11-27-2021, 02:50 PM
Bob was the featured guest on Bill’s podcast, and he shared his thoughts about the Mavs.
Building a team around Luka
Luka is unquestionably a generational talent. But building around him is not as easy as people think, as you need specific talents. Ideally, you have guys around him who can defend very well, can hit threes, are switchable on defense, and who are happy playing a limited, secondary role. That last one is important. Some guys are just not happy in that kind of position.
Need defenders to cover for Luka. Luka isn’t an awful defender, but the mental toll of having the ball all the time and being constantly double-teamed is great, and there is just so much you can ask him to do defensively.
Need shooters and playmaking to take advantage of Luka’s talents. Luka is outstanding at responding to being double-teamed. You need guys who can do something with the ball when Luka makes the right pass. Cites Willie as an example of the fit not really working.
It is also difficult building around Luka when KP’s max contract is on your cap. There are a couple of tiers of max players — some based on outstanding talent and skill, like LeBron and Steph. Then a second tier who are not that level of player, but get paid the same as the better players because that is what the system encourages. KP is the second type of player. So, if you want to keep KP, you are forced to pay him as if he were a superstar talent, even though he isn’t, because that is the result the system leads to. And, if you max out both KP and Luka, you have very little margin of error when it comes to the supporting cast, and you need to make very sure you get those choices right.
Curry-JR trade
This trade had already been agreed to when he joined, but he understands why the Mavs thought they had to make Seth available. With Seth, you had too many guys in the lineup who couldn’t defend, and Seth was a defensive target. He was outstanding offensively, but the team goal was not limited to having winning regular seasons, and it is tough to keep defensive liabilities on the floor in the playoffs. If Bob has a criticism of the trade, it is that the Mavs probably could have gotten something better in return than JR.
Porzingis
KP is a good NBA player; he mostly gets maligned due to his salary. If he were being paid $15M, he would probably be considered an asset. However, he is not a first-tier max player and it is challenging when you have a guy like that maxed out.
What is KP’s ceiling? if KP were the only max player on a team, that team would probably try to build around him. However, almost no team these days builds around a big, due mostly to the nature of the game. Bigs can and do get played off the floor in the playoffs. Jokic is an exception, because he doesn’t play like a big — he’s a PG in a center’s body. Almost all of the dominant players now are 2-way, ball handling wings and guards.
KP was a defensive target last season because of injury-related mobility issues, and that team had a lot of problems defending in space. Now that he is healthy, he has some room to bring his defensive game back up.
Offensively, the whole point of a stretch 5 is to punish teams who switch a small on to him. KP hasn’t been especially successful at that, partly to his body and its high center of gravity.
KP is not a locker room issue. He works hard, tries to improve, will do what you ask him to without complaining, is not a diva. The problem is that for system-related reasons, you’re locked into having to overpay him relative to his contribution.
How good are the Mavs?
The team is decent this year. They’re in the WC mix, partly due to their own talent, partly due to the West having so many long-term injury issues. They’re not that far from being a contender. The right trade could help a lot.
Golden State and the Suns are the best teams in the West, with a big gap to the third team. Simmons would add Utah to that group, and thinks that the Mavs are in the mix with a lot of other teams for the fourth seed.
Is Luka out of shape and hurting the team?
He’s not in terrible shape, but he’s not at his peak. He has a history of playing his way into shape, and as young as he is, he has been able to do that. Bob understands why the Mavs don’t want him to lose weight, but says Luka could be better conditioned, and likely will be.
There are a couple of issues in holding Luka accountable for this. One is who is going to do it. It’s not his teammates, who are there to support him. Maybe more importantly, what do you tell him is adversely impacting the team? If you were to make a list of things Luka would do well to improve, it would first be things like attention to defensive detail, and shooting. Things that are not weight-related. If it is hard to identify a significant negative impact his conditioning is having on the team, it may be the best decision just to let him play his way into shape.
Some people think Luka’s conditioning might be leading him to settle for bad shots. Bob thinks that’s mostly a red herring. When Luka starts games, he’s focusing on feeling out the game and playing to the crowd, and that might lead to daring shot selection. But at the ends of games, he’s usually in an all-business mode, and will make the simple pass to the right guy rather than trying to do something flashy. When he does settle, it’s not usually because he doesn’t have any legs.
His shooting is down this year, but so is the rest of the league. Bob thinks that the league drop in shooting is mostly a regression to the mean, after a big jump in performance in the COVID season. Without fans in the arenas, there weren’t many distractions, and guys could concentrate and shoot better.
What was Bob’s reaction to Cato’s article?
Was infuriated at first, because Cato had nothing to do with anything that took place. He was just the recipient of some insider information from some people who had permission to leak. Then Bob came to the point of view that that just didn’t matter.
Doesn’t characterize the leaks as someone with an ax to grind. Thinks it is more that the people thought that the leaking would increase their chances to hold onto their jobs. Was surprised when he joined the Mavs that there were so many unqualified people being paid large amounts to do their jobs, when they had little chance of getting hired at those kinds of salaries anywhere else. He underestimated the office politics people were willing to wield in order to protect their sinecures.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/th...0542992266
Building a team around Luka
Luka is unquestionably a generational talent. But building around him is not as easy as people think, as you need specific talents. Ideally, you have guys around him who can defend very well, can hit threes, are switchable on defense, and who are happy playing a limited, secondary role. That last one is important. Some guys are just not happy in that kind of position.
