Maxi Kleber, just a guy from Germany

[Dirk]

Dribbling and passing

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Wtf Maxi??

What a stupid foul by Kleber. What was he thinking?

Goodness thats a dumb foul maxi

Brainfart. Mavs had a foul to give and that was likely the reason.

Made other smart plays to make up for it though.

Spoiler:

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[DJ_3_Ball]

I love Maxi. He's probably my favorite Maverick.

It'd be close. Obviously, I love Luka. I really like what I've seen from Delon so far. Got a soft spot in my heart for Barea because he's been here so long & he was big for us in 2011!!! I think the whole NBA loves Boban.

But, Maxi is just a cool dude & he's talented. He has a great story. He's got a good sense of humor too. Love Maxi!

[Dirk]

I know it's been the narrative of a certain forum mod that the bench is carrying the Mavs.

Who?

One particular thing I'll be interested in is if we see Maxi switched on Giannis and somehow being able to build a wall with his body and somehow defend him --- like he did with an inferior player in Siakam

He did it again.

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[Archx]

I know it's been the narrative of a certain forum mod that the bench is carrying the Mavs.

Who?

I think he means that Marcuss guy

[HairyGOATee]

He might nee to fix his shooting base. His feet are pretty wide apart on his shots. Not 100% sure about this, but I think a narrower one may give him better results. Of course, it all depends.

I'd like to see him put more arc on his shots too. I've seen flatter shots, but his is still kinda flat. Justin Jackson's is a little flat as well.

[jpengland]

He might nee to fix his shooting base. His feet are pretty wide apart on his shots. Not 100% sure about this, but I think a narrower one may give him better results. Of course, it all depends.

I'd like to see him put more arc on his shots too. I've seen flatter shots, but his is still kinda flat. Justin Jackson's is a little flat as well.

I'll take 38% from deep.

He's a legit stretch big now.

[HairyGOATee]

He might nee to fix his shooting base. His feet are pretty wide apart on his shots. Not 100% sure about this, but I think a narrower one may give him better results. Of course, it all depends.

I'd like to see him put more arc on his shots too. I've seen flatter shots, but his is still kinda flat. Justin Jackson's is a little flat as well.

I'll take 38% from deep.

He's a legit stretch big now.

For sure, but I think it could be even better if he just made a few tweaks.

[Dirk]

Kleber ran circles around Embiid tonight. POG for me.

Maxi taking Embiid to school today

The best thing for me was that Maxi actually made two dumb plays when he first got into the game. He recovered from that to then just do his thing and not give a **** about anyone on the other team.

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Bonus: pass, smart bball

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[HairyGOATee]

Maxi's gotta box out better. I love his shot defense, but boxing out is also very important.

[Dirk]

Godly.

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[DJ_3_Ball]

I may be alone on this boat, but I'm hoping the silver lining in the Powell injury is the Mavs insert Kleber into the starting lineup & we get a real feel for what he can do i.e. Kleber turns 28 in a week & it's his 3rd year in the league. It's time to find out just where his ceiling is.

I use to think Maxi was on par with Powell on PnR/rim running plays & Dwight just got more opportunities. Maxi can definitely do some of what Powell did there, but there's no question Dwight is elite at that. Whoever the passer is, they'll throw the ball up 4-5 feet in front of Powell and he'll out leap & out quick 2 opponents for the finish. Maxi needs a more traditional set up. Imo, he finishes the lobs he's suppose & doesn't get to the ones when the pass is off target.

But, Maxi is a much improved shooter & starting to become capable of basic offensive plays. For example, he put the ball on the floor last night because the close out came quickly on his 3, and he took a midrange pullup because that's what the defense gave him and he hit it. Powell struggles whenever he has to put the ball on the floor & he's a very limited passer. I'm hoping we see Maxi grow in both of those areas during this stretch.

Seems like Maxi can handle all facets on defense, outside of the very quickest guards & the biggest, strongest Bigs. But, he does struggle with foul trouble. I feel like some of that is having to make up for poor team defense & not getting the respect from the refs, but some of it is poor defense/decision making.

