GAME 61 DIRKIE: Justin Holiday winner 80%

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/16...G8opstAAAA

[SleepingHero]

Holiday coming in and being able to provide pesky defense AND hit all those threes was a huge surprise. I don't expect him to be that efficient, but if he can hit 2 to 3 threes a night that's a huge pickup from the buyout market. 

He's sorely needed on this team. He gets the Dirkie for that amazing debut. Hope to see him keep it up!

Side note, it was such a pleasure to watch Kyrie play this game. He purposefully defers early and gets everyone going. I felt like he didn't even get a shot attempt up until like 7 mins left in the first. That's pretty crazy given his talent. Then the 4th hits and you can see Kyrie going into takeover mode. He scored like 10 points in 3 mins and put the game away. 

Luka also had a noticeably faster game tonight. He pushed the pace and still did Luka things. His defense left a little to be desired, but he also dialed back a bit on complaining to the refs after his tech. Felt like since Rodney Mott was officiating, Luka knew to stay away. Good stuff from him! It also didn't hurt he hit 11/12 from free throws. I'd be ecstatic if he just came back from the ASB and became an elite FT shooter, cause that's a Luka thing to do. 10asts on 1 TO is an amazing distributing game from Luka, as always.  

Green still feels a bit stunted after his blazing hot run for 5 games. Teams have scouted him but he still is playing well.

This team is unbeatable if the 3 is going down. Shooting 52% on 3 with 42 attempts can overcome most bad defensive nights.

[The Jom]

This team is way better than what we’ve been watching. Won’t surprise me to see them capture the 3 seed.

[ThisIStheYear]

I don’t really know the rules now that we have 2 top 12 players. Do we grade both Luka and Kyrie on an inverse curve or still just Luka?  I’m saying both. Voted for Holiday tonight mainly because he may just be a lot better than I thought.

[MrGoat]

I really want to vote for Kyrie after what he did in that 4th quarter against Minnesota.

But I have to go Holiday, that is the way to make a first impression on a new team. Splashing shots like he'd never seen a wide open shot before, if he keeps doing that he'll be in the rotation

[speedkilz88]

Expectations for Holiday were so low, had to go with him.

[ballsrchr]

Interesting game.  Several things jumped out at me.  I will discuss them as we count down to the ever elusive quest for my Dirkie...or at least...the Dirkie I get to award.

Kyrie Irving--may not be the head case I always thought he was.  I've been impressed with his overall demeanor, play on court, and interaction with other players on the team.  He's a leader--who doesn't have to be a leader, to lead. Does that make sense? His addition to the team has lead to a change in pace that involves the entire team.  With an ability to change pace--fast, slow, in between--we appear to have a deeper team than previously shown.  J. Kidd mentioned in an interview that now is the time to settle on a 9 or 10 man rotation.  I like a bigger rotation, so I'm thinking 10.  Does KI deserve a Dirkie?  Maybe, probably, but not this time.  I'm sure he will earn many Dirkies though.  I'm also sure the KI will leave in the summer.  Hope I'm wrong.

Luka Doncic--pedestrian game? For him?...yeah...maybe, but still an easy double double.  I could see that Luka, KI, and the "team" are still in the process of working out a team identity.  I'm actually hopeful that they will get there.

Pretty good play by the entire team.  I'm not going to sit here and nitpick them--there were some nits to pick though.  And...this was against San Antonio.  They're playing for a lottery pick.  SA does have a few good players and prospects though...

Justin Holiday.  Hmmm.  From my limited exposure to him I thought he was fairly good.  Couldn't understand the negative comments about him.  His debut game, especially after such a short time with the team, was--pretty good.  He also gave a good interview after the game.  Seems like a player who could work out.  Could.  Since expectations were so low...he earns my Dirkie for this game

[The Jom]

I don’t really know the rules now that we have 2 top 12 players. Do we grade both Luka and Kyrie on an inverse curve or still just Luka?  I’m saying both. Voted for Holiday tonight mainly because he may just be a lot better than I thought.

Rules schmooles. The general idea is somebody who raised his level of play and secured the victory. Not just an mvp vote or we’d get tired of giving them all to Luka. Since Holiday went from no contributions ever to a difference maker, seems like a pretty good candidate to me.

[KillerLeft]

IF (big if) Kleber gets healthy soon AND gets back into the swing of things quickly, this could be a pretty salty team down the stretch. 

They have a 9 man rotation, as best I can tell:

Luka, Kyrie, Green, Hardaway, Bullock, Holiday, with Powell, Wood and Kleber rotating at the bigs. That kind of forces them to play two bigs at once for some stretches, maybe more than I'd like, but with Kleber in the mix that's not necessarily a deal breaker. And, they kinda sorta have the option of cutting one of the bigs' minutes way down and working either Ntilikina or Hardy as a 10th man in situations where two bigs just won't work. 

It's not a bad place to be...if Kleber is healthy and at the top of his game. If not, they're toast.

[The Jom]

Toast? I dunno, man. Kleber is a huge difference maker on this squad, yes. But they might have the 2 (TWO!!!) best players in the series against any team in the west. Yeah, sure, Denver has the big pooh bear. But that sure hasn’t turned into much playoff success. Durant? Kawhi? I dunno. Maybe maybe not.

[KillerLeft]

Toast? I dunno, man. Kleber is a huge difference maker on this squad, yes. But they might have the 2 (TWO!!!) best players in the series against any team in the west. Yeah, sure, Denver has the big pooh bear. But that sure hasn’t turned into much playoff success. Durant? Kawhi? I dunno. Maybe maybe not.

Sure, and that is reason for excitement. However, they are going to need some semblance of a respectable Defense in the playoffs. To your point, that might not be the first round, but it will be a problem eventually. I stand by what I said. I think Kleber is more important now than ever.

[IamDougieFresh]

IF (big if) Kleber gets healthy soon AND gets back into the swing of things quickly, this could be a pretty salty team down the stretch. 

Maxi when Casey Smith told him would fix him right up if he agreed to come back in time to cover KD, Kawhi, Jokic, etc.

[The Jom]

Sure, and that is reason for excitement. However, they are going to need some semblance of a respectable Defense in the playoffs. To your point, that might not be the first round, but it will be a problem eventually. I stand by what I said. I think Kleber is more important now than ever.

We agree on everything except “toast.”

[KillerLeft]

We agree on everything except “toast.”

Well, “toast“ is every single Western Conference team who does not advance to the finals. That’s how I meant it, at least.

[rocky164]

Is there a good defensive team in the West?  The Clippers come to mind but they just gave up 176 in a double overtime loss.  Winning the West may come down to offensive brilliance and shot making instead of defense.  Every contending team has defensive flaws.  If offense will indeed decide the West, the Mavs have as good a shot as winning as anyone.

[Scott41theMavs]

Is there a good defensive team in the West?  The Clippers come to mind but they just gave up 176 in a double overtime loss.  Winning the West may come down to offensive brilliance and shot making instead of defense.  Every contending team has defensive flaws.  If offense will indeed decide the West, the Mavs have as good a shot as winning as anyone.

Kyrie has revealed himself to me as a mastermind of chemistry, and it looks like even Luka sees it. I think the Mavs are going to develop over the next 21 games into an offensive juggernaut, able to outscore everyone except maybe the Kings. And if we face them, we have the two best players in that series - if only Kyrie will get into Kidd's ear to say, "Maybe double that Fox kid and leave Harry unguarded."