Effort and not putting up with Dray's dirty bull s***. JJ might have settled on a new favorite role player based on these closing lineups.
I think Cuban is right - Maxi is a big who can move his feet extremely well on defense. Combine with smarts and willingness to do the dirty work and he's surpisingly valuable I have no idea why his jumper has just disappeared. He might be the Lakers #1 center if he could hit 3's again. He might still be going forward - JJ plays a switch heavy scheme. So in the 4th quarter I could see JJ going with Maxi and Smart with Luka/Lebron/AR. When Lebron goes into 4th quarter defense mode you have both him and Maxi will be tough for defenses to score on
his problems in dallas the past couple years were a) forgetting how to shoot, and b) health. the first seems mental, but that shot is super flat, so it's never going to be great. the health, i fear, is the one that is going to disappoint people. he's barely been able to stay on the floor, so relying on him is dangerous. i'll take it for now, though!
I would pay attention to that Maxi screen instead of just Kennard - just wipes out Kennards guy on these off ball screens. If only he could get his 3 points shot he's like having another sneaky good Marcus Smart out there
He'll definitely be a key piece in the playoffs. I think he will be the most trusted center by JJ in crunch time. Hope he continues this good play and arrives at his peak to April
