RS 19/20 - Dallas v Grizzlies Frid,8:30PM

[B8RcDeMktfxC]

The Mavs need an enforcer imo. What the Grizz did to Curry and KP at the end of the 2ndQ was dirty. You need someone who will do the dirty work .. in order to stop this.

Should have resigned Salah.

Was he prepared to give Ja the hard foul / 'bow Tolliver in the base of the spine / .. ? I didn't watch him enough.

[Apz]

Dont think so. You would need someone that scares players, so they watch themselves so they dont do anything stupid before it happens. Someone that they know if something ugly is done to our players they will be out for 6+ months.

But tonight I dont think it was something ugly, just bad luck. But in the playoff it can be important

[B8RcDeMktfxC]

Dont think so. You would need someone that scares players, so they watch themselves so they dont do anything stupid before it happens. Someone that they know if something ugly is done to our players they will be out for 6+ months.

But tonight I dont think it was something ugly, just bad luck. But in the playoff it can be important

Today's didn't look good to me - admittedly I was watching on a phone. Val got under Curry completely unnecessarily because he just didn't care and Tolliver came up smirking after getting under KP. Have to remember KP's injury was an intentional getting-into-his-space by Giannis. I thought the MAvs were tentative from then to the end of Q2 and at the start of Q3. Then class showed out and no more problems.

I thought about the need for a "discourager" a couple of games ago as well - unhelpfully can't quite put my finger on which one. Anyway, maybe Powell's 5.5m could be put to that use for next year (or to Courtney).

fwiw, expecting to be out for x months is over the top for me - they just need to know there will be consequences - and maybe on their star players rather than the foulers.

[DJ_3_Ball]

The Mavs need an enforcer imo. What the Grizz did to Curry and KP at the end of the 2ndQ was dirty. You need someone who will do the dirty work .. in order to stop this.

Totally agree. Especially in the playoffs. We've seen plenty of examples of players like Pat Beverley changing the entire complexion of a series with a deliberate dirty play.

Guys like that are much less likely to pull a stunt like that if they fear for their career in retaliation. Willie Cauley-Stein would be the ideal "type" of guy to be an enforcer, but I don't think that's his M.O. You need a guy like Jared Dudley. You ever seen Dudley when a fight breaks out? He's the first one in. He wants all the smoke! Lol.

[B8RcDeMktfxC]

The Mavs need an enforcer imo. What the Grizz did to Curry and KP at the end of the 2ndQ was dirty. You need someone who will do the dirty work .. in order to stop this.

Totally agree. Especially in the playoffs. We've seen plenty of examples of players like Pat Beverley changing the entire complexion of a series with a deliberate dirty play.

Guys like that are much less likely to pull a stunt like that if they fear for their career in retaliation. Willie Cauley-Stein would be the ideal "type" of guy to be an enforcer, but I don't think that's his M.O. You need a guy like Jared Dudley. You ever seen Dudley when a fight breaks out? He's the first one in. He wants all the smoke! Lol.

Agreed. I just don't know WCS and MKG well enough to know if either is capable. Maxi is tough - see defense of Zion, but wouldn't play the role imo. Ditto Boban.

[BlueSan]

Good win another great Porzingis performance and another Dončič struggle.

I do think team as a whole could still play better a lot better

[arkuo]

Luka quickly becoming the white Russell Westbrook. The guy averaged a triple double for 2 years and bricked a ton of shots.

[Absinthe]

Porzingis definitely needs to stay at center full time. I’m not sure if they need to pair him with a defensive specialist/rebounder 4 or a stretch 4, but definitely don’t move him back to the 4. He looks like a totally new player.

[Michaellam1987]

Today is a great team win due to collective team efforts from the defensive end, especially Maxi, Delon, Lee and KP. Jackson is also playing fairly well during DFS's absence. Just hope DFS/Curry/THJ/Brunson can recover quickly and join back the team.

[arkuo]

Porzingis definitely needs to stay at center full time. I’m not sure if they need to pair him with a defensive specialist/rebounder 4 or a stretch 4, but definitely don’t move him back to the 4. He looks like a totally new player.

Maxi Kleber seems to have syncd well with KP. 6'11, defends well and shoots the 3. Covington would have been perfect at PF here. But Gerson Rosas (Wolves GM) used to work for the Houston Rockets and he wanted to do Daryl Morey a solid and sent Covington there. That's just how business works.

Jalen Rose said it best. We just need to surround KP and Luka with a lot of 3&D guys. I'd imagine that's why Cuban really wanted Danny Green here.

