Anywhere But in the Way

Posted by Rob Mahoney on May 12, 2010 under Commentary, News |

If one were to write a novel on Rodrigue Beaubois’ rookie season from the perspective of Mavs fans, there would be two villains cackling insidiously at the end of every act: Rick Carlisle and J.J. Barea. Carlisle receives more of the blame and Barea more of the scorn, but there’s no question in the eyes of the MFFL legion that these two are at fault.

Yet in spite of the declarations of Beaubois’ import in recent weeks, both Carlisle and Barea will be with the Mavs next season.

Rick deserves his share of questioning for his handling of Beaubois’ minutes over the course of the season, and that has backlash has already come and gone. The coach made a mistake, and just like any other player, coach, or manager in this league, he’s entitled to a few. No one decision should cost anyone in this industry their job, regardless of the (reasonable) repercussions. Dallas was right to retain him, and that justification goes far beyond the fact that Mark Cuban is contractually obligated to pay Carlisle, regardless.

Barea, on the other hand, will continue to be the target of fan bile as long as he receives minutes ahead of Beaubois at point guard. At various points in the season, this argument was fairly valid, as Beaubois’ potential production based on what we’d seen of him exceeded Barea’s utility. However, the considerable wrench in the works was Beaubois’ excellence at the 2 and his relatively meh production running the point; Rodrigue may yet be a legit 1, but at the moment he’s not quite ready to run the offense without the safety net of another lead guard on the floor. Sometimes that was Barea, but for the most part, Beaubois’ on-floor counterpart was Jason Kidd, the man Beaubois was supposed to be playing in place of.

That means that if anyone was really standing in the way of Beaubois in his pursuit of first-year greatness, it was Jason Terry and Caron Butler, who played a majority of the minutes at shooting guard.

The problem with playing Beaubois over either of those players, as previously discussed in this space and in others, is their considerable experience and reputation. All of those players are proven veterans with expectations of themselves and from themselves and others, including the man paying the bills and the man handing out minutes. Throw all of that in a blender and it’s easy to see why Beaubois, despite his considerable talent and ability to produce this season, could get lost in the mix. It’s not right, but it’s understandable.

What I fail to see is why Barea is considered anything but a blessing at this point. If the team’s summer goes according to plan (in terms of Beaubois’ development, not necessarily their free agent dreams), Barea will be the third point guard on the roster. The team could do far worse. J.J. is a capable backup at the position, but to have a third PG at just a $1.8 million price tag is a terrific find. Prior to the beginning of the ‘09-’10 season, Barea had a place in the discussion over the best backup point guards in the league. If he’s relegated to third guard duties, is there any question he’s the top player in that role? For that perfectly reasonable salary, Barea really is a gift.

With increased access, resources, and technological assistance, it’s become easier and easier to pick apart a player’s game to show what they’re not. With Barea, I’ll make it even easier for you: the one thing Barea is not is in the way. He’s not an obstacle in Rodrigue Beaubois’ career arc, he’s the safety net that will allow Beaubois the security he needs to do his thing next season. Both will step up in order to decrease Kidd’s usage and responsibilities, and rather than set the back-up point guards against one another, it’s important that we see how Beaubois and Barea can each bring something very different to a team sorely in need of offensive variety.

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  • Inhellonlythedevilcanhelpyou

    You article today Feb 12 2011 proves you wrong in many ways. Granted that unfortunately Beaubois got injured but still JJ is a way better offensive option for many reasons. For one he is more experienced than Beaubois, JJ is a 5'10" point guard with a shooting guard mentallity that attacks the basket with no fear, he is superbly fast, and having Kidd as a mentor has been great for JJ's game. His court vision is really good and he is passing the pall exceptionally well and those alley oops to Chandler prove it.

    Nothing against Beaubois but JJ is a spark off the bench that many teams do not have and Carlise loves his work ethic and his attitude in taking charge of the game when needed. I believe JJ is the future and hopefully Beaubois can recover because he would be a great back up point guard for JJ when Kidd is gone.

