Jason Terry: Shoot the ball!

I'm befuddled by Jason Terry and what his role is on this Mavericks team.

The guy shoots 49.2% from the floor, 41.9% from beyond the arc, yet he only averages 7.2 FGAs per game. As a starter the last 4 games, he has shot even better, hitting 57.1% from the floor and 50.0% from beyond the arc, yet he has averaged only 8.75 FGAs per game. After Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier, he has the highest "points-per-shot" average on the team. To me, that is indicative of a player that's not being aggressive enough offensively. The question is: Why?

My personal suspicion is that Jason Terry has been trying so hard to become somebody he's not (Steve Nash) that he has gone away from the strengths of his game. Is this because of pressure from Nelson? Is this because of pressure he has placed upon himself? I'm not sure, but rather than try and find a culprit to place blame upon, I'd like to look at what the Mavericks might do, going forward, to better utilize Terry and improve the overall team play.

It seems to me that there are some guys on the team that shoot a bit too much, and some that don't shoot enough. With that in mind, I started thinking about the "ideal" shot distribution for this team. Naturally, that also encompasses the ideal minute distribution.

With Stackhouse about to come back from injury and Daniels presumably about to go on the shelf or 2-3 weeks, I think the Mavericks should use this minute distribution for the time being:

Dampier 30-32 - Bradley 16-18
Nowitzki 38 - Henderson 10
Howard 34 - Stackhouse 14
Finley 32 - Stackhouse 16
Terry 32 - Harris 16

Once Daniels comes back, it would probably be appropriate to trim back Finley's and Howard's minutes a bit more and then divide backup minutes between Stackhouse and Daniels based upon their play.

As for a shot distribution for the time being, I'd do something along these lines:

Dampier 8 - Bradley 3
Nowitzki 18 - Henderson 3
Howard 10 - Stackhouse 10
Finley 15
Terry 12 - Harris 5

I believe that would translate into point production as follows:

Dampier 10.6 ppg
Bradley 3.0 ppg
Nowitzki 25.5 ppg
Henderson 3.5 ppg
Howard 11.3 ppg
Stackhouse 12.0 ppg
Finley 17.1 ppg
Terry 16.0 ppg
Harris 5.0 ppg

TOTAL: 104.0 ppg

By adding Terry as a third main scorer into the mix rather than as a bit player, I think the Mavs could push their way back into elite status as an offensive club, whether or not Terry can play the point position like Nash could. Terry is one of the most efficient scorers on the team; to continue to ask him to dribble up and then stand by while less efficient options take the shots doesn't make much sense to me.


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