Dallas Mavericks Journal: Is it time to panic?
A loss to the Phoenix Suns is passable. A loss to the Los Angeles Lakers is understandable. But a loss to the Charlotte Hornets, with LaMelo Ball leading the way, is inexcusable. Ball finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. He broke down the Dallas Mavericks' defense routinely. He went 4-5 from three […]
A loss to the Phoenix Suns is passable. A loss to the Los Angeles Lakers is understandable. But a loss to the Charlotte Hornets, with LaMelo Ball leading the way, is inexcusable.
Ball finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. He broke down the Dallas Mavericks' defense routinely. He went 4-5 from three and 7-10 from the floor. Ball scored in a myriad of ways, exposing all the worst parts of Dallas' defense – its effort.
What went wrong:
Last night could be tossed up as a simple fluke, if not for the Mavs continued mistakes that have defined the first week and a half of the NBA season. Lacadesical team defense, a lack of engagement from everyone when it comes down to limiting perimeter penetration, and a lack of consistent shooting from the team's key players are all of Dallas' bugaboos that resurface nightly.
One win against a Clippers team that didn't have its best player didn't change the nature of this team. That game made it seem as though this team was turning a corner; It hasn't. The mark of a great team is that it beats teams it is supposed to beat. Great teams don't lose to bad or average teams often. Instead, great teams handle business and are detail-oriented when it comes to preparation and execution.
This Dallas team isn't a great team. There are too many lapses in the details from its best player to the last man on the bench. Even when Kristaps Porzingis comes back, Dallas is deeply flawed. It's as if the Mavs came into the season just expecting things to fall into place, and they haven't. In fact, the pieces hardly seem to fit.
A few days ago I said Dallas is one piece away from contention. I was wrong. Dallas is multiple pieces away from true contention. One of those "pieces" is simply consistency from Luka Doncic's outside shooting.
Doncic's struggles:
I have written extensively about the necessity of Doncic's offensive efficiency for this Mavs team to compete. He hasn't neared the mark necessary for the Mavs offense to compete against even average teams nightly. He shot 0-5 from three against Charlotte, bringing his season three-point percentage on the season down to a comical 9.5 percent. If this is a shooting slump, it's one of the worst I've seen in my years watching the NBA. On the bright side, Luka stayed after the game against Charlotte to get more shots up.
The caption is right – there is no quit in Luka. But his play hasn't been conducive to winning early this season. It's safe to say, short of a miracle, the MVP might not happen this year. And if it doesn't that's fine, the Mavs and Luka just need to focus on righting a ship that is steering straight for disaster.
So is it time to panic?
I hate being early when it comes to hitting the panic button. The NBA is a long season, and things can be completely different a month from now. However, the consistent lapses in this Dallas team when it comes to rebounding, defense, and shot creation worry me.
I'm not slamming on the panic button just yet. And Mavs fans shouldn't either. Look at the state of this team as a code yellow – not red. The next five games against the Heat, Bulls, Rockets, Nuggets, and Magic are going to be defining for this year and this team. If Dallas can come out of these next five games 4-1, this team will be in a better place than it is currently. Yet, for Dallas to win it comes down to fixing its continued mistakes: defensive rebounding, perimeter shooting, offensive efficiency, and simply effort all around. They did it once against the Clippers, hopefully, they can do it again. But for now, it's on to Miami.
Feature image via Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
