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Surely they can't botch this game, can they?

Who knows the way we have played lately and no telling who is going to be ready to play till game time if they are wanting to rest Luka thinking we need to get his ankle healed up some more.

Without luka its not a game i bet money on

Hopefully Dinwiddie can continue his tear and THJ can show up. The good news is that Hardaway Sr. lives in Michigan and we all know THJ tends to play well when his dad is in the crowd.

We are the worst team in the league right now, that we simply cannot beat any team. We are dead last in rebounding and assist per game.

We are also the bottom in fast break, block, steal. We shoot a lot of 3PT and FT, but in very bad effeciency. Please tell me how this team can be a good team????

Michaellam1987 wrote:We are the worst team in the league right now, that we simply cannot beat any team. We are dead last in rebounding and assist per game.

That's because the whole team stands around looking when Luka is dribbling the ball for a fadeaway three. There is no movement. I've watched Damian Lillard and that 30 year old 6 foot nothing guy sets back screens against opposing centers while his cutters get free. I've never seen Luka set a screen for Dinwiddie or Brunson during his time here. I've never seen Luka set a back pick to get his big man open. If his M.O. is dribble too much then he will surely run out of gas in the 4th quarter and in the playoffs. Kobe can play off ball at times, Luka doesnt have to have the offense go through him 90% of the time. He needs to learn this. It will take time for him to do so IMO.

There are a lot of videos on youtube of how Kobe plays effective off ball. Off ball Luka for Dallas is Luka watching Wood post up from 35 feet out doing nothing. I'm sure we've all seen this by now and we just want improvement on that end. Not to bash him or anything.

arkuo wrote:

Michaellam1987 wrote:We are the worst team in the league right now, that we simply cannot beat any team. We are dead last in rebounding and assist per game.

That's because the whole team stands around looking when Luka is dribbling the ball for a fadeaway three. There is no movement. I've watched Damian Lillard and that 30 year old 6 foot nothing guy sets back screens against opposing centers while his cutters get free. I've never seen Luka set a screen for Dinwiddie or Brunson during his time here. I've never seen Luka set a back pick to get his big man open. If his M.O. is dribble too much then he will surely run out of gas in the 4th quarter and in the playoffs. Kobe can play off ball at times, Luka doesnt have to have the offense go through him 90% of the time. He needs to learn this. It will take time for him to do so IMO.

There are a lot of videos on youtube of how Kobe plays effective off ball. Off ball Luka for Dallas is Luka watching Wood post up from 35 feet out doing nothing. I'm sure we've all seen this by now and we just want improvement on that end. Not to bash him or anything.

If Luka is the problem and offense should not run 90% through him, why Mavs' offensive ranking with Luka is 118.3 and without him 107.1? 11.2 points of difference. Mavs should play 100% through him and play him 48 minutes, if that was possible, but unfortunately it isn't, because he wouldn't last a month. And he wouldn't last a month doing what he's doing + running off ball and setting screens.

If you look at Luka's last year's offensive rating, it's obvious where Mavs problems are. Mavs were only 5.1 points worse without him. Say hello to our FO.

Put Kobe in this team and he would have averaged 30+ FGA.

Next 2 games are vey crucial and very winnable if Zion is still out, don't drop the ball Mavs.

arkuo wrote:There are a lot of videos on youtube of how Kobe plays effective off ball.

You're forgeting that Kobe was coached by one of the top3 NBA coaches of all time. Luka has.... Kidd Dude can't even figure out how to get a shooter like Bertans 2 or 3 easy shots per game.

Michaellam1987 wrote:We are also the bottom in fast break, block, steal. We shoot a lot of 3PT and FT, but in very bad effeciency. Please tell me how this team can be a good team????

Also don't forget that Mavs are one of the top5 worst clutch FT% teams aswell. Luka was rated as the 2nd best clutch player few weeks ago yet Mavs as a team struggle mightly in clutch.

This is also a huge problem, probably the biggest of them all.



