Mavs looking legit

[Bob8]

I still can’t believe that Doncic took a stepback 35ft shot down 3 with still 18s on the shot clock... How is it possible to be such a smart player and take such a dumb decision? Did he think they were down 4 and he had to shoot fast?

It makes no sense to make a come back to waste it on that shot!

It was a terrible shot

He's got to get the hero ball out of him.

The guy just got 38/14/10 on great efficiency. And all I can think about is that dumb shot and that dumb TO he had near the end.

He must have been feeling it... To be fair, it was pretty close, it hit the interior of the rim I think. Just a tad too strong.

But he’s too smart and talented for that type of sh*t. Yeah, he should get the shot at the end... But not that shot!

It wasn’t just him, the team just shot badly, missing a lot of open shots. Plus Porzingis not boxing out... It was really a mess.

Like Knicks would allowed him normal shot? They would have foul him for sure before the shot, if he was waiting.

[Bob8]

I said it before, Mavs are not playoffs team. How can you blame Luka and KP, who scored 66 points, both with 50% Fg? Luka had 63% TS. All others scored 36 points, having incredible bad 30% Fg. They just don’t have good enough team at the moment. If people are disappointed today, what will happen when those 2 will have really bad game? Should Mavs trade them?

No way that Luka continues with 28/10.5/9 with very good efficiency. He can cut 2 TOs per game and that’s more or less it. His playing at his temporary limit at the moment.

[Dundalis]

I am not trolling he is a good scorer

Um, except his best attribute is his passing, not his scoring. And by a good margin.

They need a stronger defender in the paint though and they need a stronger rebounder next to KP. Maxi great but he’s not a strong rebounder. He’s not strong enough to push guys around. Boban is capable but he plays on restricted minutes. A guy like Thompson would bring the interior D/rebounding and would also bring a little attitude to the Mavs. Him playing next to KP’s shot blocking ability and their interior defense and rebounding would be much better. That is going to be needed if they do happen to make the playoffs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The do need it. They do NOT absolutely require it though. Most teams do not have a paint banger who is going to cause significant issues for us defensively. Rebounding has not been an issue, or cost us games. Maxi THIS season has been a very good rebounder, you havent been paying much attention. He's improved a lot in that area. Boban is capable and is more than capable of playing more minutes in the minority of games where we need to combat a very strong interior presence. Thompson would bring what you say, but our number 1 offensive efficiency is going down the toilet as he kills our spacing. This toughness attitude thing is way overblown. It's pure smoke. Guys like Thompson and Adams hinder more than help IMO, especially when you actually get to the playoffs and spacing is even more at a premium.

Luka is playing at an MVP level early in the season when he's still fresh but depth and defense is still going to be an issue. Roster depth is what will carry a team through tough stretches of the season when your star players are bogged down from high minutes played, injuries occur and when motivation isn't at its highest which is something we see with many teams in the middle of the season.

I'm just not sure you can rely on Luka and Zinger playing at an elite level throughout the season without a deep roster to balance the load. Mavs have a great coach, a solid system and an elite player in Luka but it might be too much to ask of Luka to carry this team in the loaded West. That's really my main concern with the Mavs

The Mavs have arguably the best bench in the NBA by many metrics. Depth is a STRENGTH of the team not a weakness. Quality, proven starters around KP and Luka is the problem. The supporting cast beat Denver when Luka and KP were absolutely terrible. The bench carried the team, not Luka.

Did you miss the pelicans game? Our interior defense is trash and maxi isn't a shooter at all 33% doesn't qualify as can shoot, nobody fears his shooting

Maxi shot 35% from 3 last season which is perfectly respectable. Way to cherry pick the small sample size to both crap on Maxi's spacing ability and trash our interior defense by looking at one single game.

Our rim protection on help defense is elite. Our man on man defense in the paint is poor. Again, you bring in a guy who can solve that issue with the likes of Thompson or Adams, you offset it by reducing our offensive efficiency. No thanks. Give me another high level perimeter defender to help our defense instead.

