GAME 57: DAL (31-26) vs. SAC (31-24) | 122-114 WIN

[KillerLeft]

I guess that’s a theory. I’d like to think these fellas are more professional than that.

My take is it lifts everybody’s game to have a point guard on the floor. I know I’m gonna draw ire with this. But Luka and Spence are scorers first. Brunson too. Kyrie is a complete floor general. Has a lot to do with McGee’s reappearance imho. It’s gonna help THJ second most.

Oh, I think that’s part of it too. But to be honest, you can tell he’s not fully integrated into the system yet. He’s not even touching the ball all that much, and while he has been really good, loads of the players who were already here are playing with a ton more energy than they were.

I’m not dismissing your point, because I think there is something to it. But I think just the idea that management has declared “you guys are worth us taking a swing like this“ has really energized them.

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He probably should get more minutes but minutes are tight.  Powell only got 16 due to early foul trouble.  But Powell just helps things move smoothly by doing the boring stuff well.  McGee has played with a fire The last two games that we have not seen this year.  So his 19 minutes were deserved.  So that leads a short leash at the 5 position if he have a few bad possessions.  He may very well be an under 25 minute per game player now even on his best nights.  He will have many chances to earn playing time.

If minutes are too tight for him now, what’s his role gonna be when Kleber comes back?

[Branduil]

I guess that’s a theory. I’d like to think these fellas are more professional than that.

My take is it lifts everybody’s game to have a point guard on the floor. I know I’m gonna draw ire with this. But Luka and Spence are scorers first. Brunson too. Kyrie is a complete floor general. Has a lot to do with McGee’s reappearance imho. It’s gonna help THJ second most.

Dinwiddie yes, but it's not really fair to call Luka "score-first." In the early part of the season DFS, Bullock, and McGee were all playing massive minutes while standing around on offense. Luka had to score for us to have a chance. A big part of this new look is the emergence of Green and Hardy, AKA guys who can actually do multiple things on offense.

[SleepingHero]

He probably should get more minutes but minutes are tight.  Powell only got 16 due to early foul trouble.  But Powell just helps things move smoothly by doing the boring stuff well.  McGee has played with a fire The last two games that we have not seen this year.  So his 19 minutes were deserved.  So that leads a short leash at the 5 position if he have a few bad possessions.  He may very well be an under 25 minute per game player now even on his best nights.  He will have many chances to earn playing time.

Minutes are super tight. If McGee continues playing like this then he deserves at least 15 a night. Powell with 15 as well. That leaves 18 minutes at the 5 to be split between Maxi and Wood.

[LifeAquatic]

Just getting to watch the game now and seeing the first quarter. What a joy to see ball movement and team basketball. Iso heavy ball pounding is gone. I hope it stays gone when Luka comes back. He is great, but movement and team ball is sooooo much better than watching one guy go for 50 and eek out a win over Detroit.

Love me some Green and Hardy.

[KillerLeft]

@"LifeAquatic" you might not love the second half.

[Chicagojk]

He probably should get more minutes but minutes are tight.  Powell only got 16 due to early foul trouble.  But Powell just helps things move smoothly by doing the boring stuff well.  McGee has played with a fire The last two games that we have not seen this year.  So his 19 minutes were deserved.  So that leads a short leash at the 5 position if he have a few bad possessions.  He may very well be an under 25 minute per game player now even on his best nights.  He will have many chances to earn playing time.

Let me add let’s give him some time.  With the faster pace and a guy like Kyrie, we probably won’t count on Wood as much to create.  It is more cutting, finding the open space, make quick decisions, etc.  wood had a nice connection with Luka developing.  It may just take him some time to learn how to fit in with this new style.  Minutes are tight though.

[F Gump]

Just getting to watch the game now and seeing the first quarter. What a joy to see ball movement and team basketball. Iso heavy ball pounding is gone. I hope it stays gone when Luka comes back. He is great, but movement and team ball is sooooo much better than watching one guy go for 50 and eek out a win over Detroit.

This ^.

It's a different team now, really. Same players, but doing something different than just standing and watching, and all of a sudden more of them are aggressively making plays.

I enjoy this. It's now fun to watch.

[MaxiThreeba]

Morris holding back Wood at the end of the time out, wonder why?


Refs are fucking trash.

