MAVS 91, PELICANS 107

[mavsluvr]

MAVS NO-SHOW AGAINST PELICANS

The Mavericks hoped to replicate their blowout victory in New Orleans in the rematch at the AAC. Unfortunately, the Mavs as we know them never made it to the arena, and they were blown out by a 7-17 team. 


GAME NOTES

Frank Ntlikina was available to return from his calf injury. Willie (personal reasons) and KP (knee) were on the inactive list. Zion and Josh Hart were out for New Orleans. This game was the first night of a back-to-back. Kidd selected a starting lineup of Luka-Bullock-DFS-Maxi-Powell. 

FIRST QUARTER

No score in the first minute. Mavs passing up looks — what’s up with that? DFS gets on the board two minutes in. Powell draws a charge against JV. Maxi three from a Luka no-look pass has the crowd cheering. Garrett Temple opens NO’s account with a foul off a Luka turnover. Powell called for a moving screen. Luka gets to the paint and scores. Luka called for a late reach-in on JV, is incredulous. Call changed, foul on Powell, not Luka. JV called for his second foul. Neither one of these teams can score for jack. Pels 0-8. Oof. Camera pans to Jerry Stackhouse in the audience. 7-2 6:52

Luka! Jumper! Ingram finally makes a basket for NO. Hardaway comes in. Luka overthrows a touchdown pass, it sails out of bounds. Wow, Luka is knocked flat on his face. Looks like he and Temple collided. He’s up again. Luka is stripped, Powell puts a hard foul on Jones at the basket. These Pelican doofuses can’t even make free throws — one of two. Boban in for Powell, who has two fouls. DFS fouled, misses both freebies. Luka inbounds to Timmy’s feet — turnover. Ingram hits a rare basket for NO. Brunson! DFS misses a chippie. Boban says “not in my house” to Hernangomez. Boban blocks him again! Bobi saves one in. Man, both these teams are just a bunch of egg-sucking dogs. A pox on all their houses. 13-7 2:13

Pels hit their third shot in 21 attempts with a transition bucket. Boban called for traveling. That’s the Mavs’ 8th turnover. Burke is in. Timmy hits two free throws. Ingram over Sterling. Brunson pull-up. 4-5 offense results in a Pelican three with THJ down behind the play. He’s being helped off, can’t put any weight on his right leg. Dang it. Looks like he banged knees with Trey Murphy. 17-14 44 seconds.

Burke drives and scores. First quarter ends with an underwhelming scoreline.

19-14 after one

Pels 5-25. Mavs 7-20. The teams combine for 12 turnovers. Quality of play is not impressive. Come on, all you sorry butts, look alive and entertain us!

SECOND QUARTER

Both teams clanging close-in shots. Maxi bombs in a three. Sterling for the fancy finish off a neat cut! Mavs have a 10-point lead. NO secure an and-one. Trey Murphy surprises us with a three. Pels on an 8-0 run. Brunson three disallowed, OF on Maxi. Mavs have more turnovers than made field goals. Luka and Powell come back in. Powell bombs away! Luka-DP oop! Jones with a wide-open three. Mavs 36% from the floor, Pels 26%. Luka and Maxi lead the Mavs with 6 points apiece. Woof. 29-27 6:33

Looks like THJ is available to return with a bruised right quad. Brunson hits a couple of FTs. And here comes Timmy. Bullock three from the selfsame Hardaway! JV and Ingram both score in the paint. Bullock called for his third foul, trying to fight over a screen. Goes out. Temple ties the game with a three over Luka. OMG, Jones skips to the basket like a walk in the park. Luka responds. Back-to-back attacks from Luka. Graham lobs one into the stands. Aargh. This is the NBA, isn’t it? 38-36 2:30

Luka blows into the paint for his third drive and score. Misses the and-one. Luka on a 6-0 run. Maxi with another triple! Yay! Courtesy of a Luka back-down. Mavs on a 9-0 adventure. 43-36 1:28

Graham hits a three with nobody within shouting distance. Timmy knocked down again under the basket. He bobs up and wins free throws off a Luka double team. Graham with another three. Timmy lets her rip! Brunson with an inadvisable foul — looks like Dorian might have been pushed him into the shooter. 

