Around the NBA discussion

[DJ_3_Ball]

Mavs looking like a playoff team. Taking down the Lakers in LA by 14 today. Meanwhile, the T-wolves just lost at home to Memphis when they were at full strength, and the Grizz were without Ja Morant, Valanciunas, and JJJ fouled out in 19 minutes. Oh boy!

[ejs78]

Said it in the lead off post I don't buy Minnesota and never will. Hope they continue to pile up L's and become sellers.

Mavs looking like a playoff team. Taking down the Lakers in LA by 14 today. Meanwhile, the T-wolves just lost at home to Memphis when they were at full strength, and the Grizz were without Ja Morant, Valanciunas, and JJJ fouled out in 19 minutes. Oh boy!

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

[J_T]

Mavs looking like a playoff team. Taking down the Lakers in LA by 14 today. Meanwhile, the T-wolves just lost at home to Memphis when they were at full strength, and the Grizz were without Ja Morant, Valanciunas, and JJJ fouled out in 19 minutes. Oh boy!

JJJ keeps JJJ'ing. This was his main problem last season and he hasn't improved it enough.

Also Mavs are a playoff team, they are a level above the teams that are actually fighting for the last spots.

[arkuo]

Bruno Caboclo with a good game earlier. 12 pts 13 rebs in 27 mins. Held his own against KAT at times too.

He's a good 3&D power forward that can come really cheap in the summer. Keeping tabs on this guy. Like a 6'10 version of DFS I think.

[Dirk]

Said it in the lead off post I don't buy Minnesota and never will. Hope they continue to pile up L's and become sellers.

Mavs looking like a playoff team. Taking down the Lakers in LA by 14 today. Meanwhile, the T-wolves just lost at home to Memphis when they were at full strength, and the Grizz were without Ja Morant, Valanciunas, and JJJ fouled out in 19 minutes. Oh boy!

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

They managed to lose at home to the shorthanded Suns and now the Grizzlies. All the while they beat the Spurs in SA. Strange team, this one.

[Imon]

I wouldn't count out the Wolves as a playoff team. I still don't trust Wiggins but KAT is a special talent and he is going to play the Wolves into some victories. It seems to me the Suns or the Kings are the Wolves main competition.
Suns should get better when they get Ayton back but so should the Kings when they get Bagley. I like the Kings trajectory more than the Suns at the moment but maybe the Suns can get their early season mojo back.
Portland seems kinda sunk at the moment to me. I know they've won 3 in a row and they have new energy with Melo but they played the Bulls twice and OKC. Until they get Nurkic back I don't see them contending for a playoff spot.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Mavs looking like a playoff team. Taking down the Lakers in LA by 14 today. Meanwhile, the T-wolves just lost at home to Memphis when they were at full strength, and the Grizz were without Ja Morant, Valanciunas, and JJJ fouled out in 19 minutes. Oh boy!

JJJ keeps JJJ'ing. This was his main problem last season and he hasn't improved it enough.

Also Mavs are a playoff team, they are a level above the teams that are actually fighting for the last spots.

Yeah, I agree. I didn't come out and say it in my post, but I think the Mavs are the 6th seed in the West this year, and that's their floor. They have a realistic shot at being the 5th or 4th seed.

That's how good they've been this season. Not only that, I think I'd favor them in a playoff series vs DEN, HOU, or UTH. Whereas, before the season started I had the Mavs about 70/30 to lock down the 8th seed (maybe 7th), and then get bounced unceremoniously in the 1st round by the Clippers or Lakers. I think if the Mavs do slip to the 7th seed and face the Clippers or Lakers in round 1, they'll give them a game. I'd see a 6, maybe even 7, game series.

I went back and looked at Jaren Jackson Jr's fouls. I was surprised to see his foul rate has actually increased this year. Last season 26.1 mpg 3.8 PF per game. This year 26.3 mpg 4.0 PF per game. His blocks have gone down from 1.4 bpg to 1.1 bpg too. Steals are down too. 0.9 spg to 0.4 spg... Weird. I wasn't excpecting to see that. From my what I've seen of Jaren Jackson Jr this season, he's had some big games. Set a few career highs, etc. But, yeah it looks like he has a lot to learn still.

I usually chalk up a lot of foul trouble with rookies to the refs not giving them the same leeway they'd give to a vet. But, this is something else with JJJ. He needs to get his fouls under control. That was the 4th game he's fouled out of already this season. With it being that bad, you'd think the Memphis coaching staff would really light a fire under his arse about it. Let's hope for Memphis' sake they do.

