The Mavericks, who made it to the Western Conference championship game last season, started the new season quite bumpy. Although the top star Luka Doncic handed in MVP-level statistics, the Mavericks currently only have a 50% winning percentage, barely ranking tenth in the Western Conference. And since the beginning of the season,They have also repeatedly lost to teams such as the Nuggets, Raptors, Wizards, Pelicans, Magic and Pistons without the opponent’s main star.。
In order to reverse the decline, the Mavericks uniform team recently signed a one-year non-guaranteed contract to sign veteran Kemba Walker, who was uninterested in the free market during the offseason, to enrich the depth of the backcourt.
Luka DoncicBehind the data of ghosts and gods Mavericks’ point guard shortage
It may be a little euphemistic to describe Doncic’s contribution this season as dedicated. Averaged 33.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game. Not only the NBA scoring leader, but also the Mavericks tops the list of these three statistics. This season, there are only Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets and Pascal Siakam of the Raptors in the league. Champion, which shows that the Mavericks are highly dependent on him.
And it’s only a quarter of the way through the season,This season has created a 40-point three-pointer three times, only behind Oscar Roberson, a three-point maker.but the season is still very long, and it should only be a matter of time before Doncic breaks the record of his predecessors.
In addition, Doncic’s USG% this season is as high as 37.7%, indicating that nearly 40% of the team’s offensive possessions are ended by him. This data ranks second in the league this season, second only to Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks, and even looking at the NBA historical rankings, Doncic can still be ranked eighth in history.
The outside world mostly blames the fact that Doncic has to cover the sky with one hand because the Mavericks failed to retain the starting point guard Jalen Brunson during the summer vacation. Brunson was poached by the Knicks with a lot of money, which is indeed a big loss for the Mavericks. Especially for the Knicks this season, Brunson averaged 21.0 points and 6.3 assists per game, handing in data that is close to the All-Star level, which highlights how sad it is for the Mavericks to lose him. .
In the vacancy left by Brunson, Spencer Dinwiddie, who replaced the starter, performed fairly competently, averaging 16.3 points and 5.0 assists per game, both of which are his best results since suffering a torn ACL injury in 2020. The problem is that the organization work was originally divided among the three, but now only Dinwiddie and Doncic are left to undertake it, and the workload of Brunson is almost borne by Doncic.
Furthermore, the Mavericks, with three point guards, might maintain at least two offensive engines on the court at any time last season. However, following Brunson transferred to the team, the Mavericks had to be led by a single point guard for more than half of the games this season. The goal of the defensive strategy became more obvious, and the ball holder was more likely to be targeted by the opponent. In other words, Doncic not only has a surge in workload this season, but also has to face higher-intensity defensive pressure.
It is not a long-term solution for Doncic to bear the pressure of victory and defeat alone. As mentioned above, his USG% this season ranked eighth in NBA history, and the seven players in front of him,Excluding Giannis Antetokounmpo this season, none of the remaining six players might win the championship, and five of them even had only one round of the playoffs that year.。
Such a phenomenon is not difficult to understand. In the playoffs where defense decides the outcome, as the sole core of tactics, it often attracts attention. Doncic will undoubtedly be the number one target of defense.
When he was on the court this season, the team’s offensive efficiency value was 116.4, ranking among the top three in the league. When he was resting, it dropped to 102.9, which was worse than the Hornets (106.0), which was at the bottom of the league. It is conceivable that once Doncic is out of order in the playoffs, let alone copying the performance of reaching the Western Conference Finals last season, the Mavericks should have a hard time even getting past the first round of the playoffs.
To sum up, the Mavericks urgently need to strengthen their point guard capabilities, and the arrival of Walker is like a timely rain.
From All-Star to Ronin Kemba WalkerWhat help can it bring to the Mavericks?
Similar to Doncic and Dinwiddie, Walker is also a combo guard with scoring and organizational skills. Last season, Walker averaged 9.4 points for the team through assists. Compared with the Mavericks this season, this data is second only to Doncic and Dinwiddie. Walker averaged 21.0 points per game in points and assists per game last season, ranking among the top three in this season’s Mavericks.