Playoffs 2024 - WCF - G1 - Mavs @ Wolves (Wed., 8:30PMEST)

[Archx]

The standards are always higher for Luka. SGA (6 months older than Luka) can lose in the second round and miss the playoffs almost every year of his career, no problem, Embiid can be 30 and never make the Eastern Conference Finals, Ant can be Michael Jordan by making 1 WCF, but for Luka "if you want to prove something to me, win the NBA Finals"

Read on Twitter

They are just saying controversial stuff for views. It's like that time when Embiid scored 70 on Spurs, he was almost the best scorer ever. But when Luka did it to Hawks, it was almost a disgrace and they talked like Hawks actually let him score that much.

[GermanFan120]

SO happy Mavs made it this far.

This one will be tough. As much as I dislike him, Ant is a bonafide superstar. McDaniels is an ace defensive wing who knows his role, KAT can always go off when he's on, and yeah for some reason Naz Reid is KG when he sees Dallas on the other side. Not sure how this series will go, but WCF is a great feat.

Actually I would love Naz to turn to be KG, so we will sweep them.

[GermanFan120]

Assuming Maxi is out permanently, we have one more secret weapon in our sleeves, he is not so good but I think he can get the job done by picking a fight vs. Jaden and that young hot head is gonna self destruct.

[GermanFan120]

My heart wants Mavs to win, but this Wolves team does look better than us on paper.

No need to watch this game because Kidd never wins game 1, period.

[kacey ring]

I’m interested in how Twolves guard Luka and Kai. Seems they will start with straight man to man (McD on Luka, Ant on Kai).

I think Luka will have his way with McDaniels. I think Mavs can also try to get Gobert or Conley (likely starting on DJJ) switched onto Luka to start forcing double teams, which will get us our open 3s and/or lobs.

Everyone on TV thinks Twolves have “something special,” well so do the Mavs since the trade deadline.

Get your popcorn ready

[ChipotleWest]

I’m interested in how Twolves guard Luka and Kai. Seems they will start with straight man to man (McD on Luka, Ant on Kai).

I think Luka will have his way with McDaniels. I think Mavs can also try to get Gobert or Conley (likely starting on DJJ) switched onto Luka to start forcing double teams, which will get us our open 3s and/or lobs.

Everyone on TV thinks Twolves have “something special,” well so do the Mavs since the trade deadline.

Get your popcorn ready

That nothing team from Fort Worth or wherever is forfeiting they're giving the series to the Wolves, according to the media. They're already going to the Finals. Lucas Donacheese said "they're too good we're not going to try, good luck in the Finals Wolves"

[Archx]

I’m interested in how Twolves guard Luka and Kai. Seems they will start with straight man to man (McD on Luka, Ant on Kai).

I think Luka will have his way with McDaniels. I think Mavs can also try to get Gobert or Conley (likely starting on DJJ) switched onto Luka to start forcing double teams, which will get us our open 3s and/or lobs.

Everyone on TV thinks Twolves have “something special,” well so do the Mavs since the trade deadline.

Get your popcorn ready

Luka will have to bring his nuclear A game to this series. NO other way around. People might delude themselves thinking PJ and DJJ will somehow save them on offense like in OKC series. The thing is, Wolves are strong enough to guard Luka 1v1 because they have Gobert and KAT behind McDaniels. That alone makes them a ton more dangerous than LAC or OKC because they don't need to bring guys into double leaving shooters open. Hence why i wanted Nuggets in WCF and not Wolves.

So for Luka the most important thing is that his ISO game or shooting %'s go back to around 50%.

Wolves also have much stronger bench. Naz Reid alone can turn around the game for them (like he did in game 7). On the other side, no Maxi, THJ's game completely gone, Green's up and down shooting.... Basically only reliable bench guy is a rookie Lively lol...

Kyrie is kinda a quiet joker for me. If he somehow can get going and score 25+ each game, maybe Mavs will have enough to win. So yeah, Kyrie is the key for me.

[jpengland]

This will be the end of the road, unfortunately.

With a healthy Luka I'd pick us in 5 or 6. But he's so beat up that we likely go down in 5.

[Bob8]

I’m interested in how Twolves guard Luka and Kai. Seems they will start with straight man to man (McD on Luka, Ant on Kai).

