Why can't Melli be the other half of our PF tandem

[KillerLeft]

I must be the only person who doesn't care at all about complaining to the refs.   LeBron and Tim Duncan are the biggest call complainers I've seen in my lifetime, didn't seem to hurt their  careers.    In fact, I would say if you're not working the refs for calls, you're probably leaving points on the floor imho.

I hated it when they did it, too, and I'd argue that Luka comes across as even more annoying than either of them ever did to anyone not a Mavs fan. It's the one and only early thing about Luka I'm not thrilled about, and frankly, I think it's hurting him with the refs, not helping. This might be somewhat "on the refs" and not on him, but there's something about his interactions with them that doesn't come across to me the same way as those other players you mentioned. Idk, but maybe they don't take him as seriously as they took those dudes? I don't know that there has ever been an English challenged (this must get better for Luka, for a variety of reasons) Euro who interacted with the refs this often. Also, it should be noted that these are largely different refs than the ones "palms up Timmy" used to terrorize.

[embellisher]

I must be the only person who doesn't care at all about complaining to the refs.   LeBron and Tim Duncan are the biggest call complainers I've seen in my lifetime, didn't seem to hurt their  careers.    In fact, I would say if you're not working the refs for calls, you're probably leaving points on the floor imho.

Yep. Timmy and LeBron are at the top of the complainer list. Ones a first ballot HOFer and the other probably will be as well.

[cow]

Complaining to the refs is a balancing act which is made more difficult for Mavericks players as they have to do so while giving Mark Cuban a piggyback ride.

[KillerLeft]

Complaining to the refs is a balancing act which is made more difficult for Mavericks players as they have to do so while giving Mark Cuban a piggyback ride.

Fairly accurate, imo.

[soog]

FIRST BIG OFF OF THE BENCH!!!

[Tyler]

https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1377415917810839552

[HanspardShowerVoice]

Also, it should be noted that these are largely different refs than the ones "palms up Timmy" used to terrorize.

If you think today's players aren't complaining about every whistle, I don't know what to tell you.   We must be watching a different league.    I don't think LeBron thinks he has had a valid whistle called on him since 2012.   This is largely about ultimately meaningless aesthetics and something Mavs fans imagined up to be mad over (like a lot of other things)

[KillerLeft]

If you think today's players aren't complaining about every whistle, I don't know what to tell you.   We must be watching a different league.    I don't think LeBron thinks he has had a valid whistle called on him since 2012.   This is largely about ultimately meaningless aesthetics and something Mavs fans imagined up to be mad over (like a lot of other things)

For one thing, I never said anything like “today’s players aren’t complaining about every whistle.“ For another, I am not the type to look for things to complain about, as people around here know well. Lastly, this is a well-known national perception of Luka. None of us here are making it up. 

It’s totally cool if you disagree and think it is over blown. I don’t like it, myself. You don’t have to “tell me” anything, unless you want to. It’s all good!

---

FIRST BIG OFF OF THE BENCH!!!

Yeah, but super interesting that he didn’t get any second half minutes. I honestly do not know what to make of that.

[StepBackJay]

Yeah, but super interesting that he didn’t get any second half minutes. I honestly do not know what to make of that.

Rick trolling us by playing Maxi at center for no apparent reason.

[dirkfansince1998]

Had some really good defensive possessions against Tatum. Suprised me with his lateral quickness.

[F Gump]

Rick trolling us by playing Maxi at center for no apparent reason.

I didn't like the way RC coached this game in the 4th.

Mavs had a significant advantage with big men, with Theiss traded and Williams sick. Down the stretch, BOS went to one PF/C type only and 4 medium-to-small. (Fournier was more or less their 4 man. Tatum was the 5 the majority of the 4th.) RC's response was to do the same using Kleber rather than exploit the advantage (very little KP and no Melli in the 4th). BOS dominated the quarter, of course.

[KillerLeft]

I didn't like the way RC coached this game in the 4th.

[SleepingHero]

Melli being the first big off the bench made me exclaim "Melli superstar franchise player"

So thank you for that.

Despite missing 2 easy bunnies that could've gone either way, I think Melli played a great game again. Had at least 2 defensive possessions where he kept up with Tatum of all people on the perimeter. I was shocked to say the least. 

It's evident Luka likes playing with Melli given all the little interactions he has on the court with him. Needless to say I'm excited to see him when we get our 3pt sniper back from rehab.

[david75090]

Watched the first half of the Euro-league championship with Luka and Melli. Tried to pay attention to Melli. Melli appears to be someone who lets the game come to him. He seldom forces the action. He re-acts more than acts. He was out there setting screens and moving around while others took shots and handled the ball. He took his open shots and made few mistakes. Tended to fade into the background a bit, at times. The type of player who would get underappreciated. Not flashy or in-your-face. When you look at the box-score you say "he did that?, I didn't realize!".

