Brendan Haywood remains first choice for the Dallas Mavericks – NBA Update
The Dallas Mavericks have made it clear that centre Brendan Haywood will retain his place as a started in the team when they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder for game-3 of their Western Conference first round playoffs matchup.
The Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle benched Haywood for large periods of game-2 in Oklahoma City, including most of the second half. The Mavericks coach preferred using his other options at the centre position at important junctures of the game, which raised
suspicion as to if the 7-foot centre was still first choice or not.
Carlisle has now clarified that Brendan will retain his place as a starter despite playing under 10 minutes in game-2. Rick was of the view that he made the decision to use him less according to the flow of the game.
"He's started every game all year that he's been available," Carlisle said. "We're not going to change that now. The second half the other night, it's an outlier situation. It was a gut feel and I went with it, but tomorrow night Wood's going to be our guy
again."
Haywood didn’t have much of an impact in the game, especially when compared with game-1. Not only did he spend less time on the floor, he also managed poor numbers, i.e. 2 points and one blocked. In game-1 he had 4 points, a block as well as 7 rebounds.
The player though downplayed the disparity in numbers. He also stressed that he didn’t view the performance as an individual and was more focused on the collective effort of the Mavericks.
"I played nine minutes last game, so the impact is going to be minimal that game," said Haywood. “I’m not trying to get out of character. Perkins got open early last time when we had some switches, he switched on Dirk [Nowitzki] a couple times and was able
to take advantage. But we're trying to win the game; we're not trying to win any individual matchup."
Kendrick Perkins of the Thunder was able to exert himself more forcefully in game-2, especially early on when Haywood was on the floor, thus the criticism his way. But after Brendan received the vote of confidence from his coach, he is expected to arrive
in game-3 with more determination about him.
Tags: