Coach Jason Kidd’s Promise: Where Luka Doncic’s Mavs Have Broken It

A Cowboys guarantee, a pudgy Mavs' superstar, an underwhelming Rangers' rotation and $450,000 test drive, all in this week's DFW sports notebook ...

 WHITT’S END: 12.10.21

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

*Then: “We will win this ball game. You can put it in three-inch headlines.” Now: “We’re going to win this game. I’m confident in that.”

So during his 10-day COVID absence, the Dallas Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy morphed into Jimmy Johnson? Pretty fiery comeback by the coach.

Since returning to The Star this week, he first attempted to rejuvenate the Cowboys-Washington rivalry by showing his team a video montage of the old, classic Cowboys-Redskins hate. He then channeled Johnson from 1993 in guaranteeing a Cowboys’ victory in a crucial game. Of course, Johnson’s prediction came before the NFC Championship against the 49ers; McCarthy’s merely ahead of an NFC East game in which Dallas will attempt to build on a two-game divisional cushion.

Johnson’s boast put pressure on his team. Did McCarthy’s give the underdog WFT motivation? “What am I supposed to say?” he explained. “I fully expect to win every game I’ve ever competed in.”

The game isn’t nearly as big. The guarantee not quite as bold. But nice to see the current coach back to work, and sticking his neck out for his team.

Echoed receiver Amari Cooper after hearing of McCarthy’s claim: “Of course man, we’re gonna go out there and get the W.”

And Dak Prescott’s response to being told of the quote? “Shit yeah!”

Bravo, coach.

*Despite a gutsy win in Memphis, the Dallas Mavericks are just 3-8 after a promising 9-4 start and I fear that coach Jason Kidd has already crafted the team’s ultimate epitaph: “We’re a jump-shooting team,” Kidd said after Tuesday night’s home loss to the Nets, “that’s not making jump shots.”

This flies in the face of what Kidd promised in training camp back in October:

“We’re not just going to rely on jump shooting,” he said then, “because that can leave you at any time during the season or in the playoffs.”

Just feels like some form of that excuse has been echoing throughout the organization since Tyson Chandler left after the 2011 championship. The Mavs shoot a higher percentage on 3-pointers than the opponent and they can beat anybody, anywhere, anytime. If not, they’re a .500 outfit that can’t threaten the West’s best.

Against the Nets, they missed 17 of 22 “wide open” treys and 37 of 46 overall. The problem isn’t really the shooting, it’s the lack of a Plan B.

Look, the Warriors are also a jump-shooting team. The difference is their movement without the ball and their purposeful cuts to the basket. Dallas has become so reliant upon the magical playmaking of Luka Doncic that it looks like the other four just plant themselves along the 3-point line and wait for an open shot to come their way.

As presently constituted, the Mavs aren’t good enough to win a playoff series. Instead, they’re doomed to repeat the refrain of all NBA losers:

“We got open looks … we just didn’t knock them down.”

*Mavs’ offensive problems are exacerbated by their personnel whiffs. Example: The team whining about not making jumpers is the same team that a year ago traded away Seth Curry, the second-best 3-point shooter in NBA history.

While he averages 16 points per game for the Sixers and is a career 44-percent shooter beyond the arc, the lone Mav flirting with 40 percent is seldom-used Trey Burke (10 of 24, 41 percent). No other player is making more than 37 percent. This includes Dallas’ latest attempts at “3 and D” guys, Reggie Bullock and Sterling Brown. Which is the same failure it made with evaluations of guys like Josh Richardson, Justin Jackson, Wesley Matthews, Justin Anderson, Jae Crowder, Wayne Ellington, Dahntay Jones, etc.

*You can be giddy about the Texas Rangers’ 2022 offense with the addition of proven hitters Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, but if Opening Day was today their starting pitching rotation would be Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Taylor Hearn, Spencer Howard and Kolby Allard.

Let’s all downshift from playoff talk until they acquire a couple of arms, shall we?