Rebounding just lost us a game bud

Biggest cherry picker I've seen. Overall defense, no one showing up offensively outside of Luka and KP. But nope, it was the rebounding. I've seen us be a weak rebounding team and be dominant, and I've seen us be a great rebounding team and be garbage. It's important, but it's level of importance is so incredibly overrated, especially the need to have one big who can gobble them all up. Oh and we are still 4th in the NBA this season in rebounding. But our most desperate need right now is a lane clogger apparently. Please. This team needs someone who can create their offense outside of Luka so they don't have to play THJ so much, and it needs a starting calibre 3&D wing, way way more than they need a lane clogger who can rebound. It's becoming much more clear why Kemba Walker was the primary target in FA.

Mavs are in bad shape. They're fixing to enter grit and grind grizz territory: too bad for playoff success, too good for the draft picks they need to improve.

Huh? This team isn't searching for it's next superstar. It already has the core of the team and they are embryo's (20 and 24)in terms of NBA development. They can very easily supplement their core with better starting calibre talent to make them contenders through trade and FA. Your scenario is more like having a 35 year old Dirk and a bunch of really solid players with a good coach putting them in no man's land to really get better (and especially younger).

This team isn't remotely like that.

I said it before, Mavs are not playoffs team. How you can blame Luka and KP, who scored 66 points, both with 50% Fg? Luka had 63% TS. All others scored 36 points, having incredible bad 30% Fg. They just don’t have good enough team at the moment. If people are disappointed today, what will happen when those 2 will have really bad game? Should Mavs trade them?

No way that Luka continues with 28/10.5/9 with very good efficiency. He can cut 2 TOs per game and that’s more or less it. His playing at his temporary limit at the moment.

To be fair, we already had a game where both KP and Luka played poorly and we beat Denver. As far as I'm concerned, while this team needs personnel improvement like I've said, this type of stuff is an overreaction. We weren't leading the league in offensive efficiency all because of Luka and while having zero talent around him. Plenty of guys had a game where they played way below what they have proven they can do in the past. It's the definition of overreaction to one game.

[sunsbg]

I said it before, Mavs are not playoffs team. How you can blame Luka and KP, who scored 66 points, both with 50% Fg? Luka had 63% TS. All others scored 36 points, having incredible bad 30% Fg. They just don’t have good enough team at the moment. If people are disappointed today, what will happen when those 2 will have really bad game? Should Mavs trade them?

No way that Luka continues with 28/10.5/9 with very good efficiency. He can cut 2 TOs per game and that’s more or less it. His playing at his temporary limit at the moment.

They had a no so good games(Luka and KP) and the Mavs won against the Nuggets.

Roster-wise the Suns are not any better than the Mavs, but I hope they play better as a team and make the playoffs.

[Bob8]

I said it before, Mavs are not playoffs team. How you can blame Luka and KP, who scored 66 points, both with 50% Fg? Luka had 63% TS. All others scored 36 points, having incredible bad 30% Fg. They just don’t have good enough team at the moment. If people are disappointed today, what will happen when those 2 will have really bad game? Should Mavs trade them?

No way that Luka continues with 28/10.5/9 with very good efficiency. He can cut 2 TOs per game and that’s more or less it. His playing at his temporary limit at the moment.

They had a no so good game and the Mavs won against the Nuggets.

And games like that will happen again, but you need 50%+ wins for the playoffs. You know that something is wrong just with looking at their starting 5 yesterday. 3 of them are bench warmers in any serious team. I don’t believe there’s anybody in Nba, who can win alone against a team with great shooting night, if the rest of the team is shooting 30% Fg.

[sunsbg]

I said it before, Mavs are not playoffs team. How you can blame Luka and KP, who scored 66 points, both with 50% Fg? Luka had 63% TS. All others scored 36 points, having incredible bad 30% Fg. They just don’t have good enough team at the moment. If people are disappointed today, what will happen when those 2 will have really bad game? Should Mavs trade them?