  • lol rob you out did yourself on this lil gem.

    rodrigo beabouis isnt a "true" pg it will take him 3 to 4 years to develop into one. Last year rodrigo looked like bobby carpenter out there on the court when he was playing point guard. He didnt show any kind of leader-ship skills at pg & always got mad when someone blew by past him to the hoop & it resulted in mr roddy fouling the other persone next time he ran down the court out of frustration. rodgrigo is way over-hyped in dallas land. I got to see this kid play alot last year and he didnt impress me at pg at all. His natural position in the nba will most likely be at sg. I think barea's job at backup pg is safe here in dallas for a long time. I also wouldnt be surprised if the mavs resign jj to like a 4 year deal soon & make him a starter when kidd retires. If derek fisher can be a starting pg in the nba then jj barea can be one too. Mavs just dont have the pieces in place yet. The mavs know what their doing keeping jj is a safe bet.

  • Andrew

    Great piece.

    However, I think Carlisle made many silly mistakes besides his faulty rotations. I really dislike Carlisle's offensive gameplan, particularly in the half-court. Isos, isos, isos, how about a few more of those. Carlisle needs to watch Utah or LA's offense function: endless weak side screens, curls, constant motion, etc...
    Since Dallas doesn't have a quick point guard who can get into the paint and create offense, they need to adopt something like the triangle offense. Why did Dallas end up shooting so many jumpers? Part of it is that they have a team full of jump-shooters, but at least part of it has to do with the fact that they had a predictable offensive game plan. I don't know if Kidd or Carlisls called most of the plays, but much of the responsibility lies with Carlisle.

    Oh, and the one Dallas player who COULD get into the lane in order to get easy shots was the guy Carlisle had sitting on the bench THE WHOLE SEASON. I don't care if its awkward that you have veterans with strong reputations at the 2-guard. If they don't produce, they don't deserve to play.

    Dallas needs a new coach.

  • Brendan K.

    You WILL write a novel about Beaubois' rookie season, won't you Rob?

    Please?

  • Kirk Henderson

    I'm glad you mentioned the uncomfortable fact that it was also JET and (later in the season) Butler who actually blocked a lot of Roddy's minutes when it became clear that he was not ready for PG duties this season.

    I appreciate JET - he was brought in under the worst circumstances I can imagine with Nash leaving. He struggled at first, then adapted and thrived, which is more admirable now in retrospect than any of us fans could understand at the time. My hope for him now is that he continues to adjust - to fewer minutes.

    If the Mavs don't move Butler than I have a similar hope for him. His PER is terrible for the number of minutes he plays and he is a possession waster. If he could come to grips with the fact that he is a tier-2 or tier 3 player, then I think everyone would benefit, as having Butler as a 7th man would be awesome.

    Of course, this also stipulates playing Roddy at 2 some, which I think everyone is generally against. But then again I sort of dislike the general mindset that you have to have a point guard, a shooting guard, a small forward, a power forward and a center. If you have two ball handlers, two bigs and a multifaceted 5th man on the floor I think you're fine.

    Assuming Carlisle is the coach I think he is, every player should need to know the role of every position for every play. With that in mind, having Roddy on the floor more with Kidd or Barea or Terry or Butler should be completely workable, as long as the offense is more fluid and less isolation.

  • Crawford

    Salient points. Agree with conclusions.

  • Cynthia

    I agree with this IF JJ is the 3rd option. How many teams have a little high engery waterbug as the the 3rd option? Not many. But the big thing is the "IF". If Beaubois is relagated to 3rd option (at best) then Carlisle has done yet another disservice not only to Beaubois but the team as well. And no matter how good JJ is at 1.8 million THAT won't be enough.

  • Jason Chandler

    Good points all, Rob. The only thing I would add is that I really thought the Mavs were onto something late in the season with playing Terry and Beaubois at the same time.

    They were playing kind of interchangeable roles where Roddy would bring the ball up the court quickly and if a penetration opportunity didn't quickly present itself Terry could sometimes take over and help run the half-court offense. Terry's shooting ability spaces the floor (at least TYPICALLY it would...), and Roddy's penetration gets Terry and others open looks.

    They're a bit of a defensive liability when they're out there together, but no worse than what we regularly saw with the 3 guard offense.

    Wish we'd seen a little more of that look down the stretch.

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