Mavs Defense

[mtrot]

The Mavericks defense has fallen off a cliff this season. Numerous analysts are trying to get to the bottom of the situation, which I am sorry to believe is severe and complex enough to merit its own thread. 

Iztok of MMB has broken down the elements of the drop-off in the linked article, which has verbal description supplemented by videos. 

Main takeaways --

The defense is in deep trouble.

The defense was highly rated in the first weeks of the season. Was that a fluke? Yes. Breaking it down, the defense was not all that good. Bit of a lucky streak. 

KP, DP, and WCS are all fouling at a much higher rate than they did last season. 

The Mavs are very bad at protecting the rim. 

The Mavs' drop coverage in the pick and roll is not working. This is not limited to Dallas. It's the case league-wide. Offenses have figured out how to overcome that defense. The Mavs realize that, and have tried different coverages. But KP does not have the mobility to show, hedge, trap, or switch. 

KP does not communicate well on defense. This may be because he is not sure what he is supposed to be doing himself, let alone instructing his teammates. Trying to run aggressive pick and roll coverage with KP just results in miscues. 

KP is not the only problem. Maxi and Dwight also look substantially worse than they did last season, possibly because they haven't fully recovered from the virus, and in Dwight's case, injury. 

However, KP is by far the biggest problem. His rim protection and help defense aren't what they used to be. Carlisle is using WCS and Powell as more mobile defenders in the PNR. Willie is the most mobile defender, but plays limited minutes for good reasons. 


Solutions

Short-term. Do everything possible to help KP recover his agility and explosiveness. KP's performance on defense will define the team's ceiling.

Long-term. If this is the permanent version of KP, that's a real problem. Teams are targeting KP defensively. With Luka as the main piece of the puzzle, the second star can't be one that has to be hidden in some type of defensive scheme.  

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2021/2/17/22285940/the-dallas-defense-is-in-trouble?utm_campaign=mavsmoneyball&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

My problem with this is that the Mavs' fouls are too soft.  If you're going to protect the rim with a foul, you have to make sure they don't make the shot.  Otherwise, it's like a made three pointer.

[mavsluvr]

My problem with this is that the Mavs' fouls are too soft.  If you're going to protect the rim with a foul, you have to make sure they don't make the shot.  Otherwise, it's like a made three pointer.

This is a frustrating issue.