Anything to see here?  I missed it.

[The Jom]

Dinwiddie yes, but it's not really fair to call Luka "score-first." In the early part of the season DFS, Bullock, and McGee were all playing massive minutes while standing around on offense. Luka had to score for us to have a chance. A big part of this new look is the emergence of Green and Hardy, AKA guys who can actually do multiple things on offense.

I have NOTHING bad to say about Luka. But I’ve never thought he looked remotely like a point guard. 

You have a point. Your eyes see what they see. But the guys you’re blaming are doing what the coaches have designed the offense to call for. I know that because they kept getting minutes. (As opposed to Wood, who clearly doesn’t because he isn’t.)

[Branduil]

I have NOTHING bad to say about Luka. But I’ve never thought he looked remotely like a point guard. 

You have a point. Your eyes see what they see. But the guys you’re blaming are doing what the coaches have designed the offense to call for. I know that because they kept getting minutes. (As opposed to Wood, who clearly doesn’t because he isn’t.)

See, this is a legitimately insane take to me. If Luka's not a point guard, they don't exist in the NBA. I haven't checked in a while but I imagine he still leads the league in most almost-assists.

[SleepingHero]

Anything to see here?  I missed it.

Not really. It was mild at best, but I felt important to point out given everything else going.

Wood is understandably frustrated.

[LifeAquatic]

@"LifeAquatic" you might not love the second half.

Yeah, especially the 4th quarter. Who knows for sure, but to me it looked like it could have just been a team that felt like they had the game in hand and took their foot off the gas, then the other team takes the momentum. Definitely got stagnant in the half court, but this is still only KI's second game. As for Wood's minutes, it may have been as simple as having a big lead and also knowing that they were playing the same team the next night. 

Never felt like the game was in doubt though.

[Branduil]

Anyway, IMO, more than Luka or Dinwiddie ball-hogging, maybe even more than Kyrie, I think the biggest change might be what Green is bringing to the team right now. Like, we saw this change in the Utah game before Kyrie had even played a minute. I'm not downplaying other factors, because this is definitely a cumulative thing-- high-usage players gone, Bullock turning things around, the morale boost of the trade, etc. But I think the energy of Hardy and especially Green are arguably the biggest change.

We saw flashes of it in the early season, but then Green got hurt, and the team's vibes and energy completely died even with Luka's MVP campaign. Now Green is starting and the team has a new energy. It's certainly not a coincidence.

[LukaMVP]

I think the definitions of positions have changed much. there ain't rigid boundaries between different positions nowadays imho. players need to do various jobs whatever position they play. basically you need a big and a guard, and the other three positions are filled with SFs. guard ain't necessarily a PG, and the big ain't a traditional C either. sometimes the offensive hub/initiator can be the big (jokic).

[cow]

It's a different energy and vibe with Luka out.  Green is certainly more assertive and he needs to keep that assertiveness when Luka returns and that is definitely something to watch.

Some of this is Kyrie and learning his teammates and Mavs sets, but he's doing things that Luka should learn from.  Kyrie wanted other players taking the ball up the court and initiating the offense.  It helps that he's amazing playing off the ball.  No idea if the stats would agree with my eyes, but it feels like more people are touching the ball on possessions and there is more movement.   Kidd should have had the team doing this before Kyrie got here.

This isn't to bash Luka.  He'll figure this out too but hopefully the possessions of him taking the air out of the ball and the late clock step back threes are toned down considerably.  The great news is that he can get a bucket driving to the rim any time he wants he can rely on this more throughout the game as I think his exhaustion level is going to go way down.  Ideally I'd love for both of these guys scoring average to be in the mid-20s.

[Branduil]

It's a different energy and vibe with Luka out.  Green is certainly more assertive and he needs to keep that assertiveness when Luka returns and that is definitely something to watch.

Some of this is Kyrie and learning his teammates and Mavs sets, but he's doing things that Luka should learn from.  Kyrie wanted other players taking the ball up the court and initiating the offense.  It helps that he's amazing playing off the ball.  No idea if the stats would agree with my eyes, but it feels like more people are touching the ball on possessions and there is more movement.   Kidd should have had the team doing this before Kyrie got here.