48-44 HT   Really?

Mavs lost the second quarter 29-30. Luka (12) and Ingram (10)  are the only two players on the floor in double digits. Mavs' so-so 44% shooting outperforming the Pels’ loathsome 32%, but Dallas has 11 turnovers. Both these teams look like it’s their first practice after a long offseason. Grotesque.  

THIRD QUARTER

Luka keeping the Mavs in the game with a pirouette reverse. Mavs lose the ball out of bounds. Pels getting their inside game going. Mavs taking jump shots, except for Luka. Powell fouls Ingram. Luka knocked on his back. Grimacing up and down the court. NO ties the score at the basket. Jones with a long two. Reggie hits the technical FT after a defensive three seconds call. DFS hits from long distance for a four-point possession. Powell is knocked on his back now. JV just barreling into everybody. JV ties the score with a couple of FTs. Pels have the lead now, Mavs conducting a brick fest. Pels score in transition. Mavs 7-26 from three. Bench has only one made three. SMH. 54-58 5:50. (54-59 on further review)

Luka takes an elbow, winces down the court. Score adjusted to change one of Jones’ twos to a three. Pels have a four-point possession. Mavs have not scored, and the quarter is half over. Kidd breaks the emergency glass and sends Boban in early. Brunson scores. JV goes out with four fouls, so at least that. Lewis hits a corner three. Boban bulldozes his way to the basket. Ingram with a midrange J. Timmy pull-up three encourages the crowd. Hernangomez and-one over Bobi. What is wrong with the Mavs?! 61-72 2:51

Hernangomez completes the and-one. Tim stripped on a drive. Still Mavs ball. DFS corner three when the Pels defense takes a nap. Jones lays it in over the Mavs defenders. Bobi dunk from Hardaway! Trey Murphy corner three. Sigh. Brunson turns the ball over. NO also gives it up, and Brunson has a transition bucket. 

68-79 after three

Mavs 9-29 from three. 

FOURTH QUARTER

Pels have a runner. THJ beautiful three disallowed, OF called on Maxi. Another score at the rim by NO. Luka blocked by Temple. Hernangomez takes it to the rack. Kickout to Sterling for a wide open three bricked. This is not going Dallas’ way. JV reports back in. Second half score 41-20 Pels so far. Luka fouled on a drive. That’s five on JV. They’re subbing him out. Luka hits his free throws for the Mavs’ first score of the quarter. Luka spins down the floor, draws another foul. Hits his freebies. Mavs get a stop, Luka draws yet another foul. It’s the Luka show here in the fourth. 73-85 8:19

Luka misses the second free throw. Maxi takes a charge from Ingram. Coach’s challenge by NO. Challenge unsuccessful. OMG, Graham corner three. Brunson jumper in the paint. Mavs’ first basket in the fourth. Maxi three! Mavs in a zone defense. Hernangomez to the line, one of two. Luka clearly in pain. Luka in-and-out, but the ball bounces out off the Pels. Timmy gets the bounce on a drive. Pels answer. Pels three off an OR. DFS in, Tim out. Maxi one of two free throws. Pels with another corner three. Aaaaagh. Not looking good here, folks. 81-97 4:47

Luka-Brunson-Bullock-DFS-Maxi on the floor. Luka fadeaway over Jones. Ingram draws a foul on a drive to the basket. Maxi rolling his eyes at the ref. JB has a transition basket. Brunson looks like he had a steal, but stepped on the baseline. Pels tip-in. JB steal and dunk. Luka fouls Ingram on a 3PTA. Mavs challenge. 87-101 2:01

Something’s wrong with the replay monitor, lengthy delay. Of course. Challenge unsuccessful. Kidd sends in the bench. 

91-107 FT


ANALYSIS

After a 48-44 first half, the Mavs gave up a 43-63 second half. Were not world beaters in the first, and then disappeared in the second. 

