Times are catching up with Jason Kidd The fact is, he might be losing it. Quickly. He's 37. He's played a ton of minutes in 1,222 NBA games not counting college and high school.
All of last year, we were inundated about how Kidd's finally learned to shoot. As we all should remember, the guy couldn't hit the broad side of a barn for the first 13 or so years of his career. He was an awful shooter that made his living at the free-throw line. Then, suddenly, at the age of 34, he learns how to shoot.
During his second tenure in Dallas, Kidd's shooting numbers flourished. To the point that if you didn't know any better, you'd think he was an excellent shooter.
Either Kidd is A) old, B) injured, or C) coming back down to Earth:
FG% | 3PT% | Rebounds | PPG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 42.3 | 42.5 | 5.6 | 10.3 |
2010 | 34.6 | 33.3 | 4.9 | 8.1 |
Career | 40.2 | 34.9 | 6.6 | 13.4 |
Kidd went 0-7 in last night's 99-95 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. No longer am I reading stories in the local rags about how great a shooter Jason Kidd is, unfortunately. In fact, reading these game stories, although much is made of Jason Terry's struggles, no one is mentioning Jason Kidd's season-long slump or virtual absence.
Now, you might counter with this, "Hey asshole, Kidd's a distributor, a facilitator. His purpose isn't to score."
Well, friends, things have changed. Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler are hurt. Roddy Beaubois has apparently some terminal disease. Offense is at a premium and they need someone to step up and find a way to score.
That goes on the shoulders of their veteran point guard and he is not finding ways to put the ball in the basket.
I'm afraid the guy's lost it to the point that if he's not getting wide-open three pointers all game, then he is a non-factor in scoring, which is fine when Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler are on the court. Without them, Kidd's backward pedaling is absolutely killing this team. Plus, over the past three seasons, his rebounding numbers have dropped, another sign that he's about to get his AARP card. And I haven't mentioned today that he still can't defend a soul.
Tell me again how the Kidd-Devin Harris trade worked out in the Mavericks' favor.
