The Mavs forgot they were a passing team

The Dallas Mavericks have a lot of problems to solve in order to play at the best level for a whole game by the looks of it after game one against the Houston Rockets. Transition defense, turnovers, decision-making and better shot-quality, to name a few.

New Mavs head coach Dusty May hit the nail on the head after the game, when he said:

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“I thought we started playing a little too quickly, and shooting some shots, some semi-open shots, instead of getting possession back, making them work a little bit, finding some connection.”

The Mavs forgot how to pass. They forgot that basketball is a team sport, and they made quite a few mistakes in that disastrous second quarter, which the Mavs lost 38-12.

No, that’s not right. A couple players forgot that the Mavs are now a passing team. Who knows, maybe they’re worried about keeping their spot on the roster. Because they sure seemed to play for themselves.

To no one’s surprise, that didn’t work. It didn’t work when P.J. Washington hoisted up one threepointer after another too early in the possession, at a point when the Mavs really needed to get settled and get the opponent to work to find the best look.

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And it didn’t work when the Mavs tried hard to run a play to get a good look, but Washington instead decided to go one-on-one on Kevin Durant. KEVIN DURANT. Which led to an offensive foul on Washington.

Yes, I rewatched the second quarter so you don’t have to. And unfortunately, I had to watch Naji Marshall airball that three too early in the shot clock, as well. Not long after, Washington fires a (too) quick three, again, which misses. And then soon after, Marshall shoots another three, instead of passing until a better shot comes along, which he misses. All this with either generational talent Cooper Flagg or future Hall of Famer Kyrie Irving on the floor – or both!

This is not good enough. Dusty May is trying to create a winning culture in Dallas. If these guys keep playing for themselves, they need to either be benched or traded. On top of that, there’s the whole effort aspect, which includes Daniel Gafford, but that’s a topic for another…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mavs-forgot-were-passing-team-124815877.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-23 12:48:00

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