Mavs Film Study: How Defense Must Improve After NBA All-Star Break

The Dallas Mavericks must improve defensively to contend with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in the playoffs. DallasBasketball.com analyzes how they are coming up short.

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks hold high expectations for the remainder of the 2022-23 season, which was only accelerated after making the win-now trade to acquire Kyrie Irving at the midseason deadline. 

Irving is in the final year of his current contract, there is genuine pressure to maximize the results for their stretch run. The Mavs will maximize their outlook to retain Irving's services after he reaches free agency during the offseason. To do so, With two dynamic perimeter players to lead the offense in Luka Doncic and Irving, there is a significant need to achieve positive results defensively. 

Before the Irving trade, the Mavs had failed to turn things around defensively. they naturally continued to underachieve after the deal, too. They finished with a 115.2 defensive rating (24th) entering the All-Star break. A team that seeks to contend for a title simply has to execute better defensively. 

While Maxi Kleber's return is looming, the Mavs lack a replacement for Dorian Finney-Smith who was traded to the Brooklyn Nets, further complicating their efforts to improve on that front. 

“I’m excited to see Maxi come back,” Mavs center Dwight Powell said. “Obviously, Doe-Doe is a guy that we relied on for a long time and was a great player in the system, so we’ll miss him. But the situation is what it is and we’re excited to have the guys that we have in the locker room right now."

With that being said, here are some recent shortcomings that have stood out from the Mavs' defense when reviewing their game film.

Breakdowns in Paint Protection

The Mavs had struggled to defend the paint properly for much of the season. It has only worsened in recent weeks, with the peak of those problems being displayed against the Denver Nuggets before the All-Star break. They shot 25-26 (96.2 percent) in the restricted area. The Mavs allowed opponents to shoot 75.5 percent on those attempts over their last 10 games, which was the worst mark any team in the league achieved during this span.

When the Mavs deployed two of Josh Green, Reggie Bullock, or Frank Ntilikina against the Denver Nuggets before the All-Star break, it was apparent the disparity in size between the two times. With Michael Porter Jr. at the four, there were plenty of situations that exposed Dallas' lack of size. In the two plays below, Porter comfortably attacks off the catch to make a play in the paint. 

By signing Holiday, the Mavs will benefit from having another wing. However, he's only 6-6 and weighs well under 200 pounds. They still lack an option that is closer to being at least 6-8 upwards to 6-10 and has the frame to handle bigger wings. Meanwhile, there has been an inability to contain shifty guards and the lack of a rim protector.

If the Mavs want to better match opposing team's size profiles, it likely will need to come with Maxi Kleber playing more at the four after he returns from injury. There is likely a need for Doncic to guard bigger wings while Green chases around the smaller, quicker guards out on the 3-point line. 

“It’s big because of his ability to guard multiple positions, his want-to to play defense sometimes not look at the basket on the offensive end, it gives us the luxury to be able to play Maxi and Luka and Kai out there," Kidd said of Kleber.

There is just a general lack of imposing strength and length in the Mavs' paint protection on a nightly basis. Jokic had too easy of a time using some contact against Powell, simply clearing him out of the way before finishing. It was just too easy, because again, Powell is just genuinely small for a five. Whether it's on a rim roll, attacking out of isolation, or in the post, it was too easy for Jokic.

Wood has been stuck on the third unit since returning from his thumb injury. It remains to be seen what will need to happen for him to regain even the second center role. Regardless, even a minute of playing time for McGee is one too many. He's often ineffective as a paint presence, executing deep switches that have no business being made instead of protecting the rim. 

There are situations when simply being big enough with a long wingspan should present a greater ability to offer resistance than what McGee does. A wide pindown shouldn't result in the rim protector being stationed in the paint, but getting finished through by a center. There needs to be a presence felt.

While Jokic is a highly crafty player, standing straight up and allowing a step through finish on an end of quarter post-up is inexcusable. Keep in mind, McGee was signed to be a defensive anchor and a leader. He's often playing lackadaisical without offering any semblance of being a rim protector in meaningful minutes. In a final play situation, the intensity and focus needs to be raised, not non-existent.

Again, the Mavs lack the option of being able to trust an interior presence to anchor the defense. Powell plays hard, but he doesn't have the physical intangibles required to do so against tougher matchups and larger opponents. McGee was signed for that reason, but is just genuinely ineffective.

Can the Mavs Re-Focus & Play Harder?

Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets served as a great stress test for the Mavs' defense, and the team failed. Denver scored a staggering 23 points from cuts, often with the defense being undisciplined. Quite a few of those scoring chances results from Dallas losing track of a player off-ball as a play developed. 

“Yeah, I think it’s just paying attention to the details, understanding the defense,” Kidd said. “Sometimes you got to give up something to get something. We believe that our ability to score will put pressure on our opponent, but we also got to get stops. And we know that. The break came at the right time to for us to regroup and get our defense back in order.”

The Mavs often practicing their Veer switching concepts against baseline attacks when practicing. It helps to contain the initial dribble penetration, and can obstruct a pass to the roller if the timing is proper. The rest of the play needs to be completed, too, but Dallas failed to do so against the Nuggets. Watch in the play below, Ntilikina signals to Green to take the defender that's already made his cut for a wide open finish in the lane. 

