GAME 31: DAL (15-16) @ PHI (22-11) | 97-111 loss

[omahen]

What's the popular joke again...what do Europeans call someone who only speaks one language?

I don't think I heard this one  Please tell

[cow]

I don't think I heard this one  Please tell

A group of tourists are sitting around a table at a coffee shop and introducing themselves:

Person A:  I'm Marcus, from France and I speak French, Italian and English.
Person B:  I'm Paul, from Germany and I speak German, Latin, Spanish and English.
Person C:  I'm Anthony, I speak Italian, Spanish, English and Svenska
Person D:  I'm John, I only speak English.
Marcus, Paul and Anthony in unison:  You must be American.

[omahen]

A group of tourists are sitting around a table at a coffee shop and introducing themselves:

Person A:  I'm Marcus, from France and I speak French, Italian and English.
Person B:  I'm Paul, from Germany and I speak German, Latin, Spanish and English.
Person C:  I'm Anthony, I speak Italian, Spanish, English and Svenska
Person D:  I'm John, I only speak English.
Persons A, B, C and D in unison:  You must be American.

 

Although the joke is an exageration. No way a frenchman would humiliate himself by speaking English  And one can understand Americans, as English is a global language. I find it similar with all big nations I have been to. Russians mostly just speak Russian, Japanese in large majority speak Japanese only,... There are also worse cases from smaller nations. Serbs as the most unreasonably proud nation have a saying: Speak Serbian and the whole world will understand you

[cow]

 

Although the joke is an exageration. No way a frenchman would humiliate himself by speaking English  And one can understand Americans, as English is a global language. I find it similar with all big nations I have been to. Russians mostly just speak Russian, Japanese in large majority speak Japanese only,... There are also worse cases from smaller nations. Serbs as the most unreasonably proud nation have a saying: Speak Serbian and the whole world will understand you

To be humiliated, the frenchman would have to have self respect and that's just not possible.

[RDB]

See, how easy it is to project your narrative onto someone elses words... I didn't laugh at you, I said I find it funny. You took my comment the wrong way and came back guns blazing.

Maybe try to start a sentence occasionally with something like “in my opinion”.  When you come out and shit on everyone’s comments, it just looks like you think you are the smartest guy in the room.  Do some self reflection and go back and look at your post history.  I have literally viewed 2 posts in the last week and have had to endure 2 fights with you and other posters.

[hakeemfan]

I'm not sure Luka is ready to win now.  He's improved in some areas over last year but has also regressed in a few other areas.  He certainly hasn't taken another leap.  Further, the league isn't ready for him to win yet.  You probably need LeBron/Curry/Durant/Harden to be post-prime or retired (~4 Years).  And even further, Luka's team isn't even lose to being ready to win right now and not even if KP was playing the best ball of his career.

I have been pretty critical of Luka. Talent wise he is ready. I agree mentally there is a lot of growth needed.  There is a lot of heroball in his game. However where is the coach?  

The thing that has been the most surprising and disappointing has been that RC seems to be coaching scared when it comes to Luka. He is given free reign to do whatever he wants and I firmly believe that at this stage in Luka’s career he needs someone who will be a lot more tougher.  RC said that Luka’s 3 point percentage is poor because unlike other stars he hoists the ball at the end of quarters Seriously?  Reeks of enablement. Surprising and Disappointing because if it was a raw coach I would have said Luka needs a tough coach like RC. I don’t care about wins or losses this season. I am just totally puzzled at the way RC has coached.

[mtrot]

I have been pretty critical of Luka. Talent wise he is ready. I agree mentally there is a lot of growth needed.  There is a lot of heroball in his game. However where is the coach?  

The thing that has been the most surprising and disappointing has been that RC seems to be coaching scared when it comes to Luka. He is given free reign to do whatever he wants and I firmly believe that at this stage in Luka’s career he needs someone who will be a lot more tougher.  RC said that Luka’s 3 point percentage is poor because unlike other stars he hoists the ball at the end of quarters Seriously?  Reeks of enablement. Surprising and Disappointing because if it was a raw coach I would have said Luka needs a tough coach like RC. I don’t care about wins or losses this season. I am just totally puzzled at the way RC has coached.

