Mavs 'Have The Personnel' to Play Better Defense: Jason Kidd Coaching for His Job?

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After dropping five of six games, the Dallas Mavericks are recalling last season's collapse. Head coach Jason Kidd could be dismissed at season's conclusion if his squad can't improve.

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A season-high seven-game winning streak put the Dallas Mavericks in a bad spot. They have now dropped five of their last six games, which are the most important ones for them.

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During this losing streak, the Mavs have had the worst defense in the league. Every loss makes us remember how bad they were last year, when they crashed and burned and missed the Play-In Tournament and became a lottery team.

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Mavs head coach Jason Kidd is trying his best to stay positive despite all of their problems, but his team doesn't seem to be responding to it.

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Kidd said, "Yeah, well, we tried everything," after his defense let the Indiana Pacers score 137 points on Tuesday. "Give them credit, we switched, we switched to hit, and sometimes we went zone."

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Most of the time, they score the most points in the league. So, for us, it's about the shifts and not giving up corner 3. We've already been here, so we'll watch the film again and see what we can do better.

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"We know that our offense is one of the best in the league. If we can put some of that energy into defense, we should have a better chance of stopping them."

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When asked about his team's defense, Kidd often said the Mavs needed size before the trade deadline. Kidd knows Dallas shouldn't make excuses now that P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford are in.

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We have the personnel to improve defense. Kidd: We have the team. “This is a great test for us to go through a hard time in March because it gets harder in April, May, and June. So, this is a perfect test: Will we let go of the rope? Will we keep working?

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Everyone's come to work. Everyone is positive and energetic. All endeavor to do right. It's not going our way right now, but we must keep pushing. We'll improve for Thursday's game.”

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It helps to have your best player lead defense. Luka Doncic is a good defender when fully engaged, but his defense productivity is variable, maybe due to his nightly offensive load.

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“We all do. “We all do,” Kidd said when asked if Doncic should save part of his offensive energy for defense.“When we lean on Luka offensively, which we do and he delivers, we have to cover him and Kai (Kyrie Irving) and the other three have to protect each other.

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The players in this league are far too skilled to compete against each other in a one-on-one setting. In order to improve our defensive performance, we need to work together as a group and as a team to better defend the ball.

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Mavs 'Have The Personnel' to Play Better Defense: Jason Kidd Coaching for His Job?

_______________________

After dropping five of six games, the Dallas Mavericks are recalling last season's collapse. Head coach Jason Kidd could be dismissed at season's conclusion if his squad can't improve.

A season-high seven-game winning streak put the Dallas Mavericks in a bad spot. They have now dropped five of their last six games, which are the most important ones for them.

During this losing streak, the Mavs have had the worst defense in the league. Every loss makes us remember how bad they were last year, when they crashed and burned and missed the Play-In Tournament and became a lottery team.

Mavs head coach Jason Kidd is trying his best to stay positive despite all of their problems, but his team doesn't seem to be responding to it.

Kidd said, "Yeah, well, we tried everything," after his defense let the Indiana Pacers score 137 points on Tuesday. "Give them credit, we switched, we switched to hit, and sometimes we went zone."

Most of the time, they score the most points in the league. So, for us, it's about the shifts and not giving up corner 3. We've already been here, so we'll watch the film again and see what we can do better.

"We know that our offense is one of the best in the league. If we can put some of that energy into defense, we should have a better chance of stopping them."

When asked about his team's defense, Kidd often said the Mavs needed size before the trade deadline. Kidd knows Dallas shouldn't make excuses now that P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford are in.

We have the personnel to improve defense. Kidd: We have the team. “This is a great test for us to go through a hard time in March because it gets harder in April, May, and June. So, this is a perfect test: Will we let go of the rope? Will we keep working?

Everyone's come to work. Everyone is positive and energetic. All endeavor to do right. It's not going our way right now, but we must keep pushing. We'll improve for Thursday's game.”

It helps to have your best player lead defense. Luka Doncic is a good defender when fully engaged, but his defense productivity is variable, maybe due to his nightly offensive load.

“We all do. “We all do,” Kidd said when asked if Doncic should save part of his offensive energy for defense.“When we lean on Luka offensively, which we do and he delivers, we have to cover him and Kai (Kyrie Irving) and the other three have to protect each other.

The players in this league are far too skilled to compete against each other in a one-on-one setting. In order to improve our defensive performance, we need to work together as a group and as a team to better defend the ball.

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