The Mavs will play the Pistons on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will take place in Detroit. The Pistons have won just five home games this season, so you might think this would be a win for Dallas. Hopefully it will. We can't afford to lose against Detroit right now. Recent losses and uninspired play have made my depression even worse and I'm starting to lose my sense of taste. That being said, there are three things to watch out for against the Pistons.
Should we continue to give Tim Hardaway Jr. so much playing time?
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you've watched every Mavs game this season, you're bound to have an opinion on the strategy. I personally know that sometimes certain things work out in my life and sometimes they don't. Tim Hardaway Jr. often gives the Mavs offense a big boost when the three-ball comes in.
But like most precision athletes, he tends to alternate between excellence and mediocrity. Lately, his shots have stopped falling. As he gets through the midway point of the season and gears up for the playoffs, it's clear the idea was to get him to work his way out of this funk. The problem is that not only does that task take time (we don't have much time), but he's also in charge on the defensive end of the floor. Dallas' biggest weakness is their defense, with their two best players not in the starting five due to their lockdown defense, and the current very cluttered Western Conference standings mean multiple teams will miss the play-in. It seems like there will be a fight. Perhaps now is the time to consider sharing TH minutes among the Mavs' defensive-minded forwards.
It's safe to say that Green has already been given playing time to break away from his middling performance. He has shown glimpses of being a great two-way player, but while we all hope and expect him to be, he has yet to find a way to climb higher than the plateau he has been in for the past few years. . A few minutes? touch? What is Dallas' style of play?
As for Derrick Jones Jr., he returned to the starting lineup against the Heat on Thursday, but played only a third of the minutes Hardaway logged off the bench. I'm not a professional or a coach. We want them to reach their full potential. I like Tim as a person and enjoy his hot charm, but after all, sitting on him for a while might not cause an acid rain thunderstorm.
Should Jason Kidd consider a dual big man approach by adding both Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford to the starting five?
I know they actually tried it. I know that adopting this in real life would create depth and matchup issues. However, we've seen just about every other starting five combination on this roster. Why not use this, even if it's just for a game or two? Dallas needs momentum right away, but the lineup we've been fielding lately looks like it could beat a top-tier NBA team in a best-of-seven series. It is clear that we have not been able to build fusion.
I think it's smart to start Gafford instead of Lively, which Kidd did against the Heat (to be clear, I should say I'm still emphasizing Lively). He's the best draft pick since Jalen Brunson. Gafford is physically better than Lively at this point, and it's important to remember that Lively is (barely) a 20-year-old rookie. Benching him isn't a punishment, and if Gafford is to remain the starter, the Mavericks veteran will need to make sure Lively can handle the change internally. He's been great so far this season, but he's been a starter because we don't have anyone on our team with his physical ability, even a starting-caliber center. This is because there was no one to approach him.
Well, that's the case with Mr. Gafford. But what if…I would say, what if…Dallas starts both? Who knows what will happen from that scenario in actual game time? Maybe something unexpected will happen. On the other hand, you may want to refrain from that tactic for the reasons listed above. After all, maybe tomorrow things will suddenly start looking up and Dallas will go straight to the Finals without changing anything.
How many consecutive 30-point triple-doubles does a team need to have to officially qualify for the playoffs?
I won't let the irony escape in this final scene. So let's get down to business. Luke is great, but he will always be just one of his five. There was a game this season where I walked back and forth in front of the TV and marveled at the way the Mavs were able to play as a team offensively. But in the last few games I've had to use that energy to go to another room to keep my head from exploding. The Mavericks seem to have regressed to Luka Ball in the half court, which is very fun to watch but difficult to sustain.
The collective offensive effort the Mavericks have been seeing in practice lately has struggled to translate into actual game performance. Luka may be right in his assessment that “if he wants something done right, he has to do it himself,” but the Mavericks still have to find a way to be productive as a team offensively. Otherwise, Dallas fans seem destined to watch Luka post historic individual offensive numbers this season while the team's overall chemistry and potential are obscured by bright lights.
Kidd frequently reminds reporters that we cannot take this kid for granted and that every night we are “looking at something as rare as a Picasso.” I don't doubt Luke's greatness for one second. In fact, my gloomy and listless demeanor may be due to the fact that I think so highly of him as a basketball player that I can't help but want to see him succeed. there is. It seems to be around this time of year that Luka starts to carry too much of a burden on himself and starts to show extreme frustration on national television when he can't win every game with ball possession alone. So what's next? His final step toward greatness may be his maturation as a prophet. If he can truly look to the future, he'll always know exactly who to pass the ball to when he encounters three defenders in the half court in crunch time. Until then, if things change for better or worse, it looks like he'll need to trust the other players on the floor with the ball a little more than he has lately.
How to watch the match
Tipoff is 6 p.m. at Bally Sports Southwest
