Mavs 134, Warriors 132

[DanSchwartzgan]

Since you believe KP needs another big on the floor with him and I assume you feel the same way about Powell/Kleber/WCS, it seems like playing another wing might be difficult.

Whose minutes do you propose Green gets, Richardson’s, DFS’s or THJ’s?

Burke's

[KillerLeft]

But Burke is barely playing at all. Maybe I’m missing something. I skimmed the thread.

[DanSchwartzgan]

But Burke is barely playing at all. Maybe I’m missing something. I skimmed the thread.

Not speaking for Kamm, but 5 minutes > than 0 minutes.  I'm not saying 5 is ideal, but it is a start.

[KillerLeft]

I'm not saying 5 is ideal, but it is a start.

Yeah, I suppose so. I haven’t completely given up on Burke yet, but I get that he hasn’t given the team much reason to play him.

I also don’t usually subscribe the idea that if we’re not seeing a player develop in games, they’re not being developed. But, with little practice time this season, I suppose even that has some merit.

[omahen]

Mavs are now in a season salvation mode. Once they get back on track and start playing like a playoff team, I am sure Carlisle will reduce minutes of the main rotation to play Green. Problem is, what if they don't start looking like a playoff team again

[LukTheShadow]

Apart from the stress in the last two minutes, which was not justified this time, it was a great and fun and highly entertaining game to watch.
Before I fall into disappointment, I will wait until game 30 if the team comes together and pulls towards their goals this season.
Guys need some team rehab time after bloody January.

[hakeemfaan]

Thanks again as usual for your recap mavsluvr. I have never hijacked your thread before but this is one of the few games I watched from start to finish this year and had some thoughts. 

Great win even with all the issues. The team is still struggling and great to get a win under those circumstances.  Hopefully small steps to regain trust and confidence. 

KP when he made that first score in the post..a normal NBA play... the bench went wild. Like they wanted him to do more of it. So who is stopping him? Himself or the coach?  Has to be RC because if it is the player, the coach can either bench him or design set plays for more. 

DFS cut to the basket results in an assist for Luka. GS was not even looking. Teams are so conditioned to the Mavs standing outside. The players need to do more of this. Last year Delon and Justin in his sparse minutes would do this frequently. This year we do miss that element even if neither of the two players mentioned were anything special. 

Mavs again poor defense off a made basket in the closing secs of the first half but got lucky.  How does that happen when they already burned you a few times similarly in the last game?


Luka. Great offensive game. However on defense there were at least 3 possessions in the 4th and one in the 3rd where he could have helped out as the last line of defense  under the basket and hesitated and gave up an uncontested layup. I understand not wanting to get in foul trouble early. You cannot do that though late in the 4th. Not from the leader of the team. 

Yes Maxi made a bad foul on Curry. Where was the help defense?  Defending the 3?  But no help at all?  

Great offensive game by Luka. However in the clutch I would have liked to have seen more screens for him to drive.  But he looked a bit tired too. 

KP getting some deep position and making an effort to get more baskets down low. Still has to do more of that. It is unfair to Luka that he has to generate the low post offense too. KP has to help out.  Even with that  Mgmt has to find someone else who can at least play 15 mins and fight down low. Even with Bron getting to the basket,  Lakers have AD and Harrell.  Need more versatility on this team.  Maybe someone like Aamir Johnson? Not ideal but he is in the G league and will come cheap. 

[Scott41theMavs]

Mavs are now in a season salvation mode. Once they get back on track and start playing like a playoff team, I am sure Carlisle will reduce minutes of the main rotation to play Green. Problem is, what if they don't start looking like a playoff team again

I think they have to go at least 5-3 over the next eight games to begin to save the season.

[omahen]

I think they have to go at least 5-3 over the next eight games to begin to save the season.

I have it at 7-3 for the 10 games after the Phoenix games. So 2-1 at the moment.

[Scott41theMavs]

Luka. Great offensive game. However on defense there were at least 3 possessions in the 4th and one in the 3rd where he could have helped out as the last line of defense  under the basket and hesitated and gave up an uncontested layup. I understand not wanting to get in foul trouble early. You cannot do that though late in the 4th. Not from the leader of the team. 

I noted this in Discord (and here) during the game. Luka's helpside resistance on that last Curry drive would have made Mav Nash look like JR Reid.

[Scott41theMavs]

I have it at 7-3 for the 10 games after the Phoenix games. So 2-1 at the moment.

So, 5-2 over the next seven.

[rocky164]

I think they have to go at least 5-3 over the next eight games to begin to save the season.

I think the goal should be 8-4 over the final 12 scheduled games.  Get back to .500 then go to work from there.

