GAME 29: POR (16-13) @ DAL (15-14) | 130-110 win

[cow]

These are the types of games we often win.

[DanSchwartzgan]

And yet again solid 1-big defense from Wood 
It seems to be much more of an issue when he's paired with another big like McGee and he's asked to guard the perimeter

Not really it at all.  Wood has played a total of 35 minutes with Powell and 20 minutes with McGee ALL SEASON.  The issue hasn’t been the failures of Wood with McGee/Powell.  It basically hasn’t happened.  The issue has been Kidd’s unwillingness to try Wood without his caddie Maxi.  The Maxi/Wood minutes have been great.  I posted earlier Wood w/Maxi has a D-Rating of 109.

The question has always been would the Wood-solo big minutes be good.  The D is 10 points per 100 worse with Wood but no Maxi.  But, almost all of those minutes have been short bursts of time when lineups were in transition.  The Wood minutes in the other games Maxi has missed until the last two weren’t all that good in aggregate (there was one really good game early).

But now, for two nights in a row, we’ve seen the team play good D with Wood as solo-big.  It is super encouraging because it is also being done w/o Green.  As I asked in the Cleveland game thread (I think)…is this the turning of a corner or something unique about the opponent(s)...like big plodding centers.    Desperation is the mother of invention.  Kidd doesn’t have much choice but to let this play out and see the answer.

[Moviemavguy]

Injuries forced Kidd to play to the teams strengths. To quote game of zones "Half the defense, Double the offense". Probably the best they can do with the current roster.

This is how it should have been from the beginning of the season because the offense in the league has gotten to a point of not really being defendable.  

If you can't score, you won't do well no matter what your defense looks like.  

And anyway, offense is more fun to watch...at least in the regular season.

[cow]

...like big plodding centers.    

Certainly plays a part but he's played so poorly at times on defense in the past that it wouldn't matter the speed of his opponent.

Side note: for as much as I've applauded McGee professionalism on the bench, he's the definition of "going though the motions" when he gets inserted into games and that's a problem.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

The good: Wood has been playing well.
The bad: Need to trade him because he wouldn't re-sign here.

All the Mavs need to do is maximize Wood's time while he is here. They are given the perfect time to do that with Maxi out.
But for the long term tenure of Wood? This is a lost cause.

[KillerLeft]

And yet again solid 1-big defense from Wood 
It seems to be much more of an issue when he's paired with another big like McGee and he's asked to guard the perimeter

To be fully transparent, I wasn't able to watch one minute of this game, so I can't agree or disagree. But, I've learned to respect your opinion on things over the years, and this thought is absolutely what makes sense to me, predictively.

[Jym]

To be fully transparent, I wasn't able to watch one minute of this game, so I can't agree or disagree. But, I've learned to respect your opinion on things over the years, and this thought is absolutely what makes sense to me, predictively.

And honestly I wonder if they've talked him into stopping weed 
Complete speculation but he seemed different in the postgame interview today than he did early in the season. Bright eyed and engaged and completely coherent. Maybe he was just nervous in those earlier interviews and pressers but I was getting some dopehead vibes back then

[KillerLeft]

Just watched the highlights. Look, I know highlights don't tell the entire story, but what I saw was a crap ton of Wood owning Portland's centers. You give them another option out there, another big they can hide their center on like Powell, McGee or even Kleber (despite him being able to stretch the defense out) and all of a sudden Wood is being guarded by Grant, who's way more suited to making Wood's life difficult. 

That's the thing: opposing centers can't guard Wood, but he CAN guard them if/when they get his mind right on defense in general. In fact, he's got a way, way, WAY better shot of guarding them than he does at slowing down the Grants of the world. 

Playing him as a solo big ALSO results in way more pick and roll with Luka. WAY more. He's GREAT at that, tbh. 

I'm not holding out a ton of hope for this season at the moment, but part of me is really stoked that Kidd is basically being forced to do what he should have been doing from jump street. I have no clue whether Wood is good enough to play for a winning team, but I know that if he is, it's going to be at the 5.

[DanSchwartzgan]

Interesting change in the way DFS is being used these last two games.  Typically, he plays most if not all of the first and third quarter with Luka then sits the early 2nd/4th.  The last two games, Wood has not only come in as the solo-big, he hasn't had Dorian either.  The next biggest guy on the floor has been Luka.  We survived minutes with Luka, Wood, THJ, Reggie and Frank +3.

Then, when Luka sits and SD is the lone ball handler, Dorian is the four to Wood's five.  That's where the game really blew open.  It was even more obvious this is a thing in the second half as Dorian sat after 4:00 in the third because Wood came in so early after the Powell injury 95 seconds into the quarter.  Once again, we survived +3 minutes with Luka, Wood, THJ, Reggie and Frank.

