Dallas Mavericks: Midseason Issues

With the Dallas Mavericks sitting fourth in the southwest division, they have a few issues to address to become a legitimate playoff team.

The Mavs needed to address their defense first and foremost, and with the trade that included Desagana Diop for Ryan Hollins and Matt Carroll from the Charlotte Bobcats, they somewhat improved.

Although Ryan Hollins and Matt Carroll are not going to be the missing link for the Mavericks by any means, they are definitely a good addition to the Mavericks bench. Diop was averaging 1.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and less than 1 block per game, while Hollins doubles Diop’s stats alone and is a better post defender.

The Mavericks also need to get Dirk Nowitzki going early, by doing this he will be better in the stretch of games due to the Mavs being unable to finish most games.

For Dirk Nowitzki to be more consistent than he already is, Rick Carlisle and the Mavericks personnel needs to look at other options for their inside game.

Although Josh Howard is doing well and averaging 17.8 points per game, Gerald Green would be a much better backup to him than Antoine Wright or Devean George. 

The Mavericks coaches need to realize that Green coming off the bench is a perfect compliment for Howard because Green has energy, shoots 44 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line, and can easily give the team a solid 10 points or more coming off the bench.

Carlisle needs to give Green more playing time to establish more of an inside game which will open up more opportunities for shooters Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, and Nowitzki. 

Also, trading Jerry Stackhouse, George, and maybe a pick for a solid center (Marcus Camby, Jermaine O’Neal, Brad Miller, or Nene just to name a few) to help to this problem wouldn’t be such a bad idea either since that is where the problem definitely lies.

The Dallas Mavericks have yet to have a dominate post game. Although Eric Dampier is coming around every few games, it won’t be enough to win a championship, maybe not even a playoff game. 

By adding a dominate center to their arsenal, it will free up the perimeter even more and allow Nowitzki and Kidd to command the offense with ease.

Another issue in the Mavs offense is playing small too often and too early.  The Mavericks need to play the traditional positions instead of the two guards play.

Even though Terry and Kidd are very energetic and quality shooters, Carlisle needs to split their time at the point position and establish an inside game early, then move to the two-guard scheme later in the game once they have established themselves in the post offensively.

The Mavericks also need to address their energy late in games.  There has been countless times when the Mavs have blown a large lead due to poor defense to either win by a few points or loose grasp of the game completely. 

If the organization could control this problem and instill the importance of this fact into the players, then maybe the Mavericks would be more successful. 

Even though the Mavericks are only four games behind the Spurs in the Southwest Division, as much as it hurts to say, they still don’t look like a playoff-quality team at this point.