I just stumbled across this youtube video of former Real Madrid Coach Pablo Laso commenting on early Luka footage.
Please watch minute 5:15-7:00. The rest is worth it as well, but for my point of discussion this is enough.
[https://youtu.be/U3TiVAIa0jk?t=315](https://youtu.be/U3TiVAIa0jk?t=315)
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What i, like many others, have commented on, is the Mavs seemingly lack of a playbook and overreliance on Iso Ball and P&R.
I feel like there isnt much of a playbook and barely any play called ever since Kidd came into the picture, but it started even earlier under Rick. I think we would be more successful, if we’d play a little more “european”. More plays, getting different players involved, more off-ball action. We need our role players to do more than stand around and get some more action on offense. Maybe it isnt an immediate success, but when Kyrie and Luka are having a bad night, we need others to have the confidence to step up. You’re not building that up with standing in the corner all season long.
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I don’t think this is on Luka, but he has played that way before and very successfully at that. I wonder with the power that he has, why the offense still looks the same, even if Kidd is dumb as a brick (which he isnt according to a lot of nba players), shouldnt Luka push the offense in that direction?
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Also does Luka need a coach that yells at him like that? Its a totally different vibe between euro coaches and nba coaches.
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Do you agree? Whats your opinion on this? And please no bashing of anyone, i want a constructive discussion.
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by Zen_360
8 Comments
Yeah, the coaching staff is not great in Dallas. That’s a hard fact. Luka’s true potential hasn’t been unlocked yet because we don’t have a solid playbook.
I think for the most part itās not just a Kidd thing even though he is an offensive dumbass. Im pretty sure most NBA teams run a fairly simple offense compared to euro teams. Nba players are just more athletic and skilled in the 1 on 1 aspect of basketball so I think coaches dont feel like they need a complex playbook. Obviously teams like the Warriors and Nuggets are exceptions and probably a few more. The problem is the mavs dont have anyone outside of Luka, Kyrie and sometimes Tim who arent reliant on someone elseās gravity or playmaking to score. So Kidds āoffenseā looks like dog ass when our spot up shooters arent hitting shit.
Rick tried with Luka but Luka wanted to play iso ball, Rick gave up on him. We all know Rick used to maximize the talents of any player on his roster.
First season of Kidd he had Igor and Spain PnR was a constant play that got to us conference finals. Itās completely gone now. Rick used to have a play when a guard/forward sets a back pick and rolls to the rim for a dunk. This was made popular by Roddy B under Rick. Itās gone also, I think I saw it once with Josh under Kidd.
In summary, Luka gets what Luka wants with the Mavs and Kidd is going along with it.
We run the same system under Kidd that we ran under Carlisle. Slovenia runs the same system as the Mavs.
Who’s the common denominator? Luka. He wants to run this system, and we’ll keep running it no matter who the coach is as long as Luka wants to run it.
I think it’s too late — the Mavs have missed whatever chance they had to get Luka to play within a more balanced offense.
But fwiw, I don’t particularly care about this topic, because defense remains a far, far greater concern.
Nothing you say really matters when you are not a contender. When you become one, than you win in the regular season with as little effort as possible with or without set plays. You don’t want to become a read book. But you need many ways to fill it up in the PO. And you need a good coach to know when to use what. Is Kidd one? It doesn’t look like it right know. But like I said that doesn’t matter.
Does Luka need a coach to yell a him? No, he doesn’t. But does he need a coach who is not afraid to tell him anythin neccesary to win? Of course he does. I think Pablo could be that coach. He can tell Luka anything because he sees him more as a father.
This keeps being repeated. The team has plays, whenever the offense is becoming stagnant Luka will almost always call a play as he is bringing the ball up. They even have plays for players like Josh Green. They have horn sets, they have double drags. You can even go watch Grant Afseth’s videos about all the different strats the team employs.
The whole point of running plays is to improve the half court offense. Well, ever since Luka has had the reigns the Mavs have consistently been the top or near the top in half court offense. That means this strategy has yielded better results than teams that run a far deeper playbook than the Mavs, and many of those teams have far better personnel to run those plays than Dallas has.
So until the Mavs become a team that isn’t great in half court offense, I don’t understand why people want to see the team run more plays.
It’s pointless to compare Luka in Madrid to Luka in Dallas, cause in Madrid he actually played on a great team. Like, a dynasty level of great team.
So, realistically you are not gonna see Madrid Luka until he leaves and goes to a proper title contending team. Or, less likely, we build one for him in Dallas.