Preseason Game 1: Dallas Mavericks (0-0) vs. OKC (1-0) | 7:30pm CST

[SleepingHero]

[SleepingHero]

@sixfivelando
Mavs probable starters in the game notes for tomorrow’s preseason opener against OKC Thunder:

D’Angelo Russell
Klay Thompson
Cooper Flagg
Anthony Davis
Dereck Lively II

[KillerLeft]

@sixfivelando
Mavs probable starters in the game notes for tomorrow’s preseason opener against OKC Thunder:

D’Angelo Russell
Klay Thompson
Cooper Flagg
Anthony Davis
Dereck Lively II

I love all those guys. I just can't help but feel three of them are playing out of position. I so wish I could watch, but I'll be in rehearsal. Huge bummer.

[F Gump]

I just can't help but feel three of them are playing out of position.

I think you are way too obsessed with the idea that the Mavs might not fill their lineup in the same way as other teams do (as if there are "assigned seats" to fill, so to speak, with penalties assessed for not looking like other teams). 

There is no criteria to be met. The Mavs will get to play 5, deploy them in the game however they wish, and if they are of a different style here or there, it might prove to be an advantage in way more ways than it's a disadvantage.

[Mavs2021]

I think you are way too obsessed with the idea that the Mavs might not fill their lineup in the same way as other teams do (as if there are "assigned seats" to fill, so to speak, with penalties assessed for not looking like other teams). 

There is no criteria to be met. The Mavs will get to play 5, deploy them in the game however they wish, and if they are of a different style here or there, it might prove to be an advantage in way more ways than it's a disadvantage.

There are also many ways to get from the top of a building to the bottom, but some have proven more effective than others. Some might not follow the idea that jumping is the correct approach just because your buiilding manager Mico Farrison says it´s the fastest way down.

[ballsrchr]

Alright! Oct. 6 if anybody needs to know that. I hope the games are still broadcast over air (TV) since I set up a TV tuner on my computer with a small antenna outside. This was last year and it worked great.

I'm glad to see DSJ back on the team. After some maturation he turned out to be pretty good.

DLo seems to be a quality pickup...at a great price. I hope he is motivated and consistent.

Dante Exum IS a quality point guard if he can stay on the court. I'm anxious and hope that he can. Also a great price.

Ryan Nembhard is an interesting project. I don't think he'll be on the court very much.

Brandon Williams is more of a shooting guard in my opinion. Hopefully he can engage the rest of the team.

There's more guards on the roster, but I think most of them are just cannon fodder. Can I say that? Sorry, sorry, sorry.

No I haven't forgotten about Kyrie. But he won't be there to play till later in the season...if at all. I wonder how much moral and technical support he gives to the rest of the team.

I think we are well staffed with guards.

[Chicagojk]

It will be interesting to see how the Mavs play this preseason.   Kidd likes to play around early in the season and I am sure we will see this, but the Mavs have a pretty favorable schedule early so it is important to get off to a solid start.   It will be interesting to see if this has any impact on how they use this preseason games.

[Chicagojk]

Alright!  Oct. 6 if anybody needs to know that.  I hope the games are still broadcast over air (TV) since I set up a TV tuner on my computer with a small antenna outside.  This was last year and it worked great.

I'm glad to see DSJ back on the team.  After some maturation he turned out to be pretty good.

DLo seems to be a quality pickup...at a great price.  I hope he is motivated and consistent.

Dante Exum IS a quality point guard if he can stay on the court.  I'm anxious and hope that he can.  Also a great price.

Ryan Nembhard is an interesting project.  I don't think he'll be on the court very much.

Brandon Williams is more of a shooting guard in my opinion.  Hopefully he can engage the rest of the team.

There's more guards on the roster, but I think most of them are just cannon fodder.  Can I say that?  Sorry, sorry, sorry.

No I haven't forgotten about Kyrie.  But he won't be there to play till later in the season...if at all.  I wonder how much moral and technical support he gives to the rest of the team.

I think we are well staffed with guards.

DSJ probably doesn't make the roster.   He just needs to play basketball though.  He really didn't play last year besides a few games overseas.  He can't be sitting out seasons.    Even if he is playing G-league not tied to a team, he needs to be visible to scouts.  It will be a long hard battle to get back into the league, but if he keeps grinding he may have a shot.