The Pels put up 10 more shots than the Mavs, thanks mostly to 15 Mavs turnovers and 12 Pels offensive rebounds. The Pels’ shooting was no more than respectable, but the Mavs were a horrendous 10-34 (29%) from three and 17-26 from the line. Mavs point differentials were -6 on points from twos, -6 on points from threes, and -4 on made free throws. 

The Mavs were out-rebounded 42-54, and suffered a 5-12 disadvantage in offensive boards. Kidd volunteered that his team’s effort level on rebounding was “very low.” The Pels also had a 30-17 margin in assists. The Pelicans had a 16-5 edge in second-chance points and a 19-11 lead in fast-break points.

Pretty much a beat down in every aspect of the game. 


PLAYER NOTES

DONCIC (35 min). Luka led the Mavs with 21 points, despite going 7-20 from the floor and 0-6 from three. He drew 9 FTAs, and flirted with a triple-double, recording 10 boards and 7 dimes. Six of his 7 turnovers came in the first half. The Bally studio crew observed that Luka was clearly playing hurt, struggling, grimacing, and grabbing his knees the whole game. His shots started coming up short, and with no one else able to create offense, he just wasn’t able to generate enough energy to push his team over the top. 

Kidd did comment somewhat extensively that the Mavs need to avoid lobbying the refs while the game is live. The refs aren’t going to change the calls, they aren’t getting back on defense, and they gave up 19 FB points tonight. He made a point of saying this applied to the whole team, not just Luka, but I think we know who the main object was. 

DFS (32). Dorian’s stat line was modest at 8-3-2, but he did hit a couple of threes. 

BRUNSON (32). Jalen put up 16 points on 7-11 shooting, along with three assists. One of the few Mavs with a decent shooting night. 

KLEBER (31). Maxi was a relative bright spot, with 13 points, 4 threes, and 9 rebounds. 

BULLOCK (28). Reggie made an unremarkable appearance in the starting and closing lineups. He took four shots and had four points. Kidd said before the game that he'll probably try him as a starter for five or six games, and then re-assess. 

HARDAWAY (25). Tim had 12 points, but was 3-11 from the floor, and was banished from the floor at the end of the match. The Bally guys noted that he was hurt during the game, and may have been limited for that reason. He and Boban had a little two-man game going late that provided a modicum of entertainment for a few possessions. 

POWELL (19). Powell had 5 points and one rebound in 19 minutes as the starting center. The JV-WH center matchup was a monstrosity for him. 

MENTIONS. STERLING (16) had a decent amount of run, but was 1-4, with two points. He was part of the play of the day, putting the ball in on a cool cut, off a no-look pass from JB.  BOBAN (8) made a couple of appearances, but the Mavs were not able to capitalize on his offensive potential. He had 4 points and 3 rebounds. Kidd remarked before the game that, with Boban's productivity, he would be playing 25 mpg on most teams. Before the game, Kidd noted that Frank was available, but said BURKE (8) has been playing at a high level and would retain his spot in the rotation (at least for the night). He had 2 points and 1 assist, and was 1-5.  

OMORUYI, MOSES, and GREEN played two minutes of garbage time. 

NTILIKINA had a DNP-CD, Kidd commenting that "someone has to sit." Dameris observed that PORZINGIS didn’t even appear to be in the arena. 

PELICANS. Brandon Ingram looked like a super-star, registering 24 points (11 on made free throws), 8 rebounds, and 12 assists. Dameris commented that Ingram has really elevated his game this season, and seems to have reached a new level. Valanciunas was in foul trouble for much of the contest, but that didn’t stop him from recording 14 points and 11 boards. Herbert Jones and Devonte Graham contributed 13 points apiece, and Willy Hernangomez put up 12 points and 14 boards off the bench. The JV-WH big man tandem proved too much for the Mavs’ shorthanded big-man lineup to handle. 