[ItsGoTime]

I'm not worried about the record. I want them to build on this offense they've showed in this game and pick up the defense to what they were in the beginning of the year. If they can do those two things, the record will show up.

[Kammrath]

Whose minutes do you propose Green gets, Richardson’s, DFS’s or THJ’s?

I would shave all 5 mins from TB....get about 5 from DFS....5 from JR and THJ combined. Give him 15 mins right there. I just think he is so essential to develop right NOW because he might need to replace THJ or JR next year.

[mavsluvr]

Thanks again as usual for your recap mavsluvr. I have never hijacked your thread before but this is one of the few games I watched from start to finish this year and had some thoughts. 

Thanks for your thoughts, Hakeem. I do not consider your comments a hijack. Rather, they are exactly the type of thoughtful remarks that are appropriate in a game recap thread. 

Great win even with all the issues. The team is still struggling and great to get a win under those circumstances.  Hopefully small steps to regain trust and confidence. 

KP when he made that first score in the post..a normal NBA play... the bench went wild. Like they wanted him to do more of it. So who is stopping him? Himself or the coach?  Has to be RC because if it is the player, the coach can either bench him or design set plays for more. KP getting some deep position and making an effort to get more baskets down low. Still has to do more of that. It is unfair to Luka that he has to generate the low post offense too. KP has to help out.  

Not quite sure I understand what you are saying here. Are you saying that KP needs to set up more in the low post, but that RC is stopping him from doing that?

DFS cut to the basket results in an assist for Luka. GS was not even looking. Teams are so conditioned to the Mavs standing outside. The players need to do more of this. Last year Delon and Justin in his sparse minutes would do this frequently. This year we do miss that element even if neither of the two players mentioned were anything special. 

GSW put on a clinic in terms of showing what off-ball movement can generate offensively. Wish the Mavs would take note. 

Mavs again poor defense off a made basket in the closing secs of the first half but got lucky.  How does that happen when they already burned you a few times similarly in the last game?

Excellent question. Sadly, I have no answer. 

Luka. Great offensive game. However on defense there were at least 3 possessions in the 4th and one in the 3rd where he could have helped out as the last line of defense  under the basket and hesitated and gave up an uncontested layup. I understand not wanting to get in foul trouble early. You cannot do that though late in the 4th. Not from the leader of the team. 

Yes Maxi made a bad foul on Curry. Where was the help defense?  Defending the 3?  But no help at all?  

At that juncture in the game, it is possible that they had been told to prioritize defending the three-point line over the paint. Which makes it all the more stupid to give up three points on a layup anyway. I say that strategy is possible. It's also possible that the whole sequence was just poor execution, as you suggest.

Great offensive game by Luka. However in the clutch I would have liked to have seen more screens for him to drive.  But he looked a bit tired too. 

Luka is inevitably going to get worn down if he has to play 38 minutes a night. But I see why Rick thinks he has no alternative, now that the team is in survival mode. I notice that Carlisle tinkered with the timing of Luka's minutes. I assume that was in response to KP's request to play longer stretches.  

Even with that  Mgmt has to find someone else who can at least play 15 mins and fight down low. Even with Bron getting to the basket,  Lakers have AD and Harrell.  Need more versatility on this team.  Maybe someone like Aamir Johnson? Not ideal but he is in the G league and will come cheap. 

It seems that a certain one-dimensionality is built into the roster construction/rotations. The plethora of 3&D guys. The dearth of playmakers and guys who can beast in the paint. Agree they have some holes to fill. 

[hakeemfaan]

Thanks Mavsluvr. 

On KP I am saying RC can control it. Looks like the rest of the team wants KP to get his rear down low a few times ( maybe more) during the game. Ultimately that is on the coach...correct?  Can take away mins if KP wants to loiter around the 3 pt line or call set plays. 

The other thing I noticed is that because there are so few post plays, once KP passes the ball out of the post, the team is immediately itching to jack up a 3. At least 2 possessions they should have passed it back to KP as he got better position after the pass out. 

With Luka’s defense, I was not blaming him for the Maxi play. That one I was just asking what happened. Apart from that there were a few plays in the 4th where Luka could/should have provided help defense and instead opted to watch the offensive player go for a layup. Luka needs to correct that. Conserve your fouls. Fine. Not in the 4th. 

This team needs some folks who are used to cutting (as mentioned Delon and Justin are nothing special but they have that mindset). Current team looks too comfy to catch and shooot.  I think RC has allowed the team to play a freestyle offense built on Luka. So the players have to read and cut. That is not on RC.  

