Around the league -- Offseason edition

[Dirk]

Ahhh my hometown Pistons about to lose their 11 th in a row. Will like be 13 b4 they can win again.... maybe next year.

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Have they had any joy since winning the title/that team?

[ejs78]

Ahhh my hometown Pistons about to lose their 11 th in a row. Will like be 13 b4 they can win again.... maybe next year.

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Have they had any joy since winning the title/that team?

None and it won't be coming soon. Mid size cold weather market... yikes.

Also just like the Mavs they have missed on draft picks.



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[Dirk]

Ahhh my hometown Pistons about to lose their 11 th in a row. Will like be 13 b4 they can win again.... maybe next year.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

Have they had any joy since winning the title/that team?

None and it won't be coming soon. Mid size cold weather market... yikes.

Also just like the Mavs they have missed on draft picks.



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At least the Lions are looking like contenders.

[tleikheen]

This will be a big game for Lively trying to guard a redhot D Sabonis.This Sacramento team will gladly run hard with the Mavs team.

[ejs78]

Have they had any joy since winning the title/that team?

None and it won't be coming soon. Mid size cold weather market... yikes.

Also just like the Mavs they have missed on draft picks.



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At least the Lions are looking like contenders.

This city lives for the Lions. Its really great to see them finally put a product on the field that is legit. This season has already been a success, but fans were ready to jump off a cliff today if they didn't come back and win.

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[Mavrelous]

Lakers, Suns and Pelicans are surging back to PO seeding.
Wolves and Thunder look unstoppable.
Denver is losing some ground with Murray's injury.
Clipper won two games after their long losing stretch.
Rockets are on a losing streak after their hot start, like the Mavs, Warriros are struggling to stay afloat.
Jazz, Spurs and Blazers have risen the white flag already.

[daoneandonly]

Lakers, Suns and Pelicans are surging back to PO seeding.
Wolves and Thunder look unstoppable.
Denver is losing some ground with Murray's injury.
Clipper won two games after their long losing stretch.
Rockets are on a losing streak after their hot start, like the Mavs, Warriros are struggling to stay afloat.
Jazz, Spurs and Blazers have risen the white flag already.

We'll see what impact the McDaniels injury has for Minny. He's pretty key to what they do. OKC knows how to build, give Presi credit.

It really is depressing watching what Maxey is doing and wonder what could have been.

[kacey ring]

So we still have a small chance to win our group in the IST. What needs to happen:
-Clippers beat the Pelicans by 19
-Rockets beat the Nuggets by 6
-Then Mavs beat the Rockets by 19

This would result in all teams finishing 2-2, so the tie breaker comes down to point differential (PD). The outcomes I mentioned above would put the Mavs’ PD at +5, Clips/Pels at +4, Nuggets at +3, and Rockets at -16.

Rockets taking care of business. Don’t need them to win by too much…

Can Clips blow out the Pelicans? Pels are +23. Mavs are -13

[kacey ring]

Atleast Mavs can ruin the Rockets chances of going to Vegas. Should be a good game next Tuesday. Hopefully, Lively will be back by then.

[tleikheen]

Everyone thinks Grant Williams was the 3rd starter BECAUSE he got in Jimmy Butlers face on National tv and that looked good but Jimmy Butler torched his ass after that.

Still after that Boston let him go and Dallas fans thought they got a long term starter . DJJ won the slam dunk title and he had this untapped potential that JKidd could unlock ....BUT what are we seeing now ...we see why their on this Mavs team starting but never were dependable starters anywhere else. 16 games in and we see this Mavs team leveling out in the opposite direction.

Im not sure Kidd can stop the momentum the Mavs are going .His lineup gets smaller and smaller while less teams are playing smallball like he is.

[41Dirk41]

Everyone thinks Grant Williams was the 3rd starter BECAUSE he got in Jimmy Butlers face on National tv and that looked good but Jimmy Butler torched his ass after that.

Still after that Boston let him go and Dallas fans thought they got a long term starter . DJJ won the slam dunk title and he had this untapped potential that JKidd could unlock ....BUT what are we seeing now ...we see why their on this Mavs team starting but never were dependable starters anywhere else. 16 games in and we see this Mavs team leveling out in the opposite direction.

Im not sure Kidd can stop the momentum the Mavs are going .His lineup gets smaller and smaller while less teams are playing smallball like he is.

Kidd can't untap nobody potential, DJJ had good games because Luka and Irving created wide wide wide open looks for him.
He is a good vet min role player guy.
Great pick obviously.

You are too hard on Williams, he is a 24yo MLE guy... If you thought he was a 3th man for a contender you misunderstand the player.

Anyway it's hard for him plays without a PF and a starting vet C.

[Mavrelous]

Bucks were down big and made a ref-backed coneback against the Blazers, just like the Mabs game.

[Maverick41]

Grant's been doing a solid job on man to man defense and hitting open 3s but the problem for him the last 2 weeks is that he's not shooting enough. Something I really do not like about Grant is that his shot form is slow and he's too slow and unathletic to do almost anything after a hard close out. Teams are taking away his 3s and it's causing a lot of late shot clock shots since teams can rotate faster then he can drive.

But he's getting paid MLE money so it's hard to really be mad about him. My opinion is still the same. He's an average 5th starter on a good team and a good 7th or 8th man on a great team.

[Mavrelous]

Grant's been doing a solid job on man to man defense and hitting open 3s but the problem for him the last 2 weeks is that he's not shooting enough. Something I really do not like about Grant is that his shot form is slow and he's too slow and unathletic to do almost anything after a hard close out. Teams are taking away his 3s and it's causing a lot of late shot clock shots since teams can rotate faster then he can drive.