And a friendly reminder that Mavs FO still didn't resign Wood even though he would have welcomed it weeks back.

Bob8 wrote:

arkuo wrote:

Michaellam1987 wrote:We are the worst team in the league right now, that we simply cannot beat any team. We are dead last in rebounding and assist per game.

That's because the whole team stands around looking when Luka is dribbling the ball for a fadeaway three. There is no movement. I've watched Damian Lillard and that 30 year old 6 foot nothing guy sets back screens against opposing centers while his cutters get free. I've never seen Luka set a screen for Dinwiddie or Brunson during his time here. I've never seen Luka set a back pick to get his big man open. If his M.O. is dribble too much then he will surely run out of gas in the 4th quarter and in the playoffs. Kobe can play off ball at times, Luka doesnt have to have the offense go through him 90% of the time. He needs to learn this. It will take time for him to do so IMO.

There are a lot of videos on youtube of how Kobe plays effective off ball. Off ball Luka for Dallas is Luka watching Wood post up from 35 feet out doing nothing. I'm sure we've all seen this by now and we just want improvement on that end. Not to bash him or anything.

If Luka is the problem and offense should not run 90% through him, why Mavs' offensive ranking with Luka is 118.3 and without him 107.1? 11.2 points of difference. Mavs should play 100% through him and play him 48 minutes, if that was possible, but unfortunately it isn't, because he wouldn't last a month. And he wouldn't last a month doing what he's doing + running off ball and setting screens.

If you look at Luka's last year's offensive rating, it's obvious where Mavs problems are. Mavs were only 5.1 points worse without him. Say hello to our FO.

Put Kobe in this team and he would have averaged 30+ FGA.

Yeah we all know what the numbers say. But unfortunately it is a game of 5v5. I'm not contesting the numbers you've pulled. All I'm saying is his body language says something when he is playing off ball. Instead of just watching Wood or Dinwiddie go iso, why not involve yourself in the offense in another way? Surely that's won't hurt the team, yeah? Is it pride? Does it hurt if he sets back picks and screens? We don't know. Because Kobe and Lebron were able to do those things. Why the exemption? Would it hurt you to set a screen or two? Because I've never seen Luka set a screen on anybody all year. Have you? How about one screen. Takes 5 seconds. 1 screen. Would it hurt? It won't hurt the team would it?

The question was simple. Would it hurt the team if he sets 1 screen a game? Do we lose points if he does? I dont think we do. Or how about if he plays the roller on a pick and roll? Would it hurt? How about he pops off a pick for a spot up three? I haven't seen him do those. Or maybe it's Kidd. Here's an honest question, and I'm pretty sure you watched all Slovenia game in the Olympics. Have you seen Luka set a screen for another player in the Olympics? Or how about he pops off a screen for a 3 with someone else handling the ball? I don't recall him setting a screen and become the roller in a pick and roll. Because if his Slovenian coach can have him play like that, then maybe it's Kidd's fault for lack of variation.

Archx wrote:
You're forgeting that Kobe was coached by one of the top3 NBA coaches of all time. Luka has.... Kidd Dude can't even figure out how to get a shooter like Bertans 2 or 3 easy shots per game.

C'mon now. You can't pull that Kidd card every time. If Luka makes nice plays, he's a basketball savant. If he doesn't know how to play off ball, blame Kidd instead of the basketball savant child genius. You have to call it both ways. But I know there is no way to get through Luka fans to have him contribute and play off ball at times, so yeah you are probably right about it. I'd end my comments here just so it won't stretch out the conversation too much.

arkuo wrote:

Bob8 wrote:

arkuo wrote:

That's because the whole team stands around looking when Luka is dribbling the ball for a fadeaway three. There is no movement. I've watched Damian Lillard and that 30 year old 6 foot nothing guy sets back screens against opposing centers while his cutters get free. I've never seen Luka set a screen for Dinwiddie or Brunson during his time here. I've never seen Luka set a back pick to get his big man open. If his M.O. is dribble too much then he will surely run out of gas in the 4th quarter and in the playoffs. Kobe can play off ball at times, Luka doesnt have to have the offense go through him 90% of the time. He needs to learn this. It will take time for him to do so IMO.

