3 Ways the Dallas Mavericks Can Improve on Their Dismal Outing vs the Clippers
There is usually something positive to say about most losses for the Dallas Mavericks, but the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday was appalling to even the most optimistic fan. A team that at this time last year was getting ready for a championship run now looks like a team that has no idea what it is doing. How can they not know how to run their offense in April? Jason Terry blamed it on Jason Kidd and Lamar Odom being absent from the game, yet they beat Orlando just the game before without Odom and with Kidd playing only 3 quarters. Not a good excuse. In fact, what the JET should have said was that there was no excuse for that poor play and it’s time to get back to championship basketball.
What’s even worse is that the Clippers are a potential first round matchup with the Mavericks. Having won 2 games of 3 over Dallas, Los Angeles will have the tiebreaker in the event of a tie. Not that it matters if this is how the Mavericks play at home. Even their defense, which the Mavericks hang their hat on, was abysmal. Randy Foye made 8 threes against them, but none of the Maverick defenders made any adjustments to try to stop his hot shooting. The zone wasn’t working, so why didn’t they try something else? Instead we saw 20 minutes of it, nearly half of the game. How can fans expect the Mavericks to repeat if they can’t even put up a proper fight at home? How can they get back to the team we all know and love?
1. Be more creative in calling plays on offense. Jason Kidd is good at running the offense; there is no arguing with that. He can set up his teammates well and get the ball to Dirk Nowitzki in his hot spots. Kidd is their half court general. But when Kidd is not in the game, the Mavericks need to make adjustments to the offensive gamplan. They failed to make adjustments to compensate for the absence of Kidd, and mistakenly expected to get the same results. Kidd manipulates situations and matchups in his favor, but ball handlers Delonte West and Rodrigue Beaubois cannot take advantage of the matchups given by the defense nearly as effectively as Jason Kidd. That is why in Kidd’s absence, more plays need to be called. Not just quick screens and pick-and-rolls, but ball movement with a 2nd or 3rd option ready to shoot. If the Mavs were trying to doing this on Monday, I didn’t see it. All I saw was a bunch of players who looked like they that had no idea what they were doing, so they resorted to throwing up wild shots late in the shot clock.
If the Mavericks continue to look lost, teams will not hesitate to exploit it. At least if a play does not pan out, Dallas will be able to see the opponent’s defensive scheme and take advantage next possession. The Mavs have shooters, drivers, post up players, and big men –everything they need to be a nightmare for opposing defenses. Not just plays for Dirk when they are in trouble, but for West, Marion, Carter, and Odom too. If the Mavericks can’t create opportunities for some of the other players other than Dirk and have the aforementioned players consistently make plays when given opportunities, this season may be lost.
2. Make a concerted effort to get Shawn Marion a few offensive changes in the 1st quarter. Shawn Marion needs to get going early in the game. Marion was the Mavericks’ MVP in the first half of the season, but he has been struggling as of late. If Marion can’t sink a couple buckets in the first quarter, then he usually has an unproductive night, so Mavs fans brace themselves for a long night whenever he doesn’t drop a few in the 1st quarter. Dallas has won 9 of 10 in games in which Marion scored 15 or more points. That alone should tell you how important he is offensively, not to forgot that he is an asset defensively as well. They can’t force the ball to Marion, but calling some pick-and-rolls with Delonte West or even Dirk Nowitzki could be capitalize on Marion’s skills. Like most players, he just needs to see a couple of shots go down in the beginning to get him going. This way he will draw the defensive attention from the opposing team and open the floor up. It is encouraging to see that Marion is trying to bring back his 3-pointer, but he needs to get higher percentage shots before letting a couple of those 3’s fly. When Marion is on this team is hard to beat.
3. The last piece of advice to the Mavericks: play with pride. This team is the defending NBA Champion, no matter how many new pieces are there. Part of me wants the Mavs to be the underdog come playoff time because it worked out so well last year, but not like this. Sometimes it seems like some of the players don’t believe they will get far in the playoffs, and the worst part of that is no one had to even say it. The fans can tell by the body language, the lack of energy, and the constant comments from Jason Terry. I know he is angry about his potential departure from the Mavericks in the offseason, but is the media really the best place to talk about that? Auditioning for 29 teams? Playing for the Miami Heat next year? Really JET? If he has problems with Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson, he needs to take it up with them. Comments like that hurt the team and the fans, who have done nothing wrong. He should let his game do the talking. His future as a Maverick is out of his hands, if he doesn’t deal with that the Mavs will be watching the second round of the playoffs at home with the rest of Dallas.
Let’s hope the Dallas Mavericks don’t become the most forgettable champions if NBA history. To prove all of the NBA wrong again, they will have to fight much harder than they did against the Clippers. If they played with some heart and determination, it wouldn’t matter as much whether they won or lost, the fans could at least respect the team and it’s players for a valiant effort.
Let’s hope things turn around when the Mavericks face the Memphis Grizzlies at home. A playoff contender a game ahead of the Mavs at the 5th seed, the Grizzlies will be a challenge for the Mavericks. If they play like they did against the Clippers, it will be ugly. If they follow a few of the three suggestions above, they should have a fighting chance.
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