11-02-2021, 10:03 PM
(11-02-2021, 09:43 PM)Kammrath Wrote: So for perspective:
In Dirk's first 19 seasons he NEVER had a negative +/- and almost always led the team in +/-. When Dirk played, the Mavs outscored their opponents, almost without fail.
Luka was negative in his first season, positive the last two (but not by a whole lot), and now in his fourth season is a team worst -25.7. I am super concerned that Luka is not the true superstar that I was hoping he would be. True superstars impact winning, PERIOD.
And before you blame the talent around Luka, don't. Worse talent around you actually makes being positive in +/- easier because the players who replace you suck.
This is genuinely the most alarming thing surrounding this team right now. The Mavs cannot outscore their opponents with Luka playing and are being outscored by 13.3 pts when he does. Seven games is a small sample size, sure, but these numbers are hugely alarming.
I have to think some of it is shooting woes: 42.6% FG, 25.5% 3PT, 72.5% FT. All career lows besides FT% which is the worst since his rookie campaign. His rebound numbers are a career low and assist numbers are the lowest since his rookie year.
The whole team seems to be in a shooting funk.
I think talent around him is somewhat justifiable when you've got 60M+ tied up in players that don't contribute night in and night out(KP, DP, Burke, Boban, Green, Moses, WCS, Brown).
Jalen is the only consistent player. DFS is the captain of the shooting funk brigade. Maxi is hurt. Tim is Tim and is lucky I'm not putting him in that 60M (80M) group.
Because of Luka's ball dominance and because of his athletic limitations on the defensive end, we've all known that it will take a very special roster around him to be a contender. I still say he's a superstar but he needs to grow up and stay in shape and work on his shooting. Otherwise his tenure with the Mavericks is going to be a far less successful version of the James Harden Rockets.