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RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston

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OpiumDose
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#41 » by OpiumDose » Sat Feb 1, 2020 7:35 am

Bob8 wrote:
OpiumDose wrote:KP looks like an all-star without Doncic. With Doncic he is relegated to spacing the floor and being a spot-up shooter - clearly misused and underused. Something has to change. I imagine KP is not too happy with his role when Luka plays (no matter what he says publicly) because he knows he can provide so much more. I mean, come on, he is on max contract - there's no way it should be acceptable to use him as a role-player on the offense. "But Mavs have the best offense in the league" - yes, the have, but who says it couldn't be even better if they figured out how to get most out of KP too? This current usage of KP on the offense is not going to work out in the long run. I'm sure of that.


Isn't 1 good game a bit premature for some big conclusions like that? Kp looks good, like everyone, when his shots are falling. The problem is that in vast majority of games his shots are not falling. His efficiency is incredibly bad. He's getting so many shots just because of his name, he's not deserving them. He has nice opportunity with this fairly easy schedule of 8 games to show, if he really is a star like Luka. I'm not very optimistic.


But it's not one good game. It's been 5. 25 PPG, 13.4 RPG 2.4 BPG on 49/35/79 is his statline in those. It's still small sample size, but, surely, if you watch the games then you must see how different he looks compared to when he has to play with Doncic.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#42 » by Bob8 » Sat Feb 1, 2020 7:58 am

OpiumDose wrote:
Bob8 wrote:
OpiumDose wrote:KP looks like an all-star without Doncic. With Doncic he is relegated to spacing the floor and being a spot-up shooter - clearly misused and underused. Something has to change. I imagine KP is not too happy with his role when Luka plays (no matter what he says publicly) because he knows he can provide so much more. I mean, come on, he is on max contract - there's no way it should be acceptable to use him as a role-player on the offense. "But Mavs have the best offense in the league" - yes, the have, but who says it couldn't be even better if they figured out how to get most out of KP too? This current usage of KP on the offense is not going to work out in the long run. I'm sure of that.


Isn't 1 good game a bit premature for some big conclusions like that? Kp looks good, like everyone, when his shots are falling. The problem is that in vast majority of games his shots are not falling. His efficiency is incredibly bad. He's getting so many shots just because of his name, he's not deserving them. He has nice opportunity with this fairly easy schedule of 8 games to show, if he really is a star like Luka. I'm not very optimistic.


But it's not one good game. It's been 5. 25 PPG, 13.4 RPG 2.4 BPG on 49/35/79 is his statline in those. It's still small sample size, but, surely, if you watch the games then you must see how different he looks compared to when he has to play with Doncic.


1 or 5 is really small sample size. KP had very similar, bad, efficiency in all his seasons in Nba. But like I said, he had a lot of games without Luka to prove something. RC's strategy with Luka is simple, give him the ball to create as many open looks as possible and it works. When Luka is not playing things of course change, KP having more shots, game being different... But that should translate in wins. Mavs are 27/15 with Luka, 2/4 without Luka and 7/4 without KP. Again small sample size, so KP has great opportunity to show how good he's in next weeks.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#43 » by Michaellam1987 » Sat Feb 1, 2020 8:04 am

I think the problem today or the last game with PHX, is mainly on our team defense, especially on the 3pt line, we really need to improve our team defense, especially Luka is out. I think we need to fix our rotation to more defense oriented, play more Wright/DFS/Kleber, together with starters THJ and KP, sandwiched them with good shooters like Curry and Broekhoff, play WCS for shot-blocking and rebound, only play poor defender like Barea/Jackson when absolutely needed to.

Wright (30) Brunson (18)
THJ (24) Curry (24)
DFS (28) THJ (8) Broekhoff (12)
Kleber (32) KP (12) DFS (4)
KP (24) WCS (24)
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#44 » by Archx » Sat Feb 1, 2020 9:08 am

Is there any surprise that KP scored better? I am saying this since the start of the season, get him closer to the rim. It's no rocket science. It's true that Houston played with midget lineups, but with Doncic on the floor, he usually takes long stupid contested 3's and without him, his game changes completely. And i wouldn't even blame him, that's on coach to figure out. Every time you have 2 great offensive players, it's on coach to figure it out.
Before Phil Jackson arrived, LAL had no clue what to do with Shaq and Kobe for example. There are many examples when coaches blew up a great chance because they couldn't figure out how to fit 2 stars together. Hopefully Mavs do figure it out sooner than later.

