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GAME 34: LAL (13-20) @ DAL (18-16) | 124-115 win
#21
Mavs gonna make this a close game, of course..
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#22
Wow, if someone could have predicted Wood would eat teams alive in the short roll our record would be better. Oh, well!
"The Dallas Mavericks must do everything they can to get Olivier-Maxence Prosper."
- IamDougieFresh (05-20-2023, 04:39 AM)
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#23
HE LITERALLY MAKES THE PASS EVERYTIME AND IS A THREAT TO SCORE IF THEY TRY TO STOP IT
"The Dallas Mavericks must do everything they can to get Olivier-Maxence Prosper."
- IamDougieFresh (05-20-2023, 04:39 AM)
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#24
CHRISTIAN. WOOD.
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#25
(12-25-2022, 04:50 PM)Kammrath Wrote: CHRISTIAN. WOOD.

Third best player on the floor tonight. How often can you say that about a Maverick?
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#26
First half was arguably worst basketball I have ever watched in NBA. From both teams. Luckily, Mavs stopped with that while Lakers stayed the same. They are so bad, it would be a worst possible humiliation to lose against this team. The one team that has a superstar but supporting cast is a level worse than the Mavs one. You can't even say Mavs shot lights out in the second half. They were wiiiide open whole game.
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#27
Well, I guess it is better to have an awful first half, than an awful second half.   Man, this team looks completely different  when their shots are going in.   It impacts the rest of their game.    

I know he is old and the fall will eventually come, but put Lebron on this team next year and he is the exact bigger wing I have envisioned (I guess anyone would want one of the best ever).  I would seriously consider using draft capital for him.   Really risky, but he still looks great to me.   Just can't do it by himself anymore.   

Wood was great.  Hardaway after a rough start was great in the second half.  And Luka just loves the big stage.  Fun game.
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#28
I just can’t get over how much better the offense looks when they spread the floor and use Wood as a screener. Literally EVERY time they’ve done this for a five minutes stretch or longer I’ve been highly encouraged.
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#29
Merry Christmas all!

Was late watching the game and even later reading the board.  Was a little surprised no one mentioned the fact we played two bigs in the pivotal stretch to start the 3rd quarter.  In the 6:45 stint with Powell and Wood playing together, we outscored the Lakers 27-11 (+16).  

The Offense looked just fine obviously (the O-Rating for that 6:45 would equate to almost 190) and Wood wasn't required to stand in the corner the entire time.  Amazingly an NBA coach was able to figure out ways to have Wood in the action up high while Powell was in the dunker's spot.  Wood had a block, an assist (and a hockey assist) and hit two 3's.  Powell had an assist (on a short roll), two buckets and 3 offensive rebounds.  The two of them scored 10 points and their two assists accounted for six more on two made 3's.  That is 60% of the offense that was generated during that time.  Yeah, two bigs...including one who has no outside shot...not only played together in this +16 stint.  They contributed to it in a significant way.

Oh, the D-Rating for that stint would equate to about 80.  

Wood played really well...loved the passing (and I agree with FGump's observation about Wood contributing to the Houston game on a night he wasn't scoring).   Nothing I'm writing here should be construed as a critique of Wood.  It is an effort to point out that there is more than one way to skin a cat.  By necessity Wood and Powell are going to have to cover most center minutes as a solo-big.  But, there is room for this for a piece of games.  I suspect this was probably Laker-specific today since they don't shoot 3's well.   But, it absolutely didn't hurt at either end of the court.  In fact, it was part of kick starting what was a pretty putrid offensive effort to that point.
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#30
(12-25-2022, 08:50 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Amazingly an NBA coach was able to figure out ways to have Wood in the action up high while Powell was in the dunker's spot.


[Image: wolf-of-wall-street-not-leaving.gif]
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#31
(12-25-2022, 08:50 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Merry Christmas all!

Was late watching the game and even later reading the board.  Was a little surprised no one mentioned the fact we played two bigs in the pivotal stretch to start the 3rd quarter.  In the 6:45 stint with Powell and Wood playing together, we outscored the Lakers 27-11 (+16).  

The Offense looked just fine obviously (the O-Rating for that 6:45 would equate to almost 190) and Wood wasn't required to stand in the corner the entire time.  Amazingly an NBA coach was able to figure out ways to have Wood in the action up high while Powell was in the dunker's spot.  Wood had a block, an assist (and a hockey assist) and hit two 3's.  Powell had an assist (on a short roll), two buckets and 3 offensive rebounds.  The two of them scored 10 points and their two assists accounted for six more on two made 3's.  That is 60% of the offense that was generated during that time.  Yeah, two bigs...including one who has no outside shot...not only played together in this +16 stint.  They contributed to it in a significant way.

