Game 12: Golden State Warriors at Dallas Mavericks

[Thumper 88]

Also if you would have said 12 games into the season and we were .500 I would jump all over that...

[AnthonyTyrael]

Man...I'm getting sick of Rick. Crowder didn't play one damn minute. And Wright only got to play once and he made some big plays. No matter what Rick might bring to the table, I'm tired of Rick wasting our young talent. He already ruined Roddy, I will be pissed if he ruins Crowder.

In my opinion, he's been a worse coach for most of his career but whatever. We've won a title. Everything is fine. ;-) His decisons are highlyx questionable...all the time. Each game. Before and in the midst, at the end... all the time. At least to me most of the time.

I wish Brand and Collison would be contributing much more. Last one needs to step up big time in my eyes. Playing for his future, just like Roddy.

[Thumper 88]

I say we have a top 5 coach in the NBA. If Rick was the Lakers coach right now I bet they would have the best record in the NBA.

[Mataro41]

I happy Mayo has been producing but Collison has been cold if roddy was healthy he could be Collisons cushion cant wait for the big german to come back.

[AnthonyTyrael]

Point guard position and rebounding, despite all our good rebounders on paper (Brand needs to step up, Wright needs more minutes just like James and return of Dirk, plus the addition of Murphy should help)...but it's still a construction site. I don't get it. Our rebounding is still such a joke. What's wrong with all those lads? Only Kaman and Shawn are a lock. No one else is on that matter. NO ONE.

[Ebbs]

Also if you would have said 12 games into the season and we were .500 I would jump all over that...

Same actually.

I happy Mayo has been producing but Collison has been cold if roddy was healthy he could be Collisons cushion cant wait for the big german to come back.

I'm having a hard time getting behind him. He's so small and can't get inside often enough to create the open looks or cash in on the easy buckets.

[Skizzik]

I say we have a top 5 coach in the NBA. If Rick was the Lakers coach right now I bet they would have the best record in the NBA.

I'd agree. On both counts. Know why? Rick wouldn't be working with rookies in LA. Rick is right there with Pop when it comes to working with veterans. Why is Pop better? Because Pop plays and develops young talent. Pop will play second round picks huge minutes. Rick made Tayshaun Prince ride the bench his rookie season and got fired for it. That's what holds Rick back. He has a LONG history of being terrible with young players.

I wouldn't blame roddy on Rick, its not his fault roddy is never 100% healthy

He wasn't hurt his rookie season. He should have played more. While I can't prove if he played more he might have gotten hurt. I can argue that you can't prove him playing more as a rookie might have helped our team, helped Roddy's development and possibly strengthened his ankles.

Ankle injuries are flukey. They can happen out of nowhere and are rarely because someone just has bad ankles. The healthiest person in the world can turn an ankle. Blaming injuries as the reason Rick has always held Roddy back is ridiculous. As I said, there's a long history of Rick and his distrust of young players and it's cost him his job before.

[Skizzik]

I'm having a hard time getting behind him. He's so small and can't get inside often enough to create the open looks or cash in on the easy buckets.

DC has become turnover prone and can't find a shot for the life of him. He is clearly not the answer at PG. While his turnovers aren't all obvious, he only has 27 on the season and 21 in the last 8 games...anyone who actually watches know he's tried to turn the ball over more. I've seen many times where he's lost the ball and fought to recover it or where he's lost it and just happens to roll or bounce to another Mav. I know of at least twice that happened last night.

As for his shot, he's shot over 60% four times (never over 70%) - LAL, CHA, POR, CLE; shot 50% three times UTA, CHA, MIN; and shot below 40% five times (including 20% or less three times) - TOR, NYK, WAS, IND, GSW.

What's worrisome is only one of those 50% or better games is in the last four. And four of those 50% or better games were to start the season. In short, the stats suggest he is regressing and that possibly teams are game planning for him better.

Now, this will be odd coming from me, because I'm not a fan of DoJo in the least. But I have to give credit where it's due and that credit belongs to DoJo. Maybe he can be our PG of the future. I regularly call him the worst shooter in the NBA when friends and I talk about him. He's so bad at free throws for a point guard, he misses more open layups than any player on this team, he air balls short range shots...but he is an above average passer and a quality slashing guard, who also plays solid D.