All in all, the scary part is, Mavs still have a ton of unlocked potential on offense and they are already one of the best.

And great job on helping Harden get out of the slump, only Mavs perimeter defense is capable of doing that :banghead: So much for Luka is "hurting Mavs defense" argument. :noway:
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#45 » by arkuo » Sat Feb 1, 2020 9:17 am

KP by himself can score in the 30s too. The only reason he is being shackled because the offense revolves around Luka dribbling around and needing all shooters to stand outside the 3 point line while he does his thing... and misses most of the time.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#46 » by Bob8 » Sat Feb 1, 2020 9:20 am

arkuo wrote:KP by himself can score in the 30s too. The only reason he is being shackled because the offense revolves around Luka dribbling around and needing all shooters to stand outside the 3 point line while he does his thing... and misses most of the time.


...and Mavs being 27/15 executing that kind of stupid strategy. :lol:
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#47 » by DJ_3_Ball » Sat Feb 1, 2020 12:23 pm

Michaellam1987 wrote:I think the problem today or the last game with PHX, is mainly on our team defense, especially on the 3pt line, we really need to improve our team defense, especially Luka is out. I think we need to fix our rotation to more defense oriented, play more Wright/DFS/Kleber, together with starters THJ and KP, sandwiched them with good shooters like Curry and Broekhoff, play WCS for shot-blocking and rebound, only play poor defender like Barea/Jackson when absolutely needed to.

Wright (30) Brunson (18)
THJ (24) Curry (24)
DFS (28) THJ (8) Broekhoff (12)
Kleber (32) KP (12) DFS (4)
KP (24) WCS (24)


I completely agree. It's almost as if this team fell in love with their historic offensive rating clippings & forgot they still play ball on the other end of the floor too.

Some of the combinations haven't worked either. Like, I don't think you can play Brunson... how to put this... he's not a bad player. He does some things very well, particularly on the offensive end, but there are times when he gets switched onto another player on defense & you just already know. "Oh, that's 2" and they do. They back his little body down & lay it in like it's the pregame layup line. It's pathetic. There's no help defense there. I don't care if you leave your man & he cuts to the basket for an easy 2. Jalen Brunson playing 1 on 1 defense is already an easy 2 for the opponent.

I wanna say you can't have Brunson out there if Wright & DFS aren't out there with him, but that's not realistic. Especially once Luka returns. But things like Curry & Brunson don't work. You for sure couldn't do Brunson & Broekhoff. Those 2 should never be on the floor together. You shouldn't have Brunson & THJ out there on the floor together.

And Brunson isn't the only one. A lot of these other combos don't work on the defensive end.

Ooc, what do the numbers in parenthesis mean?
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#48 » by Dirk » Sat Feb 1, 2020 12:58 pm

It's kind of crazy how you have to deal with such dramatics. On one hand you had people who believe that the Mavs without Luka would be worse than 10-34 (like, I see a guy actively attribute to luck the fact the Mavs beat Sixers/Bucks on the same week). On the other you have this KP stuff without Luka as if Luka is limiting KP... I think the narrative of Luka limits KP, KP sad to be reduced to a minor role, etc etc is just so over the top. I'm pretty sure Luka is the type of guy to go up to KP and ask him: what can I do for you? And you have to trust that if Kp is ever that unhappy with his role, he'll reach out to Luka/RC. Doesn't feel like there's a need for soap opera stuff, but here we are.

KP gets more than enough looks with Luka (and when Luka sits) to show his scoring prowess. When I say more than enough --- just look at a run of games and then go check the shots he gets. You get a decent enough sample. Then you can go look at the efficiency levels. He more often than not is not able to be efficient. And why? Assuming you watch enough... too many of his shots have little hope of going in. You literally have some possessions that 'are empty', thrown away really,between him rushing shots and shying away from contact, he is throwing some prayers. It sucks, but KP just is not there offensively for you to pretend like you can just dump the ball to him and he'll create something good consistently.

