Jason Kidd addresses the issues revolving around Luka Doncic’s minutes allocation: "It's a marathon…Twitter is hell of a coach"
Luka Doncic was placed on a minutes restriction at the end of last season due to a calf strain. The 23-year-old star did not return until Game 4 of the Dallas Mavericks' first playoff series.
Since healing, many believed that Doncic would be serving more minutes on the floor. That has not been the case. Jason Kidd has been playing Doncic on a minutes allocation, and many are questioning why.
Last season, Luka finished with an average of 35.4 minutes on the floor per game. This season, he is maintaining 36.8 minutes a game.
In any case, Kidd relays his decisions down to the fact that Dallas is a stronger team this year. There stands no reason to exhaust his main star when he can allocate his minutes and prolong the energy.
We have all seen Doncic have giant offensive performances when exhausting himself seemingly alone on the court. His coach now believes he does not have to do that.
Apparently, the rest of the team agrees.
Jason Kidd outlines:
“It’s a marathon … We’re going to be judged publicly every night but internally we truly believe we’re going in the right direction.”
If the Mavericks' internal unit believes they are going in the right direction, that should be all that matters. Yet, social media seems rather critical of Kidd's decision to keep Doncic's minutes in mind.
Kidd explains to the press that his team is different this year-round, and they have to plan to stay healthy for the entire season. Dallas saw what happened to Doncic last season after he played his hardest for several minutes. He was absent in the first three games of their playoff showing.
Jason states:
“You gotta play all 82, this is a different team than last year and we’re starting to come together … You guys get a lot of questions about you now, minutes, you know it’s hard. Twitter’s a hell of a coach”
Jason Kidd: "It's a marathon. People have to understand you don't win an award for the first 20. You get to learn about your team, you get to learn about each other. We're going to be judged publicly every night but internally we truly believe we’re going in the right direction." https://t.co/XhxztBTPkn
Luka Doncic does not have to carry all the weight any longer
Last season, Doncic had 27 games scoring over 30 points, six games over 40, and one 51-point night. So far this season, Doncic has 16 games over 30 points and five over 40.
It looks like Jason Kidd has got Doncic the weapons he needs because, even in allocating his minutes, Doncic is still dominating, arguably more than he was last season.
The differences from last season are JaVale McGee, Davis Bertans, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jaden Hardy, Christian Wood, and most recently, Facundo Campazzo.
The additions to Dallas have helped as supplementary units to Luka Doncic. Building around Doncic means finding secondary players comfortable in the position they hold as support.
Luka needs reliable teammates who can create space and make moves reliably. Losing Kristaps Porzingis seemed a big blow at the time, but this season has arguably unveiled the lack of necessity of him in Dallas.
McGee replaces the height and rebound that left with Porzingis. The problem was Kristaps' game overlaid with Doncic's quite a bit, regardless of him being a 'big man.'
The new and improved Dallas squad seems to be working out well enough that Jason Kidd believes he does not need to overplay Luka. That says a lot.