Richaun Holmes - all he contributes is a contract for trading

[KillerLeft]

I like DJJ, too. PJ Washington is technically still available but he's RFA and probably going to take his QO at this point

I really wouldn't take the QO if I were him. Will be interesting to see how this plays out, because there's clearly something jamming everything up right now. Probably related to one or all of Lillard's, Harden's or Siakim's situations, I assume. 

I think he's specifically the type of guy who will regret trying to drum up money in the UFA marketplace during the first couple of seasons of this new CBA. If I had to bet, I'd say he either gets signed and traded somewhere before camp or he and CHA finally meet in the middle somewhere.

[MFFL]

Well Holmes started but it didn't go well for us. We got DESTROYED on the boards (57-37)

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

Would you rather go with DP? LOL.

[Chicagojk]

He didn't look good last night. I don't want to judge him on one game or two games. The game against the Lakers gave me some hope that maybe he could fill in that backup role and make us not in the market for a backup big. Last night gave me doubts on that. Ideally, I think the spot is ok if we have Lively and Holmes can be a 15-20 minute backup. Powell would be the guy right outside the regular lineup. Great insurance. Some nights may not play and others he may get 25 minutes. A Lively injury or hitting the wall is the concern though.

But if Holmes can play backup minutes and give a good 15-20 minutes a game, I think you can wait until the offseason to upgrade backup center.

[KillerLeft]

Would you rather go with DP? LOL.

Absolutely. Powell is the overall better player, and to me it seems pretty clear.

[IamDougieFresh]

https://x.com/BiasedSlightly/status/1728...66697?s=20

[dirkfansince1998]

https://x.com/BiasedSlightly/status/1728...66697?s=20

Not saying that Powell didn't mess up but looking at other possessions him stepping up to provide help defense is part of the gameplan. Kidd likes to overload the strong side. 
Guys that aren't defending on ball are supposed to play in zone-like concept. In this case they actually played a real zone.
First half of the clip shows what should have happened. Mavs overload and double Kawhi. Green rotates to the paint and prevents the pass to Zubac. Forcing a long cross court pass that gives THJ enough time to recover. Possession resets.
Followed by the "how not to do it". Harden vs THJ on the perimeter in a late shot clock situation. THJ turns his body to prevent middle penetration. Trying to force Harden towards the side line/into the help defender. Powell is in position to help. For whatever reason Green isn't picking up Zubac. Not to even mention the communication disaster.

Don't get me wrong. I can easily imagine that a player with better instincts or longer arms (!!!) jumps the passing lane or at least recovers in time to prevent a dunk. But the bigger problem is the scheme/inability to execute it.

[omahen]

https://x.com/BiasedSlightly/status/1728...66697?s=20

This was imho clearly mistake by Green. He rotated perfectly in the first part of the action, but got lost in the second part, turning away from the ball because he thought his guy will go to the other side

[omahen]

Not to even mention the communication disaster.

Don't get me wrong. I can easily imagine that a player with better instincts or longer arms (!!!) jumps the passing lane or at least recovers in time to prevent a dunk. But the bigger problem is the scheme/inability to execute it.

This clip captures perfectly the constant Mavs defensive situations. They are often very confused after a double team, with two or more guys scrambling towards same position all the time. 

In this specific situation:

1. Double team on Kawhi, everyone sets well
2. Kawhi passes and confusion starts. Both THJ and Green move to defend Harden (where the pass was going). Green realizes half way that THJ is already going there and then starts thinking - "ok, who do I guard now???"
3. Powell is trying to prevent pass for the potential cutter from the other side while Green decides that Mann is his man and totally forgets about team defense

I said in the summer. How much of the bad defense is on players and how much on schemes?

[RGP1981]

This was imho clearly mistake by Green. He rotated perfectly in the first part of the action, but got lost in the second part, turning away from the ball because he thought his guy will go to the other side

Err what? That's on Powell... Green picked up the right guy after what Powell did (or to be more accurate, after Powell didn't do diddly). Powell left the man he was on (Mann), then didn't pick up his Center counterpart either (Zubac). Green had a decision to make and picked the right one... while Powell was off floating in free space.

