The Dallas Mavericks are working hard to replicate their offense last season, ranking 11th in the league with an offensive rating of 113.7 in 11 games so far this season, and while it looks good, the number is a bit deceptive as they smashed 137 points in their second big win over the Grizzlies of the season, boosting that number quite a bit. In the last nine games, the Lone Ranger's offensive rating is only 110.6, ranking 18th in the league, which basically matches the performance we see them on the field.
The Mavericks' offense this season looks fragmented and uncoordinated, and Luka Doncic must go to great lengths to create scoring opportunities for his team to help his team get a chance to win, and more worryingly, the Lone Ranger's opponents have seen this as well. Kevin Durant said after the Mavericks' victory over the Nets on Tuesday: "They can't get other people to play, they really don't know how to dribble or create scoring opportunities for themselves, and I think that slows down their offense as well." ”
Because the Lone Ranger's offense relies heavily on Doncic, and opponents have noticed this weakness of the Lone Ranger, their defensive strategy is often to make Doncic play as hard as possible and dare to let the rest of the Lone Ranger's players shoot, and so far, this defensive strategy has worked well.
After the Wizards' win over the Lone Rangers on Friday, Wizards power forward Kyle Kuzma said in an interview: "We know that their team has very limited ability outside of Doncic, and with Christian Wood's absence, Doncic will definitely keep the ball in his own hands." ”
Spencer Dinwiddie had a good time in the Lone Ranger's loss to the Wizards, scoring 33 points on 7-of-12 three-pointers, and Tim Hardaway Jr. on the bench scored 16 points on 5-of-11 three-pointers, but Doncic didn't get much help other than the two of them, with Reggie Bullock and Dorian Finney-Smith in the starting lineup combined for just 11 points and Maxi Kleber scoring just two.
More worryingly, Bullock, Smith and Kleber only made 12 three-pointers in total, and the defenders knew that these players did not have the ability to attack with the ball, so they didn't have to worry about how much trouble these role players on the Lone Rangers would cause them, and could focus entirely on Doncic, leaving him inefficient due to fatigue in the final moments of the game.
Since the Lone Rangers lack available draft picks and they don't have enough assets to solve the team's offensive problems through trades, the solution can only come from the coaching staff, and head coach Jason Kidd must find ways to enhance the threat of role players on the offensive end to make the team's offense unpredictable, such as giving Doncic more off-ball cover, or increasing the number of off-ball movements and covers. If they can't figure out how to help the rest of the team raise the offensive threat, the Mavericks' offensive problems will widen and their season will worsen. #头条创作挑战赛 #