The Dallas Mavericks made no shortage of recent changes to its coaching staff in addition to the hiring of Jason Kidd.
Among the new additions the Mavericks made to its coaching staff includes the hiring of assistant Igor Kokoskov. He has extensive assistant coaching experience in the NBA in addition to being the head coach at the time of Luka Doncic's EuroBasket run in 2017.
Many have credited Kokoskov for his impressive understanding and creativity in relation to half-court offensive schemes. Kidd already sees the benefit of the 'genius' that Kokoskov brings to the table.
“He’s very talented with the play calling,” Kidd told Mavs.com. “I think when you talk about Igor, Igor is an incredible coach and more of a genius when you talk about play calls and being able to put guys in different positions to be successful.
“And I think when you have that relationship when you talk about offensive coordinator and quarterback, it’s smooth. And that’s going to give us an advantage, because when you talk about the best player having the ball, and that feel that Igor has is just going to put guys in position to have success.”
Beyond the value of Kokoskov's half-court 'genius' lies the strong relationship and understanding he has of Doncic. Having that impact with the team's superstar given Kidd is at the start of his tenure with the Mavericks organization is quite helpful.
The Mavericks got creative with the assistant coaching hires they made to support Jason Kidd. There's a blend of personnel who are former players (and current even) along with those who have extensive experience as an NBA assistant.
It will be fascinating to see how the Mavericks choose to deploy their half-court offense with Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis as the main focus. Kidd has made it clear that Porzingis will be deployed using his 'whole game' beyond perimeter shooting.
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