RS 19/20 - LA Clippers at Dallas Tues, Jan 21 8:30 PM

[DJ_3_Ball]

KP getting trashed on his first game back after missing 10...
It's as if a lot of you just watch the box score. Yeah KP wasn't offensively all there but his paint presence is intangible and a large reason why we didn't get blown out by 20.

I don't think that anyone is trashing him. People are more or less disappointed with his very deep 3pt shots that he shouldn't be taking even on his best day. If your shot doesn't fall you go closer to the rim. And he blamed himself for the loss as well. Also terrible job on Zubac and Harell. I feel like he had no presence under the rim today, that's what really hurts.

What about this?

This loss is on Porzingis. He sucks

[Bob8]

KP getting trashed on his first game back after missing 10...
It's as if a lot of you just watch the box score. Yeah KP wasn't offensively all there but his paint presence is intangible and a large reason why we didn't get blown out by 20.

I don't think that anyone is trashing him. People are more or less disappointed with his very deep 3pt shots that he shouldn't be taking even on his best day. If your shot doesn't fall you go closer to the rim. And he blamed himself for the loss as well. Also terrible job on Zubac and Harell. I feel like he had no presence under the rim today, that's what really hurts.

What about this?

This loss is on Porzingis. He sucks

KP said very similar himself.

“It just sucks that we weren’t able to get the win. I feel like if I played just a little bit better we would have won the game, so this loss is on me.”

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2020/1/22/21076549/quoteboard-from-clippers-110-mavericks-107-dwight-powell-injury

[XTraderXL]

That pass to THJ at the end was the right play, no question about it. Only an idiot would claim otherwise.

On the other hand, Lukas FTs are an issue. He has no confidence, he looks scared on the line. Just terrible and hard to watch a player be so inconsistent at the easiest shot in basketball. Its frankly embarassing for Doncic to be so bad at the line.

[DJ_3_Ball]

I don't think that anyone is trashing him. People are more or less disappointed with his very deep 3pt shots that he shouldn't be taking even on his best day. If your shot doesn't fall you go closer to the rim. And he blamed himself for the loss as well. Also terrible job on Zubac and Harell. I feel like he had no presence under the rim today, that's what really hurts.

What about this?

This loss is on Porzingis. He sucks

KP said very similar himself.

“It just sucks that we weren’t able to get the win. I feel like if I played just a little bit better we would have won the game, so this loss is on me.”

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2020/1/22/21076549/quoteboard-from-clippers-110-mavericks-107-dwight-powell-injury

Listen, I love that KP is willing to take responsibility for a poor performance. We should all thank our lucky stars we're not dealing with an airhead like Kyrie after the game. Can you imagine?

We lose a game like this, KP shoots 4/17 & he's telling the media about how the FO needs to get 1 or 2 more pieces because the need for help is glaring.

(I feel for ya for Nets' fans)

So good on KP for putting the focus on himself & accepting the responsibility. But, that doesn't mean the fans have to give him a hard time too.

It was the same thing the first month of the season. So many comments about "Boy I hope KP isn't a bust. We gave him a lot of money & he doesn't look like he's the same player anymore... yada... yada... yada..."

Then he slowly started to round into form. I remember when he put the ball on the floor, blew past Blake & gave Drummond that facial in Mexico City. It was like Whoa! Welcome back KP!

The dude sat out 10 games! Did anyone really expect him to come back, recovering from 2 bad knees now & just give Zubac and Harrell work? If you did, you probably need your head examined.

Why was it not expected for KP to struggle tonight? Why? That's what you should expect.

You know what the success for KP was tonight. It's not a damn win or loss in January. It's that he wasn't joining Dwight Powell on the injury report. He played & he didn't aggravate the injury. SUCCESS!!! Big Time SUCCESS!!!

And just as a reminder. Who's the Mav that hit consecutive DEEP 3s in MIL over Giannis to seal that game? Oh yeah, that's right. It was KP. ArchX, you should remember those 3s before you talk about what KP should or shouldn't shoot. He rushed his shots tonight. He wasn't in rhythm & no he did not look good tonight, outside of a few rim protection plays on defense. But, wait & see if he doesn't put it together again. I want KP shooting 3s. The guy is a sniper who can shoot over anybody. Definitely not gonna take that away from him.

