Photo: USA TODAY Sports - Steven Branscombe
Dirk Nowitzki And The Mad Chemist
By Jesse Blanchard
After a few seasons spent
failing to lure a top flight free agent
following the immediate disassembly
of the 2011 NBA championship
team, cycling through a myriad of
mid-priced role players, the Dallas
Mavericks took a calculated risk and
sacrificed some of its assets to acquire
Rajon Rondo.
The thought process was, while
Rondo might hamper the team’s
overall spacing, any boost to one
of the NBA’s most porous defenses
and Rondo’s penchant for individual
brilliance in big moments would
hopefully offset it. Perhaps because
the Mavericks’ offense seemed so
diverse and thrived amid so many
lineup combinations, the fragility
of the ecosystem established by
Rick Carlisle’s flow offense and Dirk
Nowitzki went overlooked.
the floor, controlling the action and
looking for advantages that might
spring a quick-hitting assist.
Because the roster was bereft
of individual scoring talent outside
of Nowitzki, moving away from
the decentralized power structures
crashed the team’s efficiency and
Rondo was ultimately banished midplayoffs and exiled to Sacramento
this summer. The whirling, frenetic
bundle of moving parts that is
the Mavericks’ offense can seem
complicated looking on from the
outside. In truth, the strengths
of offense lie in a simple, unified
mindset rather than complex actions.
The Mavericks play through
the pass, and after another summer
failing to land a marquee free agent
once the Los Angeles Clippers’
DeAndre Jordan infamously reneged
At its peak, the Maverick’s offense on a verbal agreement, a depleted
Mavericks roster will rely heavily on
rips defenses apart as they expand
generating shots through Carlisle’s
and contract while chasing the ball
mad chemist lineup combinations.
all over the court. Rondo is very
much a station-to-station point guard
Though aging, Dirk Nowtizki still
that likes to operate like a coach on
commands enough attention from
entire defenses to provide any point
guard coming off his screens access to
the middle of the floor as Nowitzki’s
pops out.
The questions facing the
Mavericks this year are whether
Deron Williams has enough burst
left to leverage that advantage in
the same manner Monta Ellis so
successfully did, and whether the
departure of Tyson Chandler to the
Phoenix Suns leaves a gaping hole in
the Mavericks’ secondary pick and
rolls, where Chandler’s ability to dive
hard to the rim collapsed defense and
opened up the weak side of the floor
for quick ball reversals.
Dallas is in a precarious position
in the Western Conference, having
downgraded its roster while other
teams continue to rise up to challenge
for the seventh and eighth seeds. But
there’s still Nowitzki and a brilliant
coaching staff hoping to piece it all
together once more.
BBALLBREAKDOWN.COM | 29