Finals 2024 - G1 - Mavs @ Celtics (Thursd., 8:30PMEST)

[GermanFan120]

When Green attempted that dunk over KP, I was screaming at my tv.

Who do you think you are, prime Lebron?

The guy's ball IQ cannot be taught. Sure he plays hard, but he plays stupid too.

Stupid is the ebst adjective to describe him.

Also that play where he was guarding the taller KP and what does Josh do when KP shoots? Ducks down

He ducked down on that play because he was trying to fake a charge. What Green doesn't understand is smaller guy would have to be physical to taller guy without fouling and Green cannot do both. So his trying hard is simply useless.

[GermanFan120]

Stupid is the ebst adjective to describe him.

Also that play where he was guarding the taller KP and what does Josh do when KP shoots? Ducks down

I think he's done for the series TBH, Green has a really shaky confidence, this will haunt him for months, Kidd should really go with Exum and Hardy, they are much better fit for this matchup.

Yea, Im still curious what the locker room issue with Grant WIlliams truly was? I mean we got to the Finals so I cant complain too much, but if Cha was willing to take Green for PJ straight up without a pick as some rumors mentioned, I really wish we did that. Then keep Grant on the bench unless he was really a locker room killer, and if so trade him for a wing who could take these Josh minutes.

People whine that I call out Green too much, but he deserves it. One of the worst draft picks in the history of this franchise. Just a stupid player who doesn't care and tried his hardest when it was time to reup his contract.

Getting rid of GW was the right move as much as i don't like Green.

[MassimoPayne]

KP looked really good despite coming back from an injury. Probably because he could've played already game in 4 in Indianapolis if he needed to. They rested him and worked well.

I felt like we also missed so many rebounds. C's had many second chances while Dallas made so many wrong decisions. Too many driving to the basket from players that can't drive agains KP.
Mavs need to make their shots.
I am still positive on the other hand Celtics looked so good withoud good offensive games from Brown and Tatum

[Darren]

Boston team is fundamentally sound while the Mavs is only playing with instincts. Look at how Boston block out for boards. Look at the way Boston plays help defense. This Boston team does exactly what the Mavs does last couple of series - get dunks, opened 3s, offensive glasses, foul drawn and forced opponents into triple team in paint. Game 1 is given away as a chess game. Boston coach is really smart.

But back to the topic, the Mavs stand a chance. Maxi and Hardy play well. DJJ and Kyrie do not. Outside of Lively, no one really stopped KP. Okay, Luka does stop KP once. Every time KP is on court, Lively and Maxi check in. Lively guards KP, no switch. Study the way Maxi guarding the perimeter, Tatum, Brown, Holiday and so on cannot blow by and make a dunk. I think the difference is actually the lower body motion. There's no room for guard to drive. In case, there's, only for offhand on loose handle.

Actually, Lively also guard Tatum well. Sometimes, Lively does not need to switch, though. Boston cannot get things going in paint with Lively around. The Mavs should have prepared to jump on the passing lanes and block out for rebounds.

PJ is actually left opened . Boston hides Tatum on Lively. This is something the Mavs should have taken advantage on.

Boston gets way too many dunks to arouse the crowd. In this way, Boston gets more favorable calls. Pay attention to the driving habit on Boston players and make smarter decisions on defensive end. No more wide opened dunks.

Luka has played very well offensively. Some defense assignments can be done better. Some turnovers are fixable.

[GermanFan120]

I think we need to make a defensive switch in the rest of the series:

DJJ on Brown
PJ on Tatum

Yes, I am saying PJ cannot guard Brown.

[Bob8]

I think we need to make a defensive switch in the rest of the series:

DJJ on Brown
PJ on Tatum

Yes, I am saying PJ cannot guard Brown.

Except first half on KP, the main problem was not in D, but in offensive side.

[41Dirk41]

[quote="Bob8"][quote="GermanFan120"]I think we need to make a defensive switch in the rest of the series:

DJJ on Brown
PJ on Tatum

Yes, I am saying PJ cannot guard Brown.[/quote]

Except first half on KP, the main problem was not in D, but in offensive side.[/quote]

Agree.

Our role players+Kyrie were trash. No excuses.

[dirkules_41]

KP press conference was scary, very scary... He laughed a lot, his face was just a big smile all the time.

