Tim Cato On Mavs Team Toughness, Sustaining Defensive Improvements | GBag Nation

Tim Cato On Mavs Team Toughness, Sustaining Defensive Improvements | GBag Nation

Let’s welcome in courtesy of the DNM leasing Hot Seat the one and only Tim KO Tim we love you we had to have you on again thank goodness it’s after a win how badly needed was that Victory last night over the heat I think it was pretty needed yeah

This is this is a team that had been in a in a rough stretch I think when I was on a couple weeks ago uh we had a we had a different tone about the team and and there’s been a little bit of a reality check we’ll get into all of that but

Important and necessary and impressive in its own ways uh went over the Miami Heat last night so during the struggle I think a lot of the focus was on defense and there’s been a lot of fans that have soured maybe on Jason kid you had an

Awesome article uh that you wrote and I encourage everybody if you haven’t go and read that on the athletic from Tim KO but I if you can kind of just give our listeners that maybe haven’t had a chance what are some of the issues that you’ve seen during the struggles defensively for the

Mavs yeah in that article I I talk a lot about um the the team scheme and and how the team scheme is is meant to hide Luca and hide Kyrie and I want to be very clear in no circumstance am I looking at the Mavericks and being like hey Luca’s

The problem right you know hey Kyrie’s the problem I I still like that duo a lot a lot offensively obviously you know Luca you know MVP candidate Etc so many things you can say Kyrie has been fantastic this year but these two have not been as good as we’ve seen

Defensively this season and fundamentally if you are choosing to pair Luca with a small defense defense deficient guard that is a choice of identity and it’s the same choice that Dallas has made uh pretty much since they started uh pretty pretty much since the the porzingis trade um you know

First idea was shot blocking two-way Center porzingis wasn’t quite that in Dallas so they’ve gone with small guards and they’ve tried to put enough defense around them and obviously at the trade deadline once again they went out and got PJ Washington you know they got another Rim protecting Center um these

Are these are identity choices but but you know they’ve just cycled through the same identity and so as I was looking back at the past couple weeks of Mavs defense a lot of it was okay this is the scheme they try to run uh where are the

Problems one of the problems was that Luca and Kyrie were not playing up to their standards I I don’t think Kyrie was was much better than he has been uh against Miami Luca definitely picked it up in the in the second half and that’s important because you know if you have

Those guys guarding in the corners and the corner three is the easiest you know best shot in in basketball other than a you know an easy layup um you know those guys have to you know come help it towards the lane and then they have to

Get back out to those Shooters and there wasn’t enough of you know either helping initially or getting back out to those guys um now those guys need to be better the identity they’ve chosen to put a bunch of Defenders around them are the Defenders good enough still you know

Like that’s still an open question but I think what this streak was really showing to me was all right this is the identity they’ve chosen this is how they’re going to try to win with LCA donic um where are the problems is in an identity thing is it just the players

Around Luca and Kyrie is it Kyrie and Luca needing to be better um you know where does this start where does this end uh you know I could keep talking for 10 more minutes so I’ll just I’ll let you guys uh ask the next one and and and we’ll keep this discussion

Going yeah but Tim okay I I I I want you to talk the next 10 minutes about it I really really do because to me I every time anybody ever asked me a question in NFL about identity I just scoffed I’m like you know their identity is you know

It’s winning and when you win you have an when you lose you have an identity I I always but with with the m s where did they determine though they know they they knew they needed to make the trade but do you feel like that they didn’t

Get the right pieces or were the the problems really more deeper than that so Gafford is an interesting one because and especially the combination of G uh Gafford with Washington right um what we’ve seen from PJ Washington is that he hasn’t been a reliable spot up

Shooter uh that that he is capable with the dribble that he can make moves um that’s that’s a good thing that they needed but because he’s not a reliable spot up shooter um what I’ve seen him at his best is often when they’re when the Mavericks are playing Five out which is

To say they have Maxi Cleber on the floor uh a shooting center who probably you know as much as he does shoot but he’s someone who spots up and then PJ all of a sudden has a lot more room to operate within the ark you don’t have to

Rely him rely on him as a as a spot up guy but that but the Mavericks also traded for a non-shooting center sure you know and they had this whole idea of 48 minutes of uh playing four out with a rimrunner at all times uh you know it

