We’re back after the holiday break. We hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas and started out 2023 on a positive note.
Unfortunately, we’re here to bring you back down with one word.
Rebounding.
We knew the Mavericks were a subpar rebounding team. The season-long numbers leave no doubt about that.
But lately, it’s been worse. They have been outrebounded in their last eight games – by eight or more in five of those. The average beating on the glass? By 9.6 rebounds per game.
This is even worse than the overall numbers this season. They have had more rebounds than their opponent eight times. That’s 31 times they have been beaten on the glass and three times when they broke even.
We bring this up because it highlights just how good the Mavericks have been offensively this year. They have made the most of their possessions, which is a good thing since they aren’t getting as many of them as their opponents.
This also bold faces the need for more rebounding. The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 9 at 2 p.m., Dallas time. Rumors will abound for the next 30 days. But as Mark Cuban likes to say, the trades that actually happen aren’t usually the ones you read about on Twitter.
But the clock is ticking. So we’ll delve into the hot issues here in this week’s mailbag.
Question of the week: I hated your Tweet about how we shouldn’t get upset with the loss to Boston. So we fans are supposed to be OK with the Mavericks beating bad teams and losing to good ones? Bball Jones.
Big Ed: OK, since the Mavericks now have lost three of four, can I retract that Tweet? Just kidding. Unlike a lot of places you’ll visit in cyberspace, we have accountability here. We own what we say in this space. However, as it pertains to that game, the circumstances conspired to make winning really hard for the Mavericks in that game. The Celtics had given up 150 points at Oklahoma City in their previous game. They were rested. They were going to be as angry as it gets for the Mavericks. That doesn’t forgive the Mavs for the way they didn’t respond to that situation. And by the way, I’m at least encouraged by the fact that the Mavericks have started beating most of the bad teams. They have won six of their last eight against teams out of the top 10 in each conference. I would love to give you hope and optimism that their problems against elite teams will improve. But the Clippers’ game was a bad sign. Health should help. The Mavericks miss Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber. Josh Green, too. And remember, there are 29 teams out there who have no interest whatsoever in helping the Mavericks, whether it be via trade or gifting games. It’s going to be on the Mavericks to fix this.
Question: What moves in your opinion will the Mavericks make, if any, before the trade deadline? Maverick Mike.
Big Ed: Well, if you didn’t catch my drift above about the need for a rebounder, then go back and reread the prologue to these questions. They need a glass-kicker. But the Mavericks also need more than that. Another ballhandler would be ideal, and I’m on board with the idea of experimenting with Jaden Hardy in that role. But that comes with risk because rookies make mistakes and those often lead to losses. If Hardy fills that role, however, then another shooter is always an asset that the Mavericks could use (as could every other team).
Question: Again, it’s not that we lost. It’s how we lost. No one’s losing their mind because we lost, but we do care when we give up so many open looks on one end and our guys shoot 22 percent and refuse to try anything else with the threes aren’t falling.
Big Ed: Hey, listen. I fell on that grenade once. Isn’t that enough? The Mavericks are a jump-shooting team. They don’t have a lot of healthy people other than their best player and a rookie who operate without fear around the basket (although Christian Wood has shown flashes of doing so). The Mavericks are 7-7 against teams that, as of Wednesday, were in the top six in each conference. Those two wins against Brooklyn back in the first 20 days of the season count, even if the Nets were in disarray at the time. The parity in the Western Conference is keeping everybody in the hunt for a playoff spot and a home-court advantage in the first round. There are going to be tough losses that you don’t expect this season. That’s just the way the year is unfolding.
Twitter: @ESefko
Share and comment