Should the Mavs look to build his confidence by sacrificing "better offense" in favour of 'developing' him? Sure... I think you can argue that. I tend to think that way as well, make a conscious effort of getting him into better positions... hell, I think Luka himself should be experimenting with his offense and getting different shots up. This comes at the sacrifice of "better offense", that has proven to work consistently...

When Luka was out in December, a rough look at KP's shooting.

Mid-range: 12/38 31.6% ........ FG% 41 3PT% 36

His offense was not really all that different than when Luka was playing. KP was still jacking up plenty of 3 pointers (he was playing with Powell). His usage didn't go dramatically up. He played great overall (particularly on defense). Greater intensity. I suppose one can just say one thing: KP doesn't shy away from responsibility and plays harder/is more aggressive? But again, how can you blame that on Luka. KP has to bring the same intensity whether Luka is out there or not.

This game in Houston was very particular.

The Rockets had no size/height whatsoever. KP was the lone big guy for the Mavs and was more in the paint by default. If Luka was playing... I don't think the Rockets would be able to get away with what they did... he would bulldoze his way to the basket relentlessly and/or attract so much attention that you'd be getting open 3s and dunks all day.

KP did a good job overall, still wish he would be more patient and not rush some of his shots. He drew a lot of fouls, it felt like the refs were kind to him or the Rockets were very poor defending him --- on the season, he has not been able to draw that many fouls like he did yesterday. But he was rewarded simply by putting more coordinated shots up. He finished very well at the basket (courtesy of the height difference and no challenge). On the year, we all have seen how he struggles with some minor bumps. Cannot absorb contact well and finish with coordinated shots.

What is being missed: the defense.

That's what KP should bring and while you may be happy with his offensive output, the reality is that, for what it's worth, the Mavs D with KP on in this game was nowhere near what we need (not blaming KP, I think Carlisle just rolled the dice on that lineup knowing he was sacrificing defense --- just saying that we have to look at both sides of the ball). The Mavs scored more than enough... but couldn't defend at all.

The Mavs biggest push was when you had a good cameo of WCS/Maxi and Brunson/Curry/Wright. I was kind of disappointed to not have seen WCS/KP together for a bit. Also, it seems it's not that easy to plug in a guy like WCS and get lobs and dunks, they didn't get any yesterday.

On the original run with no Luka, they played great defense. KP in particular made a big difference on that end. He was paired up with Powell. Powell seemed to have been growing defensively and made KP's task easier on defense. With this current lineup... just feels like you have one too many weak links and are hard pressed to match up physically with most teams.

This was actually winnable it felt. The Mavs were right there to get the upset...
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#49 » by arkuo » Sat Feb 1, 2020 12:59 pm

Bob8 wrote:
arkuo wrote:KP by himself can score in the 30s too. The only reason he is being shackled because the offense revolves around Luka dribbling around and needing all shooters to stand outside the 3 point line while he does his thing... and misses most of the time.


...and Mavs being 27/15 executing that kind of stupid strategy. :lol:



Sure. But what we're trying to avoid is Luka leading the Mavs to be another Houston Rockets clone. This team would be very good in the regular sesson only to be booted every time in the playoffs. We don't get regular season trophies.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#50 » by arkuo » Sat Feb 1, 2020 1:03 pm

Look. We're all after the same thing. What we're trying to avoid is Luka being another James Harden. That type of play wont get anything done in the postseason. Sure he can be the youngest 20 year old to score 70 pts doing so. But what we are after is a championship. That type of play has not been successful. Just look at the Rockets every year the past 6 years.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#51 » by Dirk » Sat Feb 1, 2020 1:27 pm

arkuo wrote:Look. We're all after the same thing. What we're trying to avoid is Luka being another James Harden. That type of play wont get anything done in the postseason. Sure he can be the youngest 20 year old to score 70 pts doing so. But what we are after is a championship. That type of play has not been successful. Just look at the Rockets every year the past 6 years.


Do you think this makes sense:

- Houston plays with no size. KP is the only big guy out there. He plays well and scores.

Conclusion: "KP can score 30".

- how often do you think you will be playing against Tucker/Harden/House as the opposing Centers?

But hey, if KP shows the ability to draw fouls against other teams and shoot okay enough, then we should be ecstatic.