Was going to be Lively and gaffard and you know you know everybody was talking after the tradeit 48 minutes 48 minutes of this type of player and and we’ve already seen that that isn’t the case that in in some instances Jason kid has gone back to Maxi to close games to you

Know when when they needed a boost and and so you know identity whatever you want to call it that that’s one part of the team that is already just a little bit in congruent and I you know there’s still ways to work around this and you know Derek Lively was fantastic um it

Helped that he didn’t have to deal with uh a shooting big man on the other side um but you saw him against bam he is such a big athletic guy Dereck Lively is and and and really bothered him but yeah so you know you mentioned kid and you

Mentioned player you know or fans the fan base beginning to turn on kid right I think that a lot of coaches would struggle with you know these in congruencies and and trying to figure out how exactly to stitch these lineups together I do think there is a way for a

Very good coach uh to to find the right combinations and Jason kids running out of time to do that this season you know even if coming off a win you know certainly he found some answers change some you know the starting lineup use some different combinations and uh for

At least one game it looks like he has a few more ideas that are you know make more sense of the talent that this team does have Tim I I mean you do a hell of a job over there so I don’t mean to step into your world but I do know some

People over there in the organization and one of the thing I just wanted to run it by you because you do a great job the thing they said to me was we’re playing too many guys they that that that’s that seems to be something that we know we’re not good on defense but

We’re playing too many guys is this something that you’re basketball eyes are seeing is is it a legitimate uh thought kind of I I think they’re playing too many guys because they don’t know which ones are are are these combinations that that that it’s taking some time to cycle through and and say

Okay what is this fiveman unit um and a lot of times when we’re talking about a fiveman unit we mean like which three players that are kind of Fringe rotation players are we going to cycle in and out of and you know because Luca and Kyrie

One of those two is always going to be on the on the court um you know which players against which matchups most um you know most complement uh you know the the specific game that they’re playing and so I think if if the number of guys they’re playing is an issue it’s an

Issue in as much that they still don’t totally know which ones to go to at at which times and you know with a mid-season trade that’s a tough thing um but I also understand looking at kid and saying that’s your job you paid a lot of

Money to figure this out right um Dante exom I will say last night against Miami you know he has to be one of those guys and you know like since the since the uh All-Star break there’s one player on the team that has two games with five or

More assists Dante XOM not Kyrie Irving Kyrie Irving does not have he has I believe he has won five assist game uh exam’s the only guy with two he is a connector he plays defense you know it did help last night that that Miami sent a lot more double teams at Luca than

Than they they’ve been seeing than than Dallas had been seeing and so that kind of gives Dante a you know a 4 V3 situation I think that’s where his skill set really comes out but yeah as much as they can within the confines of the minute uh restriction it’s it’s not a

Rigid one but you know he feels healthy but Dallas wants to keep his minutes down a little bit but finding a way to get him on the floor I I think is a necessary one and uh you know if it comes at the expense of other people in

The rotation uh I think that’s we’re getting to that point where where that’s possibly a necessary thing it’s interesting as you talk with Tim KO of the athletic here in the gag nation that you bring that up because I makes me think of in the Mavs Conference Finals

Run a couple years ago they had so much success with that three guard lineup with Brunson didn’t and Luca so is that something that you think down the stretch year into the postseason with exm being that connector Luca and Kyrie they should maybe rock with as well and

Then whoever you want as the other two in the fiveman lineup yeah I think so you know he’s he’s a very different player than Spencer deny of course but I I just think having a third guy who you know it’s one thing to Triple like you know

There’s a bunch of players on this team who can dribble the ball past half court uh there’s a few players on this team who who can pump fake and attack a close out with a dribble there’s not a lot of players who can dribble into the lane

Spin around keep his dribble alive find another guy that’s what Dante exom does and I do think that helps the the offense um just gives it a little bit more uh V and and you know just keeps things moving a little bit and as Jason kid loves to say you know that this

Team’s defense is its offense uh the numbers back that up they’re far better after a maid shot than a missed shot uh some of that is is just like the way it sets up on the court that if Luca is driving past the Baseline um and then he

