GAME 21: NOP (7-18) @ DAL (11-10) | 91-107

[cow]

No question.

I am NOT saying "everything is Luka's fault" but I am 100% convinced that if he was his "best self" things would look much better right now. Not all the way to where they need to be, but a VAST improvement.

His best self would require him to come into the season in shape so he can avoid some of this minor injuries.  His best self would require him to stop acting like a petulant child towards officiating.  His best self would require him to give a damn about getting back on defense.  All of that is easily controllable.

[dirkfansince1998]

This is why I have been preaching that we need better defenders in the starting lineup. It is about bringing a certain mindset and energy.  I have beaten this drum for the last two years even as folks were talking about our historical offense. The head of the snake that is the Mavs offense is a volume shooting poor 3 pt shooter who is lackadaisical on defense as well.

When it goes in it’s all good. Else we are stagnant on offense. The percentages don’t lie.  It is what it is.

So far the changes did not improve the defense (ranked 18th last season, 21st this season). Tanked the offense. Mavs went from a good shooting team that relied on the 3-ball to a terrible shooting team that seems to be even more reliant on 3-point shooting. Less FTA, less points in the paint. Even slower pace. Everything that we expected to improve actually got worse.

I support the call for more defense. But it feels like the Mavs try it every summer and fail to find the right players. Fail to make the right coaching adjustments.

[Kammrath]

His best self would require him to come into the season in shape so he can avoid some of this minor injuries.  His best self would require him to stop acting like a petulant child towards officiating.  His best self would require him to give a damn about getting back on defense.  All of that is easily controllable.

[luka_skywalker_77]

Seems they built a team of super one dimensional players that arent especially good at their one dimension, around a consistently out of shape allstar and an oft injured 7'3 perimeter guard. And i cant even begin to sound hopeful because management seems to have a penchant for collecting unathletic, g league level players with shooting handicaps. I've seen g strings that offer more support.

[cow]

And as much as I want to get rid of KP, if Luka had KP's mindset and work ethic he'd easily keep his status as one of the best players on the planet instead of being the flavor of the month.

[luka_skywalker_77]

And as much as I want to get rid of KP, if Luka had KP's mindset and work ethic he'd easily keep his status as one of the best players on the planet instead of being the flavor of the month.

That's a hell of a take.

[Kammrath]

keep his status as one of the best players on the planet instead of being the flavor of the month.

This has been my very real concern from like game 5 of this season. I expressed concern that Luka was losing his trajectory to be an "all time great." I really think he is at a crossroads in his career. Hope he chooses the right direction.

[dirkfansince1998]

This has been my very real concern from like game 5 of this season. I expressed concern that Luka was losing his trajectory to be an "all time great." I really think he is at a crossroads in his career. Hope he chooses the right direction.

I think that is taking it a little bit to far. He is 22. Many alltime greats had a weaker season that stands out at some point in their career. Some of them earlier. Some of them later.
Dirk for example looked like the he was going to be the best player in the league in 2003. Was clearly worse in 2004. Bounced back and finished top 3 in the MVP race from 05-07.

[Kammrath]

I think that is taking it a little bit to far. He is 22. Many alltime greats had a weaker season that stands out at some point in their career. Some of them earlier. Some of them later.
Dirk for example looked like the he was going to be the best player in the league in 2003. Was clearly worse in 2004. Bounced back and finished top 3 in the MVP race from 05-07.

You made exactly my point. He can absolutely bounce back from this. But if this turns into two seasons....the likelihood drops immensely.

[cow]

I think that is taking it a little bit to far. He is 22. Many alltime greats had a weaker season that stands out at some point in their career. Some of them earlier. Some of them later.
Dirk for example looked like the he was going to be the best player in the league in 2003. Was clearly worse in 2004. Bounced back and finished top 3 in the MVP race from 05-07.

While I agree with you, some thoughts:

-Dirk really never took his foot off the gas pedal from a work ethic standpoint until 2012.  Hard to blame him on that as he climbed Everest and smartest-guy-in-the-room decided to blow the team up so they couldn't defend the title.
-Dirk took a pounding because of his size but I can't imagine his usage rate approached anything near what we see with Luka.  If Luka doesn't take better care of his body, I really think he's heading towards a catastrophic knee injury.  His wheels this season have been perpetually banged up.
-Luka is entitled AF.  Dirk never was.  
-MBT's mode of operation worked much better in Dirk's era and usually put a decent product around him pre-2011.  That mode of operation just isn't working anymore and I think that's largely due to the average competency rate league wide.  We are now the bottom of the barrel and are exactly the type of front office that we used to take advantage of.

[SwisherPrice]

So this team is going to suck for 1-2 years minimum while they figure out how to restructure. That was going to happen after Luka's rookie year anyway but at least they would have been in better shape to build now. The KP/THJ trade + extensions will end up setting them back because now they have to tear this down and then rebuild.

