RS 19/20 - G28 - Mavs @ Sixers (Fri 8PM)

[DJ_3_Ball]

The mavs had a fairly easy schedule early in the season. With Houston and Denver back on track, it seems the Mavs will settle for around 6th in the West when the dust has settled.

They beat LAL basically twice already, won vs Bucks, HOU, TOR etc... I'm confident that they can climb higher than 6th spot

I agree with arkuro. I was looking at projections last night. I think the Mavs are on pace for 53 wins this season. That's a .648 winning pct. That would put the Mavs in the 5th spot, currently.

What happens if Utah gets Mike Conley back & he starts playing like himself? I think Denver will make an addition, maybe Jrue Holiday. I think HOU will figure out some sort of 3 or 4 team trade to utilize their draft assets to add a player. I don't think the Mavs are finishing ahead of LAL or LAC.

Those 3 & 4 spots will be competitive, very competitive, and if the Mavs drop winnable games like they did vs MIA & vs BOS, then the 5th or 6th seed is probably where they end up, imo.

There's something else critical in play here. DEN just slid past LAC for the 2nd spot in the West tonight (a spot they likely will relinquish Sun @ LAL). The Mavs could potentially be 4-0 since Luka went down vs MIA (which is kinda mind-blowing & also very inspiring). If they had gone 4-0, then the Mavs would be 2nd in the West (actually not that far behind LAL at that point, only 2.5 games back).

The way the Clippers seem content to load manage and take a middle of the road record into the Western conference playoffs, it's conceivable the Mavs could fight for a better regular season record than the Clippers. (what's also scary about that is the possibility of a 3rd/6th or 4th/5th 1st round matchup with LAC).

I actually don't mind taking on the Lakers in the WCF. But, if the Mavs have to face LAC in the playoffs, then having home court advantage would be nice. Because LAC is 14-2 at home, and I think the Mavs home record so far this season is just a fluky, small sample size thing.

Mavs can knock off TOR on Sunday, and then the schedule is pretty doable and hopefully Luka is back in the fold. There's not another murder's row stretch like this on the schedule until mid-March.

Who knows we might have a shot at the 3rd seed or better still. This was a big win tonight, and all of those Raptors sitting out on Sunday could be really big too!

[arkuo]

Anyone else noticed we still ran the same plays? But without Luka and we replaced his spot with Brunson.

That, to me, says Brunson might just be a tad untradeable. At least for this season. And definitely not a throw in trade piece. Carlisle likes interchangable pieces.

Maybe for the right deal he'd be let go. But not as filler.

On a side note: I wouldnt mind Frank Kaminsky or Cody Zeller this summer. Both legit 7 footers who can shoot from 3. Imagine if those two got the same looks Powell was given, they'd be draining those all night if you give them space. That's essentially a 5-out offense with everyone who can hit 3s.

[dirkforpres]

Anyone else noticed we still ran the same plays? But without Luka and we replaced his spot with Brunson.

That, to me, says Brunson might just be a tad untradeable. At least for this season. And definitely not a throw in trade piece. Carlisle likes interchangable pieces

No way Brunson should be getting traded without a proven star in return. Dallas will definitely be getting calls on him though because he has been fantastic.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Anyone else noticed we still ran the same plays? But without Luka and we replaced his spot with Brunson.

That, to me, says Brunson might just be a tad untradeable. At least for this season. And definitely not a throw in trade piece. Carlisle likes interchangable pieces.

Maybe for the right deal he'd be let go. But not as filler.

On a side note: I wouldnt mind Frank Kaminsky or Cody Zeller this summer. Both legit 7 footers who can shoot from 3. Imagine if those two got the same looks Powell was given, they'd be draining those all night if you give them space. That's essentially a 5-out offense with everyone who can hit 3s.

By & large the Mavs don't run plays when Luka is in the game. Most of the time Luka calls his own plays. Occasionally, Carlisle will motion a play in from the sidelines.

Tim MacMahon did the story about it here: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28115706/how-rick-carlisle-learned-stop-worrying-love-luka-doncic

I agree, with you though. Carlisle always praises Brunson to the media. I think he sees Brunson as Barea 2.0, and I don't think Carlisle would allow the FO to trade Brunson. RC would make the price so high for Brunson that no other team would be willing to pay it. Brunson will probably be a Mav for the next 5 years easy, maybe the next 10 yrs.

[fuller4379]

Wins against Milwaukee and Philadelphia without Luka is great!

