MAVS NEWS:

[fifteenth]

I wavered on this a bit during the finals run, but I think Kidd is pretty awful, honestly. I think the worst, most depressing development of this summer might've been his last minute extension.

Looking back, my complaints about Luka's game started around the time Carlisle left, and got steadily worse from there. Don't get me wrong, I understand that Carlisle had been here so long that his leaving solved some issues that were blocking the way forward at the time. I'm not suggesting that everything would've worked out fine had he stayed, but he was a real coach with real expertise as an architect and teacher of cutting edge systems that work in the NBA. Kidd's "offense" is pathetic, regardless of whose skills it's built around, only Luka was dominant enough to make it (the offense) just passable enough for the team to be competitive, while still being ineffective enough to piss me off.

Luka's coach is obviously not the problem when it comes to his inconsistent conditioning, complaining to the refs instead of getting back on defense and prioritizing his national team over his NBA team (all complaints I've had about him), but I watched the SA/LAL game the other night, and the ball was moving more that night than it had been here since Kidd took over from Carlisle, so I do think Luka will benefit from Reddick's ability to think the game.

You'd think that would be a strength of Kidd's, too, since he's such a basketball savant, but I've seen basically no evidence of it during his time here. His offensive systems are TRASH, regardless of whose skills they're "built" around. His ATOs are even worse. His defensive systems seem lacking in any acknowledgement that the shots the Mavs want to give up are the exact shots modern offenses are hoping to generate. I think Kidd has some talent in the area of relating to his players, and that's a good thing, but even that he manages to mess up pretty regularly by refusing to take any blame for anything, ever. I could be wrong about this part, but when he denigrates players or personnel publicly, it doesn't seem to me that those are calculated decisions born from understanding of psychology the way Carlisle's used to be.

This is why I don't fall in with the "fire Nico" crowd. I have no need for Harrison to escape blame, or retain his job, and I think he SHOULD be fired, even if it's just to help the fanbase heal. But, I think people are focused on him to an unhealthy level in the context of what's wrong now. Removing the GM won't fix this. It's not as simple as "things were working here when Lindsey was on board," I can promise you that. If we attribute the PJW/Gafford deals to him, we must also attribute the offer of two firsts for Kyle Kuzma to him. The Grant Williams signing comes to mind, too, as do other things. The reality is that no GM is going to get everything right, and the other reality is that, as RoyTarpleysGhost pointed out above, many of the people most critical of Harrison have been 100% on board this summer with the architectural structure of HOW THIS TEAM WAS DESIGNED TO BE PLAYED. I find it mildly offensive that some loud voices are trying to have their cake and eat it, too, on some of these matters.

I agree with Smitty that we haven't had a chance to truly see the imagined identity of this team on the court yet, but I don't care. I hate it. THAT is the reason to hate Harrison, only the same people calling for his head seem to AGREE with how he sees the game and it drives me crazy.

Further, if we think this is all happening "to" Kidd, I think that's a hugely incorrect interpretation. I think HE'S on board with the architecture of this team, too, and I hate it doubly from him, because HE should've known better.

I guess what I'm saying is that between how the basketball side is running with a lack of transparency, the apparent lack of a professional staff in place to prevent and minimize injury, the apparent belief (from top to bottom) the organization had that this was a complete, balanced roster, the hair-pulling ineptitude of the game plan on a night-to-night basis, etc...I fear it might take a lot more than a GM change to fix this, and while I'm ready for Harrison to go, I won't be happy unless Kidd goes with him. In fact, if forced to make a choice between the two, I might actually prefer Kidd go first. I know I'm probably the only one who feels that way, and don't get me wrong - I think the new owners missed a chance to win back a lot of support when Harrison wasn't fired this summer.

I agree. We need new ownership, GM and coach