[Bob8]

What about this?

KP said very similar himself.

“It just sucks that we weren’t able to get the win. I feel like if I played just a little bit better we would have won the game, so this loss is on me.”

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2020/1/22/21076549/quoteboard-from-clippers-110-mavericks-107-dwight-powell-injury

Listen, I love that KP is willing to take responsibility for a poor performance. We should all thank our lucky stars we're not dealing with an airhead like Kyrie after the game. Can you imagine?

We lose a game like this, KP shoots 4/17 & he's telling the media about how the FO needs to get 1 or 2 more pieces because the need for help is glaring.

(I feel for ya for Nets' fans)

So good on KP for putting the focus on himself & accepting the responsibility. But, that doesn't mean the fans have to give him a hard time too.

It was the same thing the first month of the season. So many comments about "Boy I hope KP isn't a bust. We gave him a lot of money & he doesn't look like he's the same player anymore... yada... yada... yada..."

Then he slowly started to round into form. I remember when he put the ball on the floor, blew past Blake & gave Drummond that facial in Mexico City. It was like Whoa! Welcome back KP!

The dude sat out 10 games! Did anyone really expect him to come back, recovering from 2 bad knees now & just give Zubac and Harrell work? If you did, you probably need your head examined.

Why was it not expected for KP to struggle tonight? Why? That's what you should expect.

You know what the success for KP was tonight. It's not a damn win or loss in January. It's that he wasn't joining Dwight Powell on the injury report. He played & he didn't aggravate the injury. SUCCESS!!! Big Time SUCCESS!!!

And just as a reminder. Who's the Mav that hit consecutive DEEP 3s in MIL over Giannis to seal that game? Oh yeah, that's right. It was KP. ArchX, you should remember those 3s before you talk about what KP should or shouldn't shoot. He rushed his shots tonight. He wasn't in rhythm & no he did not look good tonight, outside of a few rim protection plays on defense. But, wait & see if he doesn't put it together again. I want KP shooting 3s. The guy is a sniper who can shoot over anybody. Definitely not gonna take that away from him.

You’re overreacting, like usually, he had bad game and some fans pointed that out. Nothing else. Yes, he didn’t play 10 games and it was expected to return a bit rusty, but imho, he shouldn’t taken 17 shots, if his shooting was way off. Is he a bad player because of this game? Of course not. Did those 4/17 cost Mavs a game? They probably had.

[DJ_3_Ball]

That pass to THJ at the end was the right play, no question about it. Only an idiot would claim otherwise.

On the other hand, Lukas FTs are an issue. He has no confidence, he looks scared on the line. Just terrible and hard to watch a player be so inconsistent at the easiest shot in basketball. Its frankly embarassing for Doncic to be so bad at the line.

Absolutely. Honestly, that whole play was everything you could of ever asked for. Delon Wright. I mean, Wow! That guy has been playing his rear-end off the past 2-3 games. Very active on the defensive end. DFS & THJ too. Those 3 have been... it's almost like they feel personally offended or something. They are out there playing with a chip on their shoulder. I love it!

Wright broke up that pass gets the ball to Luka & you're right. Getting the ball to THJ was the 100% correct play. If anything, I would of liked to see THJ pump fake, let the defender fly by & reset for the 3. But, it was a clean look, he just missed it.

RE: Luka's FTs

We have a few European fans on this forum from time to time. Do you guys remember Luka struggling like this at the line in the Euroleague?

It wasn't something that was covered in detail when I read up on Luka prior to the 2018 draft. Certainly not viewed as a weakness. I don't remember anyone talking about Luka's shooting as a great strength, either. I think some lazy analysts gave him the "White guy who can shoot" label, but I remember more accredited scouts like Mike Schmitz (who was VERY high on Luka & had him #1 overall in his mock) saying that Luka was a streaky, inconsistent shooter who projected to be an above average shooter in his career, but it might take him some time to get there. I think he used LeBron as an example of a player who took some time to develop a consistent jump shot.

Honestly, one of the things that worries me the most with Luka is if we get into a playoff series & he gets really hot from deep on stepbacks. If he wins a playoff series with that, then I don't think anyone will be able to tell him otherwise.

