RS 22/23 - Mavs vs Jazz (Tuesd, 8:30PM EST)

[XTraderXL]

Luka was supposed to be the leader but he disappears in the 4th. He needs to find some balls.

[JWillTheFreak]

Luka was supposed to be the leader but he disappears in the 4th. He needs to find some balls.

He took one shot in the fourth!!!

[Apz]

How many blocks did wood end up with?

[JWillTheFreak]

How many blocks did wood end up with?

Two... He played great until he picked up his 3rd foul!

[Maverick41]

Some of my thoughts on the game:

Positives
- Kyrie was amazing. Put his team on his back in the 4th and did a great job pushing & distributing in previous quarters
- THJ is still on fire. He seems to have really good chemistry with Kyrie
- Holiday struggled in the beginning but was big down the stretch. 3 3s and 3 blocks total was huge for us.

Negatives
- Luka has the numbers but he had a below average game for his standards. The most obvious faults were that he was lazy on D and was a pace killer. There was too many possessions where he walked the ball up, iso'd and everyone just stayed still and watched. Honestly he looks extra slow. If he's injured, it might be best he rest a few games.

- Josh struggled again. Got stripped trying to finish a few times, turned down some shots and was erratic. Kind of like the old Josh which isn't good. He has to be a starting level caliber player for us to have a chance in the playoffs so hopefully he gets it together.

- Defense sucked again. It looks good sometimes when we run since the team looks juiced and they play harder. The minute we slow pace, the effort level just drains.

[XTraderXL]

My preseason Jokic for MVP bet looks pretty good right now

[arkuo]

Luka's turning into Russell Westbrook. Has good numbers but doesnt impact winning. Kinda similar to Nikola Vucevic who at times gets 25 and 10 but doesnt really do anything. Im not saying Luka is bad, but more like he doesnt know how to play within a system becauae he is used to being the only system. If the team is running and playing like a well oiled machine, the last thing you want to do is suddenly slow the game down the next possession and be a black hole. Just read the room.

To be fair, during certain parts of the last game, Mavs were like 3rd in the NBA in offense and 29th in defense. That says a lot. So defense is still a problem, we all knew this going in. That will be addressed in the summer. But for now, Luka has to learn how to mesh his game with the rest. He's the one who pushed for thr Kyrie trade, him and Kidd. So there has to be a way for him to make it work without running the whole game I think. There is no scientific way for Luka to survive a running game for 40 mins. So on offense when he doesnt have the ball, maybe he can set screens instead of waiting for a kick out pass. He's hefty enough to set screens. He wont be pushed around easily.

[JWillTheFreak]

Luka's turning into Russell Westbrook. Has good numbers but doesnt impact winning. Kinda similar to Nikola Vucevic who at times gets 25 and 10 but doesnt really do anything. Im not saying Luka is bad, but more like he doesnt know how to play within a system becauae he is used to being the only system. If the team is running and playing like a well oiled machine, the last thing you want to do is suddenly slow the game down the next possession and be a black hole. Just read the room.

To be fair, during certain parts of the last game, Mavs were like 3rd in the NBA in offense and 29th in defense. That says a lot. So defense is still a problem, we all knew this going in. That will be addressed in the summer. But for now, Luka has to learn how to mesh his game with the rest. He's the one who pushed for thr Kyrie trade, him and Kidd. So there has to be a way for him to make it work without running the whole game I think. There is no scientific way for Luka to survive a running game for 40 mins. So on offense when he doesnt have the ball, maybe he can set screens instead of waiting for a kick out pass. He's hefty enough to set screens. He wont be pushed around easily.

How does he not impact winning? They made the WCF last season. Luka never chases triple doubles he missed plenty by one assist or rebound. Luka not gonna change his whole game just to make kyrie happy... There has to be balance and Luka sits out plenty of time to let Kyrie do his thing... like the whole fourth quarter Luka took one shot...There is no way Luka lobby for the Mavs to get Kyrie, he just gived the go ahead...Mavs didn't need an undersized shooting guard... they needed a big to protect the paint.

[41Dirk41]

Mr Kyrie Irving.

Holiday was a great sign. Solid player.
Luka is injury, i don't know why he didn't sit out some games.

Green disappeared.