Oh, the D-Rating for that stint would equate to about 80.  

Wood played really well...loved the passing (and I agree with FGump's observation about Wood contributing to the Houston game on a night he wasn't scoring).   Nothing I'm writing here should be construed as a critique of Wood.  It is an effort to point out that there is more than one way to skin a cat.  By necessity Wood and Powell are going to have to cover most center minutes as a solo-big.  But, there is room for this for a piece of games.  I suspect this was probably Laker-specific today since they don't shoot 3's well.   But, it absolutely didn't hurt at either end of the court.  In fact, it was part of kick starting what was a pretty putrid offensive effort to that point.

I didn’t know the two big portion of the game lasted that long (I believe you), but I agree it wasn’t bad tonight. They have that option, of course, although less so right now with Kleber out I guess.

But for my money, the stints during which they spread the floor for Wood/Luka were magical, and have been consistently better recently than most of what they’ve tried this year. I don’t think it’s the ONLY way they can play offense, but I sure believe it’s the best. 

I think it’s just Wood finally getting shots out there during important parts of these games that’s exciting us all, most likely. I halfway feel like the solo big minutes in the fourth quarter would have gone to Kleber, had he been healthy. Maybe I am wrong about that, but they were definitely games during the first two months where I thought Wood could have made a difference and was not given a chance. As you say, that debate is over, since Kleber isn’t coming back anytime soon. For better or worse, we are going to see a ton of Christian Wood now.
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#32
One thing I found interesting is the stretch (can’t remember when, sorry) when Wood needed a blow…Powell comes in and almost immediately picks up another foul, forcing Kidd to take him out…I thought “uh oh, here comes McGee.” 

But no - even when there was a rational reason to give the guy 2-3 minutes, Kidd did not put him in the game. I think Kidd probably deserves a large portion of the blame for McGee being here, but I’m starting to reluctantly award him some credit for pivoting away from the mistake so decisively and absolutely. He’s playing the guy even less than I expect at this point.
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#33
(12-25-2022, 04:30 PM)Kammrath Wrote: I really don't know how anyone can watch a stretch like this from Wood and not see that he is the most talented player Luka has ever played with.

Brunson??
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#34
(12-25-2022, 08:50 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Merry Christmas all!

Was late watching the game and even later reading the board.  Was a little surprised no one mentioned the fact we played two bigs in the pivotal stretch to start the 3rd quarter.  In the 6:45 stint with Powell and Wood playing together, we outscored the Lakers 27-11 (+16).  

The Offense looked just fine obviously (the O-Rating for that 6:45 would equate to almost 190) and Wood wasn't required to stand in the corner the entire time.  Amazingly an NBA coach was able to figure out ways to have Wood in the action up high while Powell was in the dunker's spot.  Wood had a block, an assist (and a hockey assist) and hit two 3's.  Powell had an assist (on a short roll), two buckets and 3 offensive rebounds.  The two of them scored 10 points and their two assists accounted for six more on two made 3's.  That is 60% of the offense that was generated during that time.  Yeah, two bigs...including one who has no outside shot...not only played together in this +16 stint.  They contributed to it in a significant way.

Oh, the D-Rating for that stint would equate to about 80.  

Wood played really well...loved the passing (and I agree with FGump's observation about Wood contributing to the Houston game on a night he wasn't scoring).   Nothing I'm writing here should be construed as a critique of Wood.  It is an effort to point out that there is more than one way to skin a cat.  By necessity Wood and Powell are going to have to cover most center minutes as a solo-big.  But, there is room for this for a piece of games.  I suspect this was probably Laker-specific today since they don't shoot 3's well.   But, it absolutely didn't hurt at either end of the court.  In fact, it was part of kick starting what was a pretty putrid offensive effort to that point.

So I didn't get to watch the game tonight.  When Wood and Powell were on the floor together, who was playing center defensively?
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#35
(12-26-2022, 12:46 AM)mvossman Wrote: So I didn't get to watch the game tonight.  When Wood and Powell were on the floor together, who was playing center defensively?

Powell covered Lebron and Wood covered Bryant.  It worked surprisingly well.  They ran that the entire time except for one possession coming out of a timeout.  In that possession they ran zone with Powell in the middle and Wood on the wing.  It resulted in a 3 as Wood's instinct was to stay low when the ball swung to his side.  Powell was trying to push him to go out on the shooter, but it was too late by then.