[Bluelabel24]

lol they paid simmons 30m and the guy is just scared to even shoot.. with KP manning the paint tonight he goes for 12pts.
Philly is just one of those teams who likes to have young talent and is not prioritizing the FIT of those players, imo they should choose between simmons or embiid because those 2 just make it hard for each other.

[BlueSan]

Colour me surprised... this team has done extremely well without D. With raptors losing players surely theyare expected to win the next game, they wont be underdogs first time since losing Doncic. Lets see how they do

[Archx]

Anyone else noticed we still ran the same plays? But without Luka and we replaced his spot with Brunson.

That, to me, says Brunson might just be a tad untradeable. At least for this season. And definitely not a throw in trade piece. Carlisle likes interchangable pieces

No way Brunson should be getting traded without a proven star in return. Dallas will definitely be getting calls on him though because he has been fantastic.

I wouldn't even trade Brunson for Ben. So yeah, he is more valuable to this team than some give him credit for. But so far this season he's been up and down like THJ, and without being consistent, sometimes he can look bad when he is forcing it.

[Dirk]

Smart team, lead by a general.

Spoiler:

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

The Mavs adjustments have been a treat to watch. They have a plan for each team. It's a joy to watch, because you can look ahead to the future and foresee success when they grow more together and new pieces are added.

I liked the touch of bringing in the Australian sniper.

We won that game literally because of KPs Defense. The amount of time Sixers has to reset after running into KP was insane, plus his helping anytime someone came in the paint was elite.

KP has been great: he has the mentality, the instincts and the athletic gifts. But this has been a team effort. KP has been put in a situation to succeed.

What cannot be unappreciated though --- the Mavs scheme. Even a guy like Powell is not being appreciated for what he has been improving on (i.e, defending better without fouling). They blatantly didn't care if the Sixers took midrange or long range shots. They disrespected them completely. They refused to engage in a physical battle and allowing drives, etc. That allows to have two guys controlling the basket. And KP mostly having the room to play the safety at any time.

The Mavs are just continuing to show that a big bodied center isn't a priority at all. Your offense will suffer and on defense, you can scheme your way into not being that handicapped, even when you're overmatched (Sixers are big and still didn't take advantage).

An example...

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Are Mavs using the zone this game? If so, is it working?

Yes and yes. Best thing was that it was so blatant and so early in the game. Just no respect for Philly.

Mavs zone

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Also, sometimes there's nothing a defender can do when you're screened like this

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Curry has trouble with some defenders, but it was cool to see him not lose confidence and show that he can bit big guys like this

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

And a relevation this year, DFS dribbling, passing, making a play or two (also has bad turnovers, but he should actually continue to work on it)

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

The defense is there

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

[Captain_Obvious]

Are Mavs using the zone this game? If so, is it working?

Yes and yes. Best thing was that it was so blatant and so early in the game. Just no respect for Philly.

Mavs zone

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

That has to be the play of the century lol. Lets all pile on the baseline and pass iteratively into the paint. The zone hit them hard. Brett Brown standing there stoic, how is that possible?

[BlueSan]

You play that stuff against Dallas and Luka and you get murdered for open 3s all over. Shows Simmons as a playmaker is miles behind the level needed.

[Teffer10]

Wins against Milwaukee and Philadelphia without Luka is great!

And on the road too!

Wins on the road against Lakers, Rockets, Nuggets, Bucks and Sixers is an extremely incredible feat considering what this team was a year ago.

[Teffer10]

Anyone else noticed we still ran the same plays? But without Luka and we replaced his spot with Brunson.

That, to me, says Brunson might just be a tad untradeable. At least for this season. And definitely not a throw in trade piece. Carlisle likes interchangable pieces

No way Brunson should be getting traded without a proven star in return. Dallas will definitely be getting calls on him though because he has been fantastic.

I do think Brunson's value has increased dramatically along with a few others like DFS, Seth and THJ. I still don't think we have anything close to get someone near the caliber of Beal but if this continues we certainly need to start thinking about testing the waters with some of these guys to see if we can land a solid 3rd option.

[mpoo_sin]

Boy THJ could have 30 pts in this game already. I mean, don't get me wrong he's played very well, but just when you start to think THJ could be a legit star in this league, he shows you his limitations.

On the flip side, the moment you start to think THJ is trash & has lost it, he starts hitting everything. Dude is so up & down it's scary.

I already said it in another post: he is the new jr smith