On the other hand, if the Mavs lose a playoff series & Luka shoots poorly and/or shoots too many 3s & stepbacks, he'll get BBQ'd by the national media for it, and just maybe, he'll dial that **** down a bit next year and start getting to the cup more. Honestly, that's what I'm hoping for.

At first I didn't agree with some of the comments on here about Luka shooting too many stepback 3s, but he's just not there, yet. Especially on nights when he's cold. Somebody needs to be willing to tell him 2/10 3PM sucks & stop doing it.

[DJ_3_Ball]

You’re overreacting...

I'm fine with Dirkforpres saying This loss is on KP. I'm not cool with saying he sucks.

You see the difference?

[Dirk]

Devastating
Dwight Powell is such a great story. Super energetic, selfless, hard worker and by all accounts a great guy as well. Crushing blow to the spirits. Makes it even harder for me to fully process how to approach this season.

Passes of the night

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Luka passing up a 3 to THJ was a nice play. Before he also made a good pass for a Maxi corner 3. Before he also recognised a potential trap and quickly set up another open THJ 3. So, all this was great and hopefully at some point the good shots that are generated result in buckets... it's just miserable how pretty much all year they've failed, no matter what they do.

Around the 5 minute mark he had a bad 3 point attempt that missed everything vs J Green. That wasn't good and generally he'd ideally have better 3 point attempts. It looked like he was getting in the groove of using the defender chasing him to his advantage (Hezonja the other day and a player earlier against Bev), but then you just saw the usual tough looking attempts and no real shots produced by using screens.

KP apparently is smart enough to know what is good basketball and what isn't. So yeah, some of the shots he takes often look like empty possessions. Ideally you'd like to see him filter them out a bit. This isn't injury related. It's mental.

Should have won this game
Similar game to a few others vs certain teams. The Mavs have not yet been able to settle down emotionally and play as 'free' and 'confident' as they've done regularly. The other 'top team' is not playing well, yet you're pretty much stuck in your own ways the whole game. They're giving too much respect to some teams.

The Mavs need a cheap bruiser. There are certain games where it seems you get away with a lot. You see the Zubac's of the world. You'd like to have some body you could throw out there to dish back some of the punishment. Go check on Faried or some body like that.

Home record

There was this sequence:
- Lou Williams, touch foul, 2 FTs
- Harrell potential charge, 2 FTs
- DFS CLEARLY fouled, not called. On the other end Kawhi fumbles the ball, somehow gets it back and Shamet hits end of clock 3. 105-98

It's hilarious at this point. But there is no doubt that for some odd reason you're constantly getting shafted at home and then you have these whole games where players are clearly bothered by the treatment they're getting. They're fighting the other team and the frustrating of feeling like they're not getting fair treatment.

Spoiler:

During the 3rd quarter there were two clear fouls on 3 point attempts by Barea and Luka.

There was this sequence. On one end, THJ called for a foul (could have easily been a charge).


The next play, DFS gets clearly pushed... no call...

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Kawhi gets to push off (twice blatantly...). He gets to grab Luka's shorts. Lou Williams turns into a great defender.




The other day, this was not only an offensive foul, but also a flagrant


Interestingly, the game started with a blatant foul by Luka on Pat Bev not called.

Anyway, just amusing that I do not recall a single game on the road where the Mavs could complain about the refs. While at home you have like half a dozen with legit gripes.

[Bob8]

You’re overreacting...

I'm fine with Dirkforpres saying This loss is on KP. I'm not cool with saying he sucks.

You see the difference?

One fan, who overreacted after a hard loss? This players are getting millions and fans are paying them. I believe some criticism is totally understandable. We have some people, who are saying that this loss is on Luka. Kp was, maybe understandable, really bad, Luka wasn’t. I believe people are afraid of KP’s max. He really cannot fail, if Mavs want to have some chances to win something in next 5 years.

[Bob8]

Devastating
Dwight Powell is such a great story. Super energetic, selfless, hard worker and by all accounts a great guy as well. Crushing blow to the spirits. Makes it even harder for me to fully process how to approach this season.

