Mark Cuban thinks Dallas Mavericks have re-established their prowess – NBA Update
Dallas Mavericks have seen many changes come about their roster during the summer and losing Jason Kidd – a veteran point guard - to the New York Knicks was one of them.
However Mavs owner Mark Cuban sees a silver lining even in the departure of the championship winning point guard. He believes that the newly added Darren Collison may not be able to distribute the ball like Kidd did or be a defensive
asset, but unlike Kidd, Collison has the ability to drive the ball and can create shot for himself which can prove to be a high point for the Mavs this season.
“You can’t replace Jason Kidd,” Cuban said. “There’s just no way. But at the same time, there’s going to be a lot of things we couldn’t do. You know, J could take over a game defensively and he could help us get where we needed
to go, but he was just a spot-up shooter. Now, we’ve got a lot of people who are going to force people to really defend us.”
There is no doubt that Kidd, 39, was hesitant in attacking the rim and more often than avoided going down into the traffic lane. According to a research by Hoopdata.com, in the whole of last season, Kidd only managed to get 10
attempts at the rim.
Collison on the other hand is known for his attacking mentality and was able to muster up 2.6 attempts per game last season for the Indiana Pacers, something the Mavs will need to stretch the court for the ultimate sharp shooter
Dirk Nowitzki next season.
According to Cuban, the Mavs have desperately been looking to provide Nowitzki with a backup scorer this off season. But, the lost battle for All-Star point guard Deron Williams, and the departure of Jason Terry provided them with
huge setbacks.
They have however roped in some very good options in the form of Elton Brand, Chris Kaman, O.J. Mayo, Dahntay Jones and Collison. Their arrivals mean that the Mavs are longer restricted to fewer scoring options and Cuban believes
this will make the life easy for Dirk;
“That takes a lot of pressure off of Dirk,” Cuban said. “Last year, you didn’t really have to defend our 5 position. You didn’t have to defend our point guard position. Now you’re going to have to defend all five, and that’s going
to make life a little bit easier.”
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