On top of that, his shot seems to be slowly coming around. And there's reason to believe he will break out of his shooting funk. This is a guy who led the Big East in scoring. If his shot comes around, DoJo could be exactly who we need at point guard. He'll never be a star, but I could see him as a quality point guard.

[Skizzik]

Point guard position and rebounding, despite all our good rebounders on paper (Brand needs to step up, Wright needs more minutes just like James and return of Dirk, plus the addition of Murphy should help)...but it's still a construction site. I don't get it. Our rebounding is still such a joke. What's wrong with all those lads? Only Kaman and Shawn are a lock. No one else is on that matter. NO ONE.

Actually, our per 36 minutes numbers on rebounds look awesome...the problem is we're not playing the right players to improve our rebounding enough minutes.

Can anyone guess who leads in rebounding per 36 minutes? Try Sarge...he's averaging 11.6 per 36 minutes.
The rest of the list:
Kaman - 9.9
Marion - 9.7
Brand - 9.3
Murphy - 7.3
Wright - 7.2
DoJo - 7.0
VC - 5.1
Roddy - 5.1
DJ - 4.8
Jae - 4.3
OJ - 3.6
Collison - 2.4
Cunningham - 2.3

The numbers that stand out: James is impressive. I like the guy more and more. Quality back up center for years to come, maybe even a serviceable starter. Marion's numbers are above average for a SF, positions himself well.

Brand is doing better than I thought he was, good for him. Wright needs to step it up. Most impressive name? DoJo, who's been playing PG, averaging SEVEN rebounds per 36 minutes. Next most impressive? Roddy at 5.1!

The issue? Of the people notably above average on this list (Marion, DoJo and Roddy) not one of them is playing 36mpg. In fact, our team leader in mpg is Mayo with 34.9. Marion (28.6), Roddy (15.0) and DoJo (10.3) all need more playing time as a show by Rick that rebounding needs to be a priority. Players who are helping the cause need to be rewarded. DoJo averages 7 rebounds per 36 minutes, yet only gets 10 minutes a game to play while we get out boarded by 20 each night. Rick needs to emphasize rebounds more.

[mavsman21]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...ricks-rotation

[Skizzik]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...ricks-rotation

Hell no...Derek Fisher has consistently been one of the worst players in the NBA the last several seasons. He can't shoot and he can't defend. He puts up single digit PERs. **** that.

Also, that article is flat out retarded. Like how it says the reason Roddy sucks is because he averages NEARLY a turnover a game at just under 16 minutes. Yet fails to note that Collison averages 2.4 TOs per 36 minutes to Roddy's 1.8.

The writer says Collison has been better than Roddy and DoJo yet reasons it's because he's the third leading scorer and notes his 6 assists per game. Basically, the author only accounts for bulk stats. DC plays more, this makes him better. DoJo DESTROYS collison in assists per 36 minutes at 11.9 to 6.9 (Roddy sits at 5.4). And Collison only barely edges DoJo in points per 36 minutes at 14.3 to 14, despite DoJo's shooting slump that he looks to maybe be breaking out of.

Remember kids, Bleacher Report is generally a bunch of people posting who have no clue what they're talking about. Fisher is not the answer and DC has been thoroughly outplayed by DoJo.

[Thumper 88]

I'd agree. On both counts. Know why? Rick wouldn't be working with rookies in LA. Rick is right there with Pop when it comes to working with veterans. Why is Pop better? Because Pop plays and develops young talent. Pop will play second round picks huge minutes. Rick made Tayshaun Prince ride the bench his rookie season and got fired for it. That's what holds Rick back. He has a LONG history of being terrible with young players.



He wasn't hurt his rookie season. He should have played more. While I can't prove if he played more he might have gotten hurt. I can argue that you can't prove him playing more as a rookie might have helped our team, helped Roddy's development and possibly strengthened his ankles.

Ankle injuries are flukey. They can happen out of nowhere and are rarely because someone just has bad ankles. The healthiest person in the world can turn an ankle. Blaming injuries as the reason Rick has always held Roddy back is ridiculous. As I said, there's a long history of Rick and his distrust of young players and it's cost him his job before.

I would say Rick doesn't play him tons of minutes because of his production which on turn is suffering because he is never 100% healthy.

I like what you have to say on all your points skizz, good read!