10-11-2023, 01:43 AM
(10-10-2023, 11:55 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: Okay, time for some preseason overreaction takes:
Dereck Lively: WAY more polished than I ever expected. He looks good. The talent is there. Despite that he is not a starting center ready to go....yet. Is this another case of SleepingHero missing on a draft pick, except this time its a positive result? (Yes I did think Justin Anderson and Ricky Ledo had a shot).
Dante Exum: He is going to be the most impactful role player off the bench this season by a long shot. I hope the Mavs put him in a hyperbaric chamber before and after every game to ensure he can last an entire season.
Maxi Kleber: Looks like he lost more than a step. I always assumed he'd continue to be that versatile switch big who can hit a 3, but it looks like he can barely shuffle his feet. Mavs should sell as high as possible before other teams get wind.
Jaden Hardy: His prolific scoring cannot be questioned. He's got it. Yet there isn't a shot on the court that will make him think "nah better not". It works sometimes, most of the time he looks like a foolish chucker. It's obvious he's worked on his playmaking skills and he's looking for the lob more. I like to see that. Still, can be please not become Melo 2.0 with even worse efficiency?
Diamond Powell: He is still Diamond Dwight. The oft infuriating, consistent, head bashing Dwight. He needs to play less than 10mpg. Will he this season? Spoiler: He's going to start 41 games @20mpg.
Richaun Holmes: The fact I'm sitting here questioning whether or not Bertans is actually more playable than him should tell you all you need to know. He's cooked. I can see the odd game where he catches fire in the PnR but the defense alone should make him glued to the bench for the entirety of his stay here.
Grant Williams: He's a lot smaller on the court than I expected, despite knowing he was 6'6 on a good day. But he does definitely play bigger than his size suggests. He gives Luka a run for his money for the slowest mfer out there, but I can see the potential of having him be our mini Draymond. Several times against Madrid I saw Grant push the pace, and more often than not, make a great pass for an easy shot. More of that please. Solid pickup. But I don't know if he's going to be this massive game changer. If we can get 2-3 more quality guys like him then we're cooking with something!
DJJ: Had inconsistent spurts, but he can defend. He can jump. He is 1 dimensional.
Green: Okay you've gotten better. Please continue little Greenie and take us home.
Luka: There is a disturbing trend dating back to the playoffs of 2021 where the Mavs look more engaged/better when Luka is on the bench. I know for a fact Luka can and could play well in a ball movement type of system. So that leads me to...
Kidd: He might be undoubtedly the worst coach in the NBA and I don't say this lightly. After Silas got the boot, I'm struggling to see who might be worse. Okay maybe Billups. I think he is the major cog holding this team back. The sets the Mavs run makes my blood boil at times.
Overall any confidence I had going into this season has been shattered. I do not think this is a very good team, or at least a team that can hold up against the giants in the West/East. I fear another .500 filled with some of the most frustrating basketball to ever grace Mavs history. And when you have a guy like Luka Doncic on your team feeling like this should be incomprehensible. But I don't really see anything new. It feels like teams have scouted the Mavs and the game plan rarely changes. They play uninspired. The mistakes they make remind me of when the Mavs were intentionally trying to lose way back when from 2016-2018. It hurts to see this. I hope I'm wrong.
Not even a hint of a structured offense and nagging injuries from Luka and Kyrie are killing my optimism
Which sucks since I'm rather happy with the pieces around them.