The communication on switching has to be better. There are times when basic off-ball actions are generating cutting chances down the middle of the defense when simple execution in switching responsibilities should have neutralized the outcome from being able to take place. As Jokic posted up, he found a cutter twice because of breakdowns in these situations with the defender hugged up on the screener. 

It's not an easy play to guard, but it serves as another example of poor communication. Jokic received an inverted ball screen from Jeff Green, who slipped the screen to force a switch. McKinley Wright IV is now on Jokic, prompting Wood to double the ball in the paint. Theo Pinson seemingly signaled to Wood to handle the dunker's spot when it was clear he was already committing to doubling the ball. 

With the Mavs needing to play younger plays in more meaningful roles, the communication and recognition as plays develop has to be a focus area. They are getting picked on at times by superior scheming. Take this late game play against the Nuggets, for example. Jaden Hardy runs a shoot off the line, but there's no help defender in position because of a weak-side decoy action. 

Perhaps worst of all was a play that involved Doncic and Ntilikina in which both players appeared more like pedestrians waiting to cross at a crosswalk by looking both ways than they were weak-side defenders in need of executing a proper X-out. Neither player communicated or recognized the situation quickly enough, giving up an open look in the corner. 

There have been some just genuinely strange lapses from the weak-side defense that have given up open looks. Pinson is hovering toward the paint while Wood is playing in drop coverage. There is no need for Pinson to be drifting from the weak-side corner in this situation. Ish Smith throws a live-dribble, one-handed pass to an open shooter as a result. 

Opposing teams have found a lot of success against the Mavs by simply playing fast and making them have to run back and communicate in split-second situations. A transition possession that ended in a wide open 3-pointer is a prime display of their failures even when getting back. Pinson points to Doncic to take the corner, Doncic wants to tag Green, but nobody gets the corner.

For a team with smaller bigs, rebounding will naturally be a problem at times, but the lack of containment on the perimeter results in shortcomings when needing to close out plays, too. If there is a need for help to make a rotation in the paint, there has to be a help-the-helper sequence executed. Otherwise, the end result will be a wide open putback given up. 

Even in a situation when Doncic achieved a containment, resulting in a mid-range pull-up jumper, the Mavs proved unable to close out the play on the boards. When there isn't a need for a help-the-helper sequence, there simply has to be a battle on the defensive boards. Otherwise, these plays pile on as games go on. 

The focus late in the season shouldn't be on executing basic concepts. That should already be down pat. It should be about fine-tuning specifics to be able to nail the second, third, and fourth rotation as a play develops. Right now, the Mavs aren't paying enough attention to make the first rotation consistently. 

More Energy for Luka Doncic to Participate?

While there can be many variables regarding how Doncic and Irving can be utilized throughout games, it's important that Doncic has the necessary energy to be an impactful defender. Could a reduction in workload and time of possession by leaning more on Irving earlier in games help? Right now, there isn't a rim protector or low-man capable of covering up the group at large. 

Among the Mavs' problems is the inability to consistently cover up a defender in their unit that needs that type of help. While some superstars command doubles no matter what, Dallas isn't in a position to succeed staying in neutral coverages for long since they lack a dynamic on-ball option for most assignments. It becomes even more challenging without Kleber back yet.

Doncic has been needed to be covered up defensively at points throughout the season because of the workload he's carrying. With Irving now in the fold, can the Mavs find the proper balance of Doncic making exerting plays with basketball versus being an active participant defensively? 

There was a play from Porter that magnified the Mavs' struggles with being able to overcome mistakes out on the perimeter. Doncic needed Powell to put out a fire in the paint after Porter got downhill on an attack off the catch, but Powell is too small, lacking the tools to impact the finish. All it took was a euro-step and Porter had an easy finish on the other side of the rim. 

Among the issues the Mavs face is the inability to successfully scramble out of sending doubles because it requires Doncic to cover ground, or others to do it for him. It has been a major problem for the defense to handle the weak-side recoveries after doubling, especially against post-ups. 

There are some general breakdowns that occur with Doncic in off-ball situations that simply shouldn't be happening. With off-ball activity and Jokic with the ball in the middle of the floor, Doncic sort of just hovers in no man's land despite there being multiple passes to cutters on the play, resulting in an easy make. 

The Mavs cannot afford to have it be as easy as deploying Doncic's man as a ball screener to get picked on defensively. Jokic received an inverted ball screen without a single defender on the weak-side focused enough to make the help rotation after the ball screen coverage offered zero resistance. The end result was a wide open finish at the rim after Jokic dropped in the pass. 

It's much easier for a unit to execute when a superstar isn't forcing the group at large to essentially play 4-on-5. The improvement within control on that end needs to come with Doncic participating. Beyond that, communication as a unit has to be better, and Kleber is sorely missed. There are personnel limitations that may not be able to be schemed for, but they are not maximizing results. 

The Mavs' next chance to make strides toward defensive improvement is on Thursday when taking on the San Antonio Spurs. 

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here.

Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow Grant Afseth on Twitter.