GAME 1: San Antonio Spurs (0-0) vs. Dallas Mavericks (0-0) | 8:30pm CST ESPN!

[ballsrchr]

Hello Wembanyana!

Welcome Cooper Flagg!...to the NBA...

Somebody! Anybody! Please help Kidd and Nico set up a roster that can play together...for a whole game. And maybe add a game plan while you're at it...

Yeah, yeah...I know. First game. The sky isn't falling. No panic here! Bad match up. Etc., etc., etc.

I hope this game was a learning experience for somebody. Anybody!

C'est la vie.

We can still win 81 games...

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I dont know if I can make a whole season of AD taking isolation long twos.  That can’t be the plan right?

That’s another byproduct of this stupid lineup. AD at 5 and Flagg at 4 is the ideal setup. Lively and PJ backing them up.

[mvossman]

That’s another byproduct of this stupid lineup. AD at 5 and Flagg at 4 is the ideal setup. Lively and PJ backing them up.

I think you can definitely play PJ and Flagg together as long as you only have one center on the court.

[SwisherPrice]

Year 2 of the Klay Experience     

And the D-Lo Experience is going to be a bumpy ride too

[myconsumerclub]

Well the season may as well be switched to tanking right? Only reason to say no is we still have Kyrie coming back. Man the PG situation is total shit at this point I realize vets all came in out of shape thinking Flagg would be the focus and savior so that maybe they interpreted that as they could take some time off and fall out of shape. They knew getting a rookie PG was tanking talk and it would take a year to get him to develop that skill so maybe they all turned their offseason conditioning programs down or to off completely, you know prolong the career by taking way less injury risks. AD looked like trash out there 31.8% FG%. Klay ditto.

Nembhard Max PJ & Lively showed up to play and Cooper had a good quarter. That in all actuality is what I would start and I would tell the vets they get their act together and produce or its retirement time or a trade. This is not a retirement home you come here and play hard or get replaced.

Bench should be AD Gafford Naji Klay and Dlo with Brandon and Hardy in the waiting line for PT. Martin Powell and Exum are guys we need to just get out of here.

If Kyrie shows up January 1st 32 games have been played and 50 games are left there are 16 games in January. by February 1st 48 games are played. 32 games are left. The midpoint of the season where half the games have been played is the end of the 9th game in January.

Ownership needs to talk to Kidd and explain their expectations do not include trying to get a draft pick to learn a new position that he has never played.

There is no excuse for what happened tonight and yes it appears to me San Antonio is going to be a contender this year so we maybe can look back and say we saw the start of their run here tonight. But if they do what Houston did last season and become trouble for everyone we are knocked down the pecking order.

The timeline for Cooper is starting to be the one I want to see more work being concentrated on.

Guess we need to start watching college games to search for younger talent to play and try to hide our vets and maybe we need to tank.

The good news is probably by the end of the season Nico will be gone.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Looks like working with Hakeem the Dream this off season, has paid off for Wemby. His foot work is phenomenal.

[hakeemfaan]

Wemby is a freak. SA is a legit title contender because they have an alpha playing at a high level. All the signs were there in pre season that he has taken the next step.

For the same reason, the Mavs were not a contender from the very moment they gave up Luka. AD and Kyrie are old and were never alphas even when younger. Klay looks like a fossil. They will still be good but they don’t have what it takes to challenge the big dogs. Copper might become that guy one day but it is too early right now.

The problem always has been that Nico who traded an alpha away from a contender thinking an older lesser player makes the team immediate contenders has to understand that he has to sell assets, hoard picks, and go all in around Flagg’s future. Nico is not capable of that given that he was also trying to trade for Durant also last year. He legit believes these older guys can contend. It is imperative that we get someone in the front office who knows that a rebuild has to start now. Else 5 years down the road we will have nothing but a disgruntled Flagg ready to move out of here.

[Smitty]

This game was such a difficult watch. If you weren't a fan of either team, you probably stopped watching halfway through the second quarter. No flow, no rhythm. I had nightmares of whistles blowing in my sleep.