[soog]

Watched the first half of the Euro-league championship with Luka and Melli. Tried to pay attention to Melli. Melli appears to be someone who lets the game come to him. He seldom forces the action. He re-acts more than acts. He was out there setting screens and moving around while others took shots and handled the ball. He took his open shots and made few mistakes. Tended to fade into the background a bit, at times. The type of player who would get underappreciated. Not flashy or in-your-face. When you look at the box-score you say "he did that?, I didn't realize!".

I think that’s a great assessment.  I think he looked for his own shot maybe 3 times that game.  Then you get to the end and wonder.... how did he score so much...?

I’m watching his limited minutes in the Boston game and still loving what I see.  The only fault I see is the missed dunk, but things happen.  Some great things he did:

1) His man defense is surprisingly good.  Boston intentionally screened him to get a switch so Tatum could ISO him multiple times.  His D was fantastic every time.  The first time Tatum spends the ENTIRE shot clock trying to beat him and ends up missing a deep three without the ball ever touching the hands of another Celtic.  He later hits a deep three, but Nico closed out quickly with a hand in his face.  Just a case of good offense always beats good defense.
2) He sets very solid screens.  He does a great job of anticipating both his teammate and the defender to anticipate where he needs to be to set an effective screen.  And he is very good at taking advantage of the “roll to the basket/moving screen”.
3) He is a great passer.  The pass to Green through traffic in the paint showed great skill and vision.
4) He moves well without the ball.  He reads the defense well and moves well without the ball.  He had a great back door (the dunk he missed), and several other moves without the ball to provide an outlet for Luka when the Celtics tried to double or hedge the screen.  This isn’t athleticism he’s using to beat the other team, just literally shuffling his feet to be in the right place at the right time
5) He plays team defense well.  He drops to help when he is on the backside.  He hedges the screen to give his man time to recover.  He switches when he has to.  Nothing ground breaking, just another case of being in the right place at the right time.
6) Now for possibly my favorite observation of all - he boxes out!  When shots go up he doesn’t stare at the ball as it heads towards the basket, he looks for a man!  He prioritizes boxing out over just jumping after a rebound.  I can’t say he does this every time, but he does it and it has a huge impact on a game.  Even if he doesn’t end up getting the rebound it helps his teammates chances of getting it.  And its little things like this that will let him play as a “big” even if he isn’t the most physical presence.  I don’t care how big Gobert is.  If you can get him boxed out 10ft away from the basket, he might as well be only 6ft tall.

I remain very impressed with him.  I don’t think he’ll ever be a star, but I think he could become a key rotational player.  Every championship team needs guys like this - guys who don’t command the ball, who do the little things well, and can quietly take advantage of being ignored while your opponents focus too much on stopping your stars.

[Chicagojk]

I think that’s a great assessment.  I think he looked for his own shot maybe 3 times that game.  Then you get to the end and wonder.... how did he score so much...?

I’m watching his limited minutes in the Boston game and still loving what I see.  The only fault I see is the missed dunk, but things happen.  Some great things he did:

1) His man defense is surprisingly good.  Boston intentionally screened him to get a switch so Tatum could ISO him multiple times.  His D was fantastic every time.  The first time Tatum spends the ENTIRE shot clock trying to beat him and ends up missing a deep three without the ball ever touching the hands of another Celtic.  He later hits a deep three, but Nico closed out quickly with a hand in his face.  Just a case of good offense always beats good defense.
2) He sets very solid screens.  He does a great job of anticipating both his teammate and the defender to anticipate where he needs to be to set an effective screen.  And he is very good at taking advantage of the “roll to the basket/moving screen”.
3) He is a great passer.  The pass to Green through traffic in the paint showed great skill and vision.
4) He moves well without the ball.  He reads the defense well and moves well without the ball.  He had a great back door (the dunk he missed), and several other moves without the ball to provide an outlet for Luka when the Celtics tried to double or hedge the screen.  This isn’t athleticism he’s using to beat the other team, just literally shuffling his feet to be in the right place at the right time
5) He plays team defense well.  He drops to help when he is on the backside.  He hedges the screen to give his man time to recover.  He switches when he has to.  Nothing ground breaking, just another case of being in the right place at the right time.
6) Now for possibly my favorite observation of all - he boxes out!  When shots go up he doesn’t stare at the ball as it heads towards the basket, he looks for a man!  He prioritizes boxing out over just jumping after a rebound.  I can’t say he does this every time, but he does it and it has a huge impact on a game.  Even if he doesn’t end up getting the rebound it helps his teammates chances of getting it.  And its little things like this that will let him play as a “big” even if he isn’t the most physical presence.  I don’t care how big Gobert is.  If you can get him boxed out 10ft away from the basket, he might as well be only 6ft tall.