No way that Luka continues with 28/10.5/9 with very good efficiency. He can cut 2 TOs per game and that’s more or less it. His playing at his temporary limit at the moment.

They had a no so good game and the Mavs won against the Nuggets.

And games like that will happen again, but you need 50%+ wins for the playoffs. You know that something is wrong just with looking at their starting 5 yesterday. 3 of them are bench warmers in any serious team. I don’t believe there’s anybody in Nba, who can win alone against a team with great shooting night, if the rest of the team is shooting 30% Fg.

I was under the impression that Luka is supposed to make those around him look better. It's not a coincidence role players stop hitting shots once the star is playing hero ball. I'm sure Luka will revert to a more team-oriented player after the All-Star break though.

[Bob8]

They had a no so good game and the Mavs won against the Nuggets.

And games like that will happen again, but you need 50%+ wins for the playoffs. You know that something is wrong just with looking at their starting 5 yesterday. 3 of them are bench warmers in any serious team. I don’t believe there’s anybody in Nba, who can win alone against a team with great shooting night, if the rest of the team is shooting 30% Fg.

I was under the impression that Luka is supposed to make those around him look better. It's not a coincidence role players stop hitting shots once the star is playing hero ball. I'm sure Luka will revert to a more team-oriented player after the All-Star break though.

Did you watch the game? They were missing open shots, layups... I don’t believe that players going hero ball are having 10 assists. I could agree with you, if he had 35% Fg and 3 assists. But triple double with 50% Fg and 63% TS is not hero ball. If anything he and KP should have taken even more shots.

[Dundalis]

I said it before, Mavs are not playoffs team. How you can blame Luka and KP, who scored 66 points, both with 50% Fg? Luka had 63% TS. All others scored 36 points, having incredible bad 30% Fg. They just don’t have good enough team at the moment. If people are disappointed today, what will happen when those 2 will have really bad game? Should Mavs trade them?

No way that Luka continues with 28/10.5/9 with very good efficiency. He can cut 2 TOs per game and that’s more or less it. His playing at his temporary limit at the moment.

They had a no so good game and the Mavs won against the Nuggets.

And games like that will happen again, but you need 50%+ wins for the playoffs. You know that something is wrong just with looking at their starting 5 yesterday. 3 of them are bench warmers in any serious team. I don’t believe there’s anybody in Nba, who can win alone against a team with great shooting night, if the rest of the team is shooting 30% Fg.

There are teams out there with great starting lineups and a garbage bench. We are the opposite, we do have a great bench, even going back to last season. We have 3 spots to figure out. The good thing is, this teams window is so wide open, and unlike a lot of teams, we won't need to find our next superstar for likely another 10+ years, that we have time to figure out those other spots. And as far as I'm concerned neither Luka or KP is close to where they will likely be towards the second half of the season, and we've shown way more than I thought we would have against some of the better teams in the west already despite there still being clear chemistry issues. It's very easy to spin things in a negative or positive way. Usually it's somewhere in between.

[Archx]

They had a no so good game and the Mavs won against the Nuggets.

And games like that will happen again, but you need 50%+ wins for the playoffs. You know that something is wrong just with looking at their starting 5 yesterday. 3 of them are bench warmers in any serious team. I don’t believe there’s anybody in Nba, who can win alone against a team with great shooting night, if the rest of the team is shooting 30% Fg.

I was under the impression that Luka is supposed to make those around him look better. It's not a coincidence role players stop hitting shots once the star is playing hero ball. I'm sure Luka will revert to a more team-oriented player after the All-Star break though.

Eh, Wright, THJ and others were missing open shots and open layups. KP and Luka were the only 2 players that actually came to play. Maxi was bad on defense while he is usually very reliable there, Powell completely forgot how to roll to the rim etc...

