Jason Kidd’s Mavs Among Best NBA Teams After Timeouts
The ability to make game-changing adjustments often separates the bad teams from the good, and the good teams from the great, no matter what the sport is.
While Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd often finds himself garnering the brunt of the team's criticism when they're struggling, one stat proves how good he’s been at making adjustments within a game.
Jason Kidd drawing up a play.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Per Synergy, Dallas ranks first by a wide margin in points per possession in its half-court offense after timeouts this season. The next closest teams are the Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets.
It isn't just out of timeouts that the Mavs thrive in their half-court offense, either. Dallas ranks seventh in points per possession differential in its half-court offense, per Synergy.
While having Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving can make life easier for a coach, they can't just run the offense on their own all of the time. They need a coach who can put them in advantageous positions to run the offense effectively and exploit opposing defenses, and stats show that no NBA coach has managed to do that better this season after timeouts than Kidd.
Scoring after timeouts isn't the end-all-be-all in determining if Kidd is a good coach, but it’s a good sign going forward at the very least. The Mavs can still improve defensively — and they have tremendously during their five-game win streak — and find ways to score more effectively when they aren't making 3s.
If Kidd can make adjustments and find a way to improve those two things, that can make Dallas an even more dangerous team as it makes its push for a spot in the playoffs. All the pieces are there, now they just have to be fitted together.
