PRESEASON GAME 3: DAL vs. Real Madrid

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Not great that this has lingered for awhile.  It is preseason and it is best to be cautious but you know Luka wanted to play more in this game.

This is a concern going into the season. Luka always seems to get nagging injuries. He showed up to camp in probably the best shape of his life, and this happens.

[Chicagojk]

Can we just sign Poirier? 

Looked better than everything we threw on the field at center on offense and on defense…

Sort of weird watching really good players who either couldn’t find a role in the pros or never came over for a fringe role play really well against nba players.  It makes the Olympics and these types of games really hard to evaluate because they look great out there.  It just doesn’t translate often.  Sort of weird.

[Nowitzki Way]

Sort of weird watching really good players who either couldn’t find a role in the pros or never came over for a fringe role play really well against nba players.  It makes the Olympics and these types of games really hard to evaluate because they look great out there.  It just doesn’t translate often.  Sort of weird.

The guy grabbed every rebound and had multiple blocked shots on guys driving to the room.

He probably would have much less success against a real NBA big men. Unlike the guys we throw out there every night.

It makes it sad that this team continues to ignore rebounding/toughness

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Sort of weird watching really good players who either couldn’t find a role in the pros or never came over for a fringe role play really well against nba players.  It makes the Olympics and these types of games really hard to evaluate because they look great out there.  It just doesn’t translate often.  Sort of weird.

Makes me think of "Baby Shaq". Sofoklis Shortsanitis

[dirkfansince1998]

Sort of weird watching really good players who either couldn’t find a role in the pros or never came over for a fringe role play really well against nba players.  It makes the Olympics and these types of games really hard to evaluate because they look great out there.  It just doesn’t translate often.  Sort of weird.

What stands out is the way they move the ball. Was the same in the world cup. Feels like we are so used to teams that spam isos and high pick and roll that NBA teams/players cannot deal with teams that play a different style.

[Knutsen]

Sort of weird watching really good players who either couldn’t find a role in the pros or never came over for a fringe role play really well against nba players.  It makes the Olympics and these types of games really hard to evaluate because they look great out there.  It just doesn’t translate often.  Sort of weird.

I mean he was in the NBA for two season, one with the Celtics and the other with the 76ers. Not the easiest teams to earn a role at the 5 with them having a really good team with good centers.

But the guy has legit size with 7 feet, rebounds everything, goes after every shot to block it, is athletic to finishes alley-oops and showed a sweet mid range jumper. And on top of that has a mean streak - and a mean mug.

So with the exception of finishing alley-oops Dwight Powell is the exact opposite in all of these attributes, isn’t he?

[Chicagojk]

Dante Exum our Derek White. Mostly joking but Exum is younger than White.

[ThisIStheYear]

Okay. Losing to a Euro club team? Yikes. What’s next? Losing to a GLeague or college team? Now it’s time to panic. Another lottery pick inbound. I can’t imagine something like this happening to even a bad team. Good thing we don’t have relegation.

[SleepingHero]

Okay. Losing to a Euro club team?  Yikes. What’s next?  Losing to a GLeague or college team? Now it’s time to panic. Another lottery pick inbound. I can’t imagine something like this happening to even a bad team. Good thing we don’t have relegation.

I like overreacting but the Mavs lost because they played:

Jelly/Lawson/Wieskamp(lets be honest we both know I had to look his name up)/OMax/Holmes for shits and gigs and pissed away their 14 point lead with 5 mins remaining.

The victory was there if Kidd wanted it. But Kidd's a loser so I'm not surprised he managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. He shoulda ran with the real crew until 2 mins left and then let the neophytes get their burn to avoid an embarrassing loss in a game that doesn't really matter. 

But alas we're here.

[ItsGoTime]

I like overreacting but the Mavs lost because they played:

Jelly/Lawson/Wieskamp(lets be honest we both know I had to look his name up)/OMax/Holmes for shits and gigs and pissed away their 14 point lead with 5 mins remaining.

The victory was there if Kidd wanted it. But Kidd's a loser so I'm not surprised he managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. He shoulda ran with the real crew until 2 mins left and then let the neophytes get their burn to avoid an embarrassing loss in a game that doesn't really matter. 

