(05-22-2024, 11:45 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I would get out of drop as fast as I could to prevent those lobs (which shouldn't be happening against Minnesota) and force Luka to give the ball to Gafford and/or Lively on the short roll, just like OKC did all series, to great effect. Neither is very good in that situation (Lively is much better, but still not stellar) and while they will run the risk of giving up some open corner 3's (which they clearly didn't want to do tonight), I think that's a poison I'd pick (both the short roll decision makers and then the corner shooters) over letting Luka cook against drop. His midrange game has been the only consistently passable tool in his belt this post season as a scorer, and we all know his chemistry with both bigs is through the roof. Even Kyrie was eating in the midrange tonight. The drop completely negates the size disadvantage he has in this series, and was probably the biggest reason for his great first half. 

But, that's me. I hate drop coverage. And, that's just kind of how Minnesota plays. So, I'm hopeful they'll be stubborn about it.

(05-23-2024, 06:50 AM)omahen Wrote: Kenny Smith imho made a good point on the show. Minny could be emotionally drained after game 7 and might look very different next game. I don't remember much of Minny this season, watched only Mavs games. Everyone is saying Ant is a great defender, but this has not been the case this game. He played "regular season Luka defense" and always seemed to be a step late or out of position. We will probably see a much different version of Minny in game 2, much more aggresive and it will be interesting to see how Mavs respond.

(05-23-2024, 06:50 AM)omahen Wrote: Kenny Smith imho made a good point on the show. Minny could be emotionally drained after game 7 and might look very different next game. I don't remember much of Minny this season, watched only Mavs games. Everyone is saying Ant is a great defender, but this has not been the case this game. He played "regular season Luka defense" and always seemed to be a step late or out of position. We will probably see a much different version of Minny in game 2, much more aggresive and it will be interesting to see how Mavs respond.

(05-22-2024, 11:45 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I would get out of drop as fast as I could to prevent those lobs (which shouldn't be happening against Minnesota) and force Luka to give the ball to Gafford and/or Lively on the short roll, just like OKC did all series, to great effect. Neither is very good in that situation (Lively is much better, but still not stellar) and while they will run the risk of giving up some open corner 3's (which they clearly didn't want to do tonight), I think that's a poison I'd pick (both the short roll decision makers and then the corner shooters) over letting Luka cook against drop. His midrange game has been the only consistently passable tool in his belt this post season as a scorer, and we all know his chemistry with both bigs is through the roof. Even Kyrie was eating in the midrange tonight. The drop completely negates the size disadvantage he has in this series, and was probably the biggest reason for his great first half. 

But, that's me. I hate drop coverage. And, that's just kind of how Minnesota plays. So, I'm hopeful they'll be stubborn about it.

(05-23-2024, 10:05 AM)DallasMaverick Wrote: In the postgame interview with Kyrie, they specifically asked him whether he thought Minnesota would change to a blitzing defense, since their drop coverage wasn’t working very well. Kyrie got a funny look on his face and said that that’s the defense that they play.

The implication is that they don’t really have many defensive tools in their bag other than drop.

(05-24-2024, 01:23 AM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: https://x.com/NBAOfficial/status/1793678297387147363

Call favored the Mavs but I think it is time to adopt FIBA rules. The way they are calling it right now most alley-oop plays are offensive basketball interference as well and no ref is ever going to make that call.
On the other hand. Great to see that at least in some areas referee decisions are improving. Only took 10s to get the result. No need for endless replays. Would love to see something similar for out of bounds situations or backcourt violations.

1. If you adopt the FIBA rules, that also means defenders swatting away balls above the rim is allowed.
   
2. FIBA also doesn't have the 3-second illegal defense rule.
   
3. NBA players are substantially more athletic than European players, as a whole.
   

(05-24-2024, 02:44 AM)Branduil Wrote:

1. If you adopt the FIBA rules, that also means defenders swatting away balls above the rim is allowed.
   
2. FIBA also doesn't have the 3-second illegal defense rule.
   
3. NBA players are substantially more athletic than European players, as a whole.
   

If you adopt the FIBA rule, you're gonna end up with a truly absurd number of blocks, especially if you nuke the 3-second rule. OTOH if you keep the 3-second rule, there will still be a ton of blocks, but also an absurd number of putback dunks.

You're also basically asking for a ton of injuries to happen because players will just be immediately crash the hoop on every shot attempt trying to block/dunk it.