Achilles Heel

[vfromlmf]

Not sure how to turn this into a poll, just curious what others seen as the major weakness of this team as currently constructed. I see 4 major areas of concern

1. Toughness -- No bad guy on the wing or a banger next to Porzingis 
2. Rebounding -- This team will need to rebound by committee 
3. Shooting -- More than half of the rotation is below average 3-pt shooting
4. Turnovers -- Averaged 20+ turnovers per game in the preseason

[vfromlmf]

Replying to my own thread  

Lack of toughness is a concern but on the flip side, I think this team can play with above average skill & BBIQ. Doncic can bang with anyone and starting Brunson over J Jackson helps as well. Love Brunson's grit. 

Lack of a dominant rebounder could be a big problem, but not against every team. Clearly Doncic is a strong rebounder on the Wing and Wright has the potential to be a plus rebounding Guard. But I think our bigs will struggle against physical teams. A tough physical banger next to Porzingis addresses this. But who?

Turnovers, I think Carlisle will get this under control and actually turn into a strength.

Shooting I think this will turn out to be the Mavs achilles heel this year. 

If Brunson can shoot +40% that's a HUGE plus but I'm not optimistic about Wright, THJ and Barea. Curry helps but isn't durable. So when 3 of your four primary rotation guards are below average shooters, you have a problem. 

Moving to Wings: Doncic, DFS, Jackson and THJ. Doncic will be a volume shooter and All Star, so that's good. Jackson may shoot a decent percentage but he will be dared to shoot. THJ will shoot a lot of 3s but won't crack 35%. DFS is hopeless. 

Last the Bigs. Porzingis is great but Powell is also hopeless. Maxi is in the same boat with J Jackson.

So all in, we can sort rotation shooters thusly:

Good: Doncic, Porzingis and maybe Brunson ... Curry will shoot well in spots

Below Average: Barea, THJ, Jackson, Maxi

Turrible: Wright, Powell, DFS

NA: Boban

[ItsGoTime]

One of the things I was reminded about Curry in the preseason is that he is also pretty selective in 3’s taken. I remember being a little frustrated with this when he was here before where he seemed like he got the ball and was NBA open to take a 3, but wouldn’t take the shot. He does take a good amount of 3’s and is elite at making them so I guess it’s a good thing that he doesn’t take shots he’s not confident in. Just seems he might be able to sacrifice a little accuracy for volume being that he is so elite.

[Jym]

I voted shooting. We're going to look absolutely amazing the nights that the 3's are falling so should be able to hang with most anyone those nights. 
We'll see how often that happens. Some really streaky shooters to rely on. 
And an enforcer or 2 would be nice too, but luckily the whole league is going soft it so we certainly wont be the outlier. 
Wouldn't be the best perimeter defense but I still salivate at the thought of a Luka/Porz/Adams frontline. We should make it happen if the cost is cheap. The rebounding would be elite and it certainly ups the toughness factor 
Shooting would still be an issue but at least we would get a good share of offensive rebounds

[MrGoat]

Defense wasn't an option so I voted toughness. In those first three preseason games our defense looked horrific and the team looked soft against the likes of Adams, Drummond, and Giannis. 

The games against OKC without Paul and Adams and super rusty Kawhi didn't lift that concern for me.

[Mavsfan12]

Until a track record of regular season games proves otherwise, I am going with defense - followed by shooting.  Everyone looks like a genius when shots fall.

[vfromlmf]

You can't just say "defense". That's too easy. What do you expect to be bad about the defense? 

I think this team will be an average defensive team overall primarily due to length and switch-ability ...but they'll struggle with defensive rebounding, especially against physical teams. 

I also think speed & athleticism will give the Mavs fits.  

In fact, I could see adding a 5 option to the poll: Athleticism / Speed (lack of)

[michaeltex]

I actually think turnovers will be a problem, at least early in the season. There are a lot of new faces in starting places, so understanding how everyone reacts to a particular situation is going to take time. Until that comfort zone is reached, then there are going to be a lot of missed passes that put pressure on the defense.

The time in FL and training camp helps, but it's going to take the pressure of real games to develop the trust necessary.

[JamesConway]

Shooting will be an issue Imo. Outside of Porzingis nobody in our frontcourt rotation is a consistent floor spacer and even KP might be a questionmark in the beginning due to his long layoff (hopefully not though). Kleber is a meh shooter who can provided %s barely above 35% when wide open, Powell is terrible, Boban too. Among SFs we got DFS who is a complete non-factor. Outside of Broekhoff (who won't play) and Seth I don't see anybody who is elite in that regard. Luka will be busy being the main ballhandler, he is always a threat but %-wise he won't be a 40% guy due to his style of play and role on the squad.

Rebounding-wise we might be able to get away due to Delon/Doncic providing help from the guard/wing positions. Carlisle's lineups will play a big factor here too depending on where he puts his emphasis and how he combines guys (will we seen JJB + Brunson/Seth lineups a lot?). I'm pretty optimistic though.

[vfromlmf]

Game 1 observations

I know the lineups will be fluid but if Curry gets minutes over Barea it will obviously help with the lack of shooting on this team. I still think the Mavs could struggle to shoot league average from 3 but even average is a huge improvement over last year. 

As a side note, why do certain people (like Derek Harper) think THJ can shoot? I mean, he looks good when he gets a rhythm shot in the mid-range. Other than that... ugh.

I was most concerning that the Mavs were out rebounded by the Wizards. They often looked outmuscled inside. Rebounding and lack of interior toughness are going to be a real problem for this team. But that's shouldn't surprise anyone. 

Looking at the primary big rotation, Porzingis is a terrible rebounder; Kleber and Powell are below average. And of your small-ball power forwards Jackson is terrible; only DFS is competent on the glass.

Honestly the best rebounder on this team is a 6-7 point guard.