A Few Thoughts on Mavs 137, Rockets 123

[SportPsychMav]

And Ok I admit it, I also give him lots of credit because he made the changes I thought needed to be done.

Im astonished how quick they fixed it.

Yeah, I think the information gathering was pointing to DFS being a great fit as the glue guy with Luka and KP. I think it pointed to Delon and Brunson being a good fit to run the second unit together. And I actually think the information gathering pointed to Seth starting. BUT...THJ came in took that starting job.

So the information gather plus THJ seizing the starter job all lead to what we have now...

Except for one rotation spot. I think that Rick must be still trying to get Powell going because he believes that DP can be a good fit with Luka and KP. It looks like he's giving that more time to percolate because if the Powell/Maxi thing was just based on information gathering I think Maxi would be starting and playing a lot more than Powell.

I think Powell would look great in another team's uniform.

For a while, people were saying we need wings. If THJ can settle into something approximating (not consistently repeating - he's never going to sustain that shooting over a full season, but if he plays as he has recently and can at least shoot with league-wide efficiency, that's good enough) what we saw the last three games, the wings are okay. It's the starting big next to Porzingis that needs to be upgraded. Putting Maxi in the starting lineup in place of Powell is fine, but I'd rather see a trade, if something worthwhile comes up.

For most guys I don't really care much about their results and rather on HOW they play.

For Tim it's not a hot streak, as he doesn't hit his bad shots now. 

1. When he handles the ball he thinks of the pass first
   
2. He contributes with hockey assists and low turnovers
   
3. He makes the second pass as well
   
4. He has vastly improved shot selection
   
5. His makes weren't flukey, he hade similar shots all season
   
6. Not only him but the whole team mostly stopped taking haymaker, contested, early shot clock, pull up 3s
   
7. Luka is the only one still doing them to a certain extent to keep the defense honest I guess, when Luka settles he is money.
   

The art of chucking which happened until the Knicks game just stopped. It's one of the rare bad habits Luka has from time to time. But from his comments and adjustments he seems aware of it.

After the Knicks game they made a switch, the free for all is stoped and they mainly care about winning.
They are settling into roles and it helps them a lot!

Brunson and Seth are probably the most difficult personalities of the team. I feel the dog in Brunson is difficult to keep in check. Brunson used to be a general, I think he aspires a bigger role. So in this I see the biggest volatility of the team.

We might end up needing to trade them both. If they stay calm, play to win, fill their roles, great!