I think Luka will have his way with McDaniels. I think Mavs can also try to get Gobert or Conley (likely starting on DJJ) switched onto Luka to start forcing double teams, which will get us our open 3s and/or lobs.

Everyone on TV thinks Twolves have “something special,” well so do the Mavs since the trade deadline.

Get your popcorn ready

Luka will have to bring his nuclear A game to this series. NO other way around. People might delude themselves thinking PJ and DJJ will somehow save them on offense like in OKC series. The thing is, Wolves are strong enough to guard Luka 1v1 because they have Gobert and KAT behind McDaniels. That alone makes them a ton more dangerous than LAC or OKC because they don't need to bring guys into double leaving shooters open. Hence why i wanted Nuggets in WCF and not Wolves.

So for Luka the most important thing is that his ISO game or shooting %'s go back to around 50%.

Wolves also have much stronger bench. Naz Reid alone can turn around the game for them (like he did in game 7). On the other side, no Maxi, THJ's game completely gone, Green's up and down shooting.... Basically only reliable bench guy is a rookie Lively lol...

Kyrie is kinda a quiet joker for me. If he somehow can get going and score 25+ each game, maybe Mavs will have enough to win. So yeah, Kyrie is the key for me.

I was hoping for Denver too, for different reasons, but we have to understand that Mavs wouldn't have stopped motivated Jokic like in RS. They would need to put double or even triple teams on him. Murray and MPJ being wide open a lot of time. Wolves might be much better in D, but a lot easier to stop in offensive side. Good Luka and Kyrie and everything is possible.

[ozwizard8]

Gobert reputation was tarnished mainly becauseof two PO series:
2021 Clippers: this was an underrated team, 5th place in MVP voting Brunson was played off the floor by them, 6'5" - 6'9" long athleic of lights out shooting and suffocating defense.
2022 Mavs: Snyder defensive planand Mitchell matador defense mafe Brunson and Maxi impersonate Stephand Dirk
Gobert is a walking top defense by himself.
Mavs in 6, we smoke French baguettes for breakfast

Clippers taking Brunson out is not related with Gobert's woes. 2021 Brunson was just a sophomore and bench player. He has been improving his game since the rookie year. Clippers taking a short guard out is wildly different than a DPOY playing terrible on both offense and defense to get taken out. Gobert was a liability on defense against Mavs and some other teams as well. Considering his limitations on offense it just didn't make sense to have him on the court.

Gobert is looking better this year because NBA suddenly changed the way game officiated. Normally, guards or good perimeter offensive players will switch on him to abuse. The refs are allowing the TWolves to foul the **** out of the ball handler in the offseason. It really doesn't matter if its Booker, KD, Murray or whoever. Wolves players foul them and basically dont let them dribble to run plays. They dont get the switches on Gobert to abuse him.

* Regular season SUNS were 3-0 against the same TWolves.
* Playoffs SUNS are 0-4, thank to the jail-ball sponsored by NBA Refs.

If NBA continues to let that jail ball BS, we can see many teams switching to play with 2 big men like its 90s or early 2000s. But this seems to apply only NBA's special teams.

KAT is not used to be a good defender. But with NBA pushing Wolves, now he is able to defend perimeter players or Centers. KAT only gets 1 foul call per quarter so the rest of the fouls he commits don't get called, and it suddenly becomes a good D.

Key to this series will be REFS not being 100% TWolves. Because if refs dont allow Luka-Kyrie to dribble, use screen to run p&r action then they cannot abuse KAT-Gobert and Mavs cannot draw double teams to have open 3pt shots. We'll see but I feel like it'll be tough officiating. NBA with all those TV deals are pushing too much of SGA, edwards stuff. NBA made sure JVG to be terminated from ESPN not to get called on live broadcast.

[ozwizard8]

The standards are always higher for Luka. SGA (6 months older than Luka) can lose in the second round and miss the playoffs almost every year of his career, no problem, Embiid can be 30 and never make the Eastern Conference Finals, Ant can be Michael Jordan by making 1 WCF, but for Luka "if you want to prove something to me, win the NBA Finals"

Read on Twitter

They are just saying controversial stuff for views. It's like that time when Embiid scored 70 on Spurs, he was almost the best scorer ever. But when Luka did it to Hawks, it was almost a disgrace and they talked like Hawks actually let him score that much.

