The Mavericks lost to San Antonio and Jason Kidd was on the bench when it mattered most, but would it really have made a difference if he was in the game? Let’s take a look at some pictures.
First off, take a look at the clock. Kidd was on the bench with Dallas down by two points and 12.7 seconds left in the game. He was actually out for the last 30 seconds or so, but this picture tells the story.
Next up, take a look at the defense. Count the defense and take a look at what they are doing. All five Spurs are watching Terry with the ball. This woud have been the perfect chance to catch them off-guard.
Take a look at Josh Howard. There is no defender within 12 feet of him. Terry should have tossed him the ball and let him either shoot, pass to the open man in the corner, or drive to the basket. Kidd no doubt would have dished the ball in a heartbeat.
But Terry didn’t pass. He held on to the ball and waited for almost five seconds for someone else to move to create a play. Dirk saw this, so he came over to setup a pick and roll.
Dirk set the pick and roll up really well, so what is supposed to happen here is Terry passes the ball to Dirk and let him either drive to the hoop (remember the move he made to draw a foul from Ginobili in the 2006 playoffs?) or shoot a wide-open jump shot.
The opportunity to move the ball didn’t end with the non-pass to Dirk. Terry moved to the free-throw line, drew in Manu Ginobili, which would have been another chance to pass to Howard, who could have swung the ball over to Stackhouse (whose defender most likely would have come over to guard Howard) or drove to the basket. But, again, no pass.
Lastly, even when Terry was up in the air with Bowen right on him, he still had people wide open for good looks. Take a look at it. Dirk has both his hands up waiting for a pass to Terry’s right. Howard is still open at the three point line. Stackhouse is now WIDE OPEN, since his defender decided to come over and help guard the basket. But again, it didn’t happen.
In the end, Avery’s decision to bench Kidd may not have been the reason the Mavs lost, but him being on the bench ended up being the wrong decision. It’s a mistake that I really hope Avery doesn’t make again.
totally agree. I’m not sure what he was thinking in not playingg Kidd. He needs to get used to these situations anyway.
I totally agree. Avery choked on this one. I think your analysis is right on. You should definitely be on TV as a sports analyst. At least I won’t have to listen to you insult Christians.
What you are seeing here is not an issue with Kidd not being on the floor but rather the Mavericks failing to call a time-out after their initial set play got them a good shot that didn’t fall and the follow-up offensive rebound. The set play–without Kidd–ended with a favorable match up and shot for Nowitzki.
The trouble is that after the offensive rebound, they had no set play and the team on the floor wasn’t able to take advantage of the open men (as you point out well) due to the lack of a playmaker. It appears that they simply went back to an attempt to run the same play over again.
Kidd would have helped after the miss, but you don’t plan for a miss, you plan for getting the best shot possible. It is arguable, but I think they got a great match up with Parker on Nowitzki.
The real issue here is that after the initial play failed, the Mavs weren’t prepared for the second possession after the offensive rebound and failed to call timeout. They may or may not have put Kidd into the game at that point, but they certainly needed to have better execution over those final seconds no matter who was on the floor.