A Few Thoughts on Mavs 120, Suns 113

[mavsluvr]

Come ALLSTAR break we might see more barea, just for toughness and sshot creation.

Hopefully after they trade Brunson or Powell.  But I can see Rick running that 3 PG lineup with Barea, Brunson, Wright.

But you make a good point. Its clear that Barea is a better with shot creation, well better all around then some of the others getting minutes. What are we waiting on with getting Barea into the rotation every night? Is it still load management form his injury? Or are we showcasing some of the others for trades?

It's not time yet. He is fine with not playing. We are a young team. It's not full win now. They balance egos, showcasing, development, injuries, and winning.

It's not full on yet, for no team in the nba, at least not every night.

While I mostly agree, but for a teams fighting for seeds 5 to 8 in the west this year, every win counts.  This isn't like most years. Especially for a team like the Mavs who are starving to get back to the playoffs. A win in November/December may not seem like much right now but it will later. I cant see them intentionally not playing Barea because its not "win-now" mode yet.  This is more to do with coming back from injury and still trying to figure what they have. They know what they have in Barea.  But I cant see them saying, "Well the games aren't that important yet. Lets not play J.J. that much until we need him."

I don't know of any indications that playing Barea more minutes has become any kind of independent goal in and of itself for the Mavs. If anything, probably the contrary, actually. Carlisle made it clear earlier that he was "saving" JJB for emergencies. McMahon asked him (I think yesterday) about whether Barea was going to play more, given how well he was doing, and Rick did not express any enthusiasm for that idea, but commended the small PG for staying ready.

Maybe they'll break JJB out if they need to get a few wins to make the postseason and the other backup guards aren't cutting it. Fifteenth queried whether he might even be a factor in the playoffs, which I thought was an interesting proposition. But I agree that the Mavs' big-picture goals for this season involve the development of KP and Luka, experimenting with what they have and need in terms of the rest of the roster, building a Carlisle-type culture and playing style, and making the playoffs, and that they are willing to forgo maximizing their possible number of wins in favor of other objectives, to a degree. Realize that a lot of fans would prefer a win-the-most-games-period approach. I get that, but I just don't think that is where they perceive themselves in the development cycle, at this point. We don't have to agree with it, but it can be useful to recognize it.