*I’m not a car guy. But after getting an invitation to test drive the $450,000 Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost, I’m a this car guy.

Introduced Ja (and myself) to the world of luxury sports cars. Test drove a $450k ⁦@RollsRoyce⁩ Ghost and gawked at a Ferrari worth almost $1M. Thanks #AvondaleDealerships and ⁦@EndicottPR⁩ for the hookup! ⁦@BBBSGREATERDAL⁩ #NotInTheChristmasBudget pic.twitter.com/y1CyRGqvk4

— Richie Whitt (@richiewhitt) December 4, 2021

Took it for a cautious – borderline freaked out – spin down Lemmon Ave. and out onto the Tollway last weekend and it wasn’t driving but more so floating in an unfathomable lap of luxury. Making turns was like easing a hot knife through butter. The doors pretty much open themselves. The striping is meticulously and perfectly hand-painted. The seats are like the softest pillow you’ve ever laid on, then three times softer. Oh, and did I mention the twin-turbo V-12 engine? V-12. I didn’t even know that was a thing.

If you’re like me, you think of a Rolls-Royce as a car to be driven in (perhaps complete with chauffeur). But this car – sportier and more responsive than in the past – was made for you to drive. Hinty hint hint: Now you know what’s on my Christmas list.

*Speaking of the finer things in life, what’s the most you’ve ever shelled out for a Christmas tree? For me it’s probably like 80 bucks. 

Wait, folks in DFW really pay $1,100 for a Christmas Tree? pic.twitter.com/ldXMkD6TMh

— Richie Whitt (@richiewhitt) December 9, 2021

Find it hard to believe people pay $1,100, but at the pop-up tent on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas apparently they do. I don’t know “they”.

*I’m officially tired of hearing NFL analysts crow about Patriots’ quarterback Mac Jones. The narrative goes like this: “I can’t remember when we saw a rookie quarterback play this well.”l”

Were they not alive in 2016?

It was just five seasons ago that a rookie named Dak Prescott led the Cowboys to 11 consecutive wins and a 13-3 record by throwing for 3,667 yards and 23 touchdowns to only four interceptions.

*No doubt about it, Luka was more passionate and more svelte as a member of the Slovenian team that played in the Olympics last Summer. His size is one of his strengths, and there’s zero complaints about him getting where he wants, when he wants. Hard to criticize the fitness or physique of a guy that on any given night can produce a 30-point triple-double.

But, yeah, the 22-year-old is doughy, almost pudgy.

Admittedly so. “I know I've got to do better,” Doncic said. “I had a long summer. I had the Olympics, took three weeks off, and I relaxed a little bit. Maybe too much. I've just got to get back on track.”

But the main number that concerns me with Luka is his free-throw shooting percentage. He’s at a career-low 68 percent. For a guy with his talent and skills, no excuse for regressing when it comes to unguarded 15-footers. Can’t even blame his diet for this.

*Wait, Simone Biles is TIME’s Athlete of the Year? Imagine the honor the magazine would’ve bestowed upon her had she not quit during the Olympics.

It would have been truly courageous and heroic had Biles and her mental health struggles quit before agreeing to the photo shoots and lucrative endorsements and capitalizing on becoming the face of the U.S. team that went to Tokyo. Instead, she reaped all those rewards, and then quit in the middle of the competition. Only to later admit that she wasn’t in the proper frame of mind from the start of the competition.

If you want to highlight mental health and a physical comeback, pick an athlete who dealt with both and didn’t quit, like … Prescott?

*Hot.

*Not.

*Cowboys-Redskins was one of the NFL’s best rivalries. Cowboys-Washington is … not there yet.

*Want a podcast about the Cowboys that’s not about the Cowboys? May I interest you in the latest offering about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: “America’s Girls”?

*There was a time when we’d cringe at the thought of Trevon Diggs hanging out with former Maverick Josh Howard. This is not one of those times. Kudos to both guys for teaming up to buy Christmas toys for kids in need.