Something else of note, for two nights in a row, the best two players in terms of D-Rating have been Frank and Wood.  They were the best two players in On/Off vs. Cleveland at +11 and +8 respectively.  Last night it would have been +16 and team leading +19 for Wood if not for Frank losing 5 points in scrub time.  Wood and Frank have played 74 minutes together this season.  O-Rating is 124.3 and the D-Rating is 109.  The Defensive number isn't special, but the offensive number is pretty nice considering Frank isn't thought of as much of an offensive threat.  But, the last two games, that combo has easily been in the 90's defensively and some of that has come alongside known stoppers like Luka and THJ.  The Frank/Wood minutes were +9 in a 20 point loss to Cleveland and +16 in a 20 point win against Portland.

I'm not saying Frank is the new Wood whisperer.  I'm saying he and Reggie have played really hard the last two nights and have made lineups without DFS tolerable and lineups with Dorian, Wood and Spencer really good on the defensive end.

[F Gump]

  The last two games, Wood has not only come in as the solo-big, he hasn't had Dorian either.  The next biggest guy on the floor has been Luka.  We survived minutes with Luka, Wood, THJ, Reggie and Frank +3.

Then, when Luka sits and SD is the lone ball handler, Dorian is the four to Wood's five.

This is simply a version of Kidd using Luka at the 4, and in essence making him a point-forward. We put on the blinders of "Luka is a PG" while failing to remember that "point" doesn't necessarily have to be a guard. Kidd doesn't seem to be as constrained in his thinking.

Luka is bigger than DFS (same height, but broader), and a much better rebounder. Nothing lost in that regard to use Luka that way.

It's been my observation that Luka playing point-forward (while rarely if ever mentioned that way) been part of the mix all season, and last season too, as part of Kidd's attempt to exploit Luka's size/skill advantage in various ways. And if we take off the blinders of our preconceptions, it should not seem surprising that any non-Luka lineup with DFS at the 4 might see DFS being subbed out at the 4 and a BIGGER Luka used instead.

[Mavs2021]

This is simply a version of Kidd using Luka at the 4, and in essence making him a point-forward. We put on the blinders of "Luka is a PG" while failing to remember that "point" doesn't necessarily have to be a guard. Kidd doesn't seem to be as constrained in his thinking.

I always said he´s a PG on offense and a PF on defense. Nurkic was abusing Powell early. Later they had Luka defending Nurkic post-ups. Luka is strong as an ox.

Therefore for the Mavs it actually makes sense to have a "smaller" guard, who can play SG on offense and PG on defense. Green actually fits that description pretty well.

Btw the last two games were a glimpse into the "Powell is un-playable future"-again. Allen/Mobley and Nurkic flat out murdered the Powell starting five. Obviously we cannot invest assets in our current situation, but guys like Saric or Bitadze (RFA) are on expiring contracts and barely play in Phoenix or Indiana. I´m sure, if you make it advantageous financially for Indiana they dump Bitadze.

Saric might be a bit more complicated as I assume the Suns want to package Saric/Crowder for a bigger rotational piece. But I could see a Collins scenario, where Atlanta would prefer Bullock over Saric and the Mavs can make it happen, in exchange for a small piece like Okogie (from Phoenix) or Jalen Johnson (from Atlanta). So you get your PF/C in Saric and a younger SF replacement in Okogie/Jalen Johnson.

These are the kind of moves the Mavs should make to set themselves up for the future.

We likely won´t have the ammo to make direct plays for guys like Collins, DeRozan, Lavine, Beal, Kuzma, Porzingis (haha) whenever those moment arrive, but we can weasel our way into the deals and make small improvements.

[DanSchwartzgan]

And if we take off the blinders of our preconceptions, it should not seem surprising that any non-Luka lineup with DFS at the 4 might see DFS being subbed out at the 4 and a BIGGER Luka used instead.

Whether it should be surprising or not, it is new.  DFS and Luka have played together 770 of the 913 minutes Dorian has played (almost 85%).  So, it is a change of strategy.  

It basically says Powell and Wood are splitting the C minutes and since Dorian can't play 48, there has to be some point in time that someone else plays the four.  So, Kidd is prioritizing putting DFS with SD/Wood over putting him with Luka/Wood.  The interesting thing (or surprising if you insist) is that the team is holding its own during these minutes which have also included well known defensive stud Tim Hardaway Jr.

Wood said postgame that Luka is his second best pairing behind Wood and Maxi (actually Wood/Green is first then Wood/Luka now at 8.1).  But, Wood/SD is -6.1.  Kidd needs to do something to unlock that pairing.  I imagine the change regarding DFS is more about cleaning that up with the expectation that the team can survive the Luka at Point-PF minutes.  W/O Maxi the 5/4 minutes look to be DP/DFS, then Wood/Luka, then Wood/DFS and finally Powell/DFS.  In the first half there were no minutes where Luka, Wood and SD played together.  The next logical discussion will be about starting Wood, but I suspect such a move requires benching SD if you want to always have two of those on the floor at all times.

