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SAN FRANCISCO – Words travel fast, especially when they are critical in nature and are uttered on national television.
The Mavericks’ victory Thursday night over San Antonio was only minutes old when coach Rick Carlisle was asked about the opinion expressed several times during TNT’s broadcast that Kristaps Porzingis should post-up more often.
Without blinking or hesitation, Carlisle launched into a passionate defense of the Mavericks’ prized 7-foot-3 acquisition. Actually, it was more a case of Carlisle taking the offensive, as if he’d been waiting for the opportunity.
He explained that post-ups are low-value in today’s NBA, which prizes spacing and ball-movement and premium-value 3-point shooting. Carlisle said analytics definitively show that when Porzingis spaces beyond the 3-point arc “we’re a historically good offensive team.
“And when any of our guys go in there (the free-throw lane area) our effectiveness is diminished exponentially,” he added. “It’s counter-intuitive, I understand that, but it’s a fact.”
Near the end of his mini-speech, Carlisle reached the heart of the point he was trying to make.
“Look, we’ve got to get off of this thing We’ve got to treat K.P. with some respect and respect him for what he is: He’s a historically great player. And quit criticizing him because he’s 7-3. That’s what everybody is doing.”
The reality is that Dallas doesn’t want any of its players frequently posting up, not even Porzingis or 7-4 Boban Marjanovic, no matter what talking heads say.
The reality is the Mavericks’ league-leading offensive rating of 116.4 is on pace to break the record of 115.9 set last season by Golden State, the team Dallas faces on Saturday to start a three-game road trip that concludes with games against the Lakers (Sunday) and Oklahoma City (Tuesday).
The reality is Dallas’ average of 116.7 points per game is fourth-best in the NBA, and its 36.5% 3-point percentage ranks eighth in the league, a considerable improvement from last season’s 34.0%, which ranked 27th.
The Mavericks are not without deficiencies – every team has some. Offense, though, is not a glaring issue for Dallas, no matter how “experts” view Porzingis’ role or lack thereof.
“My mindset is I want to be as selfless as I can in this situation,” Porzingis said after Thursday’s victory, in which he scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds. “It’s not easy. Of course, I want to post up and do my thing. But I know we’ve been the No. 1 offense.
“Imagine being the No. 1 offense with me shooting 40 percent from the field. It will be that much better when I get going.’’
In 2 ½ seasons as a Knick, Porzingis shot 43.7% from the field and 36.1% on 3-pointers, including 39.5% in 2017-18 before he tore his left ACL.
Imagine if he lifts his current 3-point percentage of 33.5% to his previous levels: No one would be talking about how often he does or does not post up.
It was Chris Webber who during Thursday’s broadcast called Porzingis’ current field goal percentage “unacceptable” for a player of his size and theorized that increased post-ups would get him going offensively.
When the broadcast cut to the studio show at halftime, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley said Porzingis seems to lack offensive aggressiveness when he is on the court at the same time as Luka Doncic.
In the five games that Doncic missed or largely missed with a right ankle sprain (including the Miami game in which he played only 100 seconds), Porzingis averaged 22.4 points and 13.8 rebounds.
“Rick Carlisle has got to say, ‘Yo, man, we need you to be aggressive; we can’t rely on Doncic every single night,’ ” Barkley said. “No more excuses that you were hurt last year. . . If he’s aggressive when Doncic is not there, he can be aggressive when Doncic is there.”
It’s true that Carlisle often says he wants all of the Mavericks to be aggressive on offense, but there is no indication that he believes Porzingis lacks such aggressiveness.
“The thing I like about his game, where it is now, is that his reads have gotten better,” Carlisle said. “His spacing is such that, when people run at him, he’s now driving the ball directly for dunks and he’s throwing some really cool lob passes to [Dwight] Powell.
“I mean, you’ve got a 7-3 guy throwing it to 6-10 guys on a lob -- that’s pretty [expletive] cool if you ask me. So let’s get off all this stuff about ‘K.P. needs to go into the post. He doesn’t.”
During his final season as a Knick, 74% of Porzingis’ field goal attempts were 2-pointers, and 16.5% came from 10-to-16 feet.
This season, 40.4% of Porzingis’ field goal attempts have been 3-pointers, and only 7.8% have come from 10-to-16 feet.
And the Mavericks are 20-10. Last season they didn’t win their 20th game until Jan. 11, at which time they were 20-22.
As Carlisle noted, the main reason Porzingis got more post-ups in New York is that the Knicks ran Phil Jackson’s triangle offense.
“That offense is extinct,” he said. "It went extinct when Phil Jackson retired. He’s the only guy that had any success with it.”
Translation: This is Dallas and this is 2019, at least for a few more days. Rick Carlisle doesn’t give a rip what the TNT guys are saying about Porzingis and, in his opinion, neither should anyone else.
Twitter: @townbrad
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December 28, 2019 at 06:35AM
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Rick Carlisle's passionate mini-speech exposed why the Mavs don't need Kristaps Porzingis to post up - The Dallas Morning News
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