I remain very impressed with him.  I don’t think he’ll ever be a star, but I think he could become a key rotational player.  Every championship team needs guys like this - guys who don’t command the ball, who do the little things well, and can quietly take advantage of being ignored while your opponents focus too much on stopping your stars.

Nice post.  A lot of the items you highlight are things I thought was clearly missing with a big on our roster.   Time will tell how big of a factor he will be, but I have really liked the two brief appearances so far.

[DanSchwartzgan]

I think that’s a great assessment.  I think he looked for his own shot maybe 3 times that game.  Then you get to the end and wonder.... how did he score so much...?

I’m watching his limited minutes in the Boston game and still loving what I see.  The only fault I see is the missed dunk, but things happen.  Some great things he did:

1) His man defense is surprisingly good.  Boston intentionally screened him to get a switch so Tatum could ISO him multiple times.  His D was fantastic every time.  The first time Tatum spends the ENTIRE shot clock trying to beat him and ends up missing a deep three without the ball ever touching the hands of another Celtic.  He later hits a deep three, but Nico closed out quickly with a hand in his face.  Just a case of good offense always beats good defense.
2) He sets very solid screens.  He does a great job of anticipating both his teammate and the defender to anticipate where he needs to be to set an effective screen.  And he is very good at taking advantage of the “roll to the basket/moving screen”.
3) He is a great passer.  The pass to Green through traffic in the paint showed great skill and vision.
4) He moves well without the ball.  He reads the defense well and moves well without the ball.  He had a great back door (the dunk he missed), and several other moves without the ball to provide an outlet for Luka when the Celtics tried to double or hedge the screen.  This isn’t athleticism he’s using to beat the other team, just literally shuffling his feet to be in the right place at the right time
5) He plays team defense well.  He drops to help when he is on the backside.  He hedges the screen to give his man time to recover.  He switches when he has to.  Nothing ground breaking, just another case of being in the right place at the right time.
6) Now for possibly my favorite observation of all - he boxes out!  When shots go up he doesn’t stare at the ball as it heads towards the basket, he looks for a man!  He prioritizes boxing out over just jumping after a rebound.  I can’t say he does this every time, but he does it and it has a huge impact on a game.  Even if he doesn’t end up getting the rebound it helps his teammates chances of getting it.  And its little things like this that will let him play as a “big” even if he isn’t the most physical presence.  I don’t care how big Gobert is.  If you can get him boxed out 10ft away from the basket, he might as well be only 6ft tall.

I remain very impressed with him.  I don’t think he’ll ever be a star, but I think he could become a key rotational player.  Every championship team needs guys like this - guys who don’t command the ball, who do the little things well, and can quietly take advantage of being ignored while your opponents focus too much on stopping your stars.

Well done sir.  

I really wish we had more data on the whole Trey Lyle thing.  Was Lyle the first choice of the Mav's?  If so, that doesn't speak highly of their opinion of Melli.  Or, did they want Melli all along and for some reason N.O. wasn't willing to do that version of the deal until the deal was falling apart.  Given Melli's poor play in NO, that doesn't seem likely unless there were other aspects to an earlier proposal that got scrapped at the last second.

Looking forward, I have a hard time seeing Dallas giving him a $4.8mm QO unless they KNOW they are operating over the cap. If he proves to be desirable, the BAE might not be enough.  His original contract averaged $4.0mm and the BAE is only $3.7mm.  So, what is the path to keeping him?

[omahen]

His original contract averaged $4.0mm and the BAE is only $3.7mm.  So, what is the path to keeping him?

Even with his nice play. Are you really affraid someone will jump with over the BAE offer? He is a 30+ year old back up PF. I would actually think BAE is too generous of a move. Typical Mavs thing to do for a bunch of players they play in extremely limited minutes. If Mavs are contending, this kind of guys have to be vet min, imho

[DanSchwartzgan]

Even with his nice play. Are you really affraid someone will jump with over the BAE offer? He is a 30+ year old back up PF. I would actually think BAE is too generous of a move. Typical Mavs thing to do for a bunch of players they play in extremely limited minutes. If Mavs are contending, this kind of guys have to be vet min, imho

I don't know.  IF he's worth keeping, isn't he worth more than WCS and Burke?  IF he plays well enough to get any offer at all, wouldn't he want something similar to what he got last time?  What would he make in Europe?

[SleepingHero]

So, what is the path to keeping him?

I think he won't get more than 3/10. Basically the Trey Burke deal. He'd be lucky to get a vet min contract given his play in NO. 

If he shines in Dallas then I could see him getting slightly more. Overall I don't think it'd be difficult to keep him this summer. Espcially as a WCS replacement.