01-17-2021, 09:07 PM
BULLS ROUT MAVERICKS' MAKESHIFT SQUAD
Aw, man, what was that?
Woof.
The depleted Mavs put up a stinker in Chicago, notwithstanding a resplendent first half from Luka.
GAME STORY
The five Mavs who were previously sidelined pursuant to the NBA’s COVID protocol remained so. That would be Brunson, DFS, Richardson, Maxi, and Powell. In further bad news, Hardaway was also ruled out with a groin strain.
Carlisle cobbled together a starting lineup of Luka, Green, Iwundu, KP, and WCS.
The team actually got off to a decent start, and held a 7-point lead at at 5:30. That dwindled over the next couple of minutes. A cutting layup by Gafford from Temple gave the Bulls a lead at 3:09, and the Mavs trailed for the rest of the game. Chicago closed the frame on an18-7 run, and Dallas was on the wrong end of a 23-27 scoreline after one.
The second quarter was abysmal, with the Mavs giving up 40 points and scoring only 28. The Bulls achieved a double-digit lead at 5:28, and only surrendered it once during the rest of the contest. Dallas trailed 52-67 at the break, despite a dazzling display by Luka.
After a cold beginning to the third period, the Mavs went on a little run, and whittled their deficit to 9. They couldn’t build on it, managing only to hang in, and were able to make up only one point in the quarter, down 75-89 going into the fourth.
The final frame began with a Maverick turnover, and things did not get better from there. The best the team could do was exchange baskets until the final horn mercifully buzzed.
Brutal. Just brutal.
STATS
Looking at the box score, you could say that the game was basically lost at the free-throw line. Each team had 23 fouls, but that turned into 33 FTAs for the Bulls and only 19 for the Mavs. To add insult to injury, our men missed 8 of their 19 attempts, in a continuation of puzzling ineptitude at the stripe. The Mavs also shot poorly, and the team’s final point differentials were -6 on points from twos, +3 on points from threes, and -13 on made free throws.
The Mavericks gave up 61 points in the paint, as the Bulls drove the lane at will. Too many mistakes with the ball resulted in Dallas giving up 23 points off turnovers. Luka was 6-11 from range, but the rest of the roster combined to go 2-20. Aaargh. High scorers were Luka 36, KP 20, WCS and Johnson 10 apiece. At the end of the day, they were able to score only 101 points against a team that ranked 29th in the league on points allowed.
One could also argue that the game was lost at the defensive end, with the Mavs having some good moments, but too often going missing. They managed to keep the individual Bulls who whooped up on them in the previous match pretty quiet, holding Levine and White to ten combined points, but were beaten when the other Bulls stepped up.
PLAYERS
Doncic. Luka was amazing in the first half — 30 points, 8 boards, five assists. Yes, that was in one half. And it was accomplished on 11-19 shooting, 6-9 from deep, with only one turnover. With almost no help from the supporting cast. Mind-blowing.
It looked like the young star was tiring in the second half, with many of his shots missing short. His had only 6 points after the break, hitting just 2 of his 11 attempts, although he did record 8 rebounds and 10 assists in the last 24.
Updating Luka’s ongoing battle with the refs, he was awarded only 6 FTAs, and drew his fifth technical of the season for objecting to a non-call. The fake crowd responded in appropriately indignant fashion, lol.
Carlisle acknowledged that Luka’s stat line was “spectacular,” but came close to shrugging it off, reminding his audience that the team is looking for wins, not gaudy individual stat lines. Luka’s evaluation of his own performance was that he “played terrible” in the second half, admitting that he was taking shots that were less than ideal, and adding that he “has to stop doing that.” When KP was asked to comment, he said that all the players were disappointed in their individual performances, including Luka, who “expects greatness from himself.”
One might forgive Luka for playing a little hero ball, since none of his teammates could hit the broad side of a barn with a banjo, or whatever that expression is that Rick uses to describe dismal shooting. He tried very hard to put the team on his back, and but for a collapse by the rest of the squad, might have carried it off.
Porzingis. KP’s stat line looked pretty good, with 20 points and 8 boards, but I wouldn’t say he was great in this game. Besides missing all 7 of his 3PTAs, and accumulating 5 fouls, he seemed out of sync, and looked very much like he is still working his way into shape. He did increase his minutes load to 33, which I think was a good sign. He said post-game that he thought the match offered many teaching moments.