They had Kidd's mic on a little earlier in the game and you could hear him telling another coach (presumably Sweeney) that he thought Dwight should be guarding "L" (who the announcer identified as Lebron).  I thought it was an interesting exchange on several fronts, but I'm not sure Powell would have been my first choice to put on an island with Lebron.  Part of why it worked in the second half is it left Wood available to clean up the paint.  Bryant brought Wood into a switch several times, and he and Powell did a nice job of closing off the paint.  The one time Lebron connected with Bryant for a score low it was more about Wood complaining at the other end and getting down the court too slow than an issue with how Wood was covering Bryant.
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#36
(12-26-2022, 07:52 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Powell covered Lebron and Wood covered Bryant.  It worked surprisingly well.  They ran that the entire time except for one possession coming out of a timeout.  In that possession they ran zone with Powell in the middle and Wood on the wing.  It resulted in a 3 as Wood's instinct was to stay low when the ball swung to his side.  Powell was trying to push him to go out on the shooter, but it was too late by then.


The only big wing Mavs had was Maxi. LeBron was feasting against smaller defenders and Kidd didn't want to put Luka on him (who had foul trouble even without that). So Powell was basically the only option left. I was surprised Mavs didn't want to double on LeBron, because the LA supporting cast really sucks.

Offensively, I think any line-up would work against LA. They literally don't play defense. The only thing they did in first half was double Luka and Mavs started with real ice-cold shooting (and some stupid decisions, early shots and similar). Once those wide open shots started going in, Lakers had to abandon double teams and then it was over quickly. The video below perfectly summarizes Lakers effort. 

Mavs/Magic Draft on Twitter: "Great effort from the Lakers on this possession. I'm pretty shocked Dallas was able to out-hustle them on this play for the hard-earned 2 points #MFFL https://t.co/CyoKgD0ajQ" / Twitter
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#37
So wait Hardy was actually available last night Cry and the Mavs decided to play Wright/Pinson for 20 minutes instead. Rolleyes

(12-26-2022, 08:02 AM)omahen Wrote: The only big wing Mavs had was Maxi. LeBron was feasting against smaller defenders and Kidd didn't want to put Luka on him (who had foul trouble even without that). So Powell was basically the only option left. I was surprised Mavs didn't want to double on LeBron, because the LA supporting cast really sucks.

Offensively, I think any line-up would work against LA. They literally don't play defense. The only thing they did in first half was double Luka and Mavs started with real ice-cold shooting (and some stupid decisions, early shots and similar). Once those wide open shots started going in, Lakers had to abandon double teams and then it was over quickly. The video below perfectly summarizes Lakers effort. 

Mavs/Magic Draft on Twitter: "Great effort from the Lakers on this possession. I'm pretty shocked Dallas was able to out-hustle them on this play for the hard-earned 2 points #MFFL https://t.co/CyoKgD0ajQ" / Twitter
Exactly. They have only one purpose. Get Bron the all-time scoring record. Also not sure when Thomas Bryant left with his injury, but the Lakers might still have been ahead at that point.
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#38
(12-26-2022, 08:13 AM)Mavs2021 Wrote: Also not sure when Thomas Bryant left with his injury, but the Lakers might still have been ahead at that point.

4:04 left in the third was the time subs came in for Bryant, James and Walker...down 11.
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#39
(12-25-2022, 10:42 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I halfway feel like the solo big minutes in the fourth quarter would have gone to Kleber, had he been healthy. Maybe I am wrong about that, but they were definitely games during the first two months where I thought Wood could have made a difference and was not given a chance.  

Both Powell and Frank subbed for Wood for defensive possessions late in the Houston game.  So, Wood is still susceptible at least to situational subbing late in games even without Maxi available.  But he at least comes back for offensive possessions as opposed to just being out in favor of Maxi when Maxi was available.  That's progress and seems to be the better way to handle it assuming one feels the need to take him out for defensive possessions (which the coaching staff has felt).  You are getting the benefit of his offense.  The risk is the clock doesn't stop for every possession, so you don't get to always get him out every time you want to.

There is the beginning of a conversation in another thread about what Wood's comps are in terms of his next contract.  Kamm put up Markkannen, which I thought was really good.  The question I'd ask about him (since I don't watch too many Utah games) or anyone else someone puts up as a comp is do they have to come out for defensive purposes late in games?  If not, what discount has to be taken from that comp to account for that weakness in Wood's game.
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#40
(12-26-2022, 12:07 AM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: Brunson??

Brunson is the better player. But talent, Wood has plenty of that.
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