ROSTER TALK: Mavs favs for Vogel if no HC job exists. Kyrie handshake deal?

[ItsGoTime]

Oof. I don't think I agree with that. I'd say giving players instructions on what to do in specific situations (and in general) is exactly what coaches do. Do you remember the famous story where Nellie and Steve Nash brought each other to tears after a game having an emotional conversation about why Nash was too scared to try to score the ball? Nellie basically begged him just to try, and Nash finally agreed to do so. That was when the team started winning, basically. Also, I'd bet a ton of money that a young player shot-hunting  when the coach things he should be moving the ball is going to have a tough time staying on the floor. 

I agree with your aesthetic concerns over the offensive style last season, and Carlisle never would've gone that way, but I can't say with any certainty that Kidd wasn't into it. Probably the opposite, tbh. 

With your points about Brunson, specifically, I have seen him play PG very well. I think what we saw last year was him adjusting a bit so that he could play off of Luka (whether we liked how he went about that or was advised to go about that or not). 

But, play style has less than no weight on the Brunson situation. A team as asset strapped as the Mavs simply couldn't let their second best player go. It's as black and white as that for me. Now, what you do after you re-sign him, or, even better, get him earlier on that extension, that's a conversation that would've been worth having had they not been so completely and utterly inept with it all.

OK, so, just like the 100% on the coaches was wrong, my fully absolving the coaches is wrong too. It just takes more than the coaches. I saw what Kidd was doing with the team last year as him evaluating them and seeing what they're best at and asking them to do those things. 


At the end of the day though, I think this team will be his vision of what is supposed to be on the floor and I think the decision to not max out JB (and there's no telling if NY would have matched or gotten close enough to that too) was made after a full season of careful evaluation and knowledge of where Kidd wants to go with this team.

I myself HATE losing JB for nothing and it is fully a black spot on what would have been an amazing offseason. I don't think the team we have is punting on a season at all though and I can see some light at the end of the tunnel next offseason.

Edit: Also, Carlisle allowed JJB to pound the ball into the floor for what seemed like hours per possession, so you can't say he wouldn't have done the same.