The Mavs get off to a terrible start with PJ getting 2 fouls in the first two minutes. The best perimeter defender on the team. The best Wemby defender. From that point on it was doomed.
Lively... I held back a lot last year on how I thought he regressed from his rookie year. I will probably have to do the same this year. 3 terrible fouls in about a minute, right before the half. Rookie stuff. He was a total non-factor this game. Speaking of non-factors, Klay was tough to watch. I got called out by a few posters the other day, for my opinion that Max is better than him. It's only one game, but sheesh...

Overall, there's no real positive takeaways from this game. The flow was weird from the start. Rotations were wonky due to foul trouble. Top guys had bad nights. And the other team had an alien that took over on both ends.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

^ I would consider moving Lively to clear out the big man log jam, if in fact he has significantly higher trade value than Gafford around the league and can get you a young guard. Lively is the archetype of what you want in a center but his extensive injury history already as a 21yr old and possible stagnation would make me check his value at least. It might be that his potential here outweighs the trade packages you could get for him.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

This game was such a difficult watch. If you weren't a fan of either team, you probably stopped watching halfway through the second quarter. No flow, no rhythm. I had nightmares of whistles blowing in my sleep.

The Mavs get off to a terrible start with PJ getting 2 fouls in the first two minutes. The best perimeter defender on the team. The best Wemby defender. From that point on it was doomed.
Lively... I held back a lot last year on how I thought he regressed from his rookie year. I will probably have to do the same this year. 3 terrible fouls in about a minute, right before the half. Rookie stuff. He was a total non-factor this game. Speaking of non-factors, Klay was tough to watch. I got called out by a few posters the other day, for my opinion that Max is better than him. It's only one game, but sheesh...

Overall, there's no real positive takeaways from this game. The flow was weird from the start. Rotations were wonky due to foul trouble. Top guys had bad nights. And the other team had an alien that took over on both ends.

Like you said, it's early. But Klay looks cooked to me. His shots weren't even close except for a corner 3.

[WildArkieBoy]

^  I would consider moving Lively to clear out the big man log jam, if in fact he has significantly higher trade value than Gafford around the league and can get you a young guard.  Lively is the archetype of what you want in a center but his extensive injury history already as a 21yr old and possible stagnation would make me check his value at least.  It might be that his potential here outweighs the trade packages you could get for him.

The Lakers/Luka could use Lively, but I'm not sure they have anything the Mavs would want.

wab

[mvossman]

Like you said, it's early. But Klay looks cooked to me. His shots weren't even close except for a corner 3.

He starts every season slowly, but at 35 this may be the year he falls off a cliff.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I think you can definitely play PJ and Flagg together as long as you only have one center on the court.

You "could." It would be much better than what they're doing now...but we've seen time and time again PJ doesn't have the shot making or perimeter skills to play the 3.  His best position by far is the 4.

Cooper it's too early to tell but it's my personal belief his best position is also the 4.  At the 4, he's a freak.  He can take advantage of other 4s.  Wing defenders are going to lock him up like Castle did. Playing him down you are negating his biggest strengths, just like playing AD down one position.

[vfromlmf]

I'm in strictly to see Cooper Flagg's development.

Red flag #1 -- You can't win with the 15th best player. Jokic, Shae, Giannis, Luka and now Wemby are on another level. AD was absolutely dominated. The last time he had a game similar to Wemby's was 2017. The league has passed him by--and I'm already sick of the yelps and flops. I just hope Flagg doesn't pick up the habit.

Red flag #2 -- You can't win when your best point guard is a 5' 10" rookie on a 2-way contract.

Overreaction #1 -- This team is AD plus an elite rookie plus a bunch of Harrison Barneses

Overreaction #2 -- I hope they lose a ton, tank, fire Nico, then trade everyone to add to a next-generation core.

