Dallas Mavericks: Why Game One Could Not Have Gone Better
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Mavericks opened the 2017-18 season with a loss against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. Here’s why that was absolutely perfect…
The Dallas Mavericks lost on Wednesday. As such, to say that game went perfectly sounds a little disingenuous. The truth is it is nothing of the sort.
The Dallas Mavericks achieved their top objectives on Wednesday. They may not have won the game but they were able to accomplish other goals that nearly seemed impossible. Before we get into that, lets address the elephant in the room…
A Loss is Perfect?
While no true fan would be indifferent towards winning a game, there’s nothing wrong with retrospectively looking at a loss as a good thing. Just look back to last season when a single game separated teams in the draft lottery. I think every MFFL can see the difference between drafting ninth and selecting Dennis Smith Jr and drafting tenth and selecting Zach Collins.
Again, this isn’t to say any Mavs fan should ever cheer against his/her team. It just means to say, after the fact, it’s probably a good thing considering the teams standing at the top of the Western Conference.
Teams like Golden State, San Antonio, Houston, and Oklahoma City are so strong and so superior to anything the Mavs can bring, getting swept in the first round of the playoffs is probably the best case scenario for the Mavericks this season.
That doesn’t mean to say this season is pointless. On the contrary, this season is probably the most important season in years. I do mean to say Championship hopes are futile and setting goals for the season shouldn’t involve the final score.
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Development
This season is all about development and Rick Carlisle and the Mavericks have plenty of young talent to develop. DSJ and Nerlens Noel top that development list this season and both players responeded spectacularly. With 16 points and 10 assists, DSJ became the youngest player to log a double-double involving assists.
Nerlens Noel put up quite the performance as well, grabbing his own double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Additionally, young players like Yogi Ferrell (32 minutes), Dwight Powell (14 minutes), and Harrison Barnes (38 minutes) played significant minutes. Since playing time is key to their development, these minutes cannot be understated.
Struggles
Clearly everything didn’t do perfectly for the Mavs, making my initial decree a slight exaggeration. But the struggles aren’t in areas of key concern, nor do they appear to be a sign of things to come. Wesley Matthews struggled from the floor, but he played strong defense and heavy mintues. The veteran will bounce back and excel once his minutes drop a bit. Dirk Nowitzki also struggled. That isn’t to suggest he doesn’t fit the new system. He just had a tough day. As one of the best players to ever play, he’ll bounce back.
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Harrison Barnes didn’t light it up either, but as we saw last season, he’s “on” more often than he’s “off” and it would be shocking if he didn’t lead the team in scoring for the foreseeable future.
The important thing in this all is how strong the Mavs’ top two young players played on Wednesday. They are sure to see ups and downs but getting off to a start like this is absolutely amazing.
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The Mavs are rebuilding and developing, the importance of which cannot be understated. That’s what makes this first game so perfect. It’s also what makes the final result in the score box so inconsequential. The Mavericks are building something and growing pains are both expected and needed.