There are a lot of videos on youtube of how Kobe plays effective off ball. Off ball Luka for Dallas is Luka watching Wood post up from 35 feet out doing nothing. I'm sure we've all seen this by now and we just want improvement on that end. Not to bash him or anything.

If Luka is the problem and offense should not run 90% through him, why Mavs' offensive ranking with Luka is 118.3 and without him 107.1? 11.2 points of difference. Mavs should play 100% through him and play him 48 minutes, if that was possible, but unfortunately it isn't, because he wouldn't last a month. And he wouldn't last a month doing what he's doing + running off ball and setting screens.

If you look at Luka's last year's offensive rating, it's obvious where Mavs problems are. Mavs were only 5.1 points worse without him. Say hello to our FO.

Put Kobe in this team and he would have averaged 30+ FGA.

Yeah we all know what the numbers say. But unfortunately it is a game of 5v5. I'm not contesting the numbers you've pulled. All I'm saying is his body language says something when he is playing off ball. Instead of just watching Wood or Dinwiddie go iso, why not involve yourself in the offense in another way? Surely that's won't hurt the team, yeah? Is it pride? Does it hurt if he sets back picks and screens? We don't know. Because Kobe and Lebron were able to do those things. Why the exemption? Would it hurt you to set a screen or two? Because I've never seen Luka set a screen on anybody all year. Have you? How about one screen. Takes 5 seconds. 1 screen. Would it hurt? It won't hurt the team would it?

Look, those numbers are saying that Mavs are great offensive team, when Luka has the ball in his hands and are very bad team, when he hasn't. No screens from Luka can change that. If Mavs would really needed badly his screens or off ball movement, they wouldn't be that bad without him, with players doing exactly what he's not doing. Even when Luka just watches others to go Iso, the best defender stays close to him, which provides great spacing for others.

To understand better what 118.3 offrtg means, Dinwiddie looked great against Utah, but his offensive rating was just 109.9.

Not even MJ or LeBron could do anything, before they got better roster. I'm sure Luka will play differently, when he gets his Shaq.

arkuo wrote:

Archx wrote:
You're forgeting that Kobe was coached by one of the top3 NBA coaches of all time. Luka has.... Kidd Dude can't even figure out how to get a shooter like Bertans 2 or 3 easy shots per game.

C'mon now. You can't pull that Kidd card every time. If Luka makes nice plays, he's a basketball savant. If he doesn't know how to play off ball, blame Kidd instead of the basketball savant child genius. You have to call it both ways. But I know there is no way to get through Luka fans to have him contribute and play off ball at times, so yeah you are probably right about it. I'd end my comments here just so it won't stretch out the conversation too much.

Luka fans? Is this another argument people make when they think they have it all figured out? If you want to use that argument against me, you better come up with something a lot better than just being scared of having an argument about the team.

But either way, something tells me you're not watching Mavs as close as you should have. When Luka is out or not playing, Dinwiddie and rest of the team have exact same plays, standing around and watching Dinwiddie dribble. How many picks and movement do you see from him? Probably not a lot, right?


You need to first get to the root of the problem then criticize everything else. Why do Nuggets have such amazing screen movements, etc.. It's because Jokic is super athletic dude who runs all over the floor like Iverson, setting up his team or because Nuggets have a lot of sets which involves player moving without the ball?

Why Kobe&Shaq couldn't figure it out before Phil came with his triangle offense which involved a lot of passing and players setting screens? Why Pistons won in 04? Was it because Brown figured out how to use Sheed' and Hamilton as a decoy and ran Lakers to the ground with screens or because Pistons were simply a juggernaut team who won 10 rings in a row?


A lot of it has to do with coaching and yes, i will blame Kidd 100% until i see any improvement in their overall game. But it's a lot to expect from a coach who can't even draw up a last second play, the very basics of any coaching.