[Archx]

Luka quickly becoming the white Russell Westbrook. The guy averaged a triple double for 2 years and bricked a ton of shots.

No need to panic. I think injuries completely derailed him. Plus he was ill this game. Hopefully he'll get close to 100% or at least 90% when playoffs arrive. Luckily KP is playing at MVP and DPOY levels right now, he's simply amazing.

[Dirk]

And creating 20 open shots. Yes, he played decent tonight - despite him having a bad shooting night.

Then that’s not decent. Decent means above average and I don’t think he created more shots than he usually do.

It does? English is my 2nd language, but i've always considered decent as meaning acceptable. So decent as in an acceptable performance.

But i agree it isn't an above average performance - so let me use the word acceptable performance instead.

Our Luka guy is going through depression.

Regarding this particular game, he was very slow, even by his standards. I kind of hate all the talk about "nagging injuries", it's as if any bad game has "excuses", but you could clearly tell he was not himself... he was listed with an illness coming to the game and that probably showed.

In this game he missed some shots he usually makes in the paint. Don't really think there's much to look at here. Having the pain in mind, maybe he isn't as comfortable finishing through all the contact.

I guess you could talk about the whole 3 point shooting thing over and over... last 5 games it's at 22% or something.

So, there is always a context. And under the context of being sick and the thumb thing, he was generally okay. Like, he was good at circling the ball for instance, I saw him make the extra pass a good bit, just being "a team guy". He was giving the ball up to everyone at times.

Obviously, the Mavs won because you had guys like Lee and Jackson producing at a high level --- think about Jackson's defensive plays . And overall, KP becoming a monster and Seth being ridiculous has saved the Mavs the last couple of weeks.

Generally, I think he can have a better body language and not get so down on himself when his shot his off/he's nursing injuries/tired --- hell, he shows it himself because he's still able to produce, like he did the other night in crunch time. In the future he'll erase some of the moments where he is really down on himself and just accept whatever limitations he is dealing with, he doesn't have to be perfect or great all the time and in all games.

Hopefully in the non too distant future you have a stable unit with the new Seth, the new KP, THJ and injury/illness free Luka and see how they look. Since December... it's been a mess with injuries. Hell, I even forgot DFS is out too now... and just the other week he was looking awesome. It sucks... at the same time... it's fun to see guys who weren't playing showing that they can play.

Alright, here's a cool play

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

This was another cool play... by Seth... but Luka was Luka here

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

We've not seen the 'real' Luka with the 'new' KP yet. Imagine how will it be...

Gfycat Video - Click to Play

[arkuo]

Has anyone else noticed Carlisle uses KP like Golden State used KD on offense? Its very similar. It also helps that he can sink those 35 footers from the logo.

[XTraderXL]

If injuries are really such an issue with Luka then the Mavs should keep him out or a week or 10 days. They dont have a chance of beating anyone in the playoffs with Luka playing like he has been playing recently.

My opinion is it is not just the injuries, its his usuall drop off in the second part of the season. Hopefully I am wrong though...

[Michaellam1987]

Regarding Luka's recent struggles, it is a bit of everything actually. His physical conditioning is not of the best yet, he is easily getting fatigued, and this is why his performance deteriorate a bit in 2nd half of the season or in later time during tight game, his game is studied thoroughly and focused by the opponents night in and night out, they double team him, foul him really hard, attack him and make him play defense, KP is not at his best earlier of the season, making Luka spending lot of energy to carry the team in every game, together with his recent injuries make all of this even worse. However, that is a must process that every superstar has to pass through, so just hope Luka can be the one can pass through all those tests.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Porzingis definitely needs to stay at center full time. I’m not sure if they need to pair him with a defensive specialist/rebounder 4 or a stretch 4, but definitely don’t move him back to the 4. He looks like a totally new player.

There's definitely an element of being out of action for 20 months and then working your way back into rhythm vs having 3/4 of the season behind you & having your rhythm back. Back in November there were a lot of posts on here openly worrying if the Mavs had made a huge mistake with KP's contract & would he ever be the same player again??? I remember saying if you look at Paul George & Gordon Hayward's return to the court, we should expect KP to be rounding into from come March.

I'm not sure the 4 or the 5 has nearly as much to do with it.

[NY 567]

With KP playing like this, this team is a dark horse to cause a lot of havoc in the playoffs. But in able to do that, Luka needs to be Luka. He should sit until he's ready to go.

[HairyGOATee]

Random question, but how long after a game has been played do threads become "un"-stickied?