He will be at 200% tonight, well rested for the Finals.
Boston in 3. They are too good.

Luckily we all betted on them. Easy money incoming.
That's good.

And this is exactly why Italians never have money and always gamble away the last bit they have.

It hurts to have right every single time... Luckily is a sensation that you can't have. Good for you my friend

Don't spend it all in one go and stop being miserable.

[Mavrelous]

Read on Twitter

[fuller4379]

At least it wasn't as bad as Game 1 vs. Thunder.

Clipper Game 1: L 109-97
Thunder Game 1: L 117-95
Celtics Game 1: L 107-89

[Bob8]

At least it wasn't as bad as Game 1 vs. Thunder.

Clipper Game 1: L 109-97
Thunder Game 1: L 117-95
Celtics Game 1: L 107-89

The problem with last game is that Luka, unlike previous 2 games, played pretty solid, especially in first 3Q. Room for improvement is a lot smaller.

[41Dirk41]

At least it wasn't as bad as Game 1 vs. Thunder.

Clipper Game 1: L 109-97
Thunder Game 1: L 117-95
Celtics Game 1: L 107-89

The problem with last game is that Luka, unlike previous 2 games, played pretty solid, especially in first 3Q. Room for improvement is a lot smaller.

We need to make our 3s and be more aggressive at rebound, Boston is a great team but we played very bad and not smart.

Obviously KP destroyed us in the first half... Kidd had just 1 week to prepare this series

[Archx]

At least it wasn't as bad as Game 1 vs. Thunder.

Clipper Game 1: L 109-97
Thunder Game 1: L 117-95
Celtics Game 1: L 107-89

The problem with last game is that Luka, unlike previous 2 games, played pretty solid, especially in first 3Q. Room for improvement is a lot smaller.

We need to make our 3s and be more aggressive at rebound, Boston is a great team but we played very bad and not smart.

Obviously KP destroyed us in the first half... Kidd had just 1 week to prepare this series

Kidd did the same BS vs LAC. Mavs looked insanely unprepared and they shot horrible. I see people and Celtics fans acting like it's a done deal. Mavs won't shot 25% every game. Doesn't matter if it's corner 3's or not. But they do have to play harder and with more confidence. I think Lively and Gafford have a lot of room to improve with their lob game while DJJ and PJ could still go off in any game. Obviously the key here is Kyrie, it's extremely unusual for him to have 2 or 3 bad games in a row.

[joesha1698]

My thoughts are as follows....the Celtics did a good job turning Luka and Kyrie to one on one players. They pretty much took away the lob and their ability to find other guys. Luka had 1 assist. Kyrie had 4. Luka would have had a couple more assists if guys hit more shots but overall - their game plan was to limit him and Kyrie to one shot and take the pass away. Overll, they were successful in doing that. On the defensive end, the Mavs lacked the foot speed/fundamentals to stay in front of their ball handlers and even Porzingis at times.

I do not think the Mavs can consistently out-score Boston. Our role players are just too inconsistent (shooters) and make too many poor decisions with the ball. In the 2nd half we played with more aggression but by that time it was too late.

People are making a big deal of Kyrie scoring 12pts but in reality he missed a lot of shots around the basket. If Kyrie goes 9-19 (20pts) instead of 6-19 - we still lose this game b/c as a team we cannot consistently stay in front of their perimeter guys. We have played Boston 3 times (2 in reg season and this 1 game) and they have beat us handily in each. They simply do not respect our ability to stop them on the perimeter. Luka had 30 pts but we had very little ball movement in that first half and Luka probably gave up 10pts on the defensive end alone by not staying in front of his man or being out of position on rebounds.

Kyrie is very talented but a sensitive well intentioned person. Kobe Bryant was a very talent and aggressive person. The difference between Kyrie and Kobe was - Phil Jackson had to convince him to be less aggressive and include his teammates more at times. Kyrie on the other hand - (imo) forgets how talented he is and overthinks the game at times. Great players still need to be coached. Boston is long and very athletic and unlike Luka and Kobe - Kyrie is 6'2.5. He's going to have to change his approach against this team and play more like he did against Minny in game 1. Kyrie needs to be told instead of trying to get all the way to the basket - use his dribble and quickness to get to that mid-range and take those jumpers. Kyrie can get any shot he wants in the mid-range but he has to take those shots with confidence and be hella aggressive. Kyrie is like Randy Moss. One of the most talented to ever do it but sometimes his psyche is not right - he'll look like Randy Moss in Oakland oppose to the Randy Moss playing with the Vikings and with Tom brady. Great players still need the right environment and they need good coaches that u/s their psyche and how to get the best out of them. I hope Kidd sees what I see and helps Kyrie adjust his approach.