[ThisIStheYear]

Will wait another game or two against a more orthodox opponent to make judgements about the Mavs, other than the Mavs need to sit Klay and play a PG.  In 4.5 decades of watching basketball, Wemby’s performance last night was the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. It didn’t look human. It didn’t look like a hot streak or a player in a zone. He was just like a towering basketball god visiting earth for a nice little pick up game with mere humans. He was Giannis and SGA combined in a 7’6 body with the wingspan of an 8 footer and the ball handling, speed, agility, and footwork of an elite basket attacking guard. On top of that, Wemby is by leaps and bounds the best defensive player I’ve ever seen. There’s no way to beat that if San Antonio surrounds him with legitimate players, and they have. You all maybe have a day to go to the futures window and drop every bet possible on the Spurs and Wemby.  It’s over, if he stays healthy, until they change the rules, we witnessed the end of basketball last night.

[KillerLeft]

Will wait another game or two against a more orthodox opponent to make judgements about the Mavs, other than the Mavs need to sit Klay and play a PG.  In 4.5 decades of watching basketball, Wemby’s performance last night was the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. It didn’t look human. It didn’t look like a hot streak or a player in a zone. He was just like a towering basketball god visiting earth for a nice little pick up game with mere humans. He was Giannis and SGA combined in a 7’6 body with the wingspan of an 8 footer and the ball handling, speed, agility, and footwork of an elite basket attacking guard. On top of that, Wemby is by leaps and bounds the best defensive player I’ve ever seen. There’s no way to beat that if San Antonio surrounds him with legitimate players, and they have. You all maybe have a day to go to the futures window and drop every bet possible on the Spurs and Wemby.  It’s over, if he stays healthy, until they change the rules, we witnessed the end of basketball last night.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure sitting Thompson is even an option. He's clearly the guy who should sit, ability wise, but he's also the literal only space-creating device on the floor to start games. 

The obvious problem is that defense does NOT win championships unless you have a good offense. Until the team figures that out (and to be fair, maybe they will - it was only one game) we're in for some disappointing basketball, I think.

[KillerLeft]

I'm mildly optimistic that Flagg is going to look more like a winner than Wemby in this one. I know that's a thin branch to walk out onto, and I might be eating those words late tonight, but idk...I'm just not a believer in Wembenyama yet, at least in terms of being a catalyst for winning. It's not all his fault - I don't think anyone knows quite how to use him yet. But, I think Flagg is a psychotic, competitive winner, and I'm hoping he puts the world on notice right away tonight.

Welp, I was big wrong on the above. Not only was Wembenyama very much a catalyst for winning (or rather dominating) that game, but it turns out the Spurs know how to use him far better than the Mavs understand how to use Flagg.

[KillerLeft]

For all those arguing that this team didn't need to trade for another ball-handling guard this summer, I submit as evidence the fact that Jason Kidd, head coach, felt that he needed to play an undrafted, undersized, two-way contract player during the FIRST QUARTER of GAME 1. He entered the game before Williams, before Hardy, and at the same time as DLO.

That, more than anything else, scares me to death.

[KillerLeft]

I guess the last takeaway I had from this game (cautious, because only one game) is that while I'm interested in this new defensive identity to an extent, I suuuuuuuure hope the Mavs hopes aren't dependent on the refs letting them play physically every night. You'll get away with more some nights, sure, but it's pretty ridiculous that Davis, Lively AND Washington all got into such deep foul trouble so early. That can't happen - they need to be able to adjust to the officiating much earlier in the game. I realize that some of that was due to Wembenyama bing a freak, but some of the fouls were pretty dumb, too.

[michaeltex]

As far as Flagg goes, this was his first NBA game that counted and it certainly didn't live up to expectations.

FWIW, I remember Wembenyama's first game a couple years back. He certainly didn't live up to the hype then either. But he was a monster last night.

NCAA to NBA is a big step. Add in that Flagg is being asked to play out of position, then you have a recipe for what happened last night.

TBH, I don't think most of the Mav's realized that pre-season is over.