[vfromlmf]

Frank can be a difference maker defensively if he can stay healthy and make enough shots to stay on the floor. For comparison, Royce O'Neal is 6'4" with 6'9" wingspan. Frank is 6' 4" with a 7' 1" wingspan. Kleber's wingspan is 6' 11". 

I was a bit too hyperbolic when I called him a "deep backup" yesterday. He's a rotation player who's been out of the rotation and he can have a long career if he keeps working on his game. He's still young at only 24. 

I think there's still a big gap between Frank and a hard-nosed role player like Royce O'Neal but this might be Frank's opportunity to plug a gap and carve out a role in the regular rotation, even once Green returns. You need good switchable individual defenders on the floor with Wood because there won't be any rim protection on the floor for the foreseeable future.

[omahen]

Portland is one of the best match-ups for Mavs. Plenty of small guards and dinosaur centers for Luka to feast on. Sure, no one on the Mavs can guard Lillard, but Luka is a better player imho. Also, Portlands defense is bad overall. Very important win

Cleveland on the other hand is a one of worst (if not the worst) match-up for Dallas. Long athletic bigs that can move their feet is best defense against Luka ball. Forcing him into more threes and if they don't go in at the absurd rate, Mavs have problems.

[WildArkieBoy]

Should Hardy, Green and Frank continue to develop and Wood does not see himself as disrespected as many of us do and agrees to an extension, Hardaway keeps it up. . . . . . . . can you see Luka having enough without a major addition?

[omahen]

Should Hardy, Green and Frank continue to develop and Wood does not see himself as disrespected as many of us do and agrees to an extension, Hardaway keeps it up. . . . . . . . can you see Luka having enough without a major addition?

Imho no. This team is not good enough to sustain 4 playoff series as I just don't think it is possible that all those things you mentioned go well at same time all the time.

[KillerLeft]

Should Hardy, Green and Frank continue to develop and Wood does not see himself as disrespected as many of us do and agrees to an extension, Hardaway keeps it up. . . . . . . . can you see Luka having enough without a major addition?

Enough? No. But, those would all be welcome developments, and the team is only a move or two away from there.

[Chicagojk]

Portland is one of the best match-ups for Mavs. Plenty of small guards and dinosaur centers for Luka to feast on. Sure, no one on the Mavs can guard Lillard, but Luka is a better player imho. Also, Portlands defense is bad overall. Very important win

Cleveland on the other hand is a one of worst (if not the worst) match-up for Dallas. Long athletic bigs that can move their feet is best defense against Luka ball. Forcing him into more threes and if they don't go in at the absurd rate, Mavs have problems.

Mavs hit their shots last night and Portland's defense left a lot to be desired, but the Mavs looked good.  They appeared to play at a faster pace.

Tonight will be very interesting.  Mavs have had some really bad performances on back to back.  Although, I believe Cleveland has a large Slovenia population and Luka is a type who has a long memory.   I think their performance against Cleveland left a real bad tastes in their mouths.   It is a really bad matchup for Dallas and both teams are coming off games last night, but I will be real interested to see how Dallas responds tonight.

[Chicagojk]

Frank can be a difference maker defensively if he can stay healthy and make enough shots to stay on the floor. For comparison, Royce O'Neal is 6'4" with 6'9" wingspan. Frank is 6' 4" with a 7' 1" wingspan. Kleber's wingspan is 6' 11". 

I was a bit too hyperbolic when I called him a "deep backup" yesterday. He's a rotation player who's been out of the rotation and he can have a long career if he keeps working on his game. He's still young at only 24. 

I think there's still a big gap between Frank and a hard-nosed role player like Royce O'Neal but this might be Frank's opportunity to plug a gap and carve out a role in the regular rotation, even once Green returns. You need good switchable individual defenders on the floor with Wood because there won't be any rim protection on the floor for the foreseeable future.

I think this is a fair take.  I consider him a fringe rotation player.  4th or 5th guard.   If he can be a consistent open shooter, he may be more.   He just doesn't provide anything on creation.  Just doesn't have burst.    I think on a team with more creators, he could find a regular role...if he can hit shots.   

Minutes are tough here when everyone is healthy.    But sometimes you need to take advantage of your opportunities.    With everyone healthy, he is probably not a every game player.   

He did look good last night.  Thought he looked ok against Clev too....just couldn't finish.

[BoredAssistant]

I don't know what to make of this game.  The Crucifix looked like a decent defensive player and if he sacrifices for the team on that end you can soon nail him into the starting lineup.