They need another guy who wants to play down low. Hence was suggesting Amir  as a cheap stop gap option. Don’t have to beast but just the willingness to absorb contact throughout and can defend (else Boban would have sufficed).

[omahen]

 I think RC has allowed the team to play a freestyle offense built on Luka. So the players have to read and cut. That is not on RC.

Totally agree. I don't know why everyone is just standing around watching Luka. It's not like he doesn't pass if they cut. On the contrary, he doesn't have a problem finding the cutters.

---

They need another guy who wants to play down low.

Agree. They are way too much one dimensional. Everything on Luka, even (efficient) posting up. Someone like Collins would be a big difference here. Current bigs can't even punish a foot smaller players.

[mtrot]

Thanks Mavsluvr. 

On KP I am saying RC can control it. Looks like the rest of the team wants KP to get his rear down low a few times ( maybe more) during the game. Ultimately that is on the coach...correct?  Can take away mins if KP wants to loiter around the 3 pt line or call set plays. 

The other thing I noticed is that because there are so few post plays, once KP passes the ball out of the post, the team is immediately itching to jack up a 3. At least 2 possessions they should have passed it back to KP as he got better position after the pass out. 

With Luka’s defense, I was not blaming him for the Maxi play. That one I was just asking what happened. Apart from that there were a few plays in the 4th where Luka could/should have provided help defense and instead opted to watch the offensive player go for a layup. Luka needs to correct that. Conserve your fouls. Fine. Not in the 4th. 

This team needs some folks who are used to cutting (as mentioned Delon and Justin are nothing special but they have that mindset). Current team looks too comfy to catch and shooot.  I think RC has allowed the team to play a freestyle offense built on Luka. So the players have to read and cut. That is not on RC.  

They need another guy who wants to play down low. Hence was suggesting Amir  as a cheap stop gap option. Don’t have to beast but just the willingness to absorb contact throughout and can defend (else Boban would have sufficed).

Agreed.  I hear RC exhorting the guys to move the ball, but that's not enough, as you can pass the ball around the perimeter and not accomplish anything.  And you can move the ball in to KP at the corner of the FT line, but if he just passes the ball right back out to the perimeter, you probably didn't accomplish anything and you wasted precious shot clock time.

What the Mavs urgently need is coaching on effective player movement, and early in the shot clock.  Cutting without the ball, setting effective screens, things like that.  I think Luka is great at getting the ball to guys, but they have to move.

[michaeltex]

First, I was in withdrawal for Mavsluvr's summary and final discussion, so I'm elated to find the forums up and running on a new server.

My unsophisticated observations of the GS game are:

• Luka continues to show why he's an MVP candidate. It's good to see him smiling and enjoying the competition again.
  
• I think part of his happiness is the return to form of Maxi and DFS. He want's guys he can believe in as teammates. Notice he had zero hesitation to pass to Maxi on the last shot.
  
• Thank you for THJ's short memory. He was an offensively inoffensive until the 4th quarter. Thankfully, he was still willing to take the open shot.
  
• Powell seemed like more of his old Energizer Bunny self this game. He hasn't played much recently, but it looks like he's ready to contribute at a higher level than earlier this season. That lay-out save was pure DP. This from a guy a year out from an Achille's tear.
  
• My contention for this year has been that the stew needs to simmer a bit to allow everyone to find their own space. KP out and the Covid hiatus basically put everything back to square one.
  
• On a side note, I was listening to NBA Radio this morning and hear Scalabrine ragging on about how Luka's over rated, mostly pointing to the DAL W/L record this season. My reaction is wondering if he ever looks at anything BUT the current standings. What a maroon, as Bugs used to say. 
  

[ballsrchr]

Agreed.  I hear RC exhorting the guys to move the ball, but that's not enough, as you can pass the ball around the perimeter and not accomplish anything.  And you can move the ball in to KP at the corner of the FT line, but if he just passes the ball right back out to the perimeter, you probably didn't accomplish anything and you wasted precious shot clock time.

What the Mavs urgently need is coaching on effective player movement, and early in the shot clock.  Cutting without the ball, setting effective screens, things like that.  I think Luka is great at getting the ball to guys, but they have to move.

I agree with this completely.  Where is the coaching?  I know, I know...RC is a GOD and I'm not suppose to say anything bad about him...but Jesus Christ!  Where is the coaching?  No matter what players you have...and I think we have some pretty good ones...you have to play them effectively--to their strengths.  And 35' 3 pointers are not a strength--except for some skinny unknown guy named Curry.  I think it was Reggie Miller--I don't normally like his color commentary--that said the poor offensive shots were ruining any possibility of getting back on effective defense.  Sorry that I added my rant to your comment.  Good comment though...