Mark Cuban Doesn’t Expect Anyone On The Mavs To Be A 20-Point Scorer
The Dallas Mavericks are going into the 2014-15 season with a bit more offense at their disposal than last season. Signing Chandler Parsons in free agency certainly helped in regards to losing Vince Carter and Shawn Marion, but also in giving the Mavericks another viable scoring option. Dallas also brought in point guard Jameer Nelson. Another complementary addition was veteran forward Richard Jefferson, and also acquiring Raymond Felton while getting back Tyson Chandler in the Jose Calderon trade.
Hoping for the kind of balance in attack that was displayed so gracefully and unselfishly by the San Antonio Spurs in these past NBA Finals, Mark Cuban shared his vision for this new Mavericks team with Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, saying he doesn’t expect any members of the roster to be scoring 20 points or more on the regular,
I’m not expecting anybody on our team to be a 20-point scorer. Not Dirk. I don’t want him to be a 20-point scorer. Seriously. Monta [Ellis] has that capability. [Tyson] Chandler has that capability. Dirk has that capability. Richard Jefferson’s got that capability. Jameer [Nelson could score] 15. Raymond [Felton] could do 15, if that was the focus, but that’s not our focus.
Preserving Dirk Nowitzki’s usage rate is something Cuban has touched on before. Signing Monta Ellis last offseason was also part of that frame of thinking – the more options Dallas has to work with on offense, the less Dirk has to exert himself by carrying the load. Nowitzki averaged 21.7 points while Monta Ellis averaged 19 points per game last season.
That’s the cool thing. There are going to be times when we overpass. And that will be one of the challenges that Rick [Carlisle] has, that some guys are too unselfish.
Although overpassing can be a risky habit, Cuban is right – a team that overpasses is still a good sign of unselfishness and a desire for ball movement. Modeling the San Antonio Spurs’ framework that put a clinic on the two-time defending champions this past June requires depth, spacing, shooting, and making sure the ball doesn’t stick on offense.
We’ve seen the Mavericks employ this style of play in their own championship run when they beat the Miami Heat in 2011. Cuban’s present team has more individual talent. The most likely candidates to hit the 20-point plateau would be Monta Ellis or Chandler Parsons,
I don’t know. I don’t care. If he [Parsons] averaged 10, 8 and 8, I’d be thrilled to death. I don’t care how much he scores. I care how well we do. I think he’d love to take credit for being a guy who can score 20 when you need him to, but can get eight rebounds and dish out eight assists, too, as well.
Cuban’s collective vision for the Mavs’ offensive identity is along the right intentions, and his new group has the challenge of embracing it in hopes of progressing their eighth-seed standing in the Western Conference last season.