[sunsbg]

And games like that will happen again, but you need 50%+ wins for the playoffs. You know that something is wrong just with looking at their starting 5 yesterday. 3 of them are bench warmers in any serious team. I don’t believe there’s anybody in Nba, who can win alone against a team with great shooting night, if the rest of the team is shooting 30% Fg.

I was under the impression that Luka is supposed to make those around him look better. It's not a coincidence role players stop hitting shots once the star is playing hero ball. I'm sure Luka will revert to a more team-oriented player after the All-Star break though.

Did you watch the game? They were missing open shots, layups... I don’t believe that players going hero ball are having 10 assists. I could agree with you, if he had 35% Fg and 3 assists. But triple double with 50% Fg and 63% TS is not hero ball. If anything he and KP should have taken even more shots.

I don't know what FG% has to do with hero ball or not. The fact he's good and makes those shots doesn't mean he's playing team ball. Westbrook is averaging 10+a per season and is still considered a ballhog.

I watched most of Mavs games so far due to them playing on days Suns are not, only 4th quarter of this game and highlights.

Watch on YouTube

Notice how all scores in the first minutes of above video are with 15+ secs on the clock. My understanding for team basketball is that you try to involve the role players early and take the difficult last second shots as the team's best player.

His shot in the last minutes clearly shows he's trying too hard for the All-Star game. Once it's in the past I expect he'll play a better team-oriented basketball. He's surely capable of it.

[Archx]

I was under the impression that Luka is supposed to make those around him look better. It's not a coincidence role players stop hitting shots once the star is playing hero ball. I'm sure Luka will revert to a more team-oriented player after the All-Star break though.

Did you watch the game? They were missing open shots, layups... I don’t believe that players going hero ball are having 10 assists. I could agree with you, if he had 35% Fg and 3 assists. But triple double with 50% Fg and 63% TS is not hero ball. If anything he and KP should have taken even more shots.

I don't know what FG% has to do with hero ball or not. The fact he's good and makes those shots doesn't mean he's playing team ball. Westbrook is averaging 10+a per season and is still considered a ballhog.

I watched most of Mavs games so far due to them playing on days Suns are not, only 4th quarter of this game and highlights.

Watch on YouTube

Notice how all scores in the first minutes of above video are with 15+ secs on the clock. My understanding for team basketball is that you try to involve the role players early and take the difficult last second shots as the team's best player.

His shot in the last minutes clearly shows he's trying too hard for the All-Star game. Once it's in the past I expect he'll play a better team-oriented basketball. He's surely capable of it.

Man, go back and re-watch the game

LD&KP = 66pts 24/48 FG ... 7/19 3pt

Rest of the team = 36pts 13/42 FG ....7/25 3pt

Luka had 10 assists rest of the team combined 8. If they made more open shots, Luka could have had 15 assists or more. Calling him selfish in games like these when no one shows up, is nonsense. Also comparing him to RW is even bigger nonsense.

[sunsbg]

Man, go back and re-watch the game

LD&KP = 66pts 24/48 FG ... 7/19 3pt

Rest of the team = 36pts 13/42 FG ....7/25 3pt

Luka had 10 assists rest of the team combined 8. If they made more open shots, Luka could have had 15 assists or more. Calling him selfish in games like these when no one shows up, is nonsense. Also comparing him to RW is even bigger nonsense.

Not that far away as a comparison based on his current style of play, but I'm not expecting a Luka fan to agree.

I haven't seen anyone taking so much 3s with 17s on the clock, maybe Harden, but I don't watch HOU games, more interested in the up-and-coming teams.

Anyway, good luck to the Mavs in the playoffs with such poor ball-movement.

[Archx]

Man, go back and re-watch the game

LD&KP = 66pts 24/48 FG ... 7/19 3pt

Rest of the team = 36pts 13/42 FG ....7/25 3pt

Luka had 10 assists rest of the team combined 8. If they made more open shots, Luka could have had 15 assists or more. Calling him selfish in games like these when no one shows up, is nonsense. Also comparing him to RW is even bigger nonsense.

