It’s hard to take things one step at a time when you’re as excited as Mavs Fans are to see Luka Doncic back on the hardwood, especially when the good guys keep winning. Even with a hot start there are some flaws in Dallas’ game that should help keep your feet on the ground while the Mavs head into the in-season tournament Friday night.
Mavs defense is still not great, especially in the first quarters. The team has enough defensive minded players to think that eventually they will find their groove on that end of the floor but even then they are probably looking at a mediocre to average defense.
The offense looks great even with some of the guys jacking up shots that should probably be holstered. As frustrating as he is to watch THJ on the bench with the second unit makes sense. He's a huge threat when he heats up. Let him cook early on in the season so teams can look at his PPG stats and want to trade for him. With an expanded role on this team as opposed to his role on Boston, Grant Williams is thriving. Grant is a defensive stopper and better as a spot up shooter than we imagined when he signed as a free agent. It's early but Williams is averaging career highs in ppg, minutes, and shooting percentages.
As predicted Jaden Hardy is having a hard time finding his place so far this season. Even in a game that Kyrie Irving didn't play at all Jason Kidd only played Hardy for 10 minutes. Word is that he's continuing to work on his game, let's hope he's adding some presence on defense.
Derrick Jones Jr. is benefitting from playing with Luka Doncic in a way that he's never seen. Let's all hope that continues head in the direction of him meeting the potential that analysts once saw in him.
The Dereck Lively II situation is giving Mavs fans across DFW a bi-weekly aneurysm. When he's on the court he's a complete game changer - keyword: "when". Through the first 3 games, Lively II has been kept off the court by Kidd's coaching or most recently because of foul trouble. Expect those issues to level out soon, Lively needs to be on the court. There is no question he's the best center on the roster at this point.