[Mavrelous]

How does he not impact winning? They made the WCF last season. Luka never chases triple doubles he missed plenty by one assist or rebound. Luka not gonna change his whole game just to make kyrie happy... There has to be balance and Luka sits out plenty of time to let Kyrie do his thing... like the whole fourth quarter Luka took one shot...There is no way Luka lobby for the Mavs to get Kyrie, he just gived the go ahead...Mavs didn't need an undersized shooting guard... they needed a big to protect the paint.

The last few games Luka isn't impacting winning, his defense, and less than spectacular offense is the reason for the losses.

Disappointing that Kyrie had to log 40 minutes on the 1st leg of a B2B, rotation will be really short tomorrow with Bullock likely out, Kidd will have to rely on Wood at C, and keep Maxi's 25 minutes at the PF position, but team must do all they can tomorrow, every game counts.

[arkuo]

Luka's turning into Russell Westbrook. Has good numbers but doesnt impact winning. Kinda similar to Nikola Vucevic who at times gets 25 and 10 but doesnt really do anything. Im not saying Luka is bad, but more like he doesnt know how to play within a system becauae he is used to being the only system. If the team is running and playing like a well oiled machine, the last thing you want to do is suddenly slow the game down the next possession and be a black hole. Just read the room.

To be fair, during certain parts of the last game, Mavs were like 3rd in the NBA in offense and 29th in defense. That says a lot. So defense is still a problem, we all knew this going in. That will be addressed in the summer. But for now, Luka has to learn how to mesh his game with the rest. He's the one who pushed for thr Kyrie trade, him and Kidd. So there has to be a way for him to make it work without running the whole game I think. There is no scientific way for Luka to survive a running game for 40 mins. So on offense when he doesnt have the ball, maybe he can set screens instead of waiting for a kick out pass. He's hefty enough to set screens. He wont be pushed around easily.

How does he not impact winning? They made the WCF last season. Luka never chases triple doubles he missed plenty by one assist or rebound. Luka not gonna change his whole game just to make kyrie happy... There has to be balance and Luka sits out plenty of time to let Kyrie do his thing... like the whole fourth quarter Luka took one shot...There is no way Luka lobby for the Mavs to get Kyrie, he just gived the go ahead...Mavs didn't need an undersized shooting guard... they needed a big to protect the paint.

This wasnt the case the last few games. Unfortunately.

[arkuo]

Mr Kyrie Irving.

Holiday was a great sign. Solid player.
Luka is injury, i don't know why he didn't sit out some games.

Green disappeared.

Yeah Holiday was a much needed boost than Terrence Ross.

Poor man's DFS > Poor man's THJ

I take Holiday over Ross given the roster construction.

[dirkules_41]

Mr Kyrie Irving.

Holiday was a great sign. Solid player.
Luka is injury, i don't know why he didn't sit out some games.

Green disappeared.

Yeah Holiday was a much needed boost than Terrence Ross.

Poor man's DFS > Poor man's THJ

I take Holiday over Ross given the roster construction.

Tbf Holiday has been playing far far better for us than DFS (especially since he joined BKN - he's been entirely useless offensively, even worse than with us all year). The only thing he's worse at is simply weighing a fair bit less.

[dirkules_41]

How does he not impact winning? They made the WCF last season. Luka never chases triple doubles he missed plenty by one assist or rebound. Luka not gonna change his whole game just to make kyrie happy... There has to be balance and Luka sits out plenty of time to let Kyrie do his thing... like the whole fourth quarter Luka took one shot...There is no way Luka lobby for the Mavs to get Kyrie, he just gived the go ahead...Mavs didn't need an undersized shooting guard... they needed a big to protect the paint.

The last few games Luka isn't impacting winning, his defense, and less than spectacular offense is the reason for the losses.

Disappointing that Kyrie had to log 40 minutes on the 1st leg of a B2B, rotation will be really short tomorrow with Bullock likely out, Kidd will have to rely on Wood at C, and keep Maxi's 25 minutes at the PF position, but team must do all they can tomorrow, every game counts.

Kidd will never rely on Wood at C. He'll play Powell for 38 minutes for 2 points, 5 rebounds and 0 steals or blocks.