I think the Williams and Exum battle will be interesting.   I think the team would want Exum to win those minutes but Williams was good last year.   Can he prove that was not a fluke in a lost season?   I think Exum holds the substantial advantage on the defensive side of the ball.   Exum just can't stay healthy though.

I think Nembhard will always be limited with his size.  It is really tough to get minutes at that size.   I do think there is a path for him to be a third point guard though early in his career.   Time will tell.  He just feels like a guy a coach would have confidence in.   For young players, finding ways to get on the court is the biggest hurdle.  Getting on the court and being effective while your rest of the game evolves can be the biggest advantage over your peers.   Guys like DFS made the most of it.    Omax never could get on the floor and we saw little advancement.

I am not a huge DLO fan.   He will need to hold down the fort for the firs 1/3 or 1/2 of the season.   I do wonder how he looks as a backup when Kyrie is back.  I am sure they want to keep Kyrie's minutes lower, so he should still get 23-25 minutes a night when Kyrie is back.    Having a veteran point who doesn't make a ton of mistake while also having the potential to get hot is a nice thing to have off the bench.

[F Gump]

"I'm glad to see DSJ back on the team. After some maturation he turned out to be pretty good."

DSJ is in camp, but I wouldn't say he's truly back on the team at this point. He only has a camp contract so far. The odds of DSJ making the team are not good at all.

"Dante Exum IS a quality point guard if he can stay on the court. I'm anxious and hope that he can. Also a great price." AND "Brandon Williams is more of a shooting guard in my opinion. Hopefully he can engage the rest of the team."

I'm a big Exum fan, but it's informative that Kidd, in speaking of the PG replacements until Kyrie is ready, speaks of DAR and BW and doesn't mention Exum at all. Obviously the coach's comments offer great insight into the team's current thinking.

Maybe Exum is the one who is going to be a SG, not BW.

"Kyrie -- he won't be there to play till later in the season...if at all."

If at all???? IMO unrealistically pessimistic to the extreme. Dec/Jan is much more likely ETA, and imo the most likely outcome is that by the ASB, Kyrie will have returned to being a MAJOR factor in the Mavs preferred lineups.

[ballsrchr]

"Kyrie -- he won't be there to play till later in the season...if at all."

If at all???? IMO unrealistically pessimistic to the extreme. Dec/Jan is much more likely ETA, and imo the most likely outcome is that by the ASB, Kyrie will have returned to being a MAJOR factor in the Mavs preferred lineups.

Oh, I'm not pessimistic.  I do expect Kyrie to come back and play.  I've just seen too many people come back too early and end up getting injured again...including me.

Kyrie is very important to the team.  We just need to make sure he can stay on the court.

I don't even know who the physical therapists are.  I hope not the ones we had last year.

[Winter]

I am not a huge DLO fan.   He will need to hold down the fort for the firs 1/3 or 1/2 of the season.   I do wonder how he looks as a backup when Kyrie is back.  I am sure they want to keep Kyrie's minutes lower, so he should still get 23-25 minutes a night when Kyrie is back.    Having a veteran point who doesn't make a ton of mistake while also having the potential to get hot is a nice thing to have off the bench.

I haven't been a Dlo fan, but I'm going to need to be if the Mavs are going to be good. 

My problem with him early in his career was his decision-making, especially when to shoot and when not to. He's gotten better at that - and was at least slightly better when he was a Laker. I never watched him in Brooklyn.

My fingers are crossed. My feeling is if DLo is good, the Mavs will be to.

[KillerLeft]

I think you are way too obsessed with the idea that the Mavs might not fill their lineup in the same way as other teams do (as if there are "assigned seats" to fill, so to speak, with penalties assessed for not looking like other teams). 

There is no criteria to be met. The Mavs will get to play 5, deploy them in the game however they wish, and if they are of a different style here or there, it might prove to be an advantage in way more ways than it's a disadvantage.

For me, there is an important criteria to be met, and it has to do with how the players matchup athletically, in terms of straight-line speed, quickness and skill both with the ball and guarding someone with the ball. I also think a lot about common cross matches that occur, particularly in light of the fact that transition must be mastered, both offensively and defensively, so the predetermined, desired matchups will often not be possible. To me, this means each player must be reasonably expected to guard a position UP and a position DOWN. 

You might be right that I'm overthinking this, but it's not the traditional position obsession I think you're suggesting (if I understand you).

[KillerLeft]

I don't even know who the physical therapists are.  I hope not the ones we had last year.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

never mind