10/25/2K12 - Writing my report for Mavs insiders
I love my job! This is the tenth of twelves enties starting with these words since joining the Mavericks. This organization is fantastic, everything is so professional. No newspaper was interested in my signing. Heck, I did not read my name anywhere since I am here in Dallas. The peace I wanted. Working with the players has been fun so far. Dirk showed his amazement when he heard of my hiring. Cuban actually did not talk to me since I put my sign under the two-year contract as an assistant coach. Everything perfect I'd say.
Today the coaching staff came together to analyse preseason and set some intermediate goals we want to achieve in the future. My task was to write up a roster breakdown and list of goals the organization wants to achieve for all the employees involved into the working process of the Mavs organisation. It was Coach Carisle, Darrell Armstrong, Monte Mathis, Tony Brown and me (all the assistant coaches) sitting together debatting about our roster. Here's a copy of my write-up that I have already sent to Mavs employees like owner, front office, fan attendants, marketing etc.
Dallas Mavericks objective agreeement and preseason roster analysis
Dear Mavs Insiders,
the following is an essay of our sportive objective agreement and a roster breakdown in order to keep you informed about the progress of our franchise.
Chris Kaman is definitely one of our key acquisitions this summer. While we didn't cripple our chances of pursuing big free agents next year, he will help us reaching our goal of making the Playoffs. Kaman is an offensive weapon that can score from the low block and the high post. His hookshot is very effective and he is ambidextrous. On the defensive end, the goal will be to give Kaman a fair share of rest when playing against quicker big men. He is not the best one-on-one defender but solid against post-up players. His effectiveness as a help-defender is well documented though, since he's a solid shot-blocker. All in all - Kaman will be the number one option with Dirk being out indefinitely after a knee surgery. Our hopes are somewhere around 16 points, 9 boards and over a block per game, shooting over 50%.
Dirk Nowitzki. No question, Dirk is our franchise player and number one option on offense when he's on the court. Right now, coming off a arthostropic surgery, he's doing a tough rehab programme. Officially he is still out indefinitely - so don't spread the following words: We hope that he can be back by the fifth of December. The goal must be to give him the ball on the right high post and let him do his work. Face-ups, one-legged fade-aways, post-fade-aways, he has the full programm. We don't want Dirk to drive too often, since we have Chris Kaman down-low. Instead, we want him to run the pick&roll with our quick guards and take mid-range jumpshots and also threes. Those are high-percentage shots for Dirk. On defense, Dirk will guard the worse of the two opponent big men. Not because he cannot guard the better, but simply because we want him to work on offense and get rest on D. The output should be somewhere around 22 points, 8 rebounds and hopefully 3 assists per game, which would mean he'd draw a lot of double-teams.
Shawn Marion is our number one defender. He's a lock-down one-on-one defender, a chase down blocker and still very athletic. His task will always be to guard the best perimetre player of the opponent. We also appreciate his strong rebounding. Offensively, he will live from second chance buckets and timely cuts to the basket. He can also post up smaller defenders, but that's no priority for us. For Mavs Insider: According to Donnie Nelson, Marion's contract is the worst of the whole team. We expect around 8 points, 7 rebounds a block and a steal from him. Oh, and he won't shoot threes.
O.J. Mayo, the most intriguing acquisition this season. We want him to re-establish himself in the league. He has a dealdy jumper off the dribble and from beyond the arc. We also appreciate his ballhandling which allows him to run the pick&roll although he is not as good at it as Jason Terry was. Mayo will get his shots, because we believe in him. He's our main perimetre scoring option. He's also good at finishing with contact, so we hope we can explain to him how important it would be to attack the basket. Production should be somewhere around 18 points, 4 boards and 3 assists with over 35% from three point land.
Darren Collison will run the point this year for us. He's one of the quickest players in the league which gives us the ability to run the floor after defensive rebounds. Our logic is, that if he gets the ball in the first two seconds after a defensive board, he should go out and run. Shot should be within the next five seconds then. Collison can shoot himself and also has the task to score. But priority is to set up our main guys Dirk, Kaman and Mayo. We hope that he can improve his defense where he is a bit of a risk right now. 10 points, 6 assists and a steal seem realistic for him.
