Ever since the meltdown last year, the majority of Mavs fans and writers have criticized the Jason Kidd trade. Worst of all, we told ourselves and the world that Jason Kidd can’t shoot, and therefore can’t score.
And yet, Kidd has repeatedly punched game-changing three pointers throughout this 2008-2009 season. He did again last night. Dallas came from behind to tie it up in the 4th Quarter. First Dirk, then JET, then Kidd. Suddenly, Mavs are up by 8 and climbing. But it was that clutch three pointer by Jason Kidd that really got my attention.
Why do I get this instant sick feeling in my gut whenever he lobs a three into the air? What is it that draws immediate and instinctual criticism from me as though he’d just made the most foolish decision of the game?
It’s his reputation as a bad shooter. We all hated the trade because we lost a slashing scorer for a no-shooting assist freak. But assists weren’t enough. We were angry. We were disappointed. How could Mark Cuban give up so much youth and energy for such an aging passer? Sure, he’s a GREAT distributor, but the Mavs are low on consistent scoring threats. That was our rationale.
But now that the regular season has ended and the Mavs face off against 3rd seed San Antonio in Round 1, could we finally take a step back, reevaluate our biases, and realize that Jason Kidd produces assists, rebounds, steals, and clutch threes consistently enough for us to lift the love ban? Spread a little love Jason’s way. Surely he’s earned a renewed reputation as a clutch shooter.
And when the playoffs start, he better keep it up. :)
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Watching the first round of the playoffs, yeah we owe an apology. J Kidd has done his job. This guy makes the team better, and many times it isnt in the stats. His points really to come at key times, making defenses pay for cheating off him.
[...] to automatically throw Kidd out with the bathwater. As I mentioned in a previous post about Jason Kidd, we probably owe the guy an apology. Kidd was clutch in several games this year. His three point [...]