I honestly feel like there's at least a decent chance Maxi takes a step forward in the next 2-3 weeks & we're sitting here saying "Do we really need to add a big at the deadline?"

Anyone else agree?

[J_T]

As I wrote elsewhere, Maxi has been better at P&R this season that Powell, higher points per possession. He has a bit of a bad streak as a shooter currently, though, especially considering that he is basically always wide open when he shoots the 3.

[DJ_3_Ball]

As I wrote elsewhere, Maxi has been better at P&R this season that Powell, higher points per possession. He has a bit of a bad streak as a shooter currently, though, especially considering that he is basically always wide open when he shoots the 3.

You have any links for that? I hadn't heard that before. That's interesting.

Maxi's been a little streaky lately, but you're still talking about a guy who is shooting 41.6% and 42.6% on 3s the past 2 months. There's nothing wrong with that.

I don't think Maxi has been as "wide open" as you're making it out to be. I always keep an eye on Maxi because he's maybe my favorite Mav. He's had several times he's been passed the ball late in the shot clock & had to heave up a 3.

He's had the same looks everyone else on this team gets. It's not like teams are daring him to shoot. Curry gets closed out on faster, maybe DFS gets more open looks. THJ lets it fly before the defense has time to decide lol.

If you remember Maxi's shooting 2 years ago, then you have no choice but to love what you're seeing from him beyond the arc this year.

[J_T]

As I wrote elsewhere, Maxi has been better at P&R this season that Powell, higher points per possession. He has a bit of a bad streak as a shooter currently, though, especially considering that he is basically always wide open when he shoots the 3.

You have any links for that? I hadn't heard that before. That's interesting.

Maxi's been a little streaky lately, but you're still talking about a guy who is shooting 41.6% and 42.6% on 3s the past 2 months. There's nothing wrong with that.

I don't think Maxi has been as "wide open" as you're making it out to be. I always keep an eye on Maxi because he's maybe my favorite Mav. He's had several times he's been passed the ball late in the shot clock & had to heave up a 3.

He's had the same looks everyone else on this team gets. It's not like teams are daring him to shoot. Curry gets closed out on faster, maybe DFS gets more open looks. THJ lets it fly before the defense has time to decide lol.

If you remember Maxi's shooting 2 years ago, then you have no choice but to love what you're seeing from him beyond the arc this year.

Couple of posts from 6th January:

Maxi has been playing well, he is turning into a reliable 3-pt shooter. I think that we might see him playing more, even after end of injury issues. Something tells me that Carlisle really appreciates his shooting improvement. Let's think for a moment... His 3p percentages in last 3 (and only) seasons have been:
31.3%
35.3%
40.7%
I think that Maxi might have a bright future as a 40% PF who can play defense and has the best point per possession production as a rolling man in this team. What's not to like?

I definitely don't want him traded. The team should explore how to make him and KP work together more efficiently, if possible. In a way he is like "KP lite" with better P&R play and better 3p shooting even.

I think we are being too harsh, these are not G-league players.

... I think Maxi has no choice but to take over P&R rolling man but he should be rolling wide to a 3-point more than so far this season. Among players with at least 1.5 PnR possessions per game he ranks FOURTH in the league, with 1.48 points per possession which is just absurd. Mitchell Robinson is first with 1.67, followed by Brandon Clarke (1.54) and Damian Jones (1.49). I'm interested if there is a single play that Mavs have that would have such PPP value. I doubt it. Maxi's PnR might be the single most efficient play in the arsenal.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Not gonna go overboard on this, but Maxi's been a bit disappointing to me lately. There's been several times over these past handful of games where an opportunity has existed for someone to step up & take over a game. Or at least contribute.

I still think Maxi has a bit more ceiling than he's demonstrated so far in his career. But, it's looking more & more like maybe he's just a role player. A valuable role player. But, he's really failed to seize the moment lately & step up when this team has needed him to.