Biggest Adjustments Dallas Mavericks Must Make This Coming Season
The Dallas Mavericks accomplished something no other team in the NBA could last season—they took the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs to a Game 7. Moving into a fresh campaign, head coach Rick Carlisle must adjust to a modified roster, as he will once again look to squeeze the most out of his team.
While a first-round exit out of the playoffs is disheartening, the Mavericks truly put together an admirable campaign last year. Despite possessing a flawed roster, the Mavericks prevailed in one of the most competitive and abrasive playoff races in recent memory. Sure, they succumbed to the pressure in Game 7 against the Spurs, but there was no beating that team last season.
Most importantly, the Mavericks showed glimpses of brilliance, and Carlisle will be equipped with a plethora of new weapons ready to be deployed this year.
New Players, New System?
While the key components from one of the most menacing and efficient offenses in the league in 2013-14 remain intact, Carlisle will have an even deeper roster to work with this year.
Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki have proved to be one of the most feared and dynamic pick-and-roll duos in the league, so we can expect a great deal of the team's offense to continue running through them. Ellis' blistering speed, solid ball-handling skills and ability to finish in a variety of ways is a skill set made in heaven next to Nowitzki, who excels at slipping the pick-and-roll and creating space with his shooting touch.
We can probably expect Carlisle to look for Devin Harris, free-agent acquisition Jameer Nelson and especially Ellis to initiate a lot of possessions with standard high pick-and-rolls. Nowitzki's versatility as a screening big is evident, but the presence of recently-returned Tyson Chandler will also help mix things up. Chandler excels at setting great screens and finding enough space to catch lobs. Highlight plays involving him, such as the one below, are relatively common as a result.
Having more than one reliable big man to run high pick-and-rolls with is great, but it will only get you so far. Teams all around the league have been incorporating a lot of horns sets into their offensive schemes, and the Mavericks are no different. In fact, the general horns formation and the personnel available to Carlisle appear to be a perfect match. Check out this simple play from last year's playoffs:
This possession starts with a horns formation, with Dallas' two big men occupying the elbow spots although neither actually gets the entry pass. Vince Carter cuts to the perimeter and receives the ball instead. He runs a quick pick-and-roll on the wing with Nowitzki, who slips the pick and opens himself up for a mid-range jumper.
Notice that Jose Calderon cuts across the baseline in sync with Carter at the beginning of the play, which frees up that space in the first place. Also note that as soon as Carter turns the corner, Harris is also relatively open on the perimeter as his man cuts off Carter's driving lane. Even though DeJuan Blair remains static for pretty much the entire possession, Dallas gets an excellent look.
Even if the Spurs rotated faster to Nowitzki and he didn't like his initial shot opportunity, he could've simply turned his back and created an isolated look in the low post.
The beauty of horns is that you have an abundance of options. Nowitzki operates well out of the high post, and Chandler can also create looks for others with handoffs. If we focus on the play above, we can already envision similar sets being incorporated this year.
The big summer free-agent signing Chandler Parsons and Nelson are both good shooters and can play off the ball in these sets to space the floor. While Parsons' ball-handling skills aren't exceptional, he can still put it on the floor and make plays in a similar way Carter did in the example above. The fact that Parsons averaged four assists per game while playing next to James Harden and Jeremy Lin last season attests to that.
Another part of Parsons' game that should fit nicely is his ability to score in various ways in handoff situations. Parsons scored 1.07 points per play through handoffs last season, which had him ranked 17th in league, via mySynergySports (subscription required).
While Chandler can't shoot, he is great at catching the ball in the high post and transitioning into side pick-and-rolls. Check out this play from 2011 when he last wore a Dallas uniform:
Chandler catches the ball in the high post and returns it to Jason Kidd. Kidd, coming off a screen from Jason Terry, pump fakes and uses a simple side pick-and-roll with Chandler to get his center an open dunk.
While Chandler is no offensive genius, he has a knack for reading plays well, and in the one above, he rushed toward the wing to set a pick as soon as he released the ball. He is also very mobile, and that's basically how he scores his nine to 11 points per game.
With so many new faces, there will obviously be some growing pains during training camp and preseason. Quite a few of the players who have joined the team this summer are expected to be a big part of the rotation, and developing synergy will be just as important for the players as digesting Carlisle's offensive schemes.
The Mavericks ranked second in three-point percentage, fourth in field-goal percentage and third in offensive efficiency last season, according to ESPN.com. Dallas is clearly an offensive powerhouse, so the challenge will be to incorporate the new guys into what has already proved to be a well-oiled machine. This also appears to be Carlisle's priority during training camp.
"With a lot of new guys, we have a lot to get done on the one hand," Carlisle said, via Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. "On the other hand, there's going to be a real effort by the staff to make things simple, so that our new guys can get to know each other without a lot of extra confusion because you're trying to do a lot of different things."
Defense
One of the trickier conundrums the Mavericks are facing right now is whether or not Parsons can fill the shoes of the departed Shawn Marion on the defensive end. Parsons is long and quick and can close out on shooters well, but he lacks the exceptional defensive instincts of Marion.
Parsons has played his whole career with the Houston Rockets, and if you've watched that team play over the last couple of years, you'd notice that they certainly don't emphasize defense. This is something Parsons has acknowledged, and he appears to be determined to change his mindset:
"We've got a great staff that really emphasizes defense," Parsons said, via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. "Where I'm coming from, offense was always our main goal. Now we've got to win games and championships on the defensive side. I'm totally locked in and dialed in to do that."
But perhaps the Mavericks don't necessarily need Parsons to become a suffocating on-ball defender. In 2011, with Chandler protecting the rim, Dallas ranked an acceptable 10th in the league in points allowed. That was enough for the team to win a championship, and its offense has improved significantly in the last three years.
We also have to remember that the Mavericks love running zone defense, which was one of the biggest weapons the team deployed against LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals. With a shaky perimeter defense, it's probably safe to assume that Carlisle will focus on teaching his players various defensive schemes designed to hide bad defenders.
Closing Thoughts
The Western Conference is as stacked as ever, but a lot of the teams essentially stood pat this summer. Out of the playoff-caliber teams, the Mavericks have seen one of the bigger overhauls.
This team certainly has enough talent to secure a postseason spot without going through the thrilling end to the season it had to last year. Still, injuries can quickly derail what appears to be a sure thing, and Carlisle still has to mold his players to his system. Either way, this Mavericks team is very intriguing and could once again be a nightmare opponent for anyone in a seven-game series.
You can follow me on Twitter: @VytisLasaitis.
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