Non Knee-Jerk Takes

[DanSchwartzgan]

Another fantastic post. Thanks for bringing all the thoughts and info.

I don't know if you missed it in the bigger thread with all the reactions, but I was making that same point about DB. He needs minutes to be effective. If you give him minutes he WILL produce. If you give him inconsistent and low minutes, he will likely suck. 

The rim protection will be the big thing missed in all this. But I am curious how much of a premium Kidd's D really puts on that. It seems he cares more about aggressive rotations and deflections than actual rim protection. 

I only got to page 7 and stopped.  I did start up again today in the mid 20’s, but didn’t see that.  Great minds?

As to rim protection (super small sample size alert).  From 1/1 until last night, Dallas is 4th in the NBA in defensive FG%.  There is a segment where Powell started and KP was out from 1/1-1/14.  We were second in that period w/o KP.  There was a segment from 1/30-2/11 where KP was also out.  We were 7th during that period of time.

During the two weeks in the middle when KP was playing we were 9th.  We had some stinkers in all three segments.  THe NYK loss was in the first segment.  THe GSW loss was in the middle segment (with KP) and the Orlando and OKC losses were in the last segment.  

Interestingly, in games where Powell has started and KP didn’t play, the team is 10-3.  So, KP’s brand of rim protection doesn’t appear to be a necessary element.  Seven of those 10 wins have come against playoff teams and Powell was a net positive in all seven of those games.