Luka/Harden

Luka doesn't play like Harden. A lot more movement on the Mavs. A lot more passing. You actually should wish that Luka was as good as Harden 1x1/shooting though.

--- the Rockets didn't win a championship mostly because they were going up against the best team of all time... or close to it. And they were 3-2 up on them once and thn had an historically bad shooting night. Last season Harden actually played well enough, but Chris Paul failed vs Warriors (when KD went down).

I don't think one can just look at the Rockets Zero championships and pretend like they weren't playing against Steph/Klay/KD --- very few teams would have won anything against them.

The current Mavs are carrying dead money in Lee. They took on THJ's bad contract. KP was off for 18 months or something. Feels like it's very premature to think the Mavs are anywhere close to being in position to compete... or being a finished article....

We have Luka/KP. That's all. First year together. One in the second year, the other off a major injury lay-off. The Rockets were far ahead in their process and with teams build for their system. We need to keep fingers crossed that the Mavs will be able to add a major piece to these 2 before we can really get to the point of discussing championships and such.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#52 » by arkuo » Sat Feb 1, 2020 1:31 pm

Dirk wrote:
arkuo wrote:Look. We're all after the same thing. What we're trying to avoid is Luka being another James Harden. That type of play wont get anything done in the postseason. Sure he can be the youngest 20 year old to score 70 pts doing so. But what we are after is a championship. That type of play has not been successful. Just look at the Rockets every year the past 6 years.


Do you think this makes sense:

- Houston plays with no size. KP is the only big guy out there. He plays well and scores.

Conclusion: "KP can score 30".

- how often do you think you will be playing against Tucker/Harden/House as the opposing Centers?

But hey, if KP shows the ability to draw fouls against other teams and shoot okay enough, then we should be ecstatic.

Luka/Harden

Luka doesn't play like Harden. A lot more movement on the Mavs. A lot more passing. You actually should wish that Luka was as good as Harden 1x1/shooting though.

--- the Rockets didn't win a championship mostly because they were going up against the best team of all time... or close to it. And they were 3-2 up on them once and them had an historically bad shooting night.

I don't think one can just look at the Rockets Zero championships and pretend like they weren't playing against Steph/Klay/KD --- very few teams would have won anything against them.

The current Mavs are carrying dead money in Lee. They took on THJ's bad contract. KP was off for 18 months or something. Feels like it's very premature to think the Mavs are anywhere close to being in position to compete... or being a finished article.



KP's size is negated by the fact that RC just makes him stand outside the 3 point line waiting for a kick out pass.

If he was to exploit his height, he needs to play like Dirk in the post and shoot overhead jumpshots where not a single soul can block his shot.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#53 » by dirkules_41 » Sat Feb 1, 2020 1:36 pm

OpiumDose wrote:
Bob8 wrote:
OpiumDose wrote:KP looks like an all-star without Doncic. With Doncic he is relegated to spacing the floor and being a spot-up shooter - clearly misused and underused. Something has to change. I imagine KP is not too happy with his role when Luka plays (no matter what he says publicly) because he knows he can provide so much more. I mean, come on, he is on max contract - there's no way it should be acceptable to use him as a role-player on the offense. "But Mavs have the best offense in the league" - yes, the have, but who says it couldn't be even better if they figured out how to get most out of KP too? This current usage of KP on the offense is not going to work out in the long run. I'm sure of that.


Isn't 1 good game a bit premature for some big conclusions like that? Kp looks good, like everyone, when his shots are falling. The problem is that in vast majority of games his shots are not falling. His efficiency is incredibly bad. He's getting so many shots just because of his name, he's not deserving them. He has nice opportunity with this fairly easy schedule of 8 games to show, if he really is a star like Luka. I'm not very optimistic.


But it's not one good game. It's been 5. 25 PPG, 13.4 RPG 2.4 BPG on 49/35/79 is his statline in those. It's still small sample size, but, surely, if you watch the games then you must see how different he looks compared to when he has to play with Doncic.