Passes of the night

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Luka passing up a 3 to THJ was a nice play. Before he also made a good pass for a Maxi corner 3. Before he also recognised a potential trap and quickly set up another open THJ 3. So, all this was great and hopefully at some point the good shots that are generated result in buckets... it's just miserable how pretty much all year they've failed, no matter what they do.

Around the 5 minute mark he had a bad 3 point attempt that missed everything vs J Green. That wasn't good and generally he'd ideally have better 3 point attempts. It looked like he was getting in the groove of using the defender chasing him to his advantage (Hezonja the other day and a player earlier against Bev), but then you just saw the usual tough looking attempts and no real shots produced by using screens.

KP apparently is smart enough to know what is good basketball and what isn't. So yeah, some of the shots he takes often look like empty possessions. Ideally you'd like to see him filter them out a bit. This isn't injury related. It's mental.

Should have won this game
Similar game to a few others vs certain teams. The Mavs have not yet been able to settle down emotionally and play as 'free' and 'confident' as they've done regularly. The other 'top team' is not playing well, yet you're pretty much stuck in your own ways the whole game. They're giving too much respect to some teams.

The Mavs need a cheap bruiser. There are certain games where it seems you get away with a lot. You see the Zubac's of the world. You'd like to have some body you could throw out there to dish back some of the punishment. Go check on Faried or some body like that.

Home record

There was this sequence:
- Lou Williams, touch foul, 2 FTs
- Harrell potential charge, 2 FTs
- DFS CLEARLY fouled, not called. On the other end Kawhi fumbles the ball, somehow gets it back and Shamet hits end of clock 3. 105-98

It's hilarious at this point. But there is no doubt that for some odd reason you're constantly getting shafted at home and then you have these whole games where players are clearly bothered by the treatment they're getting. They're fighting the other team and the frustrating of feeling like they're not getting fair treatment.

Spoiler:

During the 3rd quarter there were two clear fouls on 3 point attempts by Barea and Luka.

There was this sequence. On one end, THJ called for a foul (could have easily been a charge).


The next play, DFS gets clearly pushed... no call...

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

Kawhi gets to push off (twice blatantly...). He gets to grab Luka's shorts. Lou Williams turns into a great defender.




The other day, this was not only an offensive foul, but also a flagrant


Interestingly, the game started with a blatant foul by Luka on Pat Bev not called.

Anyway, just amusing that I do not recall a single game on the road where the Mavs could complain about the refs. While at home you have like half a dozen with legit gripes.

I don’t know. Clippers were 10+ points in front mostly the whole game. It was a great fight in the end and the win would have been a steal, because Mavs were never in control of this game. If you look at the stats of the starters, offensive rebounds...it’s very strange that they were in the game till the end.

[XTraderXL]

That pass to THJ at the end was the right play, no question about it. Only an idiot would claim otherwise.

On the other hand, Lukas FTs are an issue. He has no confidence, he looks scared on the line. Just terrible and hard to watch a player be so inconsistent at the easiest shot in basketball. Its frankly embarassing for Doncic to be so bad at the line.

Absolutely. Honestly, that whole play was everything you could of ever asked for. Delon Wright. I mean, Wow! That guy has been playing his rear-end off the past 2-3 games. Very active on the defensive end. DFS & THJ too. Those 3 have been... it's almost like they feel personally offended or something. They are out there playing with a chip on their shoulder. I love it!

Wright broke up that pass gets the ball to Luka & you're right. Getting the ball to THJ was the 100% correct play. If anything, I would of liked to see THJ pump fake, let the defender fly by & reset for the 3. But, it was a clean look, he just missed it.

RE: Luka's FTs

We have a few European fans on this forum from time to time. Do you guys remember Luka struggling like this at the line in the Euroleague?

It wasn't something that was covered in detail when I read up on Luka prior to the 2018 draft. Certainly not viewed as a weakness. I don't remember anyone talking about Luka's shooting as a great strength, either. I think some lazy analysts gave him the "White guy who can shoot" label, but I remember more accredited scouts like Mike Schmitz (who was VERY high on Luka & had him #1 overall in his mock) saying that Luka was a streaky, inconsistent shooter who projected to be an above average shooter in his career, but it might take him some time to get there. I think he used LeBron as an example of a player who took some time to develop a consistent jump shot.