OBSERVATIONS

The Bally crew observed that the Mavs had a 4-point lead at halftime, and then let the Pels back into the game with a 20-35 third quarter. Dameris was disappointed that the team did not build on their strategy in New Orleans, but rather reverted back to their approach against Cleveland. 

Lots of reasons given for the loss. Too many turnovers. No KP. No spark. Poor defense in the second half. Stuck in their half-court offense. Luka playing hurt, and the catch-and-shoot guys unable to generate offense. Demoralizing when it looked like they might have taken a step forward. Mavs challenged shots for a while, but never could get any offense going. Terrible spacing, bad passes, disconnected movement, turnovers, the whole nine yards. 

Noting that the Mavs have now lost the last three home games, Dameris and Skin were of the opinion that you can’t let matches against the league bottom-feeders get away, and they fear that the Mavs will regret this loss. They feel it is particularly demoralizing when the previous game gave hope that the team had taken a step forward, but then they regressed in the re-match. 

Kidd finally let his frustration show. Said that at the start of the game, their defense was there, but they started turning the ball over, then started missing shots, then started hanging their heads and "getting into their feelings." He was pretty frank about what he considered an attitude problem from the team.  Thought they made the lethal mistake of taking the Pels too lightly after Wednesday’s blowout. He told them before the game that they were never going to shoot 70% again, and they needed to treat this as a whole new contest. But the Pelicans wanted the victory more, and the Mavs gave very little effort. 

Kidd was asked why the players aren’t seeming to absorb his repeated admonitions that they can’t let poor shooting affect their defensive effort. He said it's very simple -- the roster is built to shoot, not to play defense. And when the shots aren’t falling, they have a tendency not to give sufficient effort on defense. And if they keep doing that, then they’re just going to be up and down all the time, and will have to keep hoping that Luka or KP can carry them on any given night. He finally cut the interview short, saying that he could talk all night about what they didn’t do, but primarily thinks the team needs to develop some “maturity.”

I must say, this is a loss (and particularly, a type of loss) that I didn’t see coming. I figured we might not blow them out again, but didn’t see us failing to even show up. Very disappointing. 

I suppose the bright side is that the whole game constituted a giant teachable moment. Hopefully, our boys will have the maturity to take advantage. 


NEXT. The Mavs face Memphis tomorrow evening on the second night of a rare home-home back-to-back. Memphis defeated OKC by an NBA record 73 points a couple days ago, so the Mavs had better muster up some respect. 

Onward and upward, friends. It’s the Grizz and a new day tomorrow. 

[Dahlsim]

Lots of reasons given for the loss. Too many turnovers. No KP. No spark. Poor defense in the second half. Stuck in their half-court offense. Luka playing hurt,

Thanks ML, for a quality write up of a Mav's stinker.  

Those 2 are enough I think. NBA is still driven around your best players, the stars.  No KP and a very subpar Luka is the kiss of death unless some role player(s) have exceptional games.   

By comparison, Pels no Zion but Ingram's performance was impressive for NO. 

Kidd remarked before the game that, with Boban's productivity, he would be playing 25 mpg on most teams.

A curious statement that begs the question of why the Mavs would be different from 'most teams' in Kidd's view. 

Maybe this explains it.  Boban offers offense and rebounds but Kidd is searching for defense. 

He said it's very simple -- the roster is built to shoot, not to play defense. And when the shots aren’t falling,

Does that imply that Kidd doesn't really like the roster he inherited?

[mavsluvr]

He said it's very simple -- the roster is built to shoot, not to play defense. And when the shots aren’t falling,

Does that imply that Kidd doesn't really like the roster he inherited?

I thought this was far and away the most interesting thing he said. I'm not sure "doesn't like" is exactly it, but I think it was 100% intended as a statement about what he sees as the roster's most thoroughgoing deficiency. 


-- It's really simple. This team isn't built to play defense. It's built for shooting. But when the shots aren't falling, and they aren't defending, they have nothing left to fall back on except hoping for some Luka Magic. 

