Can Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks turn things around?
By Ashton Nicks
The Dallas Mavericks are playing well below expectations so the question is, can Jason Kidd turn things around?
The Dallas Mavericks have gone 2-4 over their last six games. They have fallen to 35-35 on the season and reside in eighth place in the western conference standings. Both stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, have been hampered with injury and remain question marks going forward.
It’s not surprising to see the Dallas Mavericks struggle without their two best players, considering they gave away key role players to bring in Kyrie Irving, but Dallas hasn’t even played stellar with the duo on the court.
After their last three game losing streak and back-to-back losses to the Grizzlies, the Dallas Mavericks are just 5-6 when Kyrie plays. This isn’t from a lack of offense on his part since he’s averaging 27.5 points per game with the Mavs.
Offensively, as a whole, the Dallas Mavericks have looked great with Luka and Kyrie at the helm. The problem has been their defensive play, especially late in games as the Mavs have given up a lot of big leads this season including blowing a 27-point lead in a 111-108 loss to the Lakers at home on February 26th.
Another factor to the Mavs sliding in the west standing, is what some fans are calling questionable coaching by Jason Kidd.
Odd coaching decisions like starting Dwight Powell over Christian Wood, among other things, has some fans questioning the ability of the Dallas Mavericks head coach. In fact, Christian Wood’s overall playing time has been low considering he usually boosts the offense when on the court.
Wood has been playing right around 20 minutes per game this season. Kidd says Wood’s playing time is due to his lack of defense.
Another one of Kidd’s coaching decisions under scrutiny is how he uses Luka in the rotation. For most games Luka will play the entirety of the 1st and 3rd quarters and come back onto the court in the 2nd and 4th quarters with around 6 minutes left. No other starter in the NBA plays this rotation.
Jason Kidd likes to have either Kyrie or Luka on the court at all times but this rotation may be having a negative effect on the Dallas Mavericks star. In the last few games he has played, Luka has looked exhausted in the 4th quarter. He’s also been dealing with nagging injuries this season, something that has not been a huge issue for Luka in past seasons.
Is Jason Kidd the right man for the job?