I know we dont have the personnel to play great defense, but defensive sequences like this are completely unacceptable for a playoff team and come down to just the players being unaware and out of synch with eachother.
by DoncicsRoadTo200kg
@Dallas Mavericks
18 Comments
Funny how this is almost never pointed out but Luka not outsprinting McDaniels and taking the trailer when there are already 2 defenders behind the ball will be the thing this fanbase focuses on.
We are almost 2/3 into the season, we just cannot keep having this type of breakdowns wich are the result of a lack of focus on transition and rotations. Last year we didnt have amazing defenders either but we almost never made these type of dumb mistakes, if we want to have any type of success in the playoffs we need to clean up this type of stuff, or we are going nowhere.
PD: McGee and Hardy are at fault here, specially Hardy, I dont know why Hardy just went into the paint like that with McGee instead of picking up the open man.
It’s a communication issue . Dorian was our defensive leader and used to direct the rest of the team in situations like this . Now Maxi can also do that , hopefully when he comebacks .
Transition defense was our Achille’s heel all season , and if we fix it we can improve a ton on that end .
A lot of horrible things are going on here from an NBA team.
Who’s the leader of the defense that should be directing the players. It should be McGee but I don’t think he is capable of it.
No defensive stance from Luka, he is not closing out on his man either. Unless his man is a horrible 3pt shooter, his man is wide open for a 3.
McGee can’t track his man, maybe he has been instructed to protect the rim, then Luka should have rotated to the left and all the other players rotate also.
In conclusion, the players are not being coached to play good defense. Expecting players to keep rotating to open players is exhausting and maybe the players are tired of it.
Anyone expecting Maxi to fix this defense will be disappointed.
If we are going to have good defense, Luka needs to be slowest player on the court. We can’t have two slow players. Luka should also go for the offensive boards and the other four players sprint back.
That’s the championship spirit bringer right there.
Honestly Lukas playstyle on offense is comparatively energy efficient, yet he has no energy left to play D. Even with this very low effort D we’ve seen most of this year [he still falls of cliff in the 4th](https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional?Period=4). His stamina is honestly pretty damn bad for an NBA level player. I dare you to find a picture of Luka where you can see any definition at all. The only other great player which is as out of shape I can think of is Joker, and he also struggles on D, but his offensive game is even more energy efficient and has the extra height. Joker, too, could take his game to the next level by simply getting in NBA shape. Like there’s 0 upside to carry all that extra fat, if he needs the extra mass, he should just build muscle instead. He could easily lose like 20 lbs of fat and just get all around better. The next level of his game is to get in better shape, more cardio & VO2 max training. He honestly has shown that he has the talent for developing a decent D.
Comes down to the fact that our coaching sucks
Maybe it’s the wrong defensive scheme. McGee got the rebound. /s
Lukas the bottom wing man, he goes to play the man instead of the zone, this is 100% on Luka if they were in zone, if they were in man, this is on Javale for not guarding the center.
Wtf is Luka even doing there, why not even try to pressure the ball a bit
A couple issues here, but the biggest mistake is Hardy telling McGee to pick up Green. Nope, we’re in drop coverage, he has to follow Green despite the mismatch. McGee in drop position is blocking the cross court passing lane to the weak side and if that pass is made it’s Bullock’s rotation to pick it up and the rest back fill again leaving the weak side corner open.
Theo Pinson and McGee won’t be on the floor in the playoffs lmao
Bunch of headless chickens just running around 🤦♂️
The league plays poor defense. The draft is loaded with young players who are all offense and little to no defensive skill sets. Everyone is fighting for the same top tier defenders. Buyout market is was the only way for us to improve defensively unless some just see the light. If you’re a team that consistently hold teams near a 100pts per then you’re elite in today’s NBA
I mean, look at that line up: Luka, Hardy, Pinson, McGee, Reggie…
They have probably played less than 5 mins together(as a line up), there are only 22 games left.
Kidd was experimentin too much this season, Mavs don’t have a consistent startin line up nor bench unit.
And in the game thread loser trolls yelled at Luka for not guarding both of them in corner.
Lol Luka looking like someone broke his ankles
This is just one example, these players don’t even make an effort to get back on defense, seriously if they even try a bit we will be much better team.