But alas we're here.

I mean, if we were to be an NBA playoff team we would’ve lead wire to wire in a blowout. Even with our 2 best players out. It took 3 quarters to actually get a lead. Who’s to say they weren’t going to go on that run in the end regardless? The “depth” of this team is very overstated.

[SleepingHero]

I mean, if we were to be an NBA playoff team we would’ve lead wire to wire in a blowout. Even with our 2 best players out. It took 3 quarters to actually get a lead. Who’s to say they weren’t going to go on that run in the end regardless? The “depth” of this team is very overstated.

I mean if we want to be fair and look at this optimistically, if they had both Luka and Kyrie available for the entirety of the game they could've possibly won wire to wire. And to evaluate this team without those 2 guys is an exercise of futility. 

Looking at the final result of a preseason game is imo a bit foolish and it's far more helpful to look at stretches within the game. 

What I do find a bit humorous is that I also think this team isn't an NBA playoff team as currently constructed. I hope I am wrong and I am not pointing to their preseason record to bolster this feeling, but the main culprit to me is their head coach who in my perception does basically nothing game to game other than "lets throw shit at the wall and see what works". 

We'll see.

[Knutsen]

I mean if we want to be fair and look at this optimistically, if they had both Luka and Kyrie available for the entirety of the game they could've possibly won wire to wire. And to evaluate this team without those 2 guys is an exercise of futility. 

Looking at the final result of a preseason game is imo a bit foolish and it's far more helpful to look at stretches within the game. 

What I do find a bit humorous is that I also think this team isn't an NBA playoff team as currently constructed. I hope I am wrong and I am not pointing to their preseason record to bolster this feeling, but the main culprit to me is their head coach who in my perception does basically nothing game to game other than "lets throw shit at the wall and see what works". 

We'll see.

Disappointing thing for me was, that without Luka and Kyrie - our supposed weak links on defense - our defense still was shit. Real Madrid were lighting us up basically the whole game.

[dirkfansince1998]

I mean, if we were to be an NBA playoff team we would’ve lead wire to wire in a blowout. Even with our 2 best players out. It took 3 quarters to actually get a lead. Who’s to say they weren’t going to go on that run in the end regardless? The “depth” of this team is very overstated.

Maybe it's time to stop underrating euroleague teams. Team USA lost three games in the last FIBA tournament and even though it wasn't the best possible team it had more individual talent than the current Mavs roster. Lithuania had one NBA player. Germany's best player in the semi finals was a guy that no one in the US knew prior to the game.
Madrid pretty much had their best guys on the floor for most of the game. Not a suprise that they can at least keep up with the Mavs. Not a suprise that they can go on a run against a g-league lineup to close out the game.

[ItsGoTime]

What I do find a bit humorous is that I also think this team isn't an NBA playoff team as currently constructed. 

Therein lies the crux of the argument. I thought they made the changes necessary to be a playoff team (top 8 seed). We’ve all been touting how good the moves were this offseason and how much better this team will be this year (I see you have our record as 40-42, so you are less optimistic than me about the changes). 

I had hope of the team going on a run to start the season and setting themselves up well for the rest of their season. I thought Luka and Kyrie were enough to overcome the deficit that Kidd caused and the the new defensive pieces were what would give us an identity on that side of the ball more than I’ve seen. I had them at a 45-37 record but thinking the West would be a bit more spread out and defined top to bottom than last year (and that record being good enough for a 7 or 8 seed). I guess that’s what I get for hoping.

If we don’t trade Kyrie by the TDL, I’ll be pretty upset. Zero reason to carry him on the payroll on a team that will probably not make the playoffs. Waste of his talent and payroll space.

[ItsGoTime]

Maybe it's time to stop underrating euroleague teams. Team USA lost three games in the last FIBA tournament and even though it wasn't the best possible team it had more individual talent than the current Mavs roster. Lithuania had one NBA player. Germany's best player in the semi finals was a guy that no one in the US knew prior to the game.
Madrid pretty much had their best guys on the floor for most of the game. Not a suprise that they can at least keep up with the Mavs. Not a suprise that they can go on a run against a g-league lineup to close out the game.

