Thanks for the great posts ML!
I also think that we need to give time for the new staff to grow into their roles, not overreact to a game 1 of a very long season. Not being able to adjust in game tactics in the first game, doesn't mean this will keep occurring for rest of this season. RC knew these players so well and based on this experience he had the advantage in being able to use them in different situations to adapt to different game situations. That doesn't mean Kidd will not be able to do this as well later on. And Kidd might add other things and ideas he knows that will be new additions to our game. Basically, the first games are about testing what the players are capable of doing in different looks. And also what they can't do. The idea is I guess that at the time Kidd gets these players to know, the team will not only be capable of doing the same things as last season, but also do more than that.
My big concern is that we have kept the same roster almost unchanged.... The league is evolving so fast, but are we also doing that? In my view, you only keep majority of your roster, only when you win the Finals, or if your team has gone very deep into playoffs + in addition also shown a significant improvement last season compared to that before and many players are improving. If not, I would always try to change the squad and improve. There is always the point of that players "might" develop and one should keep the roster intact. Maybe that is/was our philosophy? Yes, but how many of Mavs players are on a upwards trajectory? Luka is still developing and will become better, although his level is super high and it's not like he will become twice the player he is now; JB is on this upwards trajectory as well. But the rest of the squad is either on the point of this developing curve that has reached that flattened stable point of the curve (THJ, DFS, Boban?), and we also have several players on even a downwards trajectory (DP, Maxi, KP). Can we ask our self how many of our players are likely to improve going further from now? My answer would be only Luka and JB. The rest will either remain where they are or decrease in level of play. I don't see any sign of our recent draft picks of being basketball players and adding anything to us going deep into playoffs, so I will not add any of those on this list. Our main strength so far is last seasons schemes by RC and Lukas brilliance. My hope is that Kidd will become better than RC and Luka and JB keep developing.
I also think that we need to give time for the new staff to grow into their roles, not overreact to a game 1 of a very long season. Not being able to adjust in game tactics in the first game, doesn't mean this will keep occurring for rest of this season. RC knew these players so well and based on this experience he had the advantage in being able to use them in different situations to adapt to different game situations. That doesn't mean Kidd will not be able to do this as well later on. And Kidd might add other things and ideas he knows that will be new additions to our game. Basically, the first games are about testing what the players are capable of doing in different looks. And also what they can't do. The idea is I guess that at the time Kidd gets these players to know, the team will not only be capable of doing the same things as last season, but also do more than that.
My big concern is that we have kept the same roster almost unchanged.... The league is evolving so fast, but are we also doing that? In my view, you only keep majority of your roster, only when you win the Finals, or if your team has gone very deep into playoffs + in addition also shown a significant improvement last season compared to that before and many players are improving. If not, I would always try to change the squad and improve. There is always the point of that players "might" develop and one should keep the roster intact. Maybe that is/was our philosophy? Yes, but how many of Mavs players are on a upwards trajectory? Luka is still developing and will become better, although his level is super high and it's not like he will become twice the player he is now; JB is on this upwards trajectory as well. But the rest of the squad is either on the point of this developing curve that has reached that flattened stable point of the curve (THJ, DFS, Boban?), and we also have several players on even a downwards trajectory (DP, Maxi, KP). Can we ask our self how many of our players are likely to improve going further from now? My answer would be only Luka and JB. The rest will either remain where they are or decrease in level of play. I don't see any sign of our recent draft picks of being basketball players and adding anything to us going deep into playoffs, so I will not add any of those on this list. Our main strength so far is last seasons schemes by RC and Lukas brilliance. My hope is that Kidd will become better than RC and Luka and JB keep developing.