Rocio Robles
The Dallas Mavericks will shed their skins starting Monday when they begin their Western Conference semifinal series against the favorites to reach the finals, the Phoenix Suns. Their coach, Jason Kidd, was keen to point out how important he was to the opposing team’s star center, DeAndre Ayton, perhaps, in a very unsubtle way with respect to his previous opponents.
After beating the Utah Jazz in six games in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Mavericks coach said that defending Suns’ Deandre Ayton was going to be more challenging than guarding Gobert (Jazz star center) and Hassan Whiteside (backup center), as Ayton has much more offensive ability than them. But the way he said it was… a bit abrupt and somewhat offensive to the aforementioned.
“We have to adapt. Our game plan against Utah is not going to work against the Suns. We’ve already changed that mentality because we’re not playing the Jazz. We understand (the Suns’) strength is mid-range, but they can hurt you with the three in transition and they can hurt you in the paint with JaVale (McGee) and (DeAndre) Ayton. This isn’t (Rudy) Gobert or (Hassan) Whiteside; these guys can put the ball in the basket, so our bigs will be tested.”
Jason Kidd at press conference prior to series against the Suns.
And while Kidd’s statement is not entirely true because Gobert led the league in field goal shooting percentage during the regular round at 71.3%, we understand that what the 49-year-old coach meant was that both McGee and Ayton have other offensive characteristics that make them more dangerous when attacking the basket.
According to a note from TheScore.com (which cites NBA Stats statistics) while Gobert attempted 93% of his shots from the field within 5 feet of the rim, Ayton barely made 46%. To make it much clearer, Ayton shot nearly 60% of his shots in the paint from the restricted area, in addition to shooting for nearly 40% on threes. This is inconceivable for Gobert, who has only attempted 12 long-distance shots in his career and has completely missed them all.
Gobert, who has been the focus of criticism throughout the postseason, is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner, and while he has never developed his offensive ability like some of his peers, the responsibility he has on the Jazz is vital to the team’s operation. Mind you, Ayton is a much more versatile player and more reliable when it comes to scoring the ball without a doubt. Whiteside, on the other hand, is pretty close to having no team in the future, as his quality level has been going downhill for more than five years now.
Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell, the hope for the Dallas Mavericks
While Luka Doncic will be in charge of testing the Suns offensively, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell will play a fundamental role in the Dallas Mavericks’ defense, as they will be in charge of stopping the Ayton-McGee duo under the backboard; especially Ayton, who in two games this season against the Mavericks averaged 13.5 points and 65% shooting from the field.
Both performed to perfection against an offense a little less complicated than that of the Suns, so they will have to make many adjustments to repeat, or at least come close, to that work that allowed Jazz players to sink just 33.9% of shots from the field outside the perimeter when Kleber was the closest defender and 37.5% against Powell in the same situation.
