Luca is sort of in a class by himself. He's big, 6'8" and strong. He's not skinny, he is bulky! He pushes small guards around and no one--big or small-- has shown they can stop him down low because his moves are incredible and unpredictable. He is creating on the move. His step back jumper seems to have no limit. It's pretty accurate from 30+ feet and deadly from 15 feet on in. He seems to be working on his defense, thanks to Jason Kidd, and that is noticeably better. I think he needs to stop jawing with the refs so much--leading the team in technical fouls is nothing to be proud of. He is, at 23 years old, arguably the best at his position in the NBA.
Damn, GS made a lot of 3's tonight. Mavs missed a ton of 3's. Lot's of turnovers. Warriors were in synch and Mavs were not all game..... Re-focus on game 2 Friday!
Teams should have learned from this already, but the "Jordan" style defense doesn't work against the Mavs. Phoenix proved it and GS showed everyone how it SHOULD work instead. From about 1992-onward, teams would give Jordan an opening to see if he would go for 50+. This was an effort to limit Pippen and everyone else's touches. That way, if Jordan couldn't beat the opponent on his own, it'd be a "see he can't do it on his own" situation and sometimes a L. With the Mavs, Luka's literally already doing it on his own. Sometimes Brunson has a good game, and sometimes Dinwiddie, but you can count the number of wins credited to them on one hand. When teams give Luka some space, not only does he take advantage of it, but he also goes all "bull in china shop" inside the 3-point line as well. So daring him to do it alone is what is wants.
Luka kept grabbing his shoulder. I care more about long term now. lol I mean, I'll still be going to the game Sunday, but just more concerned with long term.
That's why I think the Mavs have the least shot of winning it all of everyone left - all 3 remaining other teams have like 4 different guys they can rotate on Luka to keep all their wing defenders fresh. Phoenix, as possibly you hinted at, really didn't.
I will be driving back from Midland to DFW late pm. What time is tipoff today? Hope to catch some of it on the radio...
Home now... late 4th. Mavs struggling down 91-83. GS is hot and Mavs shots are not dropping. Don't have a good feeling about this game.....
Yeah anything past the 1st round was icing on the cake for this team. You will not win in the NBA if you don't have regular 2nd/3rd options and can't pick up the defense in the playoffs. The Mavs' reliance on Brunson and Dinwiddie to be those options was exposed for their "sometimes-brilliance" and mostly averageness. Chris Paul's reversion into his old "hey how many 2-0 leads can I blow in the playoffs?" gave Mavs fans a false sense of security. I don't know how they'll improve in the offseason. I'm hearing a lot of TV and radio guys saying that we'll have fun watching this team grow from here, but I don't see it. I think it's akin to the New York Jets under Rex Ryan... it was a nice burst of energy to see them make the conference finals, but then they had nowhere to turn to.
I agree with what you are saying as far as the current situation. Although I don’t think the Mavs fans were too delusional that the Mavs were better than the Warriors (who are back to full strength). I think that exactly as constituted, the Mavs this year would always finish in the 2, 3 or 4 spot in the West, so 2nd is, as you say, the ceiling. But that’s a decent floor. When I watch Luka—just with a fan’s eye, not with true basketball knowledge—I could easily see him in a year or two being 20% better than he is now. Just a cooler head, some better defense, a little more experience…. And he’s already basically more than other teams can handle, just playing kind of uncoached-looking. Now that he’s both finally become a transcendent star—perhaps close to a household name?—and had his shortcomings discussed widely, just maybe he will ratchet up a notch. I know that’s not probable, but something overtook Michael Jordan to transform from being James Harden to MJ. Then, I can easily imagine a supporting cast being 20% better than what they have now. That’s not asking too much. I know these guys aren’t available, but a Draymond, a Marcus Smart, or heck even PJ Tucker. Doesn’t have to be a top 15 player. Then, they would be actually a threat to win it all.
And this is why I said I don't think they can get better. I can't name more than maybe 2 guys from 2022 NBA Free Agents Tracker who would want to be here. Asking for guys like Draymond and Marcus Smart is pretty much impossible with the staff we've had going back to Cuban's ownership. It's going to take maybe some draft days moves (sign-and-trade Brunson for a #3-5 overall) or some crazy 3-team deal to move some defense over.