You may be too naive.

Their controversial stuff is always against Luka.
The MVP voting is always against Luka.
High scoring game is good for Embiid and bad for Luka even though it was crazy efficient.

A specific skin color is not appreciated in the NBA. We even saw this in last years' MVP voting between Embiid-Jokic where those talking heads openly stated voting for Jokic would be racist etc and made cry-baby Embiid win.

[Archx]

The standards are always higher for Luka. SGA (6 months older than Luka) can lose in the second round and miss the playoffs almost every year of his career, no problem, Embiid can be 30 and never make the Eastern Conference Finals, Ant can be Michael Jordan by making 1 WCF, but for Luka "if you want to prove something to me, win the NBA Finals"

Read on Twitter

They are just saying controversial stuff for views. It's like that time when Embiid scored 70 on Spurs, he was almost the best scorer ever. But when Luka did it to Hawks, it was almost a disgrace and they talked like Hawks actually let him score that much.

You may be too naive.

Their controversial stuff is always against Luka.
The MVP voting is always against Luka.
High scoring game is good for Embiid and bad for Luka even though it was crazy efficient.

A specific skin color is not appreciated in the NBA. We even saw this in last years' MVP voting between Embiid-Jokic where those talking heads openly stated voting for Jokic would be racist etc and made cry-baby Embiid win.

Stephen A. literally said once all he's doing is an act. He spoke very intelligently about players and basketball, completely different demeanor than he's usually on ESPN.
Fans know 80% of these idiots are just trying to copy INSIDE TNT guys because they see how good they are. But instead of being funny they're just talking **** for the sake of controversy. Unfortunately that can also sway many voters in the process.

But SGA had just as much of an argument being 2nd as Luka. So him landing infront of Doncic is not some kind of a conspiracy theory against Luka, it's just that OKC and SGA have been consistent entire year. Luka simply made 2late of a push.

Look at Skip Bayless as well. Dude was hating on Doncic for like 4 or 5 straight seasons, he then saw it doesn't go well and turned the table this year and can't sing enough praise about him.

You really think Arenas behind the scenes hates Euros and would like to see them gone from the NBA? Or you think these boneheads are doing it for more views because we all know conspiracy and controversies sell and draw people to listen more.

And also, good example in the video above. Broussard voted Luka for MVP yet he kinda talks **** about him what he needs to prove. So ask yourself, what is more likely. He suddenly saw Mavs have success and started randomly hating or you think he's trying to be a counter weight to Nick who can't stop praising him?

You really can't figure out how these things work? Think about really hard who is more naive here, me or you.

[ChipotleWest]

They are just saying controversial stuff for views. It's like that time when Embiid scored 70 on Spurs, he was almost the best scorer ever. But when Luka did it to Hawks, it was almost a disgrace and they talked like Hawks actually let him score that much.

You may be too naive.

Their controversial stuff is always against Luka.
The MVP voting is always against Luka.
High scoring game is good for Embiid and bad for Luka even though it was crazy efficient.

A specific skin color is not appreciated in the NBA. We even saw this in last years' MVP voting between Embiid-Jokic where those talking heads openly stated voting for Jokic would be racist etc and made cry-baby Embiid win.

Stephen A. literally said once all he's doing is an act. He spoke very intelligently about players and basketball, completely different demeanor than he's usually on ESPN.
Fans know 80% of these idiots are just trying to copy INSIDE TNT guys because they see how good they are. But instead of being funny they're just talking **** for the sake of controversy. Unfortunately that can also sway many voters in the process.

But SGA had just as much of an argument being 2nd as Luka. So him landing infront of Doncic is not some kind of a conspiracy theory against Luka, it's just that OKC and SGA have been consistent entire year. Luka simply made 2late of a push.

Look at Skip Bayless as well. Dude was hating on Doncic for like 4 or 5 straight seasons, he then saw it doesn't go well and turned the table this year and can't sing enough praise about him.

You really think Arenas behind the scenes hates Euros and would like to see them gone from the NBA? Or you think these boneheads are doing it for more views because we all know conspiracy and controversies sell and draw people to listen more.

