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Dirk wrote:Hopefully PJ Washington randomly hits 4-5 threes. Mavs will all of a sudden look much better when these guys actually hit a 3.

This is a playoff reality.
Between G3 and G4 the biggest difference was PG-Harden-Mann shooting absurdly good. Early foul trouble on Luka and matador defense leading to some easy buckets probably gave them the confidence. Not having Kawhi may have increased the shots they get so they stayed in rhythm for Q1-Q2.

Even yesterday LAL-DEN, A.Gordon taking a huge offensive rebound and Murray getting a second shot was the difference.
If Lakers secured that rebound, they'd be on offense with 1 point lead. They'd probably take their time and score. OT or Lakers win would be more likely.

Sometimes a strip, one or two important rebounds, 1-2 extra shots means WIN or LOSE.
Kleber's defense at G2, PJ 3s... It helped to win for sure. We need more.

Archx wrote:

Bob8 wrote:

Archx wrote:
You have entire dedicated thread on Mavs reddit about this, people do notice. And then you have Slovenian fans talking about the same thing. It's not wrong to point out that he has to do better in the off season. It's a very fair criticism, it's basically the very same concern since he got in to the league.

Don't you think is kinda stupid to make big conclusions after his best RS and after only 4 playoffs games in which he played great D in 3, his biggest problem being 3pts % and Mavs still winning his minutes in every game, by 8 avg.?

Who cares about Reddit and Slovenian fans, wait at least until this series ends.

I'm not drawing any conclusions playoffs are still ongoing but what happened in RS is different to what is happening right now. His level of play, he's known of, has fallen mightly. If a MASS of people come to the very same conclusion, there is no need to defend it so heavily, specially when you know the criticism about his conditioning is valid and a constant problem.

Listen to NBA coaches on commentary, what is the 1st thing they'll say when a star player struggles with shooting? First thing they bring up is the fatigue, heavy legs, etc... You see a ton of his shots are short or completely off base, that's a nr1 sign of fatigue. And he's taken a lot of easy shots, specially for him.

Anyway.... i'm also getting tired talking about this It's a common concern which is basically clear to 99% of people. We'll see if he'll get enough rest to get his %'s back up otherwise it will be on Kyrie to carry offense again.

Sorry but your logic makes no sense. He has 10 days off, comes back and he can't shoot because of fatigue, heavy legs? Really?

Luka conditioning clearly slipped doing the year. I would say him being spotted at a buffet in Texas was not a good sign before that Rocket's game. Golden Corral is about the cheapest and nastiest buffet food you can get. I think its a combination of his conditioning and style of play. The amount of dribbling he does + herky jerky movements to maintain his dribble- puts a lot of pressure on his knees for a guy who weights 230-240. In the long run, I think he needs to play smarter and only go into Luka ball in the 4th quarter when needed. Aside from that, I would like to see him pace himself a lot more in the RS...and play more off the ball and in the post.

Its hard for young players to u/s this because they are chasing individual accolades at this point in their career. I personally would prefer to see Luka win a ring than the MVP. I rather him end his career with 5 rings and No MVps than 5 mvps and 1 championship. That's just me.

In the games the Mavs won this series Clippers shot 26.7% from 3 and 34.5% from 3
In the games the Clippers won this series they shot 62.1% from 3 (!) and 50% from 3

How does a team shoot 62% from 3 on the road?

Answer: magnets

ChipotleWest wrote:In the games the Mavs won this series Clippers shot 26.7% from 3 and 34.5% from 3
In the games the Clippers won this series they shot 62.1% from 3 (!) and 50% from 3

How does a team shoot 62% from 3 on the road?

Answer: magnets

Honestly, we just have to play more intense defense. I think we're being too relax against them on the perimeter. We have to pick up the defensive intensity as a unit. Especially on Harden.

Is he going to bench both centers AGAIN? I may not even watch.

ChipotleWest wrote:Is he going to bench both centers AGAIN? I may not even watch.

Read on Twitter

Slovenian fans are lobbying for better spacing for Luka.

ChipotleWest wrote:Is he going to bench both centers AGAIN? I may not even watch.

Read on Twitter

Math checks out, until it doesn't

Clippers are winning the series. Somehow Kawhi being out is a plus for them, Luka's knee is a plus for them and Kidd's decision making is a massive plus for them. I just don't see us overcoming all that.

ChipotleWest wrote:Clippers are winning the series. Somehow Kawhi being out is a plus for them, Luka's knee is a plus for them and Kidd's decision making is a massive plus for them. I just don't see us overcoming all that.

Mavs win!

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We all knew JKidds coaching would lose at least one game but it might be a 1st round knockout instead. Vogel and Ham made dumb mistakes too and their coaching careers are about to be terminated . Kidds stubborness should result in his termination as well if the better team Mavs lose to the Clippers , who feast on smaller lineups and the lineup Kidd wants to bet his coaching career on.

Playoffs are more or less done. I'm no doctor but this ain't going to get magically better.

tleikheen wrote:We all knew JKidds coaching would lose at least one game but it might be a 1st round knockout instead. Vogel and Ham made dumb mistakes too and their coaching careers are about to be terminated . Kidds stubborness should result in his termination as well if the better team Mavs lose to the Clippers , who feast on smaller lineups and the lineup Kidd wants to bet his coaching career on.

Since Cuban's taken over the only coach they've ever fired was Avery, and that was a situation where Donnie had a close relationship with Carlisle and they had already wanted him to take over. They won't fire Kidd in my opinion, unless this new ownership is different.

Kawhi out for game 5, we're screwed. Kidd doesn't know how to take advantage of that

Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

GermanFan120 wrote:Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

It's not just Luka though, indications are you're going to see Maxi out there in the 4th as the only center again getting cooked. Unless their 3 point shots just aren't falling all game or we can blow them out in the first 3 quarters we're probably gonna lose.

ChipotleWest wrote:

GermanFan120 wrote:Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

It's not just Luka though, indications are you're going to see Maxi out there in the 4th as the only center again getting cooked. Unless their 3 point shots just aren't falling all game or we can blow them out in the first 3 quarters we're probably gonna lose.

I did mention about we don't have brilliant coaching.

GermanFan120 wrote:Those who play basketball know when your shots are not falling, it is usually caused by fatigue (no leg) or injury (knee/ankle).

Unfortunately Luka has both problems atm, resulting in his scoring struggle in this series.

Without him playing like a super star and without some brilliant coaching, I think Clippers will prevail in 6 if they win G5 tomorrow.

Can we stop with fatigue nonsense. Luka was ok for 6 months, has scored far the most 3s with far the best % and after 11 days of rest he can't hit anything anymore from the first minute on, because of the fatigue? The only 3 he made in game 4 was late in 4th. He had fatigue in warmup already?

Luka was shooting 39.5% in post all star games, better than in pre All star games, no signs of fatigue there.