[J_T]

Mavs looking like a playoff team. Taking down the Lakers in LA by 14 today. Meanwhile, the T-wolves just lost at home to Memphis when they were at full strength, and the Grizz were without Ja Morant, Valanciunas, and JJJ fouled out in 19 minutes. Oh boy!

JJJ keeps JJJ'ing. This was his main problem last season and he hasn't improved it enough.

Also Mavs are a playoff team, they are a level above the teams that are actually fighting for the last spots.

Yeah, I agree. I didn't come out and say it in my post, but I think the Mavs are the 6th seed in the West this year, and that's their floor. They have a realistic shot at being the 5th or 4th seed.

That's how good they've been this season. Not only that, I think I'd favor them in a playoff series vs DEN, HOU, or UTH. Whereas, before the season started I had the Mavs about 70/30 to lock down the 8th seed (maybe 7th), and then get bounced unceremoniously in the 1st round by the Clippers or Lakers. I think if the Mavs do slip to the 7th seed and face the Clippers or Lakers in round 1, they'll give them a game. I'd see a 6, maybe even 7, game series.

I read around the Lakers forum, few posters think that Mavs would be one of the worst teams in the league to play 7-game series against right now. One guy even said he would prefer to face Clippers than Mavs. Sure, it's just fans posting **** online, but still interesting.

I went back and looked at Jaren Jackson Jr's fouls. I was surprised to see his foul rate has actually increased this year. Last season 26.1 mpg 3.8 PF per game. This year 26.3 mpg 4.0 PF per game. His blocks have gone down from 1.4 bpg to 1.1 bpg too. Steals are down too. 0.9 spg to 0.4 spg... Weird. I wasn't excpecting to see that. From my what I've seen of Jaren Jackson Jr this season, he's had some big games. Set a few career highs, etc. But, yeah it looks like he has a lot to learn still.

I usually chalk up a lot of foul trouble with rookies to the refs not giving them the same leeway they'd give to a vet. But, this is something else with JJJ. He needs to get his fouls under control. That was the 4th game he's fouled out of already this season. With it being that bad, you'd think the Memphis coaching staff would really light a fire under his arse about it. Let's hope for Memphis' sake they do.

Check Mitchell Robinson and you will see identical trends, all of them. What is happening with these guys I think is, that they try to stay out there for longer than last season but them being more careful with fouls leads to lower defensive numbers, Robinson for example dropping his blocks average by full 1 block.

[fuller4379]

Being the 4th or 5th seed would be awesome, but I hope we don’t get Houston in the first round. Harden’s style of play is unwatchable. I don’t want to see his ugly face flop in a seven game series.

[agentofatlas]

Looking at the team's Dec sked, we need to win these couple games bad. That Miami to Toronto stretch is killer especially games vs the Bucks and Sixers where our bigs might be overmatched.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Being the 4th or 5th seed would be awesome, but I hope we don’t get Houston in the first round. Harden’s style of play is unwatchable. I don’t want to see his ugly face flop in a seven game series.

Couldn't agree more.


This had me busting a gut last night!

Watch on YouTube

Buy that man a beer!

[Imon]

Looks like Bagley has been cleared for basketball activities from his broken thumb. Seems his return is coming soon which is relevant since the Mavs play the Kings this weekend.
Not sure if he'll be back that soon but it'll be interesting to see how Bagley, Ayton, and Collins fit into their teams once they come back.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Don't know where else to post this. But, HOW IN THE WORLD does Clippers @ Bucks not make the national TV game for ESPN?!?! Instead we get Nuggets @ Celtics. Yawn.

[Imon]

Don't know where else to post this. But, HOW IN THE WORLD does Clippers @ Bucks not make the national TV game for ESPN?!?! Instead we get Nuggets @ Celtics. Yawn.

Game turned out a lot less competitive than I think people anticipated.

Also, with the Nuggets and Clippers losing tonight the Mavs are now the 2-seed in the West.
Who could have possibly imagined?
I don't expect this to last but boy is this a surprise.

[fuller4379]

This is the first year in a long time that the East is as strong as the West. Oklahoma City, Portland, Golden State, Minnesota, and San Antonio have all taken backwards steps from last year. This more than offsets the improvements of the Mavs and Lakers.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Don't know where else to post this. But, HOW IN THE WORLD does Clippers @ Bucks not make the national TV game for ESPN?!?! Instead we get Nuggets @ Celtics. Yawn.

