The Mavs aren't doomed, but their window to win a championship is closing fast. Mark Cuban, like it or not, IS a distraction to the coach and the players, especially when he's in the stands yelling all the time, and it's never a good thing when the owner tries to go over the heads of his personnel and play coach himself. Face it, they did trade much of their future away in the Kidd deal. The Mavs are full of good players, but there's no chemistry; the pieces don't fit well. And face it, Jason Kidd is old; Chris Paul ran circles around him during the entire series. Avery Johnson is still a good coach, winning about 70% of his games; not a bad thing to put on a resume for a first head coaching job, and he won't be out of circulation for long. I can't blame Cuban for wanting to win. He just needs to calm down and let his employees do what they need to do. But how do you tell your boss to sit down and shut up?
Avery Johnson is still a good coach, winning about 70% of his games; not a bad thing to put on a resume for a first head coaching job, and he won't be out of circulation for long. Mr. Johnson, Donnie Walsh is on line one.
What is really lacking in Dallas is any focus on team chemistry. Traded away are all of the key role players that once made the Mavs a contender. They are stuck with a group of overpaid aging superstars. If Kidd returns next year expect a further decline ... golf season begins 2 weeks earlier in Dallas in 2009.
Not really a big deal for Dallas because Cuban can hire any coach he wants he has the money to do so. Like some other people suggested, the Mavs lacked team chemistry and so they need to trade some key players they have. They need to get another superstar to complement Dirk because JKidd is getting older. Jason Terry and Jason Howard need to be traded for some pure scorers. Stack and Devean George can fill their roles. The trade didn't really affect them that much because Devin Harris was not a true scorer. He was fast as hell and could steal the ball but that was it. Also if the Mavs get a scoring center unlike Dampier who can't even catch, then they could be very good cuz Kidd is a great passer.
But how do you tell your boss to sit down and shut up? Easy. Just tell him to sit down and shut up...the only thing is: You might not have a job afterwards. Just ask Joe Giradi when he was with the Florida Marlins about that.
I'm absolutely shocked that people don't wake up and smell the coffee. Jason Kidd is one of the most overrated players in all of sports. His $20M salary is a crime. He has a 40% field goal percentage for his career (possibly lower this year). Need I continue? When you're that bad on offense, people don't need to guard you tight, which increases their defensive presence elsewhere. So...Jason's bad offense means they are less productive on offense and the other team is more productive on defense. Compare this to Steve Nash. He's super productive on offense, but supposedly has no defense. So...the other team can be a bit more productive on their offense. That's it. And, Kidd probably makes 50% more than Nash. Unreal that people can't see the overrated aspect.
I would be pissed if I were Mark Cuban. They have had such a good team for a long time now and have just 1 finals loss to show for it. So much talent has been wasted.
It seems to me that the Mavericks offense is most effective when Dirk has the ball on the free throw line. You don't need much of a point guard in order to get him the ball. Their success without Nash should have made that clear. There was a window when Dirk's ability to stretch the floor seemed like it might be a natural counter to Duncan's dominance in the paint, but the Spurs now have Ginobli and Parker playing out of their minds, the Lakers have rebuilt, and Dallas and Phoenix are heading the wrong way. They correctly diagnosed a need for a true post presence, but they overpaid for Dampier, and just got rid of a developing Diop. From here, I think they need to let Dampier, Kidd, Howard, and George go. Which will take time. Dirk's game will last for some time still I think and I still think he's good enough to build around. Howard still has some trade value, so I'd look to either dump some contracts, or maybe make a play for someone like Marion/Artest/Tyson Chandler/Kenyon Martin.