Kicks to the corner shooter that corner shooter is probably going to be you know one of their their athletic Defenders and he’ll be shooting and if he misses he’s real far like he’s got a long way to go back and Luca now has a long way

To go back because he just drove past the Baseline and all of a sudden those transition opportunities they’re a lot easier to give up so yeah I think just adding one more guy to the mix who can you know you know drive and and touch the paint that’s another thing that kid

Loves to say uh I think that’s a benefit for this team Tim do you do you feel like though that uh this people say this team gets distracted is that fair uh you know with that sometimes that that when things happen poorly with them they’re not

Maybe a mentally tough group is is that fair or are we just looking at lwh hanging fruit it’s easy to say oh they’re distract body language is bad they’re a bad team how do you feel about that I think that’s fair and before I fully give my answer I have to preface

It I I Luca donic is an MVP candidate one of the best players in alive I’ve literally gone to Slovenia to write about you know how awesome he is all these things yes I I think that the best player the mentality of your best player is something that is represented you

Know throughout the team throughout the rotation uh you know throughout even an organization to an extent and all those things you said are true to Luca you know these are when you are a superstar when you are one of the most talented players alive your criticism that you

Get is really small stuff you know in the grand scheme of things um but one of these small things and quite frankly at times the season it has not been a small things is is Luca and and his ability to get distracted you know with with when the officiating isn’t going his way

Um you know body language uh you know I wrote about how frustrated he was after a turnover um against Indiana or Toronto one of one of it wasn’t I think it was Indiana but he was frustrated with Tim Hardway because he thought he should have been in a different spot and quite

Frankly I think it was Luca you know it was Luca but he he is someone who will show his frustrations and and will have moments of distraction and I think that this is a player who is good enough to you know win championships with with an

S plural um I I think that there is a little bit more mental maturity Improvement that is still between him and that now maybe you get the maybe you solve all the other issues because this is this is way down the line in terms of issues and and what’s preventing this

Team from being a contender maybe you actually get the talent around him the coaching around him all of that stuff and then that’s the moment that that this stuff all clicks into place for him uh but but I do think that is one thing that that is between them and

Contention Tim that leads me to another question I had about Luca now obviously I mean he’s he’s on a historic run four straight 35o triple doubles to your point that the the guy is a freak Show we are so lucky to have him but you have the Charles Barkley of of the world

That’ll say is it a problem you know the the the offense and and maybe some of this production like is that ultimately a negative to the team success versus just luc’s individual success no um yes and a little bit of yes uh it’s no because this is how teams

Are playing them lately I I mentioned that Miami sent more double teams and and that allowed a lot more of the ball movement um lately over the past couple weeks as Dallas was losing games a lot of teams were not doubling they you know they would help they would shade help

You know they they would put people you know in the vicinity but they weren’t sending absolute help and in the response to that when you’re as good of a scorer as luuka donic is to go score um I I don’t know how much that takes away from his ability to you know

Maintain the improved defense that we’ve seen for a lot of this season um certainly you know maybe there’s a correlation it seems like there might have been a correlation over the past couple weeks as he was you know being asked to to you know just carry this

Scoring load more more often uh as and his defense slipped as a result maybe that’s a correlation and and maybe you know there’s more Dallas can do I do think there’s more Dallas can do to you know have more movement and sets and and plays a little bit more um but but yeah

It’s I don’t think it’s a problem um I I think that’s kind of a misunderstanding of what exactly Dallas is seeing from the opponents and the way that Luca dictates his style of play based off what the opponents are doing you know he’s always looking for that weakness um

But I think there’s the middle ground to a to a small extent where Dallas can get a little bit more out of everybody else and they can find the ways to do that because in the long term that’s also going to help Luca do the winning things

That they need um you know from him on both sides of the Court Tim you’re stud man it’s always a joy having you on it’s always uh knowledge that we’re gaining from you keep up the Fantastic work and we’ll catch up with you I’m sure throughout the remainder of the season

Of course appreciate you guys

Dallas Mavericks beat writer Tim Cato of the Athletic joined the GBag Nation to talk about the team’s win over the Heat from last night, how they can sustain the defensive improvements from that game, if this team is mentally tough enough, and more!

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