Mavs Donuts: Dallas' 12 Biggest Questions In The NBA Bubble
DALLAS - We have questions. Twelve of them, actually. The Dallas Mavericks? With a goal of "making some noise'' in the upcoming NBA Playoffs, they believe they just might have a dozen answers. Let's Donut this thing ...
DONUT 1: CHEMISTRY LESSON? Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, once both got healthy in the pre-hiatus NBA, found a groove. I don't think there is much doubt that they will find it again ...
But how long will it take to do so?
“I don’t think it’s going to be that tough,” Porzingis said. “I’ve been working out with Luka since we’ve been back. For us, once we got to know a little more about each other on the court, it was only a matter of time for us to really get that chemistry going. I don’t think we’re going to take a step back. We’re looking forward.”
Added Luka: “Before the season, we had good chemistry. We didn’t play (many) games together, but it’s going to keep growing together every game, every day.”
Sounds good. But in a compacted season, "every day'' is going to come quickly. So, hopefully, will renewed chemistry because Dallas' two young foundational stars.
DONUT 2: SMALLBALL? WHY? The Mavs have a history of success using SmallBall - or, at least, a history of using it. Coach Rick Carlisle is hinting that because centers Willie Cauley-Stein and Dwight Powell are unavailable, Dallas might have to go "smaller.''
But what is wrong with Porzingis, Maxi Kleber and Boban Marjanovic as Dallas’ top options?
DONUT 3: WHO IS NO. 3? The Mavs haven't needed this three days of Training Camp 2.0 workouts (see all the videos here) to determine this. They don't need to wait until they get to Orlando on July 8 to determine it, either.
We've all asked the question all season. And from the very time Tim Hardaway Jr. was offered the spot, he answered the questions, having averaged 17.3 points and shot 45.5 percent from the field in 50 starts.
That doesn't mean Dallas' "Big 3'' is good enough. Nor does it mean that on a given night it might be Seth Curry or Kleber or whomever who jumps up the totem pole.
But the Mavs are going to live, or not, on THJ's ability to continue his "third-best-guy'' pace.
DONUT 4: SHRINK THE ROTATION? The NBA is allowing each team to bring 17 players to the re-boot. The Mavs (without Powell, Jalen Brunson and Courtney Lee), will go with a dozen guys.
Traditionally, NBA coaches shrink the usual rotation once we get to the playoffs, or even crunch time in a season. Will this be that time? Or will Carlisle put on display another of his successful tendencies, which is to occasionally push a surprising rotational button ... that works?
DONUT 5: DISNEY DISTRACTIONS? The 75-Member Staff has some fun with the concept here, but it's a semi-serious one: No fans. Separation from family and friends. Some "fun'' stuff to do ... but not total, normal freedom to do it.
Oh, and the inevitable lure of someone wishing to escape the bubble.
The team that avoids this - along with avoiding COVID-19, of course, greatly increases its chance of success in this odd environment.
DONUT 6: THE ADVERSITY OF A 'SAILOR'? GM Donnie Nelson's "Quote of The Week'' really nails the challenges. The Mavs need to find a way - "Mind controling the body, not the body controlling the mind,'' as old Dallas Cowboys boss Jimmy Johnson used to say - to use the "sailor's life'' to their advantage.
Seeing this as an "adventure.'' Like a "sailor.'' That might be the trick.
DONUT 7: SMALL GIFTS? J.J. Barea’s return from a torn Achilles is a success story. Heck, so is pretty much everything the 36-year-old has ever done in the NBA. Now comes a latest chapter: "The Last Vestige'' to Dallas championship season (Rick's phrase) has an opportunity, due to the injuries, to be more than just an enjoyable spark off the bench.
JJB has been there, done that. Play him.
DONUT 8: OR IS IT TREY BURKE TIME? We may have initially written off too quickly the concept of his as a contributor. But upon 2019 review, maybe there was a little something to like.
He was a throw-in in the blockbuster Porzingis trade but Burke was a helper at the end of last year. He averaged 9.7 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists in 25 games while shooting 46.3 percent from the field.
I wouldn't play him ahead of Barea. And I'd even think of Curry at the point a little bit. Oh, and most of all, why not heavier-than-ever minutes for MVP finalist Luka?
But maybe if we're looking for that obscure button for Rick to push, we've found it in Trey Burke.
DONUT 9: LOTS OF 'JUICE' AND HEALTH? Doncic no longer has issues with an ankle sprain or with wrist and thumb injuries, and noted that the time off was good for players who “were not 100 percent.”
You know ... like Luka.
Porzingis said his knee is "normal.'' So relatively speaking, health is not a problem.
How about "juice''?
"I can feel we all got a little more extra juice now when we're working out, because we know what's coming,'' he said.
If what KP is referencing is the physical boost that can come from being rested, healthy, young and confidence? "Juice'' is the word.
DONUT 10: CAN THEY MOVE UP? KP suggested there is no reason for the Mavs to try to "avoid" any particular first-round playoff foe.
“Well, of course we want to win the most games we can,” Porzingis said. “But we’re not really looking to avoid anybody.”
That's bold. It's also wrong. At 40-27, Dallas has plenty of "statement wins.'' More "statement wins'' would be awesome. But more easy wins would be, well, easier.
“Obviously, those are going to be tough matchups,” Porzingis said of West top seeds the Lakers and the Clippers. “But we want to do the best we can to see where we end up and go from there.''
"The best we can do'' comes with using the eight seeding games to make the leap from seventh, thus avoiding the Clippers in Round 1. Yeah, the motivation is to win the seeding games regardless. But let's not pretend that the first-round foe is immaterial.
The eye on the prize? Dallas is just two-and-a-half games behind the Utah Jazz, seeded fourth in the West with a 41-23 record.
DONUT 11: THE MV(PERSON)? That would be coach Rick Carlisle. There is, in short, no contending coach in the field who has survived and thrived with basketball chance like the Mavs coach. His command of the gym, his "work-with-the-player'' (as opposed to a "being-the-boss'') mindset, his ability to dictate everything from game flow on the court to memes in the public ...
“We don’t mind adjustments and challenges,'' Carlisle said. "In my 12 years here so far, a lot of it’s been about trying to take adversities and turn them into positives.”
The person who gives Dallas the best chance to make the abnormal normal - and to, when it benefits his team, to make the normal abnormal - is Richard Preston Carlisle.
DONUT 12: THE FINAL WORD? “We just want to win as many games as possible. Just go in there without pressure, having fun playing basketball and hopefully we can reach our goal.'' - Luka.
