Game 13 Dirkie Thread: Gafford

[SleepingHero]

I suppose I might be the outlier here....

I don't think the Mavs played particularly well tonight. They blew out the Wemby-less Spurs, sure. But I don't think that's such a feat. And before you say "...but Utah!", the hospital Spurs with 3 rotation guys injured (2 of them being their best guys), is in another class of ass.

After a pretty torrid start, they flatlined and lost the 1st quarter. The 2nd was a bit better but again, not great. 2nd half was much better, but it felt more like the Spurs just ran out of gas than the Mavs really putting together a great stretch.

I am officially sounding the alarms on Luka. I've never seen him like this before. He's playing without confidence. Laboring up and down the court. He looks disengaged and uninvolved. Whenever he is involved, he's out of rhythm and making choices he's literally NEVER done. Stupid 1 hand passes directly to the opposing team. Throwing it straight out of bounds because he was confused. Unable to get anyone to bite on fakes, yet still forcing the shot up. The worst moment for me personally was in the 1st quarter, where Luka drove baseline, drew 3 Spurs defenders, and in a moment where he's usually passed to the corner every single time in his career, chooses to go up for the layup and promptly gets blocked. What's even more infuriating is that Klay was literally wide open in the corner. The Mavs sign a top 3 (top 2?) best 3pt shooter of all time and Luka chooses that...? It's maddening. Because that has NOTHING to do with injuries, or conditioning, or arguing with the refs. And it's something Luka has never done in his career thus far. It's worrying. I hope Luka snaps out of it sooner than later because this team goes nowhere with him playing as he has.

Gafford to me had an okay game. His first half was pretty horrible. He gave up so many offensive rebounds, was consistently out of position on drives. There was a reason the Spurs took off as soon as Lively checked out and Gafford went in. Just a step slow and bit dumb. But then he had an inspiring 3rd quarter. Lots of energy, dunks, and defense. That is the Gafford we're used to but we're not really getting this season. Gafford's first half for me disqualified him for any Dirkie consideration. But I am glad and hopeful that his 2nd half can keep him in the groove for tomorrow.

And please don't get me wrong. The Mavs won. I am not here to be a negative nelly. I am just trying to voice some measured concerns on what I think we can improve. I will give them a little bit of credit for simply getting the job done tonight. Something they haven't been able to do consistently all season long thus far. By far and away Kyrie Irving is carrying this team. Night in and night out the dude is just playing lights out basketball and is one of the lone bright spots. He would be getting my Dirkie if it wasn't for Lively.

I'm giving my Dirkie to Lively because his defensive impact this game was, to me, the bedrock to us winning tonight. Lively showed up and did the little things. He boxed out every possession. Fought like hell on defense to alter as many shots as possible without fouling. Just a defensive masterclass. That is what we're going to need if we're trying to go far this season. Great game from Lively. Deserved Dirkie imo.