Game 60: DAL (31-29) vs. DEN (41-18) | 109-118 Loss

[ThisIStheYear]

Why does this team suck so bad despite having such a great lead player?  They were clearly the third best team in the NBA at the end of the season just a year ago.  This year, they’re disappointing, no matter what they do, even with a career year from Luka.  Then watching tonight’s game, it hit me.  Carlisle was a very good NBA coach. He has skins on the wall. He imposed a structure and discipline on the team. Those things held up, and Kidd maybe even added a little something, in the first year. But the further we get from Carlisle, the more the good practices break down and the lack of solid schemes moves to the forefront. In other words, as time goes by, the team loses more soundness in its schemes than Kidd can add as a “motivator”.  I think the Mavs just need a solid Xs and Os coach. This one dimensional just try harder on defense approach isn’t working. The team needs technical expertise from the head coach as well.  There’s really no way left to improve the roster without tanking next year, so it’s going to have to be the coaching staff. The Bucks got a lot better just by changing coaches. Maybe that’s the model.