Well, could it be that RC is a tough coach in ways that are counter-productive?  For example, it seems like he will punish players, pulling them from a game, for picking up fouls when they are trying to stop a player from scoring easy baskets around the rim.  Which could have something to do with how passively the Mavs sometimes seem to play on defense around the rim.  Well, IMO, that's what they should be doing.  OTOH, it seems he is not tough enough about getting after players when they fail to do the fundamentals like blocking out, rebounding, and following shots.   I just don't understand his thinking.

[cow]

I have been pretty critical of Luka. Talent wise he is ready. I agree mentally there is a lot of growth needed.  There is a lot of heroball in his game. However where is the coach?  

The thing that has been the most surprising and disappointing has been that RC seems to be coaching scared when it comes to Luka. He is given free reign to do whatever he wants and I firmly believe that at this stage in Luka’s career he needs someone who will be a lot more tougher.  RC said that Luka’s 3 point percentage is poor because unlike other stars he hoists the ball at the end of quarters Seriously?  Reeks of enablement. Surprising and Disappointing because if it was a raw coach I would have said Luka needs a tough coach like RC. I don’t care about wins or losses this season. I am just totally puzzled at the way RC has coached.

Carlisle's usage of KP is even more puzzling.  It will not happen but I think he needs to go.  I'd probably make that change prior to trying to move on from KP.

[jesusshuttlesworth82]

 And I do not think "patience" is the answer on this one.

Weren't you cheerleading the Mavs taking three long term projects and mocking us that wanted to trade picks for immediate help as "impatient internet fans?"

They have no choice but to be patient now.  They had to send Green to the G-league while other rookies are contributing.  KP's value is super low.  DFS and Maxi look meh.  War chest looks weak AF.

[Kammrath]

Weren't you cheerleading the Mavs taking three long term projects and mocking us that wanted to trade picks for immediate help as "impatient internet fans?"

I get the confusion, but I am talking about different kinds of patience. 

1) I am still ALL for the "patience" of internal development of youth and rookies (and always will be because I think great organizations always do that). 

2) I am still ALL for the "patience" of not grabbing some aging vet (like Lowry) to try to put a bandaid on a burst artery.

3) I was previously for the "patience" of letting Luka+KP+RC figure out over the course of years how to be a champion together. I have come to change my mind on this now. I do not think the Mavs can afford to just build around those three "patiently." I think they need to by this summer either add someone significant that changes the current broken dynamic OR move on from KP or RC. 

I could be dead wrong on all this stuff, but if you haven't been reading all my posts carefully, then hopefully this catches you up to speed on my thinking. I am still deeply in Camp Patient....but I do not think the Luka+KP+RC dynamic is going to fix itself with patience. Again, just an opinion that is evolving as I see more.

[cow]

Can you still trade coaches?  Boston sure could use a new coach and I can't think of a better fit for Carlisle.

[SleepingHero]

Can you still trade coaches?  Boston sure could use a new coach and I can't think of a better fit for Carlisle.

I'd take Brad Stevens in a freaking heartbeat.

[Chicagojk]

I don't know if this makes me feel any better, but last year all the talk was Philly had to move either Embid or Simmons because they couldn't play together.  Harris was an albatross of a contract.   Horford looked washed.  They didn't have good shooting and their offense was a slog.  Etc.   

Now this year with some internal changes, some smart moves, a couple of young draft picks, they look like one of the better teams in the East.  Ultimately their fate will be shown in a playoff run, so we will see. 

So Mavs fans, hope is not all lost.  2-3 good/smart moves and this team can really turn it around.  Unfortunately, I have been waiting for those 2-3 moves for 2 years.

[ItsGoTime]

I don't know if this makes me feel any better, but last year all the talk was Philly had to move either Embid or Simmons because they couldn't play together.  Harris was an albatross of a contract.   Horford looked washed.  They didn't have good shooting and their offense was a slog.  Etc.   

