MAVS 114, WIZARDS 120

[mavsluvr]

[Kidd] Said starting doesn't indicate anything in particular, is not any special honor, and that he doesn’t hand out stickers for being in the starting unit. 



I could not believe I heard that. From the NBA coach. Outrageous. If said sincere.

If yes, it's only logical step to move on as mavs per BB skills+consistency attribute own only mybe 1,5 "NBA level starter player".

Actually, I agreed with Kidd on this point. It bemuses me when people get all bent out of shape because Powell is in the starting lineup, or Willie, or because Brunson is not included, etc. As if points scored as a starter count for more than points scored off the bench, or something. (An argument that guys like Powell and Willie shouldn't get any minutes at all would at least make logical sense, if the team had a decent alternative, but saying some kind of problem would be solved if only their minutes occurred at some different time in the game is head-scratching.)   

The closing lineup is intrinsically important in competitive games. And it matters how many minutes a guy is on the floor, and with/against whom. However, whether he is on the floor at the start of the game doesn't necessarily mean anything in particular.  Willie and Powell are already being played like reserves (low minutes, not on the floor at the end), Brunson is already being played like a sixth man, and I wonder if the people howling in the wilderness over their starter/non-starter status even realize that.  

This setup is the whole concept behind the strategy of teams that use a sixth man. That guy is one of the best five players, plays starter minutes, and is on the floor at the end of the game, but someone else is on the court to begin the contest. Think DeShawn Stevenson and Jason Terry. That worked out pretty well, iirc. 

Luk, none of this is intended as any sort of personal statement having to do with you. It's just something that I have wondered about for a long time, and continue to puzzle over.