Looking back on last year’s offseason, Jason Kidd, who was blown away by the Mavericks’ management and finally got the job of head coach, kept emphasizing the importance of defense in his first press conference. However, the Mavericks have never finished in the top 15 in defensive rating over the past three seasons: 18th (2018-19, 2019-20), 21st (2020-21).
Three-quarters of the 2021-22 season has passed, with Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, Jalen Brunson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber still occupying most of the rotation, but the The team’s defensive rating ranks fifth in the league. How did Kidd get such a big change in the same players?
*The data in this article is as of 3/2/2022 US time
defensive system
Kidd uses this season’sMainly switch defense, supplemented by areaThe defensive system is completely opposite to Carlisle’s defensive layout that focuses on zone defense. Carlisle isFrame protection first, hide player shortcomingsConsidering the physical weakness of the players and the lack of candidates with outstanding defensive skills, he prioritized building a wall in the penalty area to cover up the weakness of the Lone Ranger’s defensive air dominance. The perimeter is guarded by people with excellent speed and concepts such as Finney-Smith and Josh Richardson.
And Kidd took a different approach, using the inside line Powell and Kleber to have the speed to switch defenses, and this season’s strike force is stronger than in the past, so Kidd simply gave up the frame protection that was not his strength.And all five people on the field need to be responsible for switching defenses and perimeter attack.。
From the perspective of reducing the opponent’s hit rate, the overall hit rate has slightly increased from -0.5 in the previous season to -0.2, but from the distribution point of view, the biggest reason for the increase is that the opponent’s hit rate in the penalty area has skyrocketed from -0.3 to 0.5. The perimeter shooting percentage dropped from -0.1 to -1.2, fifth in the league. Opponents also ranked first in the league (10.7) and fourth in the league (33.7%) in the number of three-pointers made and three-point shooting percentage, and they were both the 16th in the league last season.
Powell, who has been assigned more rim protection responsibilities in the past few seasons, is very comfortable in such a defensive system, coupled with more frequent use of small lineups, changes like Kidd have made the Mavericks’ seemingly weak restricted area no longer obviously weak.Also gave Nico Harrison a shot in the arm for “the only qualified rim protector in the lineup” Porzingis。
Defensive Priority Rotation
The Mavericks, who rely too much on Doncic, often fall into stagnant offense after Doncic shuts down. This season, Kidd’s offensive performance is not as good as Carlisle’s, but it is different from Carlisle’s offensive firepower that prioritizes the end of the bench. Trey Burke, JJ Redick, Kidd will be replaced by Josh Green, Frank Ntilikina, Reggie Bullock and other defensive giants to change the “defensive rhythm”.
In Burke’s case, his minutes dropped from 14.2 last season to 10.8 minutes per game, from 7.3 minutes per game with Doncic to less than 1 minute per game, and from 5.8 minutes per game with Brunson to less than 1 minute per game. 3 minutes. The pair were the top two players in the minutes they shared with him last season, and they’re both in the bottom of the list this season.
This rotation order helps improve the players’ defensive focus on the field, so this season, the rebound mode of using defense to drive offense is more common, rather than the frequent offensive failures in the past two seasons.
Harrison and Kidd pairing
Although Harrison didn’t make too many big moves in the summer vacation, his reinforcements were almost all aimed at Kidd’s preferences and needs: Reggie Bullock, who was introduced in the summer vacation, became one of the defensive cores of the Mavericks after half-season, and can switch to multiple positions. Along with tough defensive tenacity in keeping with Kidd’s defensive system, Ntilikina and Sterling Brown also provide depth on the wings.
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Willie Cauley-Stein and Moses Brown, who have been cut off successively, are incompatible with Kidd’s system due to their golf quotient or physical condition. The signed Marquese Chriss is also more in line with Kidd’s needs.
In the end, Dinwiddie, acquired in the mid-season trade, has the height to reach Kidd’s threshold, and further solves the problem of the ball carrier. Porzingis, who recovered the rim this season, was marginalized in Kidd’s strategy of switching defenses, which requires more running. The distance defense also increases the likelihood of his injury, and Dinwiddie does fit Kidd’s system better.
