I was so afraid the Mavs were going to fiddle fart this game away...but they didn't. This is a game to build on.
Maxi Kleber showed a little bit of why he is so important to the team. Mostly defense but he does help on offense. He can score if he has to. It's funny because he was originally brought in because of his offense.
Streaky Hardaway showed just why I call him "Streaky". I don't say this in a mean way. Heck...I like the guy. But we just can't depend on him to do this every night--or even once a week--maybe even once a month. But on this day--he did it.
Dereck Lively is one fine rookie. There is a chance he can be really good. I like that he goes after the ball--rather than stand around waiting for the ball to come to him--like some people do.
Kyrie Irving is a bad dude. He is not afraid to carry a team on his back.
Josh Green is slowly rounding out to be a pretty good player. I have regained a little hope for him.
Grant Williams. Why does he spend so much time wallowing around on the floor. Hold on to the ball! Still...he did enough good work that I'll give him a pass.
Well...Kyrie actually played above expectations. But Streaky Hardaway blew the doors off. I'll give him his due...and my Dirkie.
THJ. One broken possession after another but somehow he continued to bail them out with deep and/or contested 3s.
(01-15-2024, 05:28 PM)DallasMaverick Wrote: [ -> ]Timmy’s untradeable.
Do you forbid it?
Timmy for sure. We should still file an official complaint against that refereeing crew despite the win. Couldn't have done it without Hardaway hitting some outrageous shots that would make Steph blush. He's been here for years and that's the hottest I've ever seen him get
Hardaway wins my vote, but I also enjoyed the efforts of Kyrie, Lively, and to a slightly lesser extent, Green. He had some great moments, including the dagger at the end to win it.
This has been TimHardaway’s most valuable year with us so far. We get blown out in the 2nd quarter and we would have been so angry at our team without Tim. His quick release jump shot is so pure. It was such a relief to see him rescue us. He isn’t untradeable we can certainly ask for more for him.
THJ was on such a heater, I didn’t realize that Kyrie led the team in scoring and had 7 boards and 7 assists. He deserves a mention too.
I am gonna LOVE watching this one tonight! Interesting notes from the box score:
1. Gdub with 3 of the team’s 4 steals. And +16 for the game. Interesting. Assume he was never the lone big with DL, MK and DP getting time. Is that the key?
2. The Pels wup us Q2&3. Not even close. We wup them 1st and 4th. Like a scripted WWF smackdown. This league sucks so bad.
(01-15-2024, 09:22 PM)The Jom Wrote: [ -> ]I am gonna LOVE watching this one tonight! Interesting notes from the box score:
1. Gdub with 3 of the team’s 4 steals. And +16 for the game. Interesting. Assume he was never the lone big with DL, MK and DP getting time. Is that the key?
2. The Pels wup us Q2&3. Not even close. We wup them 1st and 4th. Like a scripted WWF smackdown. This league sucks so bad.
Williams’ +/- was surprising. He had some very, very good moments, but I would say he had an equal amount of terrible moments.
(01-15-2024, 09:22 PM)The Jom Wrote: [ -> ]I am gonna LOVE watching this one tonight! Interesting notes from the box score:
1. Gdub with 3 of the team’s 4 steals. And +16 for the game. Interesting. Assume he was never the lone big with DL, MK and DP getting time. Is that the key?
2. The Pels wup us Q2&3. Not even close. We wup them 1st and 4th. Like a scripted WWF smackdown. This league sucks so bad.
I thought the most interesting stat was that he had 7 assists with no TO.
Tim with the parting gift.
(01-15-2024, 10:50 PM)Hypermav Wrote: [ -> ]Tim with the parting gift.
Ha!
(01-15-2024, 10:50 PM)Hypermav Wrote: [ -> ]Tim with the parting gift.
Yes!
Hardaway played great. G Will looking better. Green too
Seeing Maxi was a breath of fresh air. Lively too. We’re a different team in their minutes
I put Hardaway. I missed large portions of the game, but 24 points in the first half and then some big shots late make me want to give it to him. That long three to give us a lead late was the classic "no, no, no, yes" play that Hardaway has thrived on this year
When healthy it will be interesting how the ending group looks most night at the 3 position between Hardaway, Green and Exum. Hardaway has coach Kidd's confidence and has come up big a lot this year. Green is the most athletic and capable of making hustle plays and also hit two big threes late the past three games. Exum has played great this year but is his shooting real? It will be an interesting to see how it plays out. Hopefully we get plenty of opportunities to see them all healthy for long stretches.
Voted Timmy. But I would have to say one of the things I was most impressed with yesterday was Lively’s late game performance. He was in foul trouble all game and getting pushed around by Pels’ bigs for the first three quarters. However, when he was in there late in the game he was a force in the paint. I think we saw some real maturation yesterday.
Very odd for me to not give the Dirkie to one of the TWO(!!) Mavs who had 40pt games (and neither of them named Luka!!!!). But I have to give it to Lively. He was a force all game rebounding. He made JV look tiny. He is by far and away the most important non all-star guy we have.
THJ had an incredible shooting game. When he's hot he's an all-time level shot maker. Very few reach the supernova Tim can get when hot. His defense left a lot to be desired though. Overall he kept the Mavs in the game and was a primary reason why they won.
Kyrie played a fantastic game. It's hard for me to say he felt passive after putting up 40pts, but he did feel passive at times.
Shoutout to finally a good game from Grant. He looks A LOT better next to Maxi and Lively.
Can we please just get healthy?
(01-16-2024, 11:39 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]Can we please just get healthy?
Hear hear!
(01-15-2024, 10:50 PM)Hypermav Wrote: [ -> ]Tim with the parting gift.
Same with WCJ. 17 points in 18 minutes.
On the topic of the Dirkie, I’m struggling a bit. Everyone contributed. The team held its own in the Lawson/Curry minutes (wasn’t it interesting to see Lawson early to limit the THJ/Hardy minutes). Hardy wasn’t outstanding, but that one three he hit came at an important time. Maxi was -100 or so at one point, but made some very important defensive plays late that were difference makers. I’ll differ from what others have written. I like him better as a PF (especially with DJJ out). His blitzing screens and Lively protecting the rim is a good look.
We got positive minutes from Powell and very positive minutes from Green and GWill (who frustrates me a lot). It was great to have Lively back, but 6/12 and foul trouble probably isn’t Dirkie worthy compared to the standard he has set. I think you kind of need this kind of performance from your star when the other star is out. So, probably not Kyrie as good as he was.
I guess I’m not really having that much trouble then. 60% from three on 15 attempts and 10 of 10 FT’s is above and beyond. I still saw plenty of defensive efforts I wasn’t pleased with, but I think he’s the obvious choice here.