Another veteran. Vince Carter will bring two things off the bench as a sixth man. Scoring and leadership. We want him to take important shots and he will step in for Marion whenever we need scoring over defense. Carter can still defense though, but not as good as Marion. For us, he is a shot taker and maker. He can create his own shot, hit the three, post up smaller defenders and go to the basket strong. There will be nights where he will be our best scorer, but there will also be games where he won't see many minutes, depending on the opponent. 10 points and over 45% from the field would be great.
Elton Brand is a key-player for us this season. His wing-span allows him to play bigger than you might think and thus he can give breaks for Kaman and Dirk without loosing too much offense. His mid-range jumper is decent, his low-post moves are the ones of a veteran. On defense he can block shots but has problem against quicker opponents. Elton is a onehundred percent professional. We expect leadership and solid plays from him, no more. He understands that. 8 points, 5 rebounds and 50%+ shooting are possible.
Rodrigue Beaubois is finally healthy. With the acquistion of Darren Collison, he will be the backup point guard. He will see increased minutes against quick guards because he is a good defender. Beaubois will also alter a lot of passes and shots, which make him a great player for fastbreaks. We are not satisfied with his shot though, since it's on and off - a real microwave. Chances are slim that he will start since he is also no floor general. Stats aren't important - he should bring toughness and energy as well as good defense.
Dahntay Jones is underrated. He could be a decent three and D player for us as he can hit the open shot and defend very well. He's also very athletic. He will see minutes at the two-guard spot and maybe as a small forward. We want him to bring hustle and toughness and get under the opponent's player's skin. Stat aren't important for him, too.
Brandan Wright is our backup center. He can play bigger than his 6-11 might show since he is very athletic. He can guard quicker big man, but has problems against the strong ones. We like his athleticism and it makes him a good pick&roll player who can dunk hard. His inside scoring isn't bad either, although still a bit raw. He will definitely be a key piece of our defensive rotations.
Troy Murphy, our latest signing, will give Dirk rest whenever the opponents inside players aren't stronger than him. He's a great defensive rebounder and a stretch-four player, similar to Dirk. If we want to keep our offense running with pick&pops, he will come in. He's a spot-up shooter. We also want him to shoot threes and create space for Chris Kaman.
Dominique Jones did not convince us in the preseason. He is still work in progress. He's quick and a good finisher at the rim, but his basketball IQ is not good. He might see some D-League time.
Jae Crowder has already gotten ahead of Dominique Jones. He is a hustler who can do a little bit of everything. We don't think that he will see many minutes as he is a rookie, but he is an intriguing player who will see a lot of individual training sessions with our coaches.
Jared Cunningham is a combo-guard, which makes it tough for us to give him a real NBA position. He has to find his niche somehow and we hope we can help him with that. He's definitely an athlete and the best dunker in the team, but he still has to learn a lot of things on offense. On defense, he is solid, especially one-on-one. He will only see limited minutes.
Bernard James, the sergeant. For a rookie, he has a great work ethic since he is already 27 years old and an army veteran. On defense, he could definitely be valuable as he can block shots and defende bigger opponents well. On offense, he is raw, making it tough for him to become better than Brandan Wright, since he is also not very athletic. We like him though, he brings good spirit to the locker.
Mavericks goals for the season
So after breaking down the roster - here are our intern intermediate goals we set so far:
- Make Dirk an All-Star
- OJ Mayo has to fulfill our predictions: 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, >35% 3pt
- Reach the Playoffs as the 6th seed (or better)
- Get one rookie into the All Rookie 2nd team (or better)
- Win another 50 games (or better)
- Reach the 2nd round of the Playoffs (or better)
- Be amongst the top ten in points allowed per game
Best regards and keep bleeding blue,
Chris Hova, member of the coaching staff