And also, good example in the video above. Broussard voted Luka for MVP yet he kinda talks **** about him what he needs to prove. So ask yourself, what is more likely. He suddenly saw Mavs have success and started randomly hating or you think he's trying to be a counter weight to Nick who can't stop praising him?

You really can't figure out how these things work? Think about really hard who is more naive here, me or you.

I don't think it's really about Luka or Euro players, I think if Luka was a Laker or Knick they'd all love him. I just believe that in general ESPN has always hated the Dallas Mavericks, and not just ESPN either other media sources but mostly ESPN. Yes occasionally you'll get someone that's supportive on TV, mostly though it's just hate. But why? Even as you mentioned Inside the TNT they kind of do the same. Why? Does it help ratings or something? I don't get it.

I mean the same Skip Bayless you mentioned used to be on ESPN and after the Mavs won the championship he gave them practically no credit and just said it was about Lebron choking.

And regardless if they're putting on an act or not, there's got to be some reason for it. Again does it drive ratings otherwise it makes no sense to me.

Anyway I've talked enough about it who cares really. I think Luka prefers not being a media darling and we know he does not sweat being the underdog because he's been the underdog every series of his entire career. Just wish tomorrow would hurry up and get here.

[Archx]

You may be too naive.

Their controversial stuff is always against Luka.
The MVP voting is always against Luka.
High scoring game is good for Embiid and bad for Luka even though it was crazy efficient.

A specific skin color is not appreciated in the NBA. We even saw this in last years' MVP voting between Embiid-Jokic where those talking heads openly stated voting for Jokic would be racist etc and made cry-baby Embiid win.

Stephen A. literally said once all he's doing is an act. He spoke very intelligently about players and basketball, completely different demeanor than he's usually on ESPN.
Fans know 80% of these idiots are just trying to copy INSIDE TNT guys because they see how good they are. But instead of being funny they're just talking **** for the sake of controversy. Unfortunately that can also sway many voters in the process.

But SGA had just as much of an argument being 2nd as Luka. So him landing infront of Doncic is not some kind of a conspiracy theory against Luka, it's just that OKC and SGA have been consistent entire year. Luka simply made 2late of a push.

Look at Skip Bayless as well. Dude was hating on Doncic for like 4 or 5 straight seasons, he then saw it doesn't go well and turned the table this year and can't sing enough praise about him.

You really think Arenas behind the scenes hates Euros and would like to see them gone from the NBA? Or you think these boneheads are doing it for more views because we all know conspiracy and controversies sell and draw people to listen more.

And also, good example in the video above. Broussard voted Luka for MVP yet he kinda talks **** about him what he needs to prove. So ask yourself, what is more likely. He suddenly saw Mavs have success and started randomly hating or you think he's trying to be a counter weight to Nick who can't stop praising him?

You really can't figure out how these things work? Think about really hard who is more naive here, me or you.

I don't think it's really about Luka or Euro players, I think if Luka was a Laker or Knick they'd all love him. I just believe that in general ESPN has always hated the Dallas Mavericks, and not just ESPN either other media sources but mostly ESPN. Yes occasionally you'll get someone that's supportive on TV, mostly though it's just hate. But why? Even as you mentioned Inside the TNT they kind of do the same. Why? Does it help ratings or something? I don't get it.

I mean the same Skip Bayless you mentioned used to be on ESPN and after the Mavs won the championship he gave them practically no credit and just said it was about Lebron choking.

And regardless if they're putting on an act or not, there's got to be some reason for it. Again does it drive ratings otherwise it makes no sense to me.

Anyway I've talked enough about it who cares really. I think Luka prefers not being a media darling and we know he does not sweat being the underdog because he's been the underdog every series of his entire career. Just wish tomorrow would hurry up and get here.

I think it's mostly because of smaller market even though Mavs are suppose to be one of the bigger franchises. I don't know honestly, hard to say. But you know how it is, bigger market and popular teams bring in more agents, money, connections, etc...

[ozwizard8]

They are just saying controversial stuff for views. It's like that time when Embiid scored 70 on Spurs, he was almost the best scorer ever. But when Luka did it to Hawks, it was almost a disgrace and they talked like Hawks actually let him score that much.

