Preseason Game 4: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Dallas Mavericks | 6:30pm CST on TNT

[Jym]

Notes from this game:

• Kyrie Irving is a monster at basketball. My goodness gracious. Pure basketball poetry when he's out there.
  

• Klay Thompson is a monster. Yes he started cold, but just one made shot turned the entire tide and it felt like every shot was going in. His gravity is immense. I see the Bucks selling out everyone to stop Klay. Seeing him get mini-hot was so fun.
  
• Dereck Lively's post game is real and the League should beware. That one little left turn around hookshot off balance with the time dwindling sealed it for me. This dude is going to be scary. He flashed some touch last year, but in the first half alone he had 3 beautiful push shots. Its getting to the point where I want the Mavs to spam Lively post ups if he has a mismatch. 
  
• Is Spencer Dinwiddie washed...? It feels like he has no burst heading to the rim. He's not really setting up guys either. I'm currently going to try and chalk this up to him trying to get his legs in preseason and come regular season he'll look more polished. But I was very much excited that he was signed this offseason. I hope he starts to resemble just a bit of the Dinwiddie of 2 years ago, because that's all the Mavs need. He flashed some of that in the 3rd quarter. 
  
• Naji Marshall really intrigues me. If his 3pt shot is real he's going to be one of the most important guys off the bench. His ability to create his own shot off the dribble will be huge. He's shown he can really pass the ball too. His defense has been solid but nothing eye-popping yet. He makes some incredibly dumb plays sometimes though. Lance Stephenson esque. 
  
• Hardy's 3pt shot looks very polished. Heck his entire offensive game looks like it's leveled up this offseason. It's very clear he's a much more polished offensive player. As long as he's playing the off-ball scorer role that is to say. The few preseason games where he plays primary creator he looks pretty messy. But as a scorer? Lethal.  Defensively he gets lost still. I remember in the 3rd quarter he ran away from his man because he misunderstood the switch and gave up a wide open 3 to the center for MIL. His screen navigation also feels like anytime there's a screen he will get laid out. BUT offensively, really, he's become a mini-Kyrie it feels like. Amazing handles. Smooth attacks to the rim. Lethal outside shooting. 
  
• Whenever I watch OMax, I get happy. I MEAN DID Y'ALL SEE THAT DUNK????? ABSOLUTE POSTER! It's obvious he's still raw but he's improved. I'm very excited to see what he's going to become because when, not if, he puts it together, he is going to be a force. 
  
• The two-way situation is going to be very interesting. There are 5 legit contenders for at most 2 spots. Emanuel Miller is one of my favorites. He just has great court awareness, touch, and defense. I like him WAY better than AJ Lawson. Gortman won me over. He definitely deserves a 2-way spot. Him and Williams actually have some great chemistry and look like a solid backcourt funnily enough. Kessler Edwards on paper is the most talented of the bunch, but the fact we never saw him makes me not even want to keep him. I suspect the Mavs will though. Finally Sharp is hilarious. I don't see him getting a spot but hopefully he goes to the Legends. Overall, Jaz should definitely get the last spot over Lawson. I still want to find a way to keep Miller if we can. 
  

Lively getting consistent with some runners and push shots would be soooo big, especially against the Celtics
Tatum is strong and fast enough to keep Lively and Gafford from feasting on dunks and layups. He's not long enough to do anything about Lively a bit away from the basket with touch. That could shake up their entire defense