Bob8 wrote:

arkuo wrote:

Bob8 wrote:
If Luka is the problem and offense should not run 90% through him, why Mavs' offensive ranking with Luka is 118.3 and without him 107.1? 11.2 points of difference. Mavs should play 100% through him and play him 48 minutes, if that was possible, but unfortunately it isn't, because he wouldn't last a month. And he wouldn't last a month doing what he's doing + running off ball and setting screens.

If you look at Luka's last year's offensive rating, it's obvious where Mavs problems are. Mavs were only 5.1 points worse without him. Say hello to our FO.

Put Kobe in this team and he would have averaged 30+ FGA.

Yeah we all know what the numbers say. But unfortunately it is a game of 5v5. I'm not contesting the numbers you've pulled. All I'm saying is his body language says something when he is playing off ball. Instead of just watching Wood or Dinwiddie go iso, why not involve yourself in the offense in another way? Surely that's won't hurt the team, yeah? Is it pride? Does it hurt if he sets back picks and screens? We don't know. Because Kobe and Lebron were able to do those things. Why the exemption? Would it hurt you to set a screen or two? Because I've never seen Luka set a screen on anybody all year. Have you? How about one screen. Takes 5 seconds. 1 screen. Would it hurt? It won't hurt the team would it?

Look, those numbers are saying that Mavs are great offensive team, when Luka has the ball in his hands and are very bad team, when he hasn't. No screens from Luka can change that. If Mavs would really needed badly his screens or off ball movement, they wouldn't be that bad without him, with players doing exactly what he's not doing. Even when Luka just watches others to go Iso, the best defender stays close to him, which provides great spacing for others.

To understand better what 118.3 offrtg means, Dinwiddie looked great against Utah, but his offensive rating was just 109.9.

Not MJ or LeBron could do anything, before they got better roster.

All Im saying is it wouldn't hurt the team if he were involved in the offense in another way. It would actually make things easier for him than playing point guard the whole game. It wouldn't hurt to get involved that way, you don't lose points by helping your teammate get open and it makes the team less predictable instead of just blitzing Luka on defense all game. Blitzing Luka on defense has been the answer to get the ball off his hands lately. In which case he passes it to Wood and watches from the three point line or he complains to the ref while Wood is doing iso. I've watched him off ball a lot of times and it is similar. I haven't seen him do it in the NBA and I haven't seen him do it in the olympics. Two different coaches. It would not hurt to set a back pick or two. Surely better than standing around the 3 point line and watching Wood going iso, don't you think? If Kobe can be the roller in a pick and roll, Luka can too. He just needs to learn the hard way. Ball travels faster than a human would.

Archx wrote:

arkuo wrote:

Archx wrote:
You're forgeting that Kobe was coached by one of the top3 NBA coaches of all time. Luka has.... Kidd Dude can't even figure out how to get a shooter like Bertans 2 or 3 easy shots per game.

C'mon now. You can't pull that Kidd card every time. If Luka makes nice plays, he's a basketball savant. If he doesn't know how to play off ball, blame Kidd instead of the basketball savant child genius. You have to call it both ways. But I know there is no way to get through Luka fans to have him contribute and play off ball at times, so yeah you are probably right about it. I'd end my comments here just so it won't stretch out the conversation too much.

Luka fans? Is this another argument people make when they think they have it all figured out? If you want to use that argument against me, you better come up with something a lot better than just being scared of having an argument about the team.

But either way, something tells me you're not watching Mavs as close as you should have. When Luka is out or not playing, Dinwiddie and rest of the team have exact same plays, standing around and watching Dinwiddie dribble. How many picks and movement do you see from him? Probably not a lot, right?


You need to first get to the root of the problem then criticize everything else. Why do Nuggets have such amazing screen movements, etc.. It's because Jokic is super athletic dude who runs all over the floor like Iverson, setting up his team or because Nuggets have a lot of sets which involves player moving without the ball?