He put a lot of the issue down to effort, since that's within their control. I'm sure that's part of the problem, but I think he is also calling attention to the fact that sophisticated NBA defense is just not something this particular set of players is very good at. You can pick out some individual guys who are capable of playing pretty good one-on-one defense, but in today's NBA, all five players on the floor need to be capable of expertly executing a defensive system from night to night, and these guys aren't. 

As an alternative way to skin the cat, Kidd has tried to vary the offense, so as to become less dependent on threes, but so far, it has only worked to render them just as reliant on long shots, but less good at shooting them. 

I totally think this was a shout out at the front office via the media. 

-- Donnie assembled a bunch of guys who don't do anything well except shoot threes, and when that inevitably fails on any given night, what do you expect me to do?

[mavsluvr]

Regarding whether this is all Luka's fault, iztok speaks --

https://twitter.com/iztok_franko/status/...12772?s=20

https://twitter.com/iztok_franko/status/...02693?s=20

https://twitter.com/iztok_franko/status/...96329?s=20

[fifteenth]

If "getting into your feelings, not getting back on D, hanging heads, letting offense impact D, and maturity " are part of the problem,  then Luka is a huge part of the problem. He's the leader now. The team will follow his lead.

[fifteenth]

Love what JKidd has to say,  but for his own part, I think he must ask himself why he's getting so much less from this roster than what they've done before.

[cow]

Love what JKidd has to say,  but for his own part, I think he must ask himself why he's getting so much less from this roster than what they've done before.

The easy answer and somewhat correct is shooting percentages.

[fifteenth]

The easy answer and somewhat correct is shooting percentages.

There are other things on court that are a problem as well. But the question I'm after is what the coaching staff is doing or not doing that is behind the on court problems. I'm not asking for the symptoms,  I'm asking about disease and cure.

[mavsluvr]

Love what JKidd has to say,  but for his own part, I think he must ask himself why he's getting so much less from this roster than what they've done before.

The question was presented to Kidd as a somewhat aggressive query, I thought -- "You're always talking about this. Why do you think the team is tuning you out?"

I thought his answer seemed surprisingly honest. -- The team is built for shooting, not for defense. When the shooting isn't working out, and the team has to rely on defense, which they are not good at or well suited for, they tend to get frustrated that they are not able to be effective on either end of the floor. That can sometimes lead to their dropping their effort level, rather than continuing to struggle to the bitter end. 

Kidd himself acknowledges that he is trying to run systems that the roster is not suited for. Maybe he needs to change the system to accommodate the players he has. Maybe he has a great system, and the front office needs to get him some players who can execute it. Additionally, other teams have, presumably, at least somewhat figured last year's Mavs out. They have to keep evolving, and he may or may not be leading them in the right direction. 

I personally have some qualms about Kidd's ability to come up with the right systems. He has been guilty of imposing dated systems in the past, and it seems that he is mostly trying to turn this iteration of the Mavs into the Lakers lite. Additionally, he reportedly is trying to compensate for a reputation as being a coach players didn't like in the past, and may be leaning a little too far in the other direction now.

I don't put it all on Kidd, though. This is just one of a number of examples of the organization still being somewhat all over the place at every level, imo. Goals not matching resources. Lack of agreement on a direction and a means to get there. Seemingly in a wheel-spinning mode. 

This is a reorganization year for them, so maybe Kidd and Nico just need a season to come up with a coherent and realistic vision.

[Kammrath]

The question was presented to Kidd as a somewhat aggressive query, I thought -- "You're always talking about this. Why do you think the team is tuning you out?"

I thought his answer seemed surprisingly honest. -- The team is built for shooting, not for defense. When the shooting isn't working out, and the team has to rely on defense, which they are not good at or well suited for, they tend to get frustrated that they are not able to be effective on either end of the floor. That can sometimes lead to their dropping their effort level, rather than continuing to struggle to the bitter end. 

Kidd himself acknowledges that he is trying to run systems that the roster is not suited for. Maybe he needs to change the system to accommodate the players he has. Maybe he has a great system, and the front office needs to get him some players who can execute it. Additionally, other teams have, presumably, at least somewhat figured last year's Mavs out. They have to keep evolving, and he may or may not be leading them in the right direction. 