Need defenders to cover for Luka. Luka isn’t an awful defender, but the mental toll of having the ball all the time and being constantly double-teamed is great, and there is just so much you can ask him to do defensively.
Need shooters and playmaking to take advantage of Luka’s talents. Luka is outstanding at responding to being double-teamed. You need guys who can do something with the ball when Luka makes the right pass. Cites Willie as an example of the fit not really working.
It is also difficult building around Luka when KP’s max contract is on your cap. There are a couple of tiers of max players — some based on outstanding talent and skill, like LeBron and Steph. Then a second tier who are not that level of player, but get paid the same as the better players because that is what the system encourages. KP is the second type of player. So, if you want to keep KP, you are forced to pay him as if he were a superstar talent, even though he isn’t, because that is the result the system leads to. And, if you max out both KP and Luka, you have very little margin of error when it comes to the supporting cast, and you need to make very sure you get those choices right.
Curry-JR trade
This trade had already been agreed to when he joined, but he understands why the Mavs thought they had to make Seth available. With Seth, you had too many guys in the lineup who couldn’t defend, and Seth was a defensive target. He was outstanding offensively, but the team goal was not limited to having winning regular seasons, and it is tough to keep defensive liabilities on the floor in the playoffs. If Bob has a criticism of the trade, it is that the Mavs probably could have gotten something better in return than JR.
Porzingis
KP is a good NBA player; he mostly gets maligned due to his salary. If he were being paid $15M, he would probably be considered an asset. However, he is not a first-tier max player and it is challenging when you have a guy like that maxed out.
What is KP’s ceiling? if KP were the only max player on a team, that team would probably try to build around him. However, almost no team these days builds around a big, due mostly to the nature of the game. Bigs can and do get played off the floor in the playoffs. Jokic is an exception, because he doesn’t play like a big — he’s a PG in a center’s body. Almost all of the dominant players now are 2-way, ball handling wings and guards.
KP was a defensive target last season because of injury-related mobility issues, and that team had a lot of problems defending in space. Now that he is healthy, he has some room to bring his defensive game back up.
Offensively, the whole point of a stretch 5 is to punish teams who switch a small on to him. KP hasn’t been especially successful at that, partly to his body and its high center of gravity.
KP is not a locker room issue. He works hard, tries to improve, will do what you ask him to without complaining, is not a diva. The problem is that for system-related reasons, you’re locked into having to overpay him relative to his contribution.
How good are the Mavs?
The team is decent this year. They’re in the WC mix, partly due to their own talent, partly due to the West having so many long-term injury issues. They’re not that far from being a contender. The right trade could help a lot.
Golden State and the Suns are the best teams in the West, with a big gap to the third team. Simmons would add Utah to that group, and thinks that the Mavs are in the mix with a lot of other teams for the fourth seed.
Is Luka out of shape and hurting the team?
He’s not in terrible shape, but he’s not at his peak. He has a history of playing his way into shape, and as young as he is, he has been able to do that. Bob understands why the Mavs don’t want him to lose weight, but says Luka could be better conditioned, and likely will be.
There are a couple of issues in holding Luka accountable for this. One is who is going to do it. It’s not his teammates, who are there to support him. Maybe more importantly, what do you tell him is adversely impacting the team? If you were to make a list of things Luka would do well to improve, it would first be things like attention to defensive detail, and shooting. Things that are not weight-related. If it is hard to identify a significant negative impact his conditioning is having on the team, it may be the best decision just to let him play his way into shape.
Some people think Luka’s conditioning might be leading him to settle for bad shots. Bob thinks that’s mostly a red herring. When Luka starts games, he’s focusing on feeling out the game and playing to the crowd, and that might lead to daring shot selection. But at the ends of games, he’s usually in an all-business mode, and will make the simple pass to the right guy rather than trying to do something flashy. When he does settle, it’s not usually because he doesn’t have any legs.
His shooting is down this year, but so is the rest of the league. Bob thinks that the league drop in shooting is mostly a regression to the mean, after a big jump in performance in the COVID season. Without fans in the arenas, there weren’t many distractions, and guys could concentrate and shoot better.
What was Bob’s reaction to Cato’s article?
Was infuriated at first, because Cato had nothing to do with anything that took place. He was just the recipient of some insider information from some people who had permission to leak. Then Bob came to the point of view that that just didn’t matter.
Doesn’t characterize the leaks as someone with an ax to grind. Thinks it is more that the people thought that the leaking would increase their chances to hold onto their jobs. Was surprised when he joined the Mavs that there were so many unqualified people being paid large amounts to do their jobs, when they had little chance of getting hired at those kinds of salaries anywhere else. He underestimated the office politics people were willing to wield in order to protect their sinecures.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/th...0542992266
![[-]](https://www.mavsboard.com/images/collapse.png)
