Dallas Mavericks: Put that chip back on your shoulder, Dennis

The Dallas Mavericks are two games into the season and we still haven’t seen what we know Dennis Smith Jr. is capable of. What does he need to do to get that back?

When the Dallas Mavericks desperately needed a big bucket at the end of the game yesterday, Harrison Barnes and Dirk Nowitzki weren’t there to take it. Luka Doncic didn’t take it, despite a very good game up to that point, J.J. Barea didn’t take it and thank goodness Wesley Matthews didn’t take it.

The biggest shot of the game and the one that sealed the victory for the Mavericks was taken by Dennis Smith Jr., who to that point hadn’t played a particularly solid game. The fact it, not a lot of NBA players have that kind of swagger when it comes to the final minutes of a close game.

This decision proves that Coach Carlisle still knows what Dennis can do. In his first two games of the season, he has not played very well. Both on offense and on defense, Smith has looked lackluster and just like he was not quite ready for the season to be here yet.

My theory for this is that in his rookie year, DSJ understood that he was undervalued. By being taken 9th in the 2017 NBA Draft, it showed that 8 teams didn’t understand what he was capable of. Being the competitor that he is, Dennis took the entire 2017-18 season to prove people wrong.

I think he succeeded in that. Mavs fans knew by the end of the year that we had gotten someone special in that 2017 draft and already had big expectation for what he would do this year. I even predicted that he could win the Most Improved Player award at the end of the season. Two games in and we have not seen that Dennis yet.

Dennis Smith Jr. needs to get last year’s chip on his shoulder back soon. He put in a lot of work this summer to be able to compete at an even higher level, but that work and that attitude aren’t showing through at this time. I believe they will soon.

Let’s just call these first two games growing pains and keep moving forward. Anyone who was worried about how the team looked against Phoenix were probably still suffering from the hype of the summer, but losing that game and then winning against Minnesota should help the morale of the fanbase and Dennis Smith alike.

Smith and the Mavs will get their next shot at proving who they are on Monday when they take on the Chicago Bulls, this should be a good chance for another Mavs win, but they will need to play like they did against the T-Wolves in order to succeed.