Superstars Will Carry Your Team...If They Can Get The Ball

In any sport, a team can be as good as its best player.  However, they must get the chance to be that team's focal point in order to carry that team to its mountain top. 

In the case of the Dallas Mavericks, their biggest downfall over the past two and a half years has been their inability to get Dirk Nowitzki the ball, and let him carry them on a consistent basis. 

Nowitzki has been an NBA MVP in a season in which his stats were slightly down because this process had already begun.  People are quick to point to Nowitzki when the Mavs have underachieved in the playoffs the last 3 years, despite the fact is that he was the sole reason they were there in the first place. 

People forget that Dirk was the one who led the Mavs in a 4 game sweep over Memphis, a 7 game series classic against the Spurs in which he single handily saved their season, and a 6 game series victory over the Suns in which he scored 50 points in one game, in rout to the NBA Finals. 

Once in the Finals, the Heat implemented a zone defense to make it more difficult for Dirk to get open shots.  So, instead of finding ways to get him good shots, the Mavs let them take Dirk out of the game. 

This trend continued over the next two seasons that saw the Mavericks turn into an equal opportunity isolation offense, instead of the motion-fast paced offense that had made them one of the most dangerous teams in the league. 

Fast forward to the last two regular season games for the Mavs, a blowout loss to Cleveland and a road victory at San Antonio. 

In the Cleveland game, Dirk only took 11 shots and had less than 30 touches.  There were many times he would go 4 or 5 consecutive trips down the court without even receiving a single pass.  The result of that statistic was a blowout on the Mavs home floor. 

The next night against San Antonio, Dirk was 13 of 24 from the field and had 61 touches.  That statistic resulted in the Mavs blowing out the Spurs in a very impressive offensive showing. Coincidence? Not possible. 

The truth is that your best player must be the focal point of your offense, he needs to at least touch the ball almost every time you take a trip down the court. Think about it, how many times do you think Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, or Tim Duncan come down the court without at least receiving a pass?  It doesn't happen very often.

BAD COMPLIMENTARY PLAYERS

One of the reasons this has been a trend for the Mavericks is the fact that their number 2 and 3 players are not very good complementary players.  Josh Howard and Jason Terry, and even Jerry Stackhouse before he became too old to be relevant, are not players that can create scoring opportunities for other people on the court. 

They are shoot-first guys who do not like to share the ball.  They are always looking for an excuse to jack up a shot. So, when teams actually make an effort to try to take Dirk out of the game, their shoot first mentality allows it to happen.  

This wouldn't be quite as bad if they were guys who liked to drive the ball to the hoop, which by default would create openings for everybody else.  Unfortunately, these guys are in love with the jump shot.  That is especially sad considering Josh Howard is one of the best in the league when he drives the rock to the rim.  

So, then you say to yourself, "Well, why doesn't the coach do something about it"?  Which leads me to my next point...

BAD COACHING 

A lot of people think that Avery Johnson was a great coach with the Dallas Mavericks.  Unfortunately, he was more a result of perfect timing, rather than a great coach.  When Avery took over, the Mavs were a run 'n gun team who played little, to no defense whatsoever. 

Johnson was entrenched in coaching defense and toughness. For 2 years, the result was a happy medium in which the Mavs improved drastically on defense, while keeping their run 'n gun offense alive.  However, the last two and a half years he was coach, Johnson got the Mavs away from the offensive philosophy that made them successful. 

Instead, he implemented what he called "an equal opportunity offense".  This was basically walk the ball up the court, make one or two passes then see if whoever has the ball can score on their own. 

There was no focal point in getting Nowitzki the ball above Howard, Terry, or even Brandon Bass. Nowitzki could go through 3 quarters of a game and only have 7 or 8 shots, but Howard and 2 or 3 other players could have twice as many. 

Then, when they needed a basket at the end of a game, they would turn to Dirk and ask him to pull off a miracle. This especially hurt the Mavs when teams would go zone, or really buckle down in the 4th quarter of games. 

The result was a bunch of bad jump shots that simply looked out of rhythm. Even when Johnson received Jason Kidd in a trade, one of the best passers ever to play the game, he refused to change his offensive philosophy.  An equal opportunity isolation offense does not take advantage of Kidd's special talents at all. 

This made the Jason Kidd trade look terrible.  It also made Dirk look like a player who couldn't get it done when it counted. 

The truth is, Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best players in the NBA. He is a former MVP, and a guy who carried his team to the Finals. Dirk can lead these Dallas Mavericks to special places...if he gets the ball.