I think you're forgetting the main thing here:
KP struggled early in the season, then warmed up and eventually had his best stretch when Luka was first hurt.
Then they had a few games together and then KP was out and then he struggled again a little after coming back.
Now Luka is out.
I don't see an issue other than them never being able to play together for enough consecutive games.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#54 » by Dirk » Sat Feb 1, 2020 1:54 pm

arkuo wrote:KP's size is negated by the fact that RC just makes him stand outside the 3 point line waiting for a kick out pass.

If he was to exploit his height, he needs to play like Dirk in the post and shoot overhead jumpshots where not a single soul can block his shot.


KP's size is negated by himself right now. On the year, anyone cango and look at his plays "where he could use his size". Then go and look at how he did in them... answer: didn't do well.

We would love for KP to be able to exploit his height advantage better. He has not been able to. There are many theories out there as to why he is bothered by the contact and can't establish himself as well as one would imagine... the famously high center of gravity is certainly intriguing...

Dirk should be working with him that's for sure, because he doesn't necessarily have to move people, but simply have better poise. He has often looked so rushed. The Mavs have failed miserably in the clutch this season and it sure would be nice to have a mismatch advantage that you could go to. This season whenever he was put in that position, KP didn't show himself to be close to being a good option.

My main point ---- it's unlikely that "KP can score 30 too" in a sustainable way right now. And with the lineup the Mavs have put out, they're at a severe disadvantage physically/athletically. With the current lineup, you're asking KP to carry a big load on offense and then run back to plug the leaks on defense.

Hawks will have more size and athleticism. So it'll be an immediate test.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#55 » by DJ_3_Ball » Sat Feb 1, 2020 2:04 pm

leolozon wrote:
MrOrange wrote:
DJ_3_Ball wrote:
….


….



Never mind, he wasn't as efficient as I remembered in the past 5 games when Luka was missing.

He was at .536TS% for those 5 games which is really really bad for a first option, but still better than his efficiency for the year.

So, it's maybe just a question of sample size as the difference wasn't that big. Let's see how the next few games go.



Responding to this post because the other one was pretty long.

I'll just say this in general. This whole season you've been making some really good posts, but however they tend to come from a negative slant. And, when you get really frustrated (like myself) during a game thread, you can post something pretty outrageous. Maybe it's meant to be read with a hint of sarcasm.

When I read the "is it psychological?" comment, I was like Whoa dude. That's a crazy thing to say.

Listen, for me, it can be broken down this simple. We're 60% of the way through the season, and Luka & KP haven't even begun working on a pick 'n roll/pick 'n pop rhythm.

Imo, it took a backseat to Luka & Powell, which is where KP is with Luka on the floor. A passenger. You can throw out whatever stats you want, and you may very well be right. It's all a matter of perspective, in some sense. For example, I see the 7.5% of his shots with 4 seconds or less on the shot clock (and that needs context... is he being passed the ball or did he already have the ball & is shooting at that time. Why 4 seconds? Why not 5? Why not 3?... Does that include tip ins & putbacks?)... As always, you can manipulate stats to make whatever point you want.

Here's the thing. The eye test says that Luka isn't looking for KP as his #1 option. Luka & Powell does not equal championship. Luka looking for THJ & DFS before he looks for KP, that doesn't equal a championship, either.

I have been disappointed with Luka facilitating KP. It's not like when Nash & Dirk played together and you would always hear Dirk talk about how Nash just made the game easier for him. Have you heard KP say that one time this season? Where's the clips? The highlights of that.

What's going on here is, they tell KP go stand out 30 feet from the basket, well send the vendor over with a bag of popcorn for ya, and watch Luka dribble. That sucks.

I don't like James Harden. I don't like him personally, and I damn sure don't like to watch him play basketball. And, Luka talks about idolizing LeBron, but if you ask me, he idolizes James Harden. Because Luka is playing like Harden 2.0.

That is why KP plays better when Luka isn't around. Because his teammates look for him. You saw it all night last night. Teammate like DFS gets stripped, Curry got stripped (although, he's usually pretty adept at handling a possession on his own), THJ, Brunson, whoever... They try to create for themselves, their penetration is haulted, they pick up the ball & look for the 7 foot 3 guy. And KP goes to work.

That's what I see. You can tell me I'm wrong. That's fine. But, I'm not seeing Luka drive to the rim, draw an extra defender and find KP with the wrap around pass, the no look over the shoulder pass, the drive & kick for 3 (as often as I should). I'm not seeing. I might go a whole game & not see a Luka to KP assist.