This isn't to bash Luka.  He'll figure this out too but hopefully the possessions of him taking the air out of the ball and the late clock step back threes are toned down considerably.  The great news is that he can get a bucket driving to the rim any time he wants he can rely on this more throughout the game as I think his exhaustion level is going to go way down.  Ideally I'd love for both of these guys scoring average to be in the mid-20s.

I think they were trying to do this, for a while. The problem is that guys like DFS, THJ, Bullock, McGee etc. just aren't good enough at it, at least not as the first relief valve. Dinwiddie could do it, but a lot of times he just didn't. Same with Wood. I mean the talent problem, and particularly ball-moving talent problem, was very real. So obviously Kyrie helps a lot there, but so does the development of Green and Hardy, and moving them into the rotation.

[Dundalis]

I guess that’s a theory. I’d like to think these fellas are more professional than that.

My take is it lifts everybody’s game to have a point guard on the floor. I know I’m gonna draw ire with this. But Luka and Spence are scorers first. Brunson too. Kyrie is a complete floor general. Has a lot to do with McGee’s reappearance imho. It’s gonna help THJ second most.

Ask any Celtics fan, the reason Kyrie didn't work in Boston was because he was simply not good enough as the primary playmaker and playing that role frustrated both Kyrie and literally everyone else. He was always better as a two guard scorer, and ancillary ball handler. He's an elite scorer, but he's not an elite floor general. Of course you aren't gonna figure this out watching him play just two games. Although IMO it's obvious, his constant refusal to take the ball on every possession these two games is likely heavily to do with the fact he knows he's not been successful taking on heavy ball handling duties in the past. He's not close to Luka as an overall floor general, even if his refusal to constantly handle has resulted in more general ball movement. IMO that's just a side effect of him understanding his limitations better with experience, as opposed to some purposeful element of his floor general skillset ( I know he'll likely take more of the reigns as he gets more comfortable)

[dirkfansince1998]

Ask any Celtics fan, the reason Kyrie didn't work in Boston was because he was simply not good enough as the primary playmaker and playing that role frustrated both Kyrie and literally everyone else. He was always better as a two guard scorer, and ancillary ball handler. He's an elite scorer, but he's not an elite floor general. Of course you aren't gonna figure this out watching him play just two games. Although IMO it's obvious, his constant refusal to take the ball on every possession these two games is likely heavily to do with the fact he knows he's not been successful taking on heavy ball handling duties in the past. He's not close to Luka as an overall floor general, even if his refusal to constantly handle has resulted in more general ball movement. IMO that's just a side effect of him understanding his limitations better with experience, as opposed to some purposeful element of his floor general skillset ( I know he'll likely take more of the reigns as he gets more comfortable)

So far it seems like Kyrie is calling the plays on both ends of the floor. Also by far the most vocal player on the court. Always talking. Not what I expected but it almost feels like he is the in-game coach. Only thing missing is Kyrie drawing up out of bounds plays.

[Chicagojk]

Love that Jaden is earning minutes and getting them.  The 0-7 games are coming though.  But I really enjoyed him not forcing any shots early when he got in.  It was probably 4-5 minutes before he took his first shot.  Just love to see his smile on the bench too.

While he may not be a factor in the playoffs, he is earning regular rotation minutes right now.

[hakeemfaan]

Anyway, IMO, more than Luka or Dinwiddie ball-hogging, maybe even more than Kyrie, I think the biggest change might be what Green is bringing to the team right now. Like, we saw this change in the Utah game before Kyrie had even played a minute. I'm not downplaying other factors, because this is definitely a cumulative thing-- high-usage players gone, Bullock turning things around, the morale boost of the trade, etc. But I think the energy of Hardy and especially Green are arguably the biggest change.

We saw flashes of it in the early season, but then Green got hurt, and the team's vibes and energy completely died even with Luka's MVP campaign. Now Green is starting and the team has a new energy. It's certainly not a coincidence.

I was one of the most vocal  Green defenders on this board but after the last playoffs I was done with him. Being unselfish and seemingly not wanting to score are not the same. I wondered if there was a mental block there like Simmons. This year so far ge has been fabulous. I hooe when Luka is back, Josh does not go back thinking that the team doesn’t need him to be a bit more aggressive in looking for his own scoring opportunities.  This team looks totally different when he steps up in the scoring column.