The Luka/KP/THJ/Brunson/Kleber/DFS/Powell core got them nowhere

[cow]

So this team is going to suck for 1-2 years minimum while they figure out how to restructure. That was going to happen after Luka's rookie year anyway but at least they would have been in better shape to build now. The KP/THJ trade + extensions will end up setting them back because now they have to tear this down and then rebuild.

The Luka/KP/THJ/Brunson/Kleber/DFS/Powell core got them nowhere

So far this season, THJ is reminiscent of the MBT trying to win the Rondo trade by paying Powell.

[hakeemfaan]

I think that is taking it a little bit to far. He is 22. Many alltime greats had a weaker season that stands out at some point in their career. Some of them earlier. Some of them later.
Dirk for example looked like the he was going to be the best player in the league in 2003. Was clearly worse in 2004. Bounced back and finished top 3 in the MVP race from 05-07.

Dirk always tried hard on both ends whether he was slumping or not. 

I am not sure it is a work ethic issue. Everyone talks about Luka putting a lot of time in the gym.  Dirk was a naturally skinny guy and Luka is a bit on the heavier side. Dirk himself changed his diet and habits after a few years in the league.   Being a more heavier guy Luka needs more work to get in shape than someone like Dirk. Given that folks rave about his work ethic I am confident he will change. 

The thing that bothers me more is the lack of effort frequently on defense. In shape or not he seems to have plenty of energy to always want the ball on offense. Whether he looks a bit tired or not he is giving a lot of effort on offense. He has to give a better effort on defense. In shape or not. Have the mindset to try at least.

[cow]

That's a hell of a take.

It's no disrespect to his talent.  But the national buzz that was fixated on Luka is now focused on LaMelo who is the newest flavor of the month.

[ItsGoTime]

So far the changes did not improve the defense (ranked 18th last season, 21st this season). Tanked the offense. Mavs went from a good shooting team that relied on the 3-ball to a terrible shooting team that seems to be even more reliant on 3-point shooting. Less FTA, less points in the paint. Even slower pace. Everything that we expected to improve actually got worse.

I support the call for more defense. But it feels like the Mavs try it every summer and fail to find the right players. Fail to make the right coaching adjustments.

I'd like to see what this team looks like when Kidd gets some of his ideal type of guys on the team. If RoCo is available, I want him pretty badly.

[Kammrath]

Everyone talks about Luka putting a lot of time in the gym

Do they? I feel like we have heard the opposite, that to this point he mostly relies on his natural talent. Sure if there is a game to be played he is there, but as far as technique work, conditioning, etc., not so much.

[hakeemfaan]

Do they? I feel like we have heard the opposite, that to this point he mostly relies on his natural talent. Sure if there is a game to be played he is there, but as far as technique work, conditioning, etc., not so much.

Interesting. That’s not what I had read previously .  Can someone confirm?

To clarify, I am talking about working on his skills.  The 2nd part about conditioning and doing things away from the court to eat right definitely seems missing.

[Kammrath]

That’s not what I had read previously .  Can someone confirm?

To clarify, I am talking about working on his skills.

An example:

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2021/1/1/2...t-in-shape

[hakeemfaan]

An example:

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2021/1/1/2...t-in-shape

I have read that before. That doesn’t negate what I said.

Edit. My bad. Let me check JJB podcast. I always assumed he was talking about diet

[dynamicalVoid]

Do they? I feel like we have heard the opposite, that to this point he mostly relies on his natural talent. Sure if there is a game to be played he is there, but as far as technique work, conditioning, etc., not so much.

Technique work?  On Defense?

Because...Cant anyone tell Luka about Technique on Offense.   He is literally in a League of his own Offensively.   You can name any player and their skills....Luka's bag is much deeper.   Luka makes Chris Paul's offensive game look amateurish...thats how deep Luka's bag is on offense.   Luka seems to have 5-10 tricks in his bag for every one of the next skilled offensive player, imo.

What I am getting at is...if Luka seems to be being lazy and eating cereal all day...but while eating that cereal in his head he is going over the previous nights game and asking himself what he could have done better in certain situations...he is still working on his game but it looks like he is being lazy and just eating cereal.

NO DOUBT Luka needs to have a professional athletes diet.  Im not denying that.   I agree that a lighter Luka will help his quickness(I still dont mind his weight now and how he is able to body guys in the paint for points or rebounds...because thats what this team needs right now.   When we have players that can do that Luka should slim down).  BUT...I think Luka is a Cerebral player.   I think Luka actually thinks about what just happened after a play and asks himself how he could have done that play better or scored on that play or juked his defender out, etc etc..   

Luka isnt just a physical player...he is mentally there as far as trying to improve his game.  Most of these guys are relying on athletics...Luka is gaming them with his dome.   And it seems to be the more significant contributor to his success than spending hours in the gym working on conditioning.