Why Kobe&Shaq couldn't figure it out before Phil came with his triangle offense which involved a lot of passing and players setting screens? Why Pistons won in 04? Was it because Brown figured out how to use Sheed' and Hamilton as a decoy and ran Lakers to the ground with screens or because Pistons were simply a juggernaut team who won 10 rings in a row?


A lot of it has to do with coaching and yes, i will blame Kidd 100% until i see any improvement in their overall game. But it's a lot to expect from a coach who can't even draw up a last second play, the very basics of any coaching.

It's the same thing Luka did in the Olympics with a different coach. Dont get me wrong, Kidd has his shortcomings for sure. But would it hurt to set a back pick to help your teammate get open? Luka cant play superman for 48 minutes. There is a reason why Josh Green has a medal ahead of him. An honest question is have you seen Luka set a pick this year? In the olympics, have you seen it? Would it hurt if he tried? It would help the team, I assume. Don't you agree? You think it's better if he plays superman for 48 mins or no?

Because I would prefer if he saves all of his heroics for the 4th quarter. Let the others carry some of the load early on. it surely won't hurt to involve other people in the offense. You can only gain from it.

arkuo wrote:

Bob8 wrote:

arkuo wrote:
Yeah we all know what the numbers say. But unfortunately it is a game of 5v5. I'm not contesting the numbers you've pulled. All I'm saying is his body language says something when he is playing off ball. Instead of just watching Wood or Dinwiddie go iso, why not involve yourself in the offense in another way? Surely that's won't hurt the team, yeah? Is it pride? Does it hurt if he sets back picks and screens? We don't know. Because Kobe and Lebron were able to do those things. Why the exemption? Would it hurt you to set a screen or two? Because I've never seen Luka set a screen on anybody all year. Have you? How about one screen. Takes 5 seconds. 1 screen. Would it hurt? It won't hurt the team would it?

Look, those numbers are saying that Mavs are great offensive team, when Luka has the ball in his hands and are very bad team, when he hasn't. No screens from Luka can change that. If Mavs would really needed badly his screens or off ball movement, they wouldn't be that bad without him, with players doing exactly what he's not doing. Even when Luka just watches others to go Iso, the best defender stays close to him, which provides great spacing for others.

To understand better what 118.3 offrtg means, Dinwiddie looked great against Utah, but his offensive rating was just 109.9.

Not MJ or LeBron could do anything, before they got better roster.

All Im saying is it wouldn't hurt the team if he were involved in the offense in another way. It would actually make things easier for him than playing point guard the whole game. It wouldn't hurt to get involved that way, you don't lose points by helping your teammate get open and it makes the team less predictable instead of just blitzing Luka on defense all game. Blitzing Luka on defense has been the answer to get the ball off his hands lately. In which case he passes it to Wood and watches from the three point line or he complains to the ref while Wood is doing iso. I've watched him off ball a lot of times and it is similar. I haven't seen him do it in the NBA and I haven't seen him do it in the olympics. Two different coaches. It would not hurt to set a back pick or two. Surely better than standing around the 3 point line and watching Wood going iso, don't you think? If Kobe can be the roller in a pick and roll, Luka can too. He just needs to learn the hard way. Ball travels faster than a human would.

Teams blitzing and doubling Luka very high means that his teammates are 4/3 with a lot of open space. Forcing teams to defend you like that is normally a win situation for you, there's no screens that can provide your team with that kind of advantage. If opponents are prepared to put 2 players on you to get the ball out of your hands, why would you do that by yourself and play off ball?

I think the faults are 50%/50% on Luka and Kidd.
Probably Luka doesn't trust very much in his teammates and Kidd is a limited coach.

Anyway Detroit is bad, we can win with good D and effort... And a good 3points night of course. Go Mavs!

The laser lights up the stage.

Bob8 wrote:

arkuo wrote:

Bob8 wrote:
Look, those numbers are saying that Mavs are great offensive team, when Luka has the ball in his hands and are very bad team, when he hasn't. No screens from Luka can change that. If Mavs would really needed badly his screens or off ball movement, they wouldn't be that bad without him, with players doing exactly what he's not doing. Even when Luka just watches others to go Iso, the best defender stays close to him, which provides great spacing for others.