Now this year with some internal changes, some smart moves, a couple of young draft picks, they look like one of the better teams in the East.  Ultimately their fate will be shown in a playoff run, so we will see. 

So Mavs fans, hope is not all lost.  2-3 good/smart moves and this team can really turn it around.  Unfortunately, I have been waiting for those 2-3 moves for 2 years.

AND internal change???

[Chicagojk]

AND internal change???

New coach, new GM, having Tobias play most of his minutes at PF, and maybe a few other smallish rotation moves.    

I am not saying the Mavs need a new coach, but that is the internal changes I was referencing.

[KillerLeft]

New coach, new GM, having Tobias play most of his minutes at PF, and maybe a few other smallish rotation moves.    

I am not saying the Mavs need a new coach, but that is the internal changes I was referencing.

Yeah, with Morey and Doc, Philly very quickly got onto a path of playing combinations that actually work well together. They decided which of their strengths to feature and made roster and lineup changes to complement those strengths. Basically, they made a plan. Brand and Brown were clearly in over their heads. So, that all checks out. 

But, results aren't the ONLY way to judge a plan. The Mavs have a plan, too, and I think it's a good one. The offense was INCREDIBLE last year, and those wanting to change that system are off their rockers, imo. 

The issues here are all tied to player(s) not holding up their ends of the bargain this season, for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are due to the pandemic, shortened off-season, etc. Yes, every team faces obstacles, but not every team experiences them or handles them the same way. It's new territory for everyone, and I'm not shocked (in hindsight) that this YOUNG team with YOUNG leaders didn't handle it as well as some others. 

Other teams are having "meh" seasons, too - it's not just the Mavs. In fact, there are literally only 6 good teams this year. 7, if you count PHX. From the rest of the pack, it's kind of arbitrary who's good and who's not from night to night. Boston and Miami fans are going through the same thing we are, and BOTH of those teams should be WAY better than Dallas. WAY better. They both have great coaching, too. 

Now, Donnie should be blamed for not seeing some of these roster issues coming, to an extent. But, it doesn't mean he's incompetent. Coach Carlisle should be blamed for not better anticipating what needed to be done to better prepare the team for this crazy season, to an extent. But, it doesn't mean he's incompetent. This is was an experiment for everyone - some organizations did better than others, sure, but some of them got a bit lucky, I'd bet.  It was everyone's first time to do this, and hopefully there will never be another season like this again.

[StepBackJay]

Man this Philly team is big. Even with small Seth out there their roster is big and physical. I like their squad a lot. On paper to begin the season ppl thought washed up Danny Green starting and 6th man Curry starting would not make a big difference but this team finally makes sense. The Sixers wasted the last few seasons with really dumb personnel and coaching decisions.

[ItsGoTime]

New coach, new GM, having Tobias play most of his minutes at PF, and maybe a few other smallish rotation moves.    

I am not saying the Mavs need a new coach, but that is the internal changes I was referencing.

I was referencing the internal changes for our team. Hard to imagine the incredible difference this year in Phil without the internal changes taking place first.

[ItsGoTime]

Now, Donnie should be blamed for not seeing some of these roster issues coming, to an extent. But, it doesn't mean he's incompetent. Coach Carlisle should be blamed for not better anticipating what needed to be done to better prepare the team for this crazy season, to an extent. But, it doesn't mean he's incompetent.

Maybe it’s time to “promote” Donnie to THE HEAD of the scouting department, and RC to consultant or THE HEAD assistant coach. Keep your contract values, or get a raise, I don’t care.

[KillerLeft]

Maybe it’s time to “promote” Donnie to THE HEAD of the scouting department, and RC to consultant or THE HEAD assistant coach. Keep your contract values, or get a raise, I don’t care.

I don't anticipate either of their positions are in jeopardy. Personally, that doesn't bother me. For those who are bothered, my sympathies. I feel the same futility about Porzingis, so I understand the pain.