GAME 38 DIRKIE: Winner Wood (59%)

[Kammrath]

Who was the player of the game who elevated his game to help the team win?

[MrGoat]

I'm going to go with Wood for the 4th quarter defense and hustle against his former team. The timely 4 point play was cool too

[ballsrchr]

The Mavs seemed a little lethargic tonight.  But they got the win, so I'm happy.

Luka seemed down and lethargic tonight.  Lethargic?  A 39 point double double?  Lethargic?  Yeah.  He plays much better when he's happy and running around like a lark.  Even the best have off days.  A 39 point double double?  An off day?  Yeah...but I guess we could keep this up all day.  Luka...is different...

4 starters in double figures....and one (amazingly) near that.  The rest of the team scored 11 points.  Seems like a broken record, but here we are...

I'm giving my Dirkie to the man who scored 21 points...and 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1, steal...and 5 blocks.  That's good enough for me.  CW has earned my Dirkie.

[SleepingHero]

Decided to ultimately give it to Luka, although I really didn't want to.

Luka made an incredible mid game adjustment to just stop shooting threes and attack the rim relentlessly. He, along with almost everyone else, came out incredibly flat. So flat it made me wonder if they all chugged a keg of recovery beer the night before. Everyone was sloppy, slow, and didn't really give crap. The only one that did kind of show up was Wood (who I'll talk about a bit later).

Still, I felt instead of chalking this game up as one to give away, Luka actually came out in the 3rd looking to win. He attacked relentlessly and was awarded for it. He kept looking for guys and they stepped up. For that, along with a casual 39/12/8 (7/14 in the 2nd half after starting 3/12) with game icing free throws is enough for me to reward him. 

Now onto Wood. He started this game off with lots of energy and I felt he was the only one trying... then Dinwiddie and THJ didn't pass him the ball. On more than one occasion I saw Wood throw a small tantrum putting his hands up in defiance when Dinwiddie and THJ ignored him on the wing. That kind of body language is/was pretty gross. Was the correct play to give Wood the ball? Sure. His reaction though made me want to bench him. Further, aside from a great 4th and some parts of the 1st, he had a pretty rough showing on defense. It was like the fact he was snubbed made him revert to old Wood for 2 1/2 quarters. 

I actually time stamped multiple instances where Jalen Green made Wood look like a fool in the 3rd, and most of it was lack of positional awareness. Let me know if y'all want them. 

With that being said, I don't want to rag on the guy too much. He did have an absolutely fire 4th quarter. He came out swatting everything and his 4 point play was a massive momentum shift. So kudos to him there. Still, seeing Wood revert like that for even 2 quarters makes me scared committing any long term money to him. What to stop him from staying locked in after securing the bag? Things to think about. 


Some passing thoughts:

• Holy shit please stop Bullock from playing. His defense if we want to even call it that made me want to pull my own teeth
  
• Dinwiddie had zero legs on him. Was he partying it up with Luka?
  
• The Theo Pinson minutes actually were kind of ok. Maybe center Luka with 4 wings might be a super secret play Kidd should save. 
  
• Franky Nicotine isn't an NBA player and the Mavs need to find someone consistent.
  
• Kemba Walker doesn't have it anymore and if he can't get more than 5 minutes in a game like this I don't see his value here. He has moments, but if Kidd can't trust him (or worse his body can't hold up) the Mavs need to move on. 
  
• I feel like Bertans doesn't have a set role and it's killing him. Aside from the hail mary 3, what is his supposed role on offense? Is there no way we can find a play for this dude? 
  
• How does Kidd not find minutes for Hardy? I understand it was a close game, but the Mavs needed some energy in the first and he goes to Frank. Puzzling.
  
• This team is badly missing Green, DFS, and Maxi. Wood/Powell rotation is super thin and Bullock is running around with his head in the sand. 
  

[SkenfromLMF]

I hope those Red shoes ? are on the way out... among the half time adjustments!

[The Jom]

How did THJ not run away with this? Dude was nails on a night when nobody else could hit a shot. Defended. Grabbed some rebounds. Fought through a turned ankle. Dirklike. 21 points on 13 shots. Even more Dirklike. Give em the Dirkie.

[Hypermav]

All three helped make the win possible.  I went with Luka fighting through boredom/fatigue to win a game the Mavs should. Not for his 3pt shooting tho lol.

[Chicagojk]

How did THJ not run away with this? Dude was nails on a night when nobody else could hit a shot. Defended. Grabbed some rebounds. Fought through a turned ankle. Dirklike. 21 points on 13 shots. Even more Dirklike. Give em the Dirkie.

He certainly deserves strong consideration.  He also had a real nice drive with this clock running down to make it a 3 point game, I believe.   

I was thinking Wood though.  But Hardaway should be strongly considered.    

As always, I grade on a Luka curve as it is not fair for everyone else.

edit- He also had a charge too.  He is pretty much the one guy who consistently gets charges.    It is a really nice skill to have.  I wish we would have 1-2 more guys who could do this.

[MrGoat]

Wow. It was unanimous for Wood when I voted. I guess the people that actually saw what he did in the final 5 minutes or so voted first

[cow]

Voting for no one felt right.