08-26-2020, 04:32 AM
I knew game was lost as soon as it was announced KP is out. Clippers already showed how much better they are by beating Mavs by 20 points in 15 minutes of game 4, but then stopped playing. No way they would repeat same mistake again.
From Mavs point of view I really don't care about the final score. It was clear it will be a loss and losing by 10 or 40 is more or less the same, as only the win counts. I am only a bit dissapointed, that bench also got spanked hard in the last quarter. Jackson, Wright, Reaves and other end of bench guys showed nothing worthy, that would bring hope to move them up in the ranks. Unfortunately, they just solidified their "end of bench and likely out of the team next season" position. I mean Reaves is still young and can develop, but it will take years - Doe doe level is his ceiling. I don't mind him as a two way if they really can't find anything better. Wright, Jackson and Cleveland hopefully played last minutes for Dallas. Hopefully in a sense, there will be no more blowout losses which is the only way they see minutes and I just don't see any point having them on the team next season. Wright just doesn't fit in the system and is probably troubled by his role, not even contributing on defense anymore. Jackson is a lost cause and Cleveland is just too old to develop. Do we really can't find a 19 year old to groom in a 2way contract?
Hopefully, Mavs will gather all the guys for one last push - it could be a long break after that and it is surely worth it. The important thing for the Mavs is to draw energy from this loss, either from a will to prove they are better than that, from bad refs or from dirty plays. I would like to see (at least) one more fight and (at least) one more good and close game. I will be satisfied with the series, if they lose by not more than 10 points, everything more is excellent. And they showed they are capable of beating the Clipps. Another blowout loss would throw a bit of a dark shadow on great performances in first four games.
I see this as a great lesson, what playoff basketball is. Trashtalking, physicality is all part of it. Mavs need a couple of enforcers, a couple of Bev, Morris types. I am dissapointed role players don't jump in and protect their star from a dirty move created by Morris. In my opinion his move was intentional.
First of all, just to be clear - Mavs didn't lose because of the refs. But once again, the ref crew was a disaster and by far the worst factor on the field. Even worse then Mavs. They have zero feeling about the game, I am just amazed how stupid a couple of calls were:
- Mavs down by 30 or something, have a clean fastbreak resulting in a dunk, and the refs stopped the game because of something that happened on the other side of the court (Harrell pulling one of Mavs away from the ball, not affecting the game at all). Smart thing would be to stay quiet, as no one cared about that thing and audience enjoys a nice dunk. If you really have to blow your whistle, than there is no way that is a common foul! It is flagrant or everyone will start stopping fastbreaks like that.
- Mavs down by 30 or something and the refs called a challenge once Hardaway already received ball to shoot a free throw. Again - smart thing would be to stay quiet. Worst case scenario Doc would give them a cynical smile and game would go on. This way they gave Rick an excuse to get thrown out and Mavs another case to complain about refs.
On a more competitive note - George and Kawhi get away with just ridiculously obvious offensive push offs. They would call multiple offensive fouls on 99 % of other NBA players if they would pull moves like that. On the other hand - Luka did get away with a clear flop
From Mavs point of view I really don't care about the final score. It was clear it will be a loss and losing by 10 or 40 is more or less the same, as only the win counts. I am only a bit dissapointed, that bench also got spanked hard in the last quarter. Jackson, Wright, Reaves and other end of bench guys showed nothing worthy, that would bring hope to move them up in the ranks. Unfortunately, they just solidified their "end of bench and likely out of the team next season" position. I mean Reaves is still young and can develop, but it will take years - Doe doe level is his ceiling. I don't mind him as a two way if they really can't find anything better. Wright, Jackson and Cleveland hopefully played last minutes for Dallas. Hopefully in a sense, there will be no more blowout losses which is the only way they see minutes and I just don't see any point having them on the team next season. Wright just doesn't fit in the system and is probably troubled by his role, not even contributing on defense anymore. Jackson is a lost cause and Cleveland is just too old to develop. Do we really can't find a 19 year old to groom in a 2way contract?
Hopefully, Mavs will gather all the guys for one last push - it could be a long break after that and it is surely worth it. The important thing for the Mavs is to draw energy from this loss, either from a will to prove they are better than that, from bad refs or from dirty plays. I would like to see (at least) one more fight and (at least) one more good and close game. I will be satisfied with the series, if they lose by not more than 10 points, everything more is excellent. And they showed they are capable of beating the Clipps. Another blowout loss would throw a bit of a dark shadow on great performances in first four games.
(08-26-2020, 03:22 AM)mavsluvr Wrote: He didn’t think his guys responded well to the Clips’ physicality.
I see this as a great lesson, what playoff basketball is. Trashtalking, physicality is all part of it. Mavs need a couple of enforcers, a couple of Bev, Morris types. I am dissapointed role players don't jump in and protect their star from a dirty move created by Morris. In my opinion his move was intentional.
(08-26-2020, 03:22 AM)mavsluvr Wrote: the ref
First of all, just to be clear - Mavs didn't lose because of the refs. But once again, the ref crew was a disaster and by far the worst factor on the field. Even worse then Mavs. They have zero feeling about the game, I am just amazed how stupid a couple of calls were:
- Mavs down by 30 or something, have a clean fastbreak resulting in a dunk, and the refs stopped the game because of something that happened on the other side of the court (Harrell pulling one of Mavs away from the ball, not affecting the game at all). Smart thing would be to stay quiet, as no one cared about that thing and audience enjoys a nice dunk. If you really have to blow your whistle, than there is no way that is a common foul! It is flagrant or everyone will start stopping fastbreaks like that.
- Mavs down by 30 or something and the refs called a challenge once Hardaway already received ball to shoot a free throw. Again - smart thing would be to stay quiet. Worst case scenario Doc would give them a cynical smile and game would go on. This way they gave Rick an excuse to get thrown out and Mavs another case to complain about refs.
On a more competitive note - George and Kawhi get away with just ridiculously obvious offensive push offs. They would call multiple offensive fouls on 99 % of other NBA players if they would pull moves like that. On the other hand - Luka did get away with a clear flop