Other Mavs. I don’t think there is a lot to be gained from going through and trying to assign various degrees of terrible to the individual performances. They were forgettable in every way.
Bulls. Coming off a 4-game losing streak, Chicago played like a desperate team. The Mavs didn’t match their intensity, and paid the price. Six Bulls scored in double figures, led by Laurie Markkanen with 29 points and 15 boards, and 21 points off the bench from Garrett Temple. Speaking of the benches, the Bulls won that battle 61-22. Yikes.
OBSERVATIONS
Rick thought the team got off to a great start, especially defensively. Then they had some offensive struggles in the late first quarter, and the second quarter was their undoing. He opined that this is the most difficult schedule stretch in the history of the Mavs, and affirmed that they are fighting to make it through. He surprisingly ended by indicating that he didn’t think the team being shorthanded was hurting them that much. (Liar, liar, pants on fire.)
This was an ugly and disappointing performance, but, looking ahead, I think we can draw pretty much nothing from it. With six of their top guys absent, the Mavs were running out a bunch of jerry-rigged lineups that we will never see again when the Mavs are at anything approaching full strength. Multiple third-string players appeared together throughout the match, and the bench featured only two rotation players.
Luka described his performance in the second half as “not me.” KP said the performance of the team as a whole was “not us.” In a way, I think that was the point. This bunch of patchwork solutions is simply not the Mavs team that we are (hopefully) going to see once the ship is righted, when many of the players currently featured will recede into smaller roles. The real question is whether the patchwork Mavs can avoid digging too deep a hole for the “real” Mavs to climb out of.
The only saving grace seems to be that the other teams are being similarly affected, to one degree or another. The NBA is trying to play through a pandemic, and I fear the quality of the product they are putting on the floor is not going to be what we are accustomed to expecting, at least for a while. It’s not only the decimated rosters. Luka adverted to the difficulty of maintaining energy without fans, and KP also cited the need to generate energy in a difficult environment.
Be all that as it may, the Mavs will face Toronto in Florida to complete the back-to-back. Rick seemed optimistic that Brunson would return, and THJ is listed as day to day. We’ll hope for a turnaround in Tampa!
Aw, man, what was that?
Woof.
The depleted Mavs put up a stinker in Chicago, notwithstanding a resplendent first half from Luka.
GAME STORY
The five Mavs who were previously sidelined pursuant to the NBA’s COVID protocol remained so. That would be Brunson, DFS, Richardson, Maxi, and Powell. In further bad news, Hardaway was also ruled out with a groin strain.
Carlisle cobbled together a starting lineup of Luka, Green, Iwundu, KP, and WCS.
The team actually got off to a decent start, and held a 7-point lead at at 5:30. That dwindled over the next couple of minutes. A cutting layup by Gafford from Temple gave the Bulls a lead at 3:09, and the Mavs trailed for the rest of the game. Chicago closed the frame on an18-7 run, and Dallas was on the wrong end of a 23-27 scoreline after one.
The second quarter was abysmal, with the Mavs giving up 40 points and scoring only 28. The Bulls achieved a double-digit lead at 5:28, and only surrendered it once during the rest of the contest. Dallas trailed 52-67 at the break, despite a dazzling display by Luka.
After a cold beginning to the third period, the Mavs went on a little run, and whittled their deficit to 9. They couldn’t build on it, managing only to hang in, and were able to make up only one point in the quarter, down 75-89 going into the fourth.
The final frame began with a Maverick turnover, and things did not get better from there. The best the team could do was exchange baskets until the final horn mercifully buzzed.
Brutal. Just brutal.
STATS
Looking at the box score, you could say that the game was basically lost at the free-throw line. Each team had 23 fouls, but that turned into 33 FTAs for the Bulls and only 19 for the Mavs. To add insult to injury, our men missed 8 of their 19 attempts, in a continuation of puzzling ineptitude at the stripe. The Mavs also shot poorly, and the team’s final point differentials were -6 on points from twos, +3 on points from threes, and -13 on made free throws.
The Mavericks gave up 61 points in the paint, as the Bulls drove the lane at will. Too many mistakes with the ball resulted in Dallas giving up 23 points off turnovers. Luka was 6-11 from range, but the rest of the roster combined to go 2-20. Aaargh. High scorers were Luka 36, KP 20, WCS and Johnson 10 apiece. At the end of the day, they were able to score only 101 points against a team that ranked 29th in the league on points allowed.