[BeiBeau]

Luka's turning into Russell Westbrook. Has good numbers but doesnt impact winning. Kinda similar to Nikola Vucevic who at times gets 25 and 10 but doesnt really do anything. Im not saying Luka is bad, but more like he doesnt know how to play within a system becauae he is used to being the only system. If the team is running and playing like a well oiled machine, the last thing you want to do is suddenly slow the game down the next possession and be a black hole. Just read the room.

To be fair, during certain parts of the last game, Mavs were like 3rd in the NBA in offense and 29th in defense. That says a lot. So defense is still a problem, we all knew this going in. That will be addressed in the summer. But for now, Luka has to learn how to mesh his game with the rest. He's the one who pushed for thr Kyrie trade, him and Kidd. So there has to be a way for him to make it work without running the whole game I think. There is no scientific way for Luka to survive a running game for 40 mins. So on offense when he doesnt have the ball, maybe he can set screens instead of waiting for a kick out pass. He's hefty enough to set screens. He wont be pushed around easily.

That is certainly a basketball take. It is something that was said about the sport of basketball. Unfortunately the forum rules and terms of service on this forum prevent me giving this the proper shredding that this deserves. Arkuo I generally think you have some alright opinions so I'll just have to chalk this one up to it being 2 am when you posted this. It's okay bud we will all turn the other way for a minute so you can delete this real fast.

Luka does slow down the offense, it's true Luka slows down the pace but that is also often a good thing. In the first few games with Kyrie yeah the Mavs were faster but they were also out of control just as often.

Yes Luka tunnel visions and ISOs but he most does that when he has a mismatch. If Luka gets a smaller guard in the post or a center on the perimeter he should ISO them every time.

This season while Luka has been on the floor Dallas has been the best offense in the league, with out him they were the worst. He had a 60-20-10 game to beat the Knicks while Tim Hardaway was guarding Julius Randle all night. To compare that to Westbrooks stat padding or Vucevic's lack of impact shows a fundamental lack of basketball knowledge. I fear for your safety bud, you're only a few more takes like this away from having the same level of respect as Skip Bayless.

[41Dirk41]

How does he not impact winning? They made the WCF last season. Luka never chases triple doubles he missed plenty by one assist or rebound. Luka not gonna change his whole game just to make kyrie happy... There has to be balance and Luka sits out plenty of time to let Kyrie do his thing... like the whole fourth quarter Luka took one shot...There is no way Luka lobby for the Mavs to get Kyrie, he just gived the go ahead...Mavs didn't need an undersized shooting guard... they needed a big to protect the paint.

The last few games Luka isn't impacting winning, his defense, and less than spectacular offense is the reason for the losses.

Disappointing that Kyrie had to log 40 minutes on the 1st leg of a B2B, rotation will be really short tomorrow with Bullock likely out, Kidd will have to rely on Wood at C, and keep Maxi's 25 minutes at the PF position, but team must do all they can tomorrow, every game counts.

Kidd will never rely on Wood at C. He'll play Powell for 38 minutes for 2 points, 5 rebounds and 0 steals or blocks.

Guys i simply don't see 1 thing who Powell makes better than Wood. Really.

Lately Wood had good defense and blocks, he is not Anthony Davis but he has talent. He can't stay on the bench because of Powell. It's a no sense.

[Mavrelous]

Guys i simply don't see 1 thing who Powell makes better than Wood. Really.

Lately Wood had good defense and blocks, he is not Anthony Davis but he has talent. He can't stay on the bench because of Powell. It's a no sense.

Powell is better on the switch (much better), and is better at rim running, Wood offensive arsenal and being also good rim runner himself compensates for the latter, and the switch heavy scheme is failing this season, and it became worse since DFS left, I'm seeing more and more drop coverage from Powell, Wood is also a ball stopper on offense (next to Luka that's a good thing), but I'm with you, Powell doesn't offer anything except high energy.

[41Dirk41]

Guys i simply don't see 1 thing who Powell makes better than Wood. Really.

Lately Wood had good defense and blocks, he is not Anthony Davis but he has talent. He can't stay on the bench because of Powell. It's a no sense.