Are you old enough to have watched full games (not just highlights on Youtube) of Nash & Dirk play together? That was 5-6 assists or would be assists on a nightly basis with those 2. The Mavs bread & butter. Luka to KP has not been our bread & butter this year. It hasn't even been a top 5 option. Heck, even JET & Dirk were a potent PnR tandem.

Luka & KP are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy down the list, and that honestly has to fall at Carlisle's feet.

To me, this is no secret, and I honestly did not understand why you found it so perplexing. But, anyways, no worries. Let's just try & right the ship because this lost to HOU is just so dang disappointing. Especially the way it played out. It seems like it's been since that win in Philly since I felt good about this team. We're dang near the 7th seed now.

So this is a time for Mavs fans to rally together & just try to cheer on the team harder. Not get into petty squables & all that.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#56 » by Sara2009 » Sat Feb 1, 2020 2:25 pm

Aren’t there numbers showing that KP gets more Luka passes( or assists?) than any other player? I remember a graphic being shown on the screen during one of the games.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#57 » by OpiumDose » Sat Feb 1, 2020 2:26 pm

dirkules_41 wrote:
OpiumDose wrote:
Bob8 wrote:
Isn't 1 good game a bit premature for some big conclusions like that? Kp looks good, like everyone, when his shots are falling. The problem is that in vast majority of games his shots are not falling. His efficiency is incredibly bad. He's getting so many shots just because of his name, he's not deserving them. He has nice opportunity with this fairly easy schedule of 8 games to show, if he really is a star like Luka. I'm not very optimistic.


But it's not one good game. It's been 5. 25 PPG, 13.4 RPG 2.4 BPG on 49/35/79 is his statline in those. It's still small sample size, but, surely, if you watch the games then you must see how different he looks compared to when he has to play with Doncic.

I think you're forgetting the main thing here:
KP struggled early in the season, then warmed up and eventually had his best stretch when Luka was first hurt.
Then they had a few games together and then KP was out and then he struggled again a little after coming back.
Now Luka is out.
I don't see an issue other than them never being able to play together for enough consecutive games.


I see an issue. KP is asked to stand on 3pt line and space the floor when he plays with Doncic. When Docic is out KP plays inside much more often, he is more aggressive, he gets more touches, more shots and just plays better in general. And that's a huge issue. He looks like a completely different player (a better player) without Luka and that's the issue I have.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#58 » by OpiumDose » Sat Feb 1, 2020 2:35 pm

Sara2009 wrote:Aren’t there numbers showing that KP gets more Luka passes( or assists?) than any other player? I remember a graphic being shown on the screen during one of the games.


He does pass bit more often to KP than to others - top-3 as follows:

KP: 10.3
Finney-Smith: 9.9
THJ: 9.4

But lot of those passes to KP are useless - he often hands him the ball at the 3pt line and then gets handed it back a moment later.
As for the assists - it's clear that KP is not the primary target for the assists - very even distribution:

THJ : 1.5
KP: 1.4
Powell: 1.4
Finney-Smith: 1.3
Kleber: 1.3
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#59 » by DJ_3_Ball » Sat Feb 1, 2020 2:38 pm

Sara2009 wrote:Aren’t there numbers showing that KP gets more Luka passes( or assists?) than any other player? I remember a graphic being shown on the screen during one of the games.


If that's the case, I'd like to see it, but that isn't what I remember from watching the games.

Also, like I said in that long reply to leo. Stats can always be manipulated to make whatever point you want.

Show the highlights of the great pass Luka made that got KP an easy bucket. Show me the clips of Luka & KP working in the PnR together. We're 60% in this season. At the start of this season, the talk was about Luka & KP developing their chemistry together. We're at like week 2 or 3 level progress in those terms and it's like week 13 of the season. Way behind the curve on that, and Luka & KP figuring things out is the most important step for the Mavs to take this season.
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Re: RS 19/20 - Jan. 31 Dallas at Houston 

Post#60 » by Bob8 » Sat Feb 1, 2020 2:41 pm

DJ_3_Ball wrote:
leolozon wrote:
MrOrange wrote:
….