One could also argue that the game was lost at the defensive end, with the Mavs having some good moments, but too often going missing. They managed to keep the individual Bulls who whooped up on them in the previous match pretty quiet, holding Levine and White to ten combined points, but were beaten when the other Bulls stepped up.
PLAYERS
Doncic. Luka was amazing in the first half — 30 points, 8 boards, five assists. Yes, that was in one half. And it was accomplished on 11-19 shooting, 6-9 from deep, with only one turnover. With almost no help from the supporting cast. Mind-blowing.
It looked like the young star was tiring in the second half, with many of his shots missing short. His had only 6 points after the break, hitting just 2 of his 11 attempts, although he did record 8 rebounds and 10 assists in the last 24.
Updating Luka’s ongoing battle with the refs, he was awarded only 6 FTAs, and drew his fifth technical of the season for objecting to a non-call. The fake crowd responded in appropriately indignant fashion, lol.
Carlisle acknowledged that Luka’s stat line was “spectacular,” but came close to shrugging it off, reminding his audience that the team is looking for wins, not gaudy individual stat lines. Luka’s evaluation of his own performance was that he “played terrible” in the second half, admitting that he was taking shots that were less than ideal, and adding that he “has to stop doing that.” When KP was asked to comment, he said that all the players were disappointed in their individual performances, including Luka, who “expects greatness from himself.”
One might forgive Luka for playing a little hero ball, since none of his teammates could hit the broad side of a barn with a banjo, or whatever that expression is that Rick uses to describe dismal shooting. He tried very hard to put the team on his back, and but for a collapse by the rest of the squad, might have carried it off.
Porzingis. KP’s stat line looked pretty good, with 20 points and 8 boards, but I wouldn’t say he was great in this game. Besides missing all 7 of his 3PTAs, and accumulating 5 fouls, he seemed out of sync, and looked very much like he is still working his way into shape. He did increase his minutes load to 33, which I think was a good sign. He said post-game that he thought the match offered many teaching moments.
Other Mavs. I don’t think there is a lot to be gained from going through and trying to assign various degrees of terrible to the individual performances. They were forgettable in every way.
Bulls. Coming off a 4-game losing streak, Chicago played like a desperate team. The Mavs didn’t match their intensity, and paid the price. Six Bulls scored in double figures, led by Laurie Markkanen with 29 points and 15 boards, and 21 points off the bench from Garrett Temple. Speaking of the benches, the Bulls won that battle 61-22. Yikes.
OBSERVATIONS
Rick thought the team got off to a great start, especially defensively. Then they had some offensive struggles in the late first quarter, and the second quarter was their undoing. He opined that this is the most difficult schedule stretch in the history of the Mavs, and affirmed that they are fighting to make it through. He surprisingly ended by indicating that he didn’t think the team being shorthanded was hurting them that much. (Liar, liar, pants on fire.)
This was an ugly and disappointing performance, but, looking ahead, I think we can draw pretty much nothing from it. With six of their top guys absent, the Mavs were running out a bunch of jerry-rigged lineups that we will never see again when the Mavs are at anything approaching full strength. Multiple third-string players appeared together throughout the match, and the bench featured only two rotation players.
Luka described his performance in the second half as “not me.” KP said the performance of the team as a whole was “not us.” In a way, I think that was the point. This bunch of patchwork solutions is simply not the Mavs team that we are (hopefully) going to see once the ship is righted, when many of the players currently featured will recede into smaller roles. The real question is whether the patchwork Mavs can avoid digging too deep a hole for the “real” Mavs to climb out of.
The only saving grace seems to be that the other teams are being similarly affected, to one degree or another. The NBA is trying to play through a pandemic, and I fear the quality of the product they are putting on the floor is not going to be what we are accustomed to expecting, at least for a while. It’s not only the decimated rosters. Luka adverted to the difficulty of maintaining energy without fans, and KP also cited the need to generate energy in a difficult environment.
Be all that as it may, the Mavs will face Toronto in Florida to complete the back-to-back. Rick seemed optimistic that Brunson would return, and THJ is listed as day to day. We’ll hope for a turnaround in Tampa!