But he's getting paid MLE money so it's hard to really be mad about him. My opinion is still the same. He's an average 5th starter on a good team and a good 7th or 8th man on a great team.

I like Grant Williams, and he's the best option available, and the price is very reasonable, but his lack of length and athleticism is why I wasn't too ecstatic about him as primary target for the forward spot, he is light years better than Bullock though, who he replaced as "PF".

[Maverick41]

Something to note about paint defense. Here's the top 5 defensive teams based on defensive rating and their starting centers:

1. HOU - Sengun
2. MIN - Gobert
3. ORL - Bitadze (WCJ has been hurt)
4. BOS - KP
5. LAC - Zubac

Pretty cool that all are international players but also of note is that 4 out of the 5 are not defensive stoppers nor are any of them known to be paint protectors. KP is the closest but we had him here for a few years and I don't recall anyone claiming he was some awesome paint presence (though he is solid).

Anyway, whole point of this post is to point out that PERIMETER DEFENSE in today's NBA is more important then paint defense. Paint defense is obviously important but it matters so much less when you're getting less paint penetration and blow-bys. All the teams above have great perimeter defenders. We have none. Our best is DJJ & Exum and both are signed to vet min contracts and have shooting issues that prevent them from being 25+ mpg guys.

[Mavrelous]

Something to note about paint defense. Here's the top 5 defensive teams based on defensive rating and their starting centers:

1. HOU - Sengun
2. MIN - Gobert
3. ORL - Bitadze (WCJ has been hurt)
4. BOS - KP
5. LAC - Zubac

Pretty cool that all are international players but also of note is that 4 out of the 5 are not defensive stoppers nor are any of them known to be paint protectors. KP is the closest but we had him here for a few years and I don't recall anyone claiming he was some awesome paint presence (though he is solid).

Anyway, whole point of this post is to point out that PERIMETER DEFENSE in today's NBA is more important then paint defense. Paint defense is obviously important but it matters so much less when you're getting less paint penetration and blow-bys. All the teams above have great perimeter defenders. We have none. Our best is DJJ & Exum and both are signed to vet min contracts and have shooting issues that prevent them from being 25+ mpg guys.

Fools gold IMO, for the Mavs defense is a disaster that may prevent them from making the PO, but specifically Jrue, Bucks look in shambles defensively, and Celtics are looking like best team by far, but Jrue's offensive woes killed the Bucks in the PO, their only title run was when the whole league was injured.
In the PO, the game slows down, matchups are studied thoroughly, and perimeter defense gets better by default, offense gets harder and offensive geniuses shine, while defensive specialists w/o offensive production become a liability when every help is calculated.
Zubac was played off the floor multiple times, Gobert was stretched to the perimeter way too many times, and his team lost even when they were favoured, Sengun will be explited.
We saw KP close in the PO, his only good series was the 3 games he played in the bubble, he looks close to that form so he may be the only one that'll prove good.

[daoneandonly]

Something to note about paint defense. Here's the top 5 defensive teams based on defensive rating and their starting centers:

1. HOU - Sengun
2. MIN - Gobert
3. ORL - Bitadze (WCJ has been hurt)
4. BOS - KP
5. LAC - Zubac

Pretty cool that all are international players but also of note is that 4 out of the 5 are not defensive stoppers nor are any of them known to be paint protectors. KP is the closest but we had him here for a few years and I don't recall anyone claiming he was some awesome paint presence (though he is solid).

Anyway, whole point of this post is to point out that PERIMETER DEFENSE in today's NBA is more important then paint defense. Paint defense is obviously important but it matters so much less when you're getting less paint penetration and blow-bys. All the teams above have great perimeter defenders. We have none. Our best is DJJ & Exum and both are signed to vet min contracts and have shooting issues that prevent them from being 25+ mpg guys.

Fools gold IMO, for the Mavs defense is a disaster that may prevent them from making the PO, but specifically Jrue, Bucks look in shambles defensively, and Celtics are looking like best team by far, but Jrue's offensive woes killed the Bucks in the PO, their only title run was when the whole league was injured.
In the PO, the game slows down, matchups are studied thoroughly, and perimeter defense gets better by default, offense gets harder and offensive geniuses shine, while defensive specialists w/o offensive production become a liability when every help is calculated.
Zubac was played off the floor multiple times, Gobert was stretched to the perimeter way too many times, and his team lost even when they were favoured, Sengun will be explited.
We saw KP close in the PO, his only good series was the 3 games he played in the bubble, he looks close to that form so he may be the only one that'll prove good.

I agree somewhat, but perimeter D is still a significant component, as is coaching. That list consists of good, if not great coaches, we dont have that. Luka and Kyrie arent going to be top notch defenders, its not in their skillset and they do so much on the offensive side its not realistic. Thats where its up to guys like Grant, DJJ, Josh, Exum to come through. Grant can only do so much given his build, DJJ's shot will always keep his minutes sporadic, and Josh just flat out sucks.

[Mavrelous]

I wanted to laugh at the Clippers losing to the Nuggets w/o Jokic, Murray and Gordon, but then I remembered Mavs lost to the same team last year.

[Archx]

I wanted to laugh at the Clippers losing to the Nuggets w/o Jokic, Murray and Gordon, but then I remembered Mavs lost to the same team last year.

Yeah, makes you wonder what a good coach with good system can do. Even bringing out the best of ancient DAJ. Good thing Mavs coach is only watching, like the rest of us.

[dirkforpres]

I wanted to laugh at the Clippers losing to the Nuggets w/o Jokic, Murray and Gordon, but then I remembered Mavs lost to the same team last year.

And that same Clippers team (on the 2nd night of a B2B) also waxed the Mavs like 3 nights prior, so we cant really laugh at anyone else's misfortunes right now. Mavs have too many glaring holes on the roster, even still.