Speaking of free space, Powell seems to have a lot of it between his ears.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Err what? That's on Powell... Green picked up the right guy after what Powell did (or to be more accurate, after Powell didn't do diddly). Powell left the man he was on (Mann), then didn't pick up his Center counterpart either (Zubac). Green had a decision to make and picked the right one... while Powell was off floating in free space.

Speaking of free space, Powell seems to have a lot of it between his ears.

Powell was loading up to help on any Harden drive as designed.  Green's responsibility was to keep a body on Zubac.  The defense was designed to leave Mann open in the corner and scramble out if the ball reached him.

[ItsGoTime]

Blaming that play on Green is so horrible. Who was Powell guarding? He could have been in reach of Zubac while in the lane the whole time. If Harden drives and he goes to help and Zubac then gets the pass, that would’ve been on someone other than Powell. The lengths taken to excuse him are so mind boggling.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Blaming that play on Green is so horrible. Who was Powell guarding? He could have been in reach of Zubac while in the lane the whole time. If Harden drives and he goes to help and Zubac then gets the pass, that would’ve been on someone other than Powell. The lengths taken to excuse him are so mind boggling.

I mean you can be upset at the design and feel that Powell should have stayed home but the defense is designed to overload the strong side as dirkfan pointed out.  You can even see the correct execution in the first half of the possession although the offensive action was different.  Green was also pulled at this exact moment and then didn't see the floor again so it definitely seems the coaches feel Green made the mistake here.

I'm not trying to make excuses for Powell.  Just saying what I'm seeing in that play.  I do think the communication is a little haywire, you can hear Powell say "I'm low" just before him yelling "help" to Hardaway to let him know he can force Harden to the baseline.  I don't think letting Green know that he's the low man though should be a signal to Green to be moving weakside, he's simply providing awareness.

I'm not trying to say Powell is some great defender, right now the bench units with Powell/Hardaway are where we're currently just getting absolutely dominated, but he's one of the few people on the floor that I trust to make proper rotations currently.  He just happens to be overmatched consistently after making that rotation.

[dirkfansince1998]

Powell is where he is supposed to be. Take a look at the footage and tell me that him pre rotating isn't part of the scheme. When the ball moves to the side line they overload. Big pre rotates and is in position to help on the drive. In case of a pick the on ball defender ices the play and forces the ballhandler towards the help defender. Weak side corner is left open. Whoever is defending it bumps low.

Feel free to look at other games. Or just rewatch the Clippers game. They are doing it all the time. It's one of the most basic concept of Kidd's defense (and it sucks).

https://youtu.be/oPoxgM2Fdjw

https://youtu.be/jTqIchv7oVs

https://youtu.be/3IKmVTQBtBA

[IamDougieFresh]

Seems my troll tweet post got a little more engagement than usual… hahahaha

Thanks for showing me this YouTube account though Dirkfan.

[youzigizag]

How many games are you all giving Holmes to show something even if he is not in the Mavs' plans?

More specifically...I dont know the x's and o's that Mavs are running on defense...so I have no clue if he is in the correct spot like Powell usually is or not.

I was let down last game...but he still seemed to show resistance in the paint...more so than Powell. He is capable...I just dont know if he is takes plays off here and there.

I would like a larger sample size of Holmes unless there are strong murmurings around the Org that he aint it.

Hoping he shows something next game. I agree with the poster suggesting he wasnt taking advantage of the current minutes he is being giving. But I dont have all the info to make an educated opinion on it.

[ItsGoTime]

He wasn’t prerotating, he was getting out of the lane since he wasn’t close enough to a player to stay in the lane. That created the space that Zubac used. If he stayed in arms length of Zubac he can be in the lane infinitely. Call it scheme if you want, but if 4 players are on a man and another is guarding space, it’s on the guy guarding space.

[ItsGoTime]

Which also speaks to the thoughts that go around here about the only way to create space is to have 5 out. That play just shows how wrong that thought is.

[IamDougieFresh]

Absolutely. Powell is the overall better player, and to me it seems pretty clear.

You'll be retracting sooner rather than later

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

On this team, I’d rather see Holmes play more for the time being, at least until Maxi comes back.

It’s a layup line whenever Powell comes in the game with the bench unit. Not all his fault but there’s zero interior protection.

In a vacuum, Powell might be better than Holmes.