You may be too naive.

Their controversial stuff is always against Luka.
The MVP voting is always against Luka.
High scoring game is good for Embiid and bad for Luka even though it was crazy efficient.

A specific skin color is not appreciated in the NBA. We even saw this in last years' MVP voting between Embiid-Jokic where those talking heads openly stated voting for Jokic would be racist etc and made cry-baby Embiid win.

Stephen A. literally said once all he's doing is an act. He spoke very intelligently about players and basketball, completely different demeanor than he's usually on ESPN.
Fans know 80% of these idiots are just trying to copy INSIDE TNT guys because they see how good they are. But instead of being funny they're just talking **** for the sake of controversy. Unfortunately that can also sway many voters in the process.

But SGA had just as much of an argument being 2nd as Luka. So him landing infront of Doncic is not some kind of a conspiracy theory against Luka, it's just that OKC and SGA have been consistent entire year. Luka simply made 2late of a push.

Look at Skip Bayless as well. Dude was hating on Doncic for like 4 or 5 straight seasons, he then saw it doesn't go well and turned the table this year and can't sing enough praise about him.

You really think Arenas behind the scenes hates Euros and would like to see them gone from the NBA? Or you think these boneheads are doing it for more views because we all know conspiracy and controversies sell and draw people to listen more.

And also, good example in the video above. Broussard voted Luka for MVP yet he kinda talks **** about him what he needs to prove. So ask yourself, what is more likely. He suddenly saw Mavs have success and started randomly hating or you think he's trying to be a counter weight to Nick who can't stop praising him?

You really can't figure out how these things work? Think about really hard who is more naive here, me or you.

No you are the one thinking naively and thinking the clear bias against Luka can be explained as ACT. I am not referring to few talking heads talking negative on Luka. There is no balance in Luka talk to be explained as some act 'against' other act 'for Luka'.

I am well aware of these shows have some act in it where producers give roles to each talking head. But their shows are not fully acting. Their takes and the wording they use have clear personal biases. And Gilbert Arenas doing a podcast, and talk is not same thing with ESPN shows. Arenas, Kenyon Martin these are openly racist people. Their podcasts not making money or having serious producers behind it. So when they talk racist, you can belive its coming from racist bias.

SGA had inferior stats than Luka and Jokic but had tons of support from the media overall. In hot-take type of shows, there might have been a few debates where one side was bashing SGA, but from what I see, the overall narrative was always pro SGA.

Other than acts, hot-take shows, there are always some agendas promoted by some people due to their connection to agencies, sponsorships, being from same state etc. Like Boston media, Bill Simmons etc creates some narratives out of their affiliation with Celtics fandom. Marcus Smart winning DPOY type of **** is not an outcome of 'ACT'. They actively create and support narratives due their bias.

The year Embiid got MVP award was literally a campaigning of dont vote to white guy or you'd be racist. So some of dumbass people in the NBA media has a clear bias against a certain skin color. They'd rather promote Embiid scoring 70 in meaningless game versus efficient 73 of Luka in close game. They vote and campaign voting for SGA/Embiid rather than better stats, better players in Jokic Doncic.

[ozwizard8]

Stephen A. literally said once all he's doing is an act. He spoke very intelligently about players and basketball, completely different demeanor than he's usually on ESPN.
Fans know 80% of these idiots are just trying to copy INSIDE TNT guys because they see how good they are. But instead of being funny they're just talking **** for the sake of controversy. Unfortunately that can also sway many voters in the process.

But SGA had just as much of an argument being 2nd as Luka. So him landing infront of Doncic is not some kind of a conspiracy theory against Luka, it's just that OKC and SGA have been consistent entire year. Luka simply made 2late of a push.

Look at Skip Bayless as well. Dude was hating on Doncic for like 4 or 5 straight seasons, he then saw it doesn't go well and turned the table this year and can't sing enough praise about him.

You really think Arenas behind the scenes hates Euros and would like to see them gone from the NBA? Or you think these boneheads are doing it for more views because we all know conspiracy and controversies sell and draw people to listen more.