I personally have some qualms about Kidd's ability to come up with the right systems. He has been guilty of imposing dated systems in the past, and it seems that he is mostly trying to turn this iteration of the Mavs into the Lakers lite. Additionally, he reportedly is trying to compensate for a reputation as being a coach players didn't like in the past, and may be leaning a little too far in the other direction now.

I don't put it all on Kidd, though. This is just one of a number of examples of the organization still being somewhat all over the place at every level, imo. Goals not matching resources. Lack of agreement on a direction and a means to get there. Seemingly in a wheel-spinning mode. 

This is a reorganization year for them, so maybe Kidd and Nico just need a season to come up with a coherent and realistic vision.

This is a great post. Thanks for this.

[KillerLeft]

Kidd himself acknowledges that he is trying to run systems that the roster is not suited for.

This concerns me greatly, for two reasons:

1) He was hired at the exact, same time as the new GM, and right before an off-season when the Mavs had some maneuverability. Maybe the last such off-season for some time, actually. Was that not the perfect time to start to get the type of guys he wants in here? Is he changing his opinion of those moves now due to inexperience and an inability to predict how these pieces would fit (scary) or did he and the GM simply not agree on the plan to begin with (even scarier)?

2) That comment could ruffle feathers in the locker room, in the front office, etc. That's probably needed from time to time, but idk man, in this case it comes off (at least to me) as "hey, look - it's not MY fault!" Honestly, isn't that pretty close to the picture painted by those complaining about him from the BRK/MIL days? I just don't hold out much hope for him to succeed if he makes it a habit to put himself in an adversarial position relative to the organization publicly. Then again, it's only one comment, so far. 

I agree with @"Kammrath" that his overt but not explicit calling out of Luka the other night was probably a move worth making at this point, but there are only so many bullets in that gun.

[mavsluvr]

This concerns me greatly, for two reasons:

1) He was hired at the exact, same time as the new GM, and right before an off-season when the Mavs had some maneuverability. Maybe the last such off-season for some time, actually. Was that not the perfect time to start to get the type of guys he wants in here?

Yes, of course. But -- 

Is he changing his opinion of those moves now due to inexperience and an inability to predict how these pieces would fit (scary) or did he and the GM simply not agree on the plan to begin with (even scarier)?

This is a possibility that I would buy. --

They didn't have a well-thought-out plan. Nico probably didn't even know how to construct such a plan and wouldn't have recognized one if he had met it on the street. Kidd wanted a clean slate to evaluate the players for himself, and even now,  after 20 games, is still trying to decide what sort of plan he wants to implement. He has apparently come to the conclusion that the roster and the way he wants to play are not a very good match. Maybe he's forming an idea of what personnel changes he wants going forward. But he just didn't know before the season.

Also, with an inexperienced GM, a new coach, and very little time to work with, the offseason was operated in a very catch-as-catch-can manner. Maybe they did identify some better-fitting pieces, and weren't able to secure them. Lowry would be an example. But, one way or another, it was more or less a lost offseason. 

There are of course other possibilities, but that seems to be a likely scenario to me.   

2) That comment could ruffle feathers in the locker room, in the front office, etc. That's probably needed from time to time, but idk man, in this case it comes off (at least to me) as "hey, look - it's not MY fault!" Honestly, isn't that pretty close to the picture painted by those complaining about him from the BRK/MIL days? I just don't hold out much hope for him to succeed if he makes it a habit to put himself in an adversarial position relative to the organization publicly. Then again, it's only one comment, so far. 

Totally. His comments may, and probably do, have some validity. But rather than at least publicly taking responsibility, it's, "Don't look at me. The players won't try hard enough. Not only that, but the front office put together a bunch of players who can't do the job."

I agree with @"Kammrath" that his overt but not explicit calling out of Luka the other night was probably a move worth making at this point, but there are only so many bullets in that gun.

