Rick's Rant: Mavs Carlisle Defends 'Historically Great' Porzingis Against Barkley Criticism: 'Pretty F'ing Cool'
DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle knows where his bread is buttered. Supporting the unique traits of star Kristaps Porzingis, for instance, seems exactly the right move for the Dallas Mavericks coach.
He did so on Thursday in arguing against Charles Barkley and the TNT TV guys, who asserted that Porzingis should be more assertive and play more post-up basketball. ...
And Carlisle did so even in support of one single play, Porzingis passing an alley-oop to teammate Dwight Powell, part of Dallas' 102-98 victory over the visiting Spurs. (Game story here.)
“A 7-3 guy (Porzingis) throwing to a 6-10 (Powell) guy on a lob?'' Carlisle said in the postgame media presser. "That’s pretty f----g cool if you ask me.''
There is nothing wrong with Barkley and company questioning how the Mavs do their business ... though at 20-10, it's hard to find many reasons to rip Carlisle and his top players, who include Porzingis (who here scored 13 points but had three 3-pointers, eight rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block) and Luka Doncic (a game-high 24 points, with 10 rebounds, eight assists, and a steal in his return from a two-week absence due to an ankle injury.) Indeed, the percentage chance that Carlisle better understands today's NBA game better than Barkley and Shaq and the guys is 100 percent.
Thus, the value in Rick's overriding rant on the subject:
(Courtesy Taimon R. Turner and Dallas Sports Fanatic)
“Post-ups are not a good play anymore . ... it’s a low-value situation. Our numbers are very substantial that when (KP) spaces beyond a 3-point line, we are a historically good offensive team. And when one of our guys goes in there, our effectiveness is diminished exponentially.
"It’s counterintuitive, I understand that, but it’s a fact.
”We’ve got to realize, this game has changed. ... so let’s get off all of this stuff about 'KP needs to go in the post.' He doesn’t. He doesn’t.
"We’ve got to treat KT with some respect and respect him for what he is. He’s a historically great player and quit criticizing him because he’s 7-3. I don’t care who it is. I don’t care if it’s people on the TV or anything else.”
Carlisle has long talked of "the geometry of basketball,'' mathematics helped greatly of course by the healthy return of Luka Doncic. But the benefits of Rick's rant, besides being correct? Kristaps Porzingis knows the boss has his back.
