Away| Maxi OUT

[mvossman]

Here are the O/D ratings for the five game win-streak that has us tied for 5th in the West half a game out of 4th:


Minn.   113.3     107.9.  (Wood 107)

Hou.    119.0.    112.6. (Wood 110)

LAL.     133.3.    123.6.  (Wood 111)

NY.      121.4.     116.6.  (Wood 114)

Hou.    127.3.    112.5.  (Wood. 104)

AVG:    122.8.    114.6. (Wood. 109)

I’m not saying this is all on Wood.  Team focus has generally been very good and all sorts of people are making surprising contributions (especially Luka and THJ).  But, I think it is significant that Wood is outperforming the Team in every single game.  For the season Dallas is 115.3 (8th) / 113.0 (10th).  I think we all expected that the O-Rating would go up with Luka, SD, THJ and Wood all starting.  The unexpected part is that the D-Rating has only dropped a single point while missing Maxi, DFS and Green for all of these games.

The competition hasn’t been the greatest and the 123 PP 100 that LA hung on us is worrisome.  But, the brand of basketball has been more fun to watch.  I get that people are constantly trying to find a lineup where THJ or SD come off the bench.  I personally don’t see it.  THJ has been so much better as a starter (TS% and 3% are both a FULL 100 basis points higher as a starter).  And I can’t imagine how you justify sitting Dinwiddie.  He has been fantastic.  The question for me is who joins that group when everyone is healthy again.  If you want to go all in on 5-out and ball movement and an offense where everyone on the floor can attack you and you can’t leave anyone, I’d look at those four plus Josh.  I know that is sacrilegious to even discuss benching DFS, but last night was so much fun to watch.  At the very least, you make the 5th spot situational where any of Josh, DFS, Maxi or Powell starts depending on the other team’s best player.  The other thing that I brought up that I really like is someone like Vanderbilt who is hitting 3’s at a high rate, plays great D with more size than Dorian and has a little more ball-handling ability.

Dinwiddie has been playing really well offensively, but he has been poor defensively, significantly worse than Timmy.  He fits the mold of a 6th man perfectly and was great in that position last season.  He can still get 30 minutes a game in that role.

I don't think there is any way they take Dorian from the starting lineup, and replacing him with Green means you are playing Luka at power forward.

I don't think you can go long term with a starting lineup that does not have a point of attack defender.  I know the defensive numbers have been good recently, but I think a lot of that was due to the competition.  Eventually they are going to need to put Bullock or Green in the starting lineup, and for reasons of fit I think it makes the most sense to make Din the 6th man in order to make room.