And also, good example in the video above. Broussard voted Luka for MVP yet he kinda talks **** about him what he needs to prove. So ask yourself, what is more likely. He suddenly saw Mavs have success and started randomly hating or you think he's trying to be a counter weight to Nick who can't stop praising him?

You really can't figure out how these things work? Think about really hard who is more naive here, me or you.

I don't think it's really about Luka or Euro players, I think if Luka was a Laker or Knick they'd all love him. I just believe that in general ESPN has always hated the Dallas Mavericks, and not just ESPN either other media sources but mostly ESPN. Yes occasionally you'll get someone that's supportive on TV, mostly though it's just hate. But why? Even as you mentioned Inside the TNT they kind of do the same. Why? Does it help ratings or something? I don't get it.

I mean the same Skip Bayless you mentioned used to be on ESPN and after the Mavs won the championship he gave them practically no credit and just said it was about Lebron choking.

And regardless if they're putting on an act or not, there's got to be some reason for it. Again does it drive ratings otherwise it makes no sense to me.

Anyway I've talked enough about it who cares really. I think Luka prefers not being a media darling and we know he does not sweat being the underdog because he's been the underdog every series of his entire career. Just wish tomorrow would hurry up and get here.

I think it's mostly because of smaller market even though Mavs are suppose to be one of the bigger franchises. I don't know honestly, hard to say. But you know how it is, bigger market and popular teams bring in more agents, money, connections, etc...

It could be related with Mavs organization and Cuban's business relations. If you look closely, you'll figure out some franchises mostly sign players from some agencies. (CAA, Clutch etc). I would even say some teams mostly make trades with certain ones. Like Dallas are trading with Knicks and Wizards are evident for some reason.

There is also the part that is related to sponsorships and shoe deals type of things. Who knows what other business dealings related to TV deals, networks and owners, owner making business between each other?

[Darren]

I think the Mavs can watch film on how Stephen Jackson / Jimmy Butler guarding Dirk and how Caruso / Boston team guarding Giannis. At worst, you withstand KAT hunting for mismatches. At best, you find a way to go small and change the tempo / momentum on the floor with another ball-handler on the floor.

I also think the Mavs can study how Minny's defender guarding players and find a way to create space to score or set up teammates without turnovers or foul troubles.

[ChipotleWest]

When I look at a team's stats I always look at who's their third best scorer. In Minnesota's case it's Rudy Gobert which is kind of a joke BUT, they have 3 other guys including him in addition to Ant and KAT that average double figure points to make up for that. So they've got 6 players that average double figures, Mavs have 4. In the regular season it was 5 but Gafford's numbers has been down in the playoffs because he has a dislocated finger. Hopefully that will be healed up but I'm not sure how long those last.

Their top 7 average 103 ppg this playoffs Mavs top 7 average 98. Of course that's just a very simplistic way of looking at it because Wolves have not faced a defense like Dallas in the playoffs yet, while they're the best defense. (although OKC is top 5) Both Mavs and Wolves are probably the two best defenses in the NBA, Mavs numbers just don't reflect it over a full season because they got PJ and Gaff at the trade deadline.

[Archx]

SGA had inferior stats than Luka and Jokic but had tons of support from the media overall. In hot-take type of shows, there might have been a few debates where one side was bashing SGA, but from what I see, the overall narrative was always pro SGA.

What inferior stats? Basic box numbers?

OKC finished 7 wins ahead of Mavs and SGA averaged 30/7/6 on 49/43/79 splits. His advance stats were for the most part also better than Doncic's.

Luka has a problem of sometimes coasting through the season playing horrible defense and that also reflects in his advance numbers. A very huge part of the debate was exactly that. If Luka was more serious about the award and didn't get injured or tired every year, he would have played same defense as he's played in the playoffs.

[Maverick41]

I'm hoping we do a lot of single coverage on Ant in a similar manner to the way we did with SGA. I think Ant is awesome and all but imo SGA is a much better 1v1 player then him at this point. Let him dance, let him stall the offense. If he scores 40+, tip your cap. But I'd rather not see doubles that will lead to open 3s for Conley, McDaniels, KAT, Reid, etc. Those are the backbreakers. I highly doubt Ant can hit those mid rangers at a similar clip to SGA who was absolutely elite from mid range.