Not that far away as a comparison based on his current style of play, but I'm not expecting a Luka fan to agree.

I haven't seen anyone taking so much 3s with 17s on the clock, maybe Harden, but I don't watch HOU games, more interested in the up-and-coming teams.

Anyway, good luck to the Mavs in the playoffs with such poor ball-movement.

I can play this game as well. Coming from Ayton fan, comparing Luka to RW just shows your real intentions here. They are nothing alike, they don't even play similar. Ask D.Wade again who's passing does LD remind him of.

But in all seriousness, i'm simply repeating what TV analysts ( ex-players, coaches ) are saying. Don't need to be a genius to see the obvious. If others were making shots, you would be raving here about their awesome ball movement, but vs NYK, nothing was working. So don't know why you are nitpicking one game.

[leolozon]

It was a terrible shot

He's got to get the hero ball out of him.

The guy just got 38/14/10 on great efficiency. And all I can think about is that dumb shot and that dumb TO he had near the end.

He must have been feeling it... To be fair, it was pretty close, it hit the interior of the rim I think. Just a tad too strong.

But he’s too smart and talented for that type of sh*t. Yeah, he should get the shot at the end... But not that shot!

It wasn’t just him, the team just shot badly, missing a lot of open shots. Plus Porzingis not boxing out... It was really a mess.

Like Knicks would allowed him normal shot? They would have foul him for sure before the shot, if he was waiting.

Yeah, I guess they would have done what the Mavs should have done against LA. But at least, there was still 16 sec on the shot clock.

There’s no way that a 35footer stepback 3 was the best option.

[LukaV]

Inexcusable loss from the Mavs and a horrendous shot-selection by Luka towards the end. Let's hope his self-criticism after the game isn't just BS PR lip-service, but that he'll actually change his shot-selection.

[sunsbg]

Man, go back and re-watch the game

LD&KP = 66pts 24/48 FG ... 7/19 3pt

Rest of the team = 36pts 13/42 FG ....7/25 3pt

Luka had 10 assists rest of the team combined 8. If they made more open shots, Luka could have had 15 assists or more. Calling him selfish in games like these when no one shows up, is nonsense. Also comparing him to RW is even bigger nonsense.

Not that far away as a comparison based on his current style of play, but I'm not expecting a Luka fan to agree.

I haven't seen anyone taking so much 3s with 17s on the clock, maybe Harden, but I don't watch HOU games, more interested in the up-and-coming teams.

Anyway, good luck to the Mavs in the playoffs with such poor ball-movement.

I can play this game as well. Coming from Ayton fan, comparing Luka to RW just shows your real intentions here. They are nothing alike, they don't even play similar. Ask D.Wade again who's passing does LD remind him of.

But in all seriousness, i'm simply repeating what TV analysts ( ex-players, coaches ) are saying. Don't need to be a genius to see the obvious. If others were making shots, you would be raving here about their awesome ball movement, but vs NYK, nothing was working. So don't know why you are nitpicking one game.

I simply find it annoying Luka fans are always bashing his teammates, that's why my first reply was about the game vs Nuggets when he and KP didn't have good games, but the Mavs still won, playing more of a team-ball. From what I remember they had similar number of wins last season after the trades with and without him. Of course a star player's absense will always be felt long-term, but it still shows team play matters. With Luka coming from EL I'm certainly surprised and a bit disappointed he's falling in love with this brand of basketball. Style-wise his early shot clock 3s and drives to the hoop remind me of RW, but everyone may have their own opinion, it's just how I see it.

[Bob8]

I was under the impression that Luka is supposed to make those around him look better. It's not a coincidence role players stop hitting shots once the star is playing hero ball. I'm sure Luka will revert to a more team-oriented player after the All-Star break though.