Powell is better on the switch (much better), and is better at rim running, Wood offensive arsenal and being also good rim runner himself compensates for the latter, and the switch heavy scheme is failing this season, and it became worse since DFS left, I'm seeing more and more drop coverage from Powell, Wood is also a ball stopper on offense (next to Luka that's a good thing), but I'm with you, Powell doesn't offer anything except high energy.

Yes Powell is better on the switch but he doesn't stop anyone, every small players bully him and score every single time. Nobody was feared by him, short arms. He can't block or protect the rim.
Probably he is the best nice guy of the world but we need someone who can play basketball.

Kidd never trusted Wood, i can understand why somethimes he can be lazy (he is a little bit lazy by nature of course).

[arkuo]

Luka's turning into Russell Westbrook. Has good numbers but doesnt impact winning. Kinda similar to Nikola Vucevic who at times gets 25 and 10 but doesnt really do anything. Im not saying Luka is bad, but more like he doesnt know how to play within a system becauae he is used to being the only system. If the team is running and playing like a well oiled machine, the last thing you want to do is suddenly slow the game down the next possession and be a black hole. Just read the room.

To be fair, during certain parts of the last game, Mavs were like 3rd in the NBA in offense and 29th in defense. That says a lot. So defense is still a problem, we all knew this going in. That will be addressed in the summer. But for now, Luka has to learn how to mesh his game with the rest. He's the one who pushed for thr Kyrie trade, him and Kidd. So there has to be a way for him to make it work without running the whole game I think. There is no scientific way for Luka to survive a running game for 40 mins. So on offense when he doesnt have the ball, maybe he can set screens instead of waiting for a kick out pass. He's hefty enough to set screens. He wont be pushed around easily.

That is certainly a basketball take. It is something that was said about the sport of basketball. Unfortunately the forum rules and terms of service on this forum prevent me giving this the proper shredding that this deserves. Arkuo I generally think you have some alright opinions so I'll just have to chalk this one up to it being 2 am when you posted this. It's okay bud we will all turn the other way for a minute so you can delete this real fast.

Luka does slow down the offense, it's true Luka slows down the pace but that is also often a good thing. In the first few games with Kyrie yeah the Mavs were faster but they were also out of control just as often.

Yes Luka tunnel visions and ISOs but he most does that when he has a mismatch. If Luka gets a smaller guard in the post or a center on the perimeter he should ISO them every time.

This season while Luka has been on the floor Dallas has been the best offense in the league, with out him they were the worst. He had a 60-20-10 game to beat the Knicks while Tim Hardaway was guarding Julius Randle all night. To compare that to Westbrooks stat padding or Vucevic's lack of impact shows a fundamental lack of basketball knowledge. I fear for your safety bud, you're only a few more takes like this away from having the same level of respect as Skip Bayless.

All Im saying is he needs to learn how to play with a system with another star and stop complaining. We all know what Luka can do on offense alone prior to the trade. Getting 40 points is easy when the ball is in your hands 19 seconds for every 24. Suddenly 60 pts in an over time win doesn't look too impressive when you have these guys below:

Damian Lillard 71 pts (Feb 23)- in 39 mins
Donovan Mitchell 71 pts (Jan 2) in 49 mins
Damian Lillard 60 pts (Jan 25) - in 39 mins
Joel Embiid 59 pts (Nov 13) - in 36 mins
Anthony Davis 55 pts (Dec 4) - in 37 mins
Giannis Antetokuompo 54 pts (Feb 2) in 36 mins
Luka Doncic 60 pts (Dec 27) in 47 mins

