Fishing for a Leader
Why the Dallas Mavericks need point guard Derek Fisher in the short term
As promised, Derek Fisher started his first game for the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night against the Detroit Pistons. The 38-year-old point guard with five NBA title rings scored two points.
But don’t take that as a failure. The Mavs won the game against Detroit, 92-77, and that was part of the goal of signing Fisher last week. The Mavs were struggling at the point guard position and needed someone to stabilize the offense.
Fisher isn’t what he was in his prime, but he still handles the ball and the offense with a great deal of alacrity.
Fisher isn’t what he was in his prime, but he still handles the ball and the offense with a great deal of alacrity.
One number that stands out is Fisher’s plus-minus from the game, which was plus-13. What is plus-minus, you ask? It’s a statistics the NBA uses to gauge point differential when players are in and out of a game.
On Saturday, the Mavs scored 13 more points with Fisher on the floor than with him on the bench. Only O.J. Mayo was better.
The Mavs will happily take that at the point guard position because the former starter, Darren Collison, had a plus-4 entering the Pistons game. The Mavs’ record entering the Pistons game (7-9) probably trumped the plus-minus rating.
But the Mavericks were desperate enough to hand Fisher the job.
An unexpected roster
The Mavericks didn’t expect to lose Jason Kidd to New York in the offseason. They expected to sign Deron Williams away from Brooklyn and pair him with Kidd. But his defection changed the complexion of this roster more than anyone expected.
The Mavs signed Collison and O.J. Mayo to add to Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones. Collison is the closest to being a true point guard, one that can facilitate and set up others to score.
Dirk Nowitzki’s absence plays a role in Fisher’s signing. If Nowitzki were playing right now, he would make Darren Collison look better.
But in three NBA seasons he’s already played for two teams. Last year he finished with 4.8 assists, good for No. 24 in the NBA. This year, Collison is averaging 6.3 assists. He’s shown improvement, but it’s still just average.
I have to believe Dirk Nowitzki’s absence plays a role in Fisher’s signing. Chances are if Nowitzki were playing right now, he would make Collison look better.
But with Nowitzki gone and Collison still growing into Carlisle’s offense — the offense Kidd ran to perfection — he’s acting more like an inconsistent steering wheel than a quality driver.
Fisher is a quality point guard, even if he’s ancient by NBA standards. He’s necessary, but his best days are part of the past.
Collison’s best days, most agree, are in the future.
It’s the present that’s the problem, and that will continue to be the problem until Nowitzki comes back. Or at least that’s what the Mavericks hope.