Did you watch the game? They were missing open shots, layups... I don’t believe that players going hero ball are having 10 assists. I could agree with you, if he had 35% Fg and 3 assists. But triple double with 50% Fg and 63% TS is not hero ball. If anything he and KP should have taken even more shots.

I don't know what FG% has to do with hero ball or not. The fact he's good and makes those shots doesn't mean he's playing team ball. Westbrook is averaging 10+a per season and is still considered a ballhog.

I watched most of Mavs games so far due to them playing on days Suns are not, only 4th quarter of this game and highlights.

Watch on YouTube

Notice how all scores in the first minutes of above video are with 15+ secs on the clock. My understanding for team basketball is that you try to involve the role players early and take the difficult last second shots as the team's best player.

His shot in the last minutes clearly shows he's trying too hard for the All-Star game. Once it's in the past I expect he'll play a better team-oriented basketball. He's surely capable of it.

We don’t agree, so maybe we should try with math.
Luka and Kp 48 shots, 66 points, rest of the team 42 shots, 36 points. Only possible conclusion, Luka and Kp should have taken as many shots possible.

[jourdy]

They had a no so good game and the Mavs won against the Nuggets.

And games like that will happen again, but you need 50%+ wins for the playoffs. You know that something is wrong just with looking at their starting 5 yesterday. 3 of them are bench warmers in any serious team. I don’t believe there’s anybody in Nba, who can win alone against a team with great shooting night, if the rest of the team is shooting 30% Fg.

I was under the impression that Luka is supposed to make those around him look better. It's not a coincidence role players stop hitting shots once the star is playing hero ball. I'm sure Luka will revert to a more team-oriented player after the All-Star break though.

That is a horrible take, my man.
I can smell the bitterness from here.

You clearly did not watch the game. Luka was passing the ball all night long. In fact, I am urging him to be more selfish at times; he should have dominated that ball Harden style after seeing how his teammates missed wide open 3s and layups. Justin Jackson alone missed 2 layups 3 minutes apart.

His only hero ball moment was his brain fart in the end - which of course, is what some people conveniently remember.

[Archx]

Not that far away as a comparison based on his current style of play, but I'm not expecting a Luka fan to agree.

I haven't seen anyone taking so much 3s with 17s on the clock, maybe Harden, but I don't watch HOU games, more interested in the up-and-coming teams.

Anyway, good luck to the Mavs in the playoffs with such poor ball-movement.

I can play this game as well. Coming from Ayton fan, comparing Luka to RW just shows your real intentions here. They are nothing alike, they don't even play similar. Ask D.Wade again who's passing does LD remind him of.

But in all seriousness, i'm simply repeating what TV analysts ( ex-players, coaches ) are saying. Don't need to be a genius to see the obvious. If others were making shots, you would be raving here about their awesome ball movement, but vs NYK, nothing was working. So don't know why you are nitpicking one game.

I simply find it annoying Luka fans are always bashing his teammates, that's why my first reply was about the game vs Nuggets when he and KP didn't have good games, but the Mavs still won, playing more of a team-ball. From what I remember they had similar number of wins last season after the trades with and without him. Of course a star player's absense will always be felt long-term, but it still shows team play matters. With Luka coming from EL I'm certainly surprised and a bit disappointed he's falling in love with this brand of basketball. Style-wise his early shot clock 3s and drives to the hoop remind me of RW, but everyone may have their own opinion, it's just how I see it.

I'm only "bashing THJ in general not his teammates and i was talking about the specific game where others didn't deliver, simple as that. Vs Denver, LD and KP both failed and other delivered. But you were also talking about NYK game and i simply responded that your take on the game is wrong.

[sunsbg]

We don’t agree, so maybe we should try with math.
Luka and Kp 48 shots, 66 points, rest of the team 42 shots, 36 points. Only possible conclusion, Luka and Kp should have taken as many shots possible.

You watch EL and even claim it's a better style of basketball. If you think it's normal two players take more shots than the rest of the team..I don't know what to say.