Never mind, he wasn't as efficient as I remembered in the past 5 games when Luka was missing.

He was at .536TS% for those 5 games which is really really bad for a first option, but still better than his efficiency for the year.

So, it's maybe just a question of sample size as the difference wasn't that big. Let's see how the next few games go.



Responding to this post because the other one was pretty long.

I'll just say this in general. This whole season you've been making some really good posts, but however they tend to come from a negative slant. And, when you get really frustrated (like myself) during a game thread, you can post something pretty outrageous. Maybe it's meant to be read with a hint of sarcasm.

When I read the "is it psychological?" comment, I was like Whoa dude. That's a crazy thing to say.

Listen, for me, it can be broken down this simple. We're 60% of the way through the season, and Luka & KP haven't even begun working on a pick 'n roll/pick 'n pop rhythm.

Imo, it took a backseat to Luka & Powell, which is where KP is with Luka on the floor. A passenger. You can throw out whatever stats you want, and you may very well be right. It's all a matter of perspective, in some sense. For example, I see the 7.5% of his shots with 4 seconds or less on the shot clock (and that needs context... is he being passed the ball or did he already have the ball & is shooting at that time. Why 4 seconds? Why not 5? Why not 3?... Does that include tip ins & putbacks?)... As always, you can manipulate stats to make whatever point you want.

Here's the thing. The eye test says that Luka isn't looking for KP as his #1 option. Luka & Powell does not equal championship. Luka looking for THJ & DFS before he looks for KP, that doesn't equal a championship, either.

I have been disappointed with Luka facilitating KP. It's not like when Nash & Dirk played together and you would always hear Dirk talk about how Nash just made the game easier for him. Have you heard KP say that one time this season? Where's the clips? The highlights of that.

What's going on here is, they tell KP go stand out 30 feet from the basket, well send the vendor over with a bag of popcorn for ya, and watch Luka dribble. That sucks.

I don't like James Harden. I don't like him personally, and I damn sure don't like to watch him play basketball. And, Luka talks about idolizing LeBron, but if you ask me, he idolizes James Harden. Because Luka is playing like Harden 2.0.

That is why KP plays better when Luka isn't around. Because his teammates look for him. You saw it all night last night. Teammate like DFS gets stripped, Curry got stripped (although, he's usually pretty adept at handling a possession on his own), THJ, Brunson, whoever... They try to create for themselves, their penetration is haulted, they pick up the ball & look for the 7 foot 3 guy. And KP goes to work.

That's what I see. You can tell me I'm wrong. That's fine. But, I'm not seeing Luka drive to the rim, draw an extra defender and find KP with the wrap around pass, the no look over the shoulder pass, the drive & kick for 3 (as often as I should). I'm not seeing. I might go a whole game & not see a Luka to KP assist.

Are you old enough to have watched full games (not just highlights on Youtube) of Nash & Dirk play together? That was 5-6 assists or would be assists on a nightly basis with those 2. The Mavs bread & butter. Luka to KP has not been our bread & butter this year. It hasn't even been a top 5 option. Heck, even JET & Dirk were a potent PnR tandem.

Luka & KP are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy down the list, and that honestly has to fall at Carlisle's feet.

To me, this is no secret, and I honestly did not understand why you found it so perplexing. But, anyways, no worries. Let's just try & right the ship because this lost to HOU is just so dang disappointing. Especially the way it played out. It seems like it's been since that win in Philly since I felt good about this team. We're dang near the 7th seed now.

So this is a time for Mavs fans to rally together & just try to cheer on the team harder. Not get into petty squables & all that.


I won’t be very long. Luka and KP cannot be our bread and butter until KP starts shooting much better. He’s light years away of Dirk and I doubt he will ever come close. His efficiency is disastrous and that’s not Luka’s fault. So you’re right, smart playmaker should look at players with better efficiency first. KP didn’t show anything to be considered as first or second option. People make big mistake comparing him to Dirk or expecting similar things from him. KP should be defensive anchor first and only then offensive threat.

About Luka. You have Luka with his strengths and flaws. He cannot play much different, but that doesn’t mean he cannot get much better. You will need to live with that. On the other hand, I’m sure you can trade Luka for a player, who will fit better with KP. ;)

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