Honestly, one of the things that worries me the most with Luka is if we get into a playoff series & he gets really hot from deep on stepbacks. If he wins a playoff series with that, then I don't think anyone will be able to tell him otherwise.

On the other hand, if the Mavs lose a playoff series & Luka shoots poorly and/or shoots too many 3s & stepbacks, he'll get BBQ'd by the national media for it, and just maybe, he'll dial that **** down a bit next year and start getting to the cup more. Honestly, that's what I'm hoping for.

At first I didn't agree with some of the comments on here about Luka shooting too many stepback 3s, but he's just not there, yet. Especially on nights when he's cold. Somebody needs to be willing to tell him 2/10 3PM sucks & stop doing it.

His last season in EL he shot FTs 78/91 (85%) for the first 15 games and 51/69 (74%) for the other 15 games. Thats a 10%+ swing. Similar happened in ACB that season. He was pretty consistent in the first half but got streaky in the second part. Kind of similar to what has been happening in Dallas these two seasons. I dont expect him to solve the issue this year and I am slowly starting to doubt he ever will. He may just stay a streaky FT shooter with his average % hovering around 80% which is not good for a player that shoots 10 FTs per game and cant be counted on to hit them in the clutch. He still has time to fix whatever he has got going on in his head during Fts as it is all mental and he has proven that he is capable of going 12/12.

I think that he needs to change his FT ritual and make it smoother. That one extra second when he holds the ball before going into shooting motion is unnecessary and should be eliminated. It gives him time to think about the shot which is a killer. He should shoot right after those 2 bounces and I am sure it would raise his % and consistency.

[DJ_3_Ball]

He still has time to fix whatever he has got going on in his head during Fts as it is all mental and he has proven that he is capable of going 12/12.

I think that he needs to change his FT ritual and make it smoother. That one extra second when he holds the ball before going into shooting motion is unnecessary and should be eliminated. It gives him time to think about the shot which is a killer. He should shoot right after those 2 bounces and I am sure it would raise his % and consistency.

1,000% agree. The worst thing you can do as a shooter is think.

[XTraderXL]

He still has time to fix whatever he has got going on in his head during Fts as it is all mental and he has proven that he is capable of going 12/12.

I think that he needs to change his FT ritual and make it smoother. That one extra second when he holds the ball before going into shooting motion is unnecessary and should be eliminated. It gives him time to think about the shot which is a killer. He should shoot right after those 2 bounces and I am sure it would raise his % and consistency.

1,000% agree. The worst thing you can do as a shooter is think.

Right, especially when you lack confidence like he does. Right now instead of thinking about hitting both FTs, he is thinking about how not to miss them.

[Archx]

And just as a reminder. Who's the Mav that hit consecutive DEEP 3s in MIL over Giannis to seal that game? Oh yeah, that's right. It was KP. ArchX, you should remember those 3s before you talk about what KP should or shouldn't shoot. He rushed his shots tonight. He wasn't in rhythm & no he did not look good tonight, outside of a few rim protection plays on defense. But, wait & see if he doesn't put it together again. I want KP shooting 3s. The guy is a sniper who can shoot over anybody. Definitely not gonna take that away from him.

How can you defend those 3pt shots vs MIL? Those were absolutely horrible shots, but he made them so they obviously look good. Same if Luka made at least two of his step backs, they would look good even though they are low % shots. If you're playing a game of %, sometimes those go your way, but "house" always wins

KP did take some good shots against LAC but often he rushed it and he couldn't get himself going. It is what it is. Luka had to play some hero ball at the end, because he had little to no help on offense, and Mavs also missed some open threes which were set up by Luka himself. I think Dirk already said that Maxi, THJ and i think DFS, all missed open 3pt shots and that was basically game.

[TinmanZBoy]

That pass to THJ at the end was the right play, no question about it. Only an idiot would claim otherwise.

On the other hand, Lukas FTs are an issue. He has no confidence, he looks scared on the line. Just terrible and hard to watch a player be so inconsistent at the easiest shot in basketball. Its frankly embarassing for Doncic to be so bad at the line.