Game turned out a lot less competitive than I think people anticipated.

Also, with the Nuggets and Clippers losing tonight the Mavs are now the 2-seed in the West.
Who could have possibly imagined?
I don't expect this to last but boy is this a surprise.

Well, I made a couple lengthy posts about it earlier in the week. Thought if the Lakers dropped a game or two @ DEN, @ UTH on a back-to-back, the Mavs might be in position for the top seed in the West come their Dec 16th game @ MIL.

But, if you're asking me if I could of imagined this before the season started. Not in my wildest dreams. This is pretty freaggin' awesome!!

[DJ_3_Ball]

This is the first year in a long time that the East is as strong as the West. Oklahoma City, Portland, Golden State, Minnesota, and San Antonio have all taken backwards steps from last year. This more than offsets the improvements of the Mavs and Lakers.

Great point. I think the Nuggets, the Kings, and the Pelicans have taken steps back as well. Not sure the Rockets are as strong, either.

[The Sparest]

Don't know where else to post this. But, HOW IN THE WORLD does Clippers @ Bucks not make the national TV game for ESPN?!?! Instead we get Nuggets @ Celtics. Yawn.

Game turned out a lot less competitive than I think people anticipated.

Also, with the Nuggets and Clippers losing tonight the Mavs are now the 2-seed in the West.
Who could have possibly imagined?
I don't expect this to last but boy is this a surprise.

Well, I made a couple lengthy posts about it earlier in the week. Thought if the Lakers dropped a game or two @ DEN, @ UTH on a back-to-back, the Mavs might be in position for the top seed in the West come their Dec 16th game @ MIL.

But, if you're asking me if I could of imagined this before the season started. Not in my wildest dreams. This is pretty freaggin' awesome!!

I thought I might be delusional thinking they had a shot at the 6th seed, if KP could get going early and Luka improved a bit from last season.

[DJ_3_Ball]

Minnesota has lost 5 in a row now, including a loss to the Grizz at home & an embarrassing loss to OKC (the way they lost it). They really seem like the biggest pretenders to me in the NBA so far this season. I doubt they'll finish ahead of Portland or San Antonio at this rate. I'd expect them to make a play for DeAngelo Russell as soon as possible (the festivities can begin as early as Dec 15th).

Sacramento knocked off Houston too tonight. Making them 7-7 without DeAaron Fox in the lineup. They played the Lakers tough @ LAL 97-99 during that stretch, wins over BOS, DAL, DEN & HOU. Bagley is on his way back soon & Fox will likely be back in 2 weeks or less. Kings are going to make a legit push for that 7th/8th seed. If I were PHX, POR, MIN, or hel,l even UTH, I'd be concerned.

I was never a big believer in Westbrook & Harden together. 2 ball dominant players figuring it out. Nah, I think Houston is falling back to where they're suppose to be. I don't see them hosting a first round playoff series this year, which positions the Mavs to be a top 4 seed in the West this year.

Mavs are 3rd in the West right now, with the way Denver has been playing (Jokic has taken 2 giant steps back this season, or maybe he's just so slow he hasn't taken steps forward fast enough). 3rd in the West might actually be correct for the Mavs. You could see the Mavs facing Utah, Portland (with Nurkic back potentially), Sacramento, or possibly even Phoenix. I could see Denver or Houston slipping to the 6th seed too.

Eastern conference side note: ORL played MIL pretty tough in MIL tonight without Vucevic. Jonathan Isaac *drool* Isaac blocked Giannis twice at the rim tonight. Aaron Gordon blocked Giannis at the rim once tonight also. I'd imagine Giannis doesn't get blocked at the rim very much. ORL 10 team blocks total. Impressive. It's ashame they're such a poorly run organization.

[Dirk]

OKC is surging.

There have been a lot of ideas floated around getting some of their guys, so I guess if they're doing well... they may actually look to make the playoffs. To be honest, when looking at their roster, in vacuum, it did look like a playoff team to me, but since everyone expected a firesale, no one took them seriously.

I kind of feel bad for the Wolves. So bad. In so long. Even when they have a supposedly star player, they still suck.

]

Your man Derrick Rose... hit a game winner. Just before playing the Mavs. Not good ha.