Is There Anything Mavs’ Christian Wood Can Do to Start?
So far, Dallas Mavericks big man Christian Wood has said all the right things when asked about his sixth-man role in coach Jason Kidd’s rotation. However, if players start to feel there’s nothing they can do in order to get a promotion, that can eventually lead to frustration.
Wood has been vocal about wanting more minutes and viewing himself as a starting-caliber player, yet for whatever reasons, those comments have fallen on deaf ears with Kidd.
Even when Luka Doncic sat out against the bottom-dwelling Houston Rockets on Nov. 16, Wood wasn’t made a starter against his former team. Dallas ended up losing that game 101-92 with its starting lineup being the only one in the league this season to not have any players score in double-digits.
During Sunday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, it appeared that there might have been a breakthrough with Kidd, as he chose to start Wood in the second half instead of Dwight Powell. The result was Doncic and Wood cutting the Bucks’ 11-point halftime lead to three points halfway through the third.
That third quarter ended up being the only quarter the Mavs won, 34-31. When asked about that development after the game, Kidd have an answer that didn’t really give you the feeling that he was any closer to moving Wood into the starting lineup.
"It was a shootout, so we decided that we needed some scoring out there and to go with Wood to score,” said Kidd. “We scored 34 (in the 3rd quarter) there, we gave up 31. ... We just didn't get enough stops in that third.
"Did I like the result? We lost [the game],” said Kidd of the third quarter where Wood started. “If we're at the CYO, and everybody gets minutes and shots, and everybody is happy, then yeah, that's cool."
No matter how Kidd feels about Wood’s defensive abilities, it makes no sense that he hasn’t tried inserting him into the starting lineup once this season. With the Mavs having lost four games in a row and seven of their last 10, Kidd is running out of valid excuses for not giving his team’s second-best player a chance to start alongside Doncic.
"It's a good lineup," said Doncic of Wood starting the third quarter on Sunday. "I don't know exactly who was in — it's a lot of lineups. Christian [Wood] is a great player and he helps us a lot."
We’ll see if any changes carry over into Tuesday night’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors, as the Mavs try to get back to .500 before heading out on the road again.
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