Luka was the only guy to do in extended minutes due to overtime. So naturally you're scoring more because you have the ball in your hands most of the time while the other 4 guys stand around waiting for a kick out pass. You really want to go back to that type of play? I like the faster pace of the game now, Sacramento is running more and they are one of the top teams in the west. When Domas Sabonis looks lighter and runs faster than Luka Doncic, I think you gotta cut back on the pizza a bit. Then hopefully Kidd can make Luka do more things on offense rather than hang around 39 feet away from the basket when Kyrie has the ball and be the first to run back on defense (like he actually defends - C'mon now, let's be real here). I need to see more variations from Luka on offense when playing with another star - not just staggered iso plays. I say this coming from watching a lot of Jokic and Jamal Murray two man games and pick and rolls. Jokic doesn't have the ball in his hands for 19 seconds, he makes himself useful by setting picks and grabbing boards, I just think its a more seamless fit. Luka looks like he's 275 lbs. and cant set a single screen all game. He watches from the 3 point line. If a back to back MVP like Jokic can do it, why cant Luka? Now whether that's on Luka or Kidd is another question. But we cant use the Luka is a savant card every time but blame Kidd on the same scenario too. I need the guy to focus on the game more rather than just expecting other superstar treatment. He'll get his flowers once he wins his ring and that will naturally come. But now he just has to keep his head in the game and not clown coaches like Rick Carlisle only to lose the same game afterwards. It makes him look bad and we both don't want any of that. The guy was chirping with Carlisle and ended the game with an L. How do you get behind that? He's got more things to figure out internally with the team rather than talking externally with other factors. So before he preoccupies himself with all that pro wrestling chest thumping nonsense, just use that energy to find a more suitable way to make things work seamlessly. Its better all around. When he has that stuff nailed down, then sure he can grab a microphone and call out anyone in the league like The Rock in WWE.

[arkuo]

Luka's turning into Russell Westbrook. Has good numbers but doesnt impact winning. Kinda similar to Nikola Vucevic who at times gets 25 and 10 but doesnt really do anything. Im not saying Luka is bad, but more like he doesnt know how to play within a system becauae he is used to being the only system. If the team is running and playing like a well oiled machine, the last thing you want to do is suddenly slow the game down the next possession and be a black hole. Just read the room.

To be fair, during certain parts of the last game, Mavs were like 3rd in the NBA in offense and 29th in defense. That says a lot. So defense is still a problem, we all knew this going in. That will be addressed in the summer. But for now, Luka has to learn how to mesh his game with the rest. He's the one who pushed for thr Kyrie trade, him and Kidd. So there has to be a way for him to make it work without running the whole game I think. There is no scientific way for Luka to survive a running game for 40 mins. So on offense when he doesnt have the ball, maybe he can set screens instead of waiting for a kick out pass. He's hefty enough to set screens. He wont be pushed around easily.

That is certainly a basketball take. It is something that was said about the sport of basketball. Unfortunately the forum rules and terms of service on this forum prevent me giving this the proper shredding that this deserves. Arkuo I generally think you have some alright opinions so I'll just have to chalk this one up to it being 2 am when you posted this. It's okay bud we will all turn the other way for a minute so you can delete this real fast.

Luka does slow down the offense, it's true Luka slows down the pace but that is also often a good thing. In the first few games with Kyrie yeah the Mavs were faster but they were also out of control just as often.

Yes Luka tunnel visions and ISOs but he most does that when he has a mismatch. If Luka gets a smaller guard in the post or a center on the perimeter he should ISO them every time.

This season while Luka has been on the floor Dallas has been the best offense in the league, with out him they were the worst. He had a 60-20-10 game to beat the Knicks while Tim Hardaway was guarding Julius Randle all night. To compare that to Westbrooks stat padding or Vucevic's lack of impact shows a fundamental lack of basketball knowledge. I fear for your safety bud, you're only a few more takes like this away from having the same level of respect as Skip Bayless.

But your point has merits too man. I think if Luka can get proper usage like how Sacramento just uses Sabonis as an offensive hub at the top of the key, they way he gets the ball and flicks passes to cutters, I think that would be a more suitable role for Luka rather than just doing staggered isos, dribbling back and fourth and dancing with the ball while slowing the game down. Now this comes down to creativity and Kidd has to draw these up as well. But the Sabonis/Fox and Jokic/Murray two man games have more rhythm to it than the isos Luka and Kyrie has right now.

Watch on YouTube

Sabonis and Jokic have the same dribble hand off play where they get the ball top of the key, one dribble, set a screen and the shooter runs past them and they hand it off. Luka should be able to do this easy man. With his eyes closed. But we opt to do isos for Luka so he can do his dribble dance and step back three. Sure it will take an adjustment for Luka to be able to set a screen like Domas, but surely it can be done, no? These plays have more synergy IMO.

Best movement shooting teams in the NBA today:
Denver
Phoenix
Boston
Brooklyn
Portland
Sacramento
Philadelphia
Golden State

Dallas is close to the bottom in terms of movement along with Detroit, Miami and Milwaukee.