To understand better what 118.3 offrtg means, Dinwiddie looked great against Utah, but his offensive rating was just 109.9.

Not MJ or LeBron could do anything, before they got better roster.

All Im saying is it wouldn't hurt the team if he were involved in the offense in another way. It would actually make things easier for him than playing point guard the whole game. It wouldn't hurt to get involved that way, you don't lose points by helping your teammate get open and it makes the team less predictable instead of just blitzing Luka on defense all game. Blitzing Luka on defense has been the answer to get the ball off his hands lately. In which case he passes it to Wood and watches from the three point line or he complains to the ref while Wood is doing iso. I've watched him off ball a lot of times and it is similar. I haven't seen him do it in the NBA and I haven't seen him do it in the olympics. Two different coaches. It would not hurt to set a back pick or two. Surely better than standing around the 3 point line and watching Wood going iso, don't you think? If Kobe can be the roller in a pick and roll, Luka can too. He just needs to learn the hard way. Ball travels faster than a human would.

Teams blitzing and doubling Luka very high means that his teammates are 4/3 with a lot of open space. Forcing teams to defend you like that is normally a win situation for you, there's no screens that can provide your team with that kind of advantage. If opponents are prepared to put 2 players on you to get the ball out of your hands, why would you do that by yourself and play off ball?

So your answer is for Luka to play point guard for 48 minutes because it is the most efficient? Doing the same things and expecting different results is crazy man. Playing superman wont change the fact that he will run out of gas eventually. It wont suddenly change because you want it to.

arkuo wrote:

Archx wrote:

arkuo wrote:
C'mon now. You can't pull that Kidd card every time. If Luka makes nice plays, he's a basketball savant. If he doesn't know how to play off ball, blame Kidd instead of the basketball savant child genius. You have to call it both ways. But I know there is no way to get through Luka fans to have him contribute and play off ball at times, so yeah you are probably right about it. I'd end my comments here just so it won't stretch out the conversation too much.

Luka fans? Is this another argument people make when they think they have it all figured out? If you want to use that argument against me, you better come up with something a lot better than just being scared of having an argument about the team.

But either way, something tells me you're not watching Mavs as close as you should have. When Luka is out or not playing, Dinwiddie and rest of the team have exact same plays, standing around and watching Dinwiddie dribble. How many picks and movement do you see from him? Probably not a lot, right?


You need to first get to the root of the problem then criticize everything else. Why do Nuggets have such amazing screen movements, etc.. It's because Jokic is super athletic dude who runs all over the floor like Iverson, setting up his team or because Nuggets have a lot of sets which involves player moving without the ball?

Why Kobe&Shaq couldn't figure it out before Phil came with his triangle offense which involved a lot of passing and players setting screens? Why Pistons won in 04? Was it because Brown figured out how to use Sheed' and Hamilton as a decoy and ran Lakers to the ground with screens or because Pistons were simply a juggernaut team who won 10 rings in a row?


A lot of it has to do with coaching and yes, i will blame Kidd 100% until i see any improvement in their overall game. But it's a lot to expect from a coach who can't even draw up a last second play, the very basics of any coaching.

It's the same thing Luka did in the Olympics with a different coach. Dont get me wrong, Kidd has his shortcomings for sure. But would it hurt to set a back pick to help your teammate get open? Luka cant play superman for 48 minutes. There is a reason why Josh Green has a medal ahead of him. An honest question is have you seen Luka set a pick this year? In the olympics, have you seen it? Would it hurt if he tried? It would help the team, I assume. Don't you agree? You think it's better if he plays superman for 48 mins or no?

Because I would prefer if he saves all of his heroics for the 4th quarter. Let the others carry some of the load early on. it surely won't hurt to involve other people in the offense. You can only gain from it.

Josh Green was total non factor in the Olympics, benchwarmer par excellence. The reason is Australia having 23 millions bigger population.