*As I’m sure lots of children-turned-caregivers can attest, seeing after an 80-year-old parent with dementia can be, um, challenging. The forgetfulness. The frustration. The general orneriness. The heightened anxiety over everything, and nothing.

But then a friend told me about her recent experience and suddenly I feel fortunate and horrified at the same time. “Half the time I walk into Dad’s room,” she said, “he doesn’t recognize me. Instead, he starts flirting with me and asking for a kiss.” I didn’t laugh … until she did.

*NBA fans like Champ, and really, really despise Mavs Man.

*The COVID crisis only widened the world’s disparity between rich and poor as the wealthiest profited from the pandemic. This is not how this planet was designed to function. We’re supposed to embrace diversity, shun exclusivity and be a global community of fair and equal – not a bipolar separation of haves and have-nots. If I could push a button and divvy up every dollar in the planet equally to all its inhabitants, I’d do it in an instant.

*Time for the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Lawrence to stay healthy and make an impact in Dallas’ playoff drive. Since he signed his $65 million contract extension, he has 11.5 sacks in 34 games. Not enough bang for his buck. Yet.

*Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2021 is … “allyship.” Fancy word for “team-building”, I think.

*If you believe Terry Bradshaw is the least bit funny, we’ll never be friends. He’s a complete stooge who regularly butchers names, misidentifies players and over-acts every word and movement.

I don’t want the “common man” on my TV analyzing the NFL. I can get that from any schmo at any bar in any city. We deserve better.

*I’m not one to thoroughly peruse the All -22 film and break down 3-technique win rates, etc., but it’s clear to me that Prescott isn’t the same quarterback since he returned from his calf injury.

Too often in the last five games he’s looked like a player that doesn’t trust his protection. That uneasiness manifests itself in impatience (not sticking with his primary read long enough) and imbalance (throwing while stepping sideways or even backward). Even though he has time to slow down his roll out of the pocket, set his feet and step into a throw, Prescott often hurriedly launches awkwardly off one leg. It worked for a walk-off touchdown to CeeDee Lamb in New England. But more times than not, it results in dangerous inaccuracy.

*How many Americans you think have at least one tattoo? Answer: 30 percent. I’d have guessed higher. Maybe because I’m in the 30 percent.

*Some Cowboys fans groaned when it was revealed that running back Tony Pollard suffered a torn plantar fascia on his touchdown run last week in New Orleans and might not play Sunday. But expect no sympathy. While the Cowboys are getting almost all of their players back healthy, Washington continues to lose important contributors. Washington’s pain = Dallas’ gain.

*Never worked in the service industry, so I don’t appreciate tipping like I probably should. But apparently I’m in the minority around here, as Dallas is one of the most generous tipping cities in America.

*When UT-Arlington up and fired basketball coach Scott Cross in 2018, I both questioned the move while predicting it would haunt my alma mater.

Done and done.

At the time, the Mavs were relevant. They won 20+ games. They won Sun Belt Conference championships. They went to the NIT and were twice within one game of March Madness. Somehow, this wasn’t good enough for a school that not long ago played on a theater stage. So UTA hired Texas assistant Chris Ogden, who went 44-47 in three seasons in Arlington without sniffing a post-season anything. Then he quit, to go rejoin the staff at Texas. Now the Mavs are coached by long-time assistant Greg Young but are back to complete irrelevance, going 2-5 this season including embarrassing losses to Oklahoma State by 43 and North Texas by 28. (To be fair, Cross hasn’t done much to turnaround a bad program at Troy since he left.)

Moral to the story: Honestly, there is no moral. Just a horrible move that was all too predictable.

*There were deaths in Dallas this week attributed to street racing and road rage. Be careful out there.

*This Weekend? Saturday let’s go watch my brothers (alma mater, Duncanville) take on the brats (Southlake Carroll) in a high-school football state semifinal. Sunday let’s watch the good guys (Cowboys) take on the bad guys (Washington) in an NFC East showdown. As always, don’t be a stranger.