Scared? Nah, he is just not in the level of Nash and Curry... his free throw is in the level of LeBron, Dwade... the kid has no fear

[DJ_3_Ball]

And just as a reminder. Who's the Mav that hit consecutive DEEP 3s in MIL over Giannis to seal that game? Oh yeah, that's right. It was KP. ArchX, you should remember those 3s before you talk about what KP should or shouldn't shoot. He rushed his shots tonight. He wasn't in rhythm & no he did not look good tonight, outside of a few rim protection plays on defense. But, wait & see if he doesn't put it together again. I want KP shooting 3s. The guy is a sniper who can shoot over anybody. Definitely not gonna take that away from him.

How can you defend those 3pt shots vs MIL? Those were absolutely horrible shots, but he made them so they obviously look good. Same if Luka made at least two of his step backs, they would look good even though they are low % shots. If you're playing a game of %, sometimes those go your way, but "house" always wins

No offense, but you sound like old school basketball thinking in the 80s. What are you young whippersnappers doing hoisting that ball from 22 feet away?!?!?! Get your butt down here in the paint and shoot from 2 feet away! What are you some kind of genius?! Don't you know 2 feet is shorter than 22 feet???

Seriously, who are you to put limitations on what a professional athlete like KP or Luka can do?

[Bob8]

And just as a reminder. Who's the Mav that hit consecutive DEEP 3s in MIL over Giannis to seal that game? Oh yeah, that's right. It was KP. ArchX, you should remember those 3s before you talk about what KP should or shouldn't shoot. He rushed his shots tonight. He wasn't in rhythm & no he did not look good tonight, outside of a few rim protection plays on defense. But, wait & see if he doesn't put it together again. I want KP shooting 3s. The guy is a sniper who can shoot over anybody. Definitely not gonna take that away from him.

How can you defend those 3pt shots vs MIL? Those were absolutely horrible shots, but he made them so they obviously look good. Same if Luka made at least two of his step backs, they would look good even though they are low % shots. If you're playing a game of %, sometimes those go your way, but "house" always wins

No offense, but you sound like old school basketball thinking in the 80s. What are you young whippersnappers doing hoisting that ball from 22 feet away?!?!?! Get your butt down here in the paint and shoot from 2 feet away! What are you some kind of genius?! Don't you know 2 feet is shorter than 22 feet???

Seriously, who are you to put limitations on what a professional athlete like KP or Luka can do?

Problem with KP is that he has bad 3p%, 2p%, TS%... So basically he should shot as little as possible from anywhere.

[Archx]

And just as a reminder. Who's the Mav that hit consecutive DEEP 3s in MIL over Giannis to seal that game? Oh yeah, that's right. It was KP. ArchX, you should remember those 3s before you talk about what KP should or shouldn't shoot. He rushed his shots tonight. He wasn't in rhythm & no he did not look good tonight, outside of a few rim protection plays on defense. But, wait & see if he doesn't put it together again. I want KP shooting 3s. The guy is a sniper who can shoot over anybody. Definitely not gonna take that away from him.

How can you defend those 3pt shots vs MIL? Those were absolutely horrible shots, but he made them so they obviously look good. Same if Luka made at least two of his step backs, they would look good even though they are low % shots. If you're playing a game of %, sometimes those go your way, but "house" always wins

No offense, but you sound like old school basketball thinking in the 80s. What are you young whippersnappers doing hoisting that ball from 22 feet away?!?!?! Get your butt down here in the paint and shoot from 2 feet away! What are you some kind of genius?! Don't you know 2 feet is shorter than 22 feet???

Seriously, who are you to put limitations on what a professional athlete like KP or Luka can do?

A contested logo shot is a good basketball play in your mind? People were grilling and trolling Doncic for the same play when he tried to do the exact same thing vs NYK that time. I remember how much BS he received for that. And now you try to justify shooting those shots is a way to go because of "modern basketball"?

If KP was making those shots 3 or 4 times a night at a high %, i would say well keep shooting them, but he doesn't. He takes a lot of contested shots but makes only a small % of those. So yes, get your butt down in to the elbow area and go from there. Working in the post will always be a much better option and bigger % play than hoisting up contested logo shots.