Yeah, he has called Luka out for that before, and so did Carlisle. Luka has admitted multiple times that it's a problem, but then he doesn't change. At this point, I don't think anything Kidd says is going to really penetrate. It's something Luka is going to have to come to believe internally, as most players do. I don't know if it will ever completely go away -- a lot of stars work the refs until the day they retire. If I were Kidd, I probably wouldn't keep harping on it very much, even though he would be justified in doing so. Coaching young men is not so different from raising a teenager -- some things, kids just have to figure out for themselves, lol.  

To be clear, I'm not defending any of this, just trying to understand what is going on in reality, whether I like it or not.

[burekemde]

Remember to drink some H2O ML! We need you at the top of your game for the entire season and playoffs. As Luka, KP and everyone else Thanks for the recaps.

[KillerLeft]

They didn't have a well-thought-out plan. Nico probably didn't even know how to construct such a plan and wouldn't have recognized one if he had met it on the street. Kidd wanted a clean slate to evaluate the players for himself, and even now,  after 20 games, is still trying to decide what sort of plan he wants to implement. He has apparently come to the conclusion that the roster and the way he wants to play are not a very good match. Maybe he's forming an idea of what personnel changes he wants going forward. But he just didn't know before the season.

Sure, I think this is reasonable, too. 

The thing is: they very clearly DID have a plan. Defensive wings and guards who are (supposed to be) catch and shoot threats. 

If we were in store for more of the "space for Luka" offense, these would've been excellent moves, to an extent, so much so that I took the Bullock/Brown signings as an indication that the offense would be pretty much unchanged. That has not been the case, really. We're watching unreliable handlers initiate sets (Ok, maybe that will spur growth), loads of plays end with mid-range pull ups (yikes) and there's someone simply standing in the dunker spot through about 75% of each game (yiiiiiiiikes). 

If that's how he wants to play offense, Bullock/Brown/Ntilikina is not a great way to prepare for it. I don't disagree with your suggestion about how that might've come to be, but man...that sure is a specific way to get it wrong, know what I mean?

[mavsluvr]

Sure, I think this is reasonable, too. 

The thing is: they very clearly DID have a plan. Defensive wings and guards who are (supposed to be) catch and shoot threats. 

Maybe. I tend to think it's possible that the catch-and-shoot guys were fallback options when their attempts to get playmakers and better bigs fell through. (I guess that would still be a plan, wouldn't it, even it were plan C or D. I won't argue about the semantics.) I meant to suggest that they didn't have a strong sense of how they wanted to play going forward, not that they were just throwing darts at the free agent board. 

If we were in store for more of the "space for Luka" offense, these would've been excellent moves, to an extent, so much so that I took the Bullock/Brown signings as an indication that the offense would be pretty much unchanged. That was my impression, as well. That has not been the case, really. No, it hasn't. We're watching unreliable handlers initiate sets (Ok, maybe that will spur growth), loads of plays end with mid-range pull ups (yikes) and there's someone simply standing in the dunker spot through about 75% of each game (yiiiiiiiikes). Yes, yes, and yes. 

If that's how he wants to play offense, Bullock/Brown/Ntilikina is not a great way to prepare for it. I don't disagree with your suggestion about how that might've come to be, but man...that sure is a specific way to get it wrong, know what I mean?

It is. I think it was the kind of thing where they were out of options and decided they couldn't go wrong with more 3&D guys, rather than a successful pursuit of guys ideally suited for a certain Mavs-specific role. Ntilikina might have been a nod in the playmaker direction, but I think that was considered mostly a flyer when the signing was made. 

Good points, Killer. Maybe they really were still using a roster construction plan based on Carlisle's offense. Or, maybe they just ended up not getting whatever guys they really wanted and taking a couple of consolation prizes that they thought might be plug-and-play options on most any team. I could see it happening either way.

[mavsluvr]

Remember to drink some H2O ML! We need you at the top of your game for the entire season and playoffs. As Luka, KP and everyone else Thanks for the recaps.

Thanks, burekemde, I have been madly hydrating. Now that I have been paying attention to it, it's more work than I thought!