Sure they are formidable (even though they’re filled with guys who couldn’t make it in the NBA for one reason or another). For an NBA playoff team though? A team like that SHOULD have enough fight/pride in themselves to not be beaten by the squad we just faced. We weren’t even ahead when Luka left the game. You yourself were talking about the lack of defense with a group (sans Luka and Kyrie) that were thought to be much improved. 

The issue last year was certainly not Wood or McGee or Bullock if this is to be the team we will see.

[ItsGoTime]

Also, if this is to be, the team we will see, shut Luka down until that leg is fully healed! Zero reason to risk further injury and damage.

[DallasMaverick]

I mean if we want to be fair and look at this optimistically, if they had both Luka and Kyrie available for the entirety of the game they could've possibly won wire to wire. And to evaluate this team without those 2 guys is an exercise of futility. 

Looking at the final result of a preseason game is imo a bit foolish and it's far more helpful to look at stretches within the game. 

What I do find a bit humorous is that I also think this team isn't an NBA playoff team as currently constructed. I hope I am wrong and I am not pointing to their preseason record to bolster this feeling, but the main culprit to me is their head coach who in my perception does basically nothing game to game other than "lets throw shit at the wall and see what works". 

We'll see.

Kind of a cool article on Bruce Bochy’s “hands-off” management style.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/3859...postseason

[Jym]

shut Luka down until that leg is fully healed! 

Please!! 
Kind of reminds me of the Kawaii situation where the Spurs cleared him to play but he knew his leg wasn't right and refused to play.

[Mavs2021]

This is a concern going into the season. Luka always seems to get nagging injuries. He showed up to camp in probably the best shape of his life, and this happens.

That´s what happens, when you run a useless shitshow like Cuban. A professional franchise shuts Luka down last December to heal properly instead of chasing a stupid 10th seed. A professional franchise goes all in on Wembanyama odds. If the balls fall right, health is the only thing that stops you from a dynasty. 

A professional franchise doesn´t trade for Kyrie. I don´t even know WTF they are trying to do. They are acquiring an injury-prone win-now nutjob, but at the same time start a youth movement based around (Williams, O-Max, Lively, Hardy, Green) and an already hurting superstar.

The only way they make the play-offs is over Luka´s dead body literally. They´ll have to ruin his calf for an 8th seed.

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

Maybe it's time to stop underrating euroleague teams. Team USA lost three games in the last FIBA tournament and even though it wasn't the best possible team it had more individual talent than the current Mavs roster. Lithuania had one NBA player. Germany's best player in the semi finals was a guy that no one in the US knew prior to the game.
Madrid pretty much had their best guys on the floor for most of the game. Not a suprise that they can at least keep up with the Mavs. Not a suprise that they can go on a run against a g-league lineup to close out the game.

This!

I wanted Rudy on the Mavs when he went to Real Madrid.  IMO he was still an NBA player.

[Mavs2021]

Maybe it's time to stop underrating euroleague teams. Team USA lost three games in the last FIBA tournament and even though it wasn't the best possible team it had more individual talent than the current Mavs roster. Lithuania had one NBA player. Germany's best player in the semi finals was a guy that no one in the US knew prior to the game.
Madrid pretty much had their best guys on the floor for most of the game. Not a suprise that they can at least keep up with the Mavs. Not a suprise that they can go on a run against a g-league lineup to close out the game.

Let´s not exaggerate the circumstances. We played eleven guys double figure minutes, but so did Madrid. Our 11 guys were literally the rest of our 15 man roster.

But it´s really not about that. 

Above all the other issues is the fact that Luka is injured after two pre-season games with the same injury that bothered him for the last 10 months. Kyrie didn´t even make it to game two. Whether that´s because he´s really hurt or just can´t be bothered. Both are sh*t reasons, when you just had five months off and signed a $126M contract. Kleber does look shot to pieces physically. There is just nothing here short-term, maybe in 2-3 years, if the young guys exceed expectations.