Grade The Mavericks: Samuel Dalembert

Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The season is over, and all we can do is either look back or look ahead. We’re going to take some time and look back, and the TSC team will be grading the Dallas Mavericks.

Hope the alarm clock is working because “Sam Slam” is up next.

Samuel Dalembert: 6.6 points, 56.8% fg,  6.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks

Ace Feltman (@MFFeLtman): B+ It wasn’t hard for Dalembert to remind fans of Tyson Chandler. When he’s on and on time Sammy D is a great rim protector, something pretty foreign in Dallas aside from Tyson Chandler in the 2010-2011 championship season. Sam Slams included, Dalembert also offered a bit of an offensive punch. But ultimately he missed a lot of court time through his own doing and also because of his basketball limitations. It’s no coincidence the Mavericks made their magical run with a stable force at the 5.

Brian Gosset (@Gosset41): B In the first half of the season, Dalembert’s grade was a C or even a D. He did a lot to annoy me, but with a great player like Dirk and a coach like Carlisle, they really helped shape Dalembert into the player we expected him to be when Cuban signed him. When he was a force (and stayed out of foul trouble), we were clicking as a team. If he continues to play like that and possibly increase his basketball IQ, we’ll be contenders this season.

Bailey Rogers (@BRogers789): B- I waffled between a B and a C, probably because Dalembert spent most of the season waffling between fantastic and terrible. It’s actually impressive that I ended up giving him a B- considering how often I yelled at him this year. Nothing was more frustrating this year than seeing a perfect pass bounce right off of Sam’s hands. And is it really so hard to pass the ball out after an offensive rebound?? Still, it felt like we got good Dalembert much more often down the stretch, and when he was good, he was soo good. Blocks, rebounds, slams, all the little things you need from a big next to Dirk, Sam gave us those in spades (at times). I just wish he would’ve been more consistent.

Jose De Leon (@JoseOfLion06): C Dalembert gets a “C” for inConsistency. See what I did there? He’s in the mix for second-best center to sport a Mavericks uniform thanks to his defensive presence but I was left wanting more and at times less too often. Confused? Let me explain. Hustle seemed optional at times (needed more). You can’t fully rely on him when the game is close (needed more). He played hero way too many times for someone who does not have a low-post game (needed less). I get it, scoring is fun. But it was beyond frustrating when he’d miss bunnies under the rim with a fresh shot clock instead of passing out to run a new play.

Rami Michail (@RamiMichail): C- When he showed up to play he was actually a B/B+ level player. When he decided to not play…he was more in the D/F range. Sam was key for the Mavs playoff birth and near first round upset. Problem is, we had to endure too much of the sleeping giant; making us wonder why he couldn’t be awake for the whole season.