__________________

Good news? Kidd always seem to lose game 1s. So maybe this is typical.

What we must do going forward?

1. Pick up the pace a little bit, selectively. Get into our offense earlier. Maybe let Kyrie bring the ball up.

2. Take advantage when other guys have mismatches (PJ Washington on White, Gafford on Tatum, etc..resist temptation for Luka or Kyrie to do everything on offense...make it a point to get the other guys going early and often). They are trying to stay home so Luka cannot pass. Therefore, Kidd caught on in the 2nd half and starting going down to PJ and other mismatches. We have to do this at the start of the 2nd game. We need PJ to have a series like he did vs OKC.

3.We have to figure out how we're gonna defend these guys. This really is #1 issue. PERSONALLY, I THINK WE SHOULD SWITCH EVERYTHING AND STAY WITH THE SHOOTERS. I rather give up a 2 pt shot than keep giving up wide open 3s. I'll tell my guys you do not have help. Switch. Play one on one and if you get beat - do not foul. I would give them 1 shot and everything stay on their man and help rebound. I would try different strategies after that if needed. But i would start off playing that way. (if your worried about foot speed - just take a step back and force them to beat you with the shot overtop)


Last word: The players surrounding Brown and Tatum (btw kyrie had 12 pts - Tatum also had abt 12 with 6-7 minutes left in the 4th and just stayed in to pad his stats) which shows you how good/consistent the role players around brown and him are compared to Dallas. We have to remember they have at least 4 guys that have been on an allstar team or allstar caliber. We have some talent but limited offensive players to alley hoops or inconsistent shooting. At the end of the day, that's why we really lost this game. Kyrie played abt as well as Tatum and Luka played abt as well as Brown. But at the end of the day, their supporting cast is more experience and play at a higher caliber. Because of that - this is going to be a really tough series to win unless something changes. That's my 2 cents. Let's go Mavs! Hoping for the best!

[41Dirk41]

The most embarassing thing from the game was that Boston had more blocks and more rebounds than us... With those numbers we can't win even if our 3points % will improve.

We need to own the paint.

[Bob8]

The most embarassing thing from the game was that Boston had more blocks and more rebounds than us... With those numbers we can't win even if our 3points % will improve.

We need to own the paint.

Mavs have 0 chances until both Luka and Kyrie have both very good game, forcing Boston to change D. Until then, we won't see dunks, corner 3s and Boston will block shots. 60+ game is minimum from both, probably 70 is needed. That means Luka will need to go for 40.

[41Dirk41]

The most embarassing thing from the game was that Boston had more blocks and more rebounds than us... With those numbers we can't win even if our 3points % will improve.

We need to own the paint.

Mavs have 0 chances until both Luka and Kyrie have both very good game, forcing Boston to change D. Until then, we won't see dunks, corner 3s and Boston will block shots. 60+ game is minimum from both, probably 70 is needed. That means Luka will need to go for 40.

That's sure but don't penetrate when Porz is under the rim can help

Mavs have completely wrong the game plan, offensively and defensively.

[Bob8]

The most embarassing thing from the game was that Boston had more blocks and more rebounds than us... With those numbers we can't win even if our 3points % will improve.

We need to own the paint.

Mavs have 0 chances until both Luka and Kyrie have both very good game, forcing Boston to change D. Until then, we won't see dunks, corner 3s and Boston will block shots. 60+ game is minimum from both, probably 70 is needed. That means Luka will need to go for 40.

That's sure but don't penetrate when Porz is under the rim can help

Mavs have completely wrong the game plan, offensively and defensively.

Luka can penetrate, Porzi is not moving away from Cs. He just has to take 15 floaters. DJJ and Josh shouldn't move from the perimeter.

[Darren]

I think Kyrie could lead a ninja team with Gafford, DJJ, Green and Hardy to intentionally "assassinate" some key players, e.g. KP, Hordord, against their second unit.

[Darren]

Luka leads the catapult team to crack down their wall with Lively, Maxi and PJ.