(01-25-2021, 12:13 PM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]https://twitter.com/bobbykaralla/status/...5470733314
So important setting the tone early, playing good defense and offense and getting ahead. Choosing the best starters is one of the keys to success. Once you get behind, you send the wrong message to the next lineups.
(01-25-2021, 10:25 AM)Reunion Mav Wrote: [ -> ]It really hurts me that at least 4 of our guys have lost serious time to Covid and perhaps two of them have had to recover from Covid. Most of us really care about these guys in addition to being fans. We don't get to know much about their health and personal stuff, but their families do. My prayers are out to all of them.
Among the people who almost certainly do know is the rest of our team. Friends tell friends important stuff. I pray for how hard this is for them personally as well.
Of course, as a Mavs fan, our team is so short handed and I just want us to stay close to .500 basketball to keep us with a chance. That game the other night just proved how many ways a 5 games in 7 days allows such an incredible advantage to the other team. It should never be allowed again.
The schedule is just another in a long list of Covid losses to our society I suppose.
I've read comments on this forum stating that this disease is never dangerous for the players, and the players should not even care about Covid. I think that is not fair statement, some of them get really sick, and there are young sports people that have been hit serious with this. Also, many have lost their family members and quiet affected by this in many ways. It's a serious virus, and I hope all the best for our Mavs players that have this. I think this should be taken very seriously. Perhaps the bubble was a better approach to this season.
(01-25-2021, 01:27 PM)burekemde Wrote: [ -> ]I've read comments on this forum stating that this disease is never dangerous for the players, and the players should not even care about Covid. I think that is not fair statement, some of them get really sick, and there are young sports people that have been hit serious with this. Also, many have lost their family members and quiet affected by this in many ways. It's a serious virus, and I hope all the best for our Mavs players that have this. I think this should be taken very seriously. Perhaps the bubble was a better approach to this season.
It is certainly serious and the bubble was/is a better solution but you'd have a hard time convincing the NBAPA to have an entire season in the bubble. Maybe the bubble returns as we near the playoffs to help eliminate the potential of COVID altering a series.
I don't want to be dismissive of medical concerns, but the players that do get covid are being diagnosed extraordinarily early compared to the average person, usually before they even have symptoms, and are receiving immediate treatment. I don't believe they are at any greater risk than any of the rest of us that have to continue to exist in the world in order to make a living, and the league is doing everything they can to prevent and shorten the length of the illness, unlike most of our employers.
“Team play. It’s got to be unselfish team play,” Carlisle said. “It doesn’t matter who we put out there. If the ball’s moving and we’re executing and helping each other get shots, that’s going to breed a togetherness on the defensive end and we’ll give ourselves a chance."
nod.
Outsider's view (Hollinger) of what is going on here from a piece on teams that are under-performing expectations. BTW, in another piece, Seth Partnow has a graph showing Dallas with the 4th worst Weighted Average Accuracy on Open 3FGA%:
Dallas: As with Miami above, Dallas gets an asterisk because it has played with a skeleton crew on so many nights, except in Dallas’ case it’s a much more emphatic one. The Mavs have had Kristaps Porzingis for just six games, Dorian Finney-Smith for eight and Maxi Kleber for nine, leaving them with a gutted frontcourt on too many nights. Josh Richardson, Jalen Brunson and others have also missed time, as a COVID-19 outbreak temporarily sidelined a sizable chunk of the roster.
As a result, secondary and even tertiary players have become primary. Trey Burke, James Johnson and Willie Cauley-Stein are third, fourth and fifth on the team in minutes. Raw first-round pick Josh Green has been starting. These weren’t the guys they were supposed to be counting on.
The Mavs also still have the league’s most impressive win this season — a 51-point opening week beatdown of the Clippers. So why worry? Well, here’s the thing: This team is built to be a terror offensively, and so far it just isn’t. Dallas is 18th in offense, even with Luka Doncic playing 15 of its 16 games, and the shooting has been abysmal. The Mavs are at 33.1 percent from 3, the second-worst mark in the league, and Doncic (27.8 percent) has been a big part of it.
Getting the cavalry back will undoubtedly help, but is it enough to vault the Mavs back into the upper half of the West? Even at full strength, can they shoot enough to offset a middling defense? And while they wait, how much ground will they lose on the front-runners?
To be honest, the shooting part of this terrible equation is the thing I'm least worried about. Maybe I should be more worried than I am, but I feel like DFS, Kleber, THJ and KP are all going to shoot just fine if/when the team ever gets enough time out there to be comfortable.
(01-26-2021, 01:42 PM)Tyler Wrote: [ -> ]The light at the end of the tunnel.
https://twitter.com/bobbykaralla/status/...4956404741
This is great news. But, I hope everyone realizes that it's going to take a couple of weeks for the team to get back into a collective rhythm. Hell, KP hasn't even played the off-season rust off yet, and that starting lineup mentioned has LITERALLY never player together. It might still be ugly for awhile.
Still - welcome news.
(01-26-2021, 01:42 PM)Tyler Wrote: [ -> ]The light at the end of the tunnel.
That is good news!!!
(01-26-2021, 01:46 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]But, I hope everyone realizes that it's going to take a couple of weeks for the team to get back into a collective rhythm.
If Richardson and DFS didn't lose all conditioning, defense should greatly improve while they are still better shooters than WCS. Utah are a great offensive team. The key will be to get Gobert out of the paint on offensive side. That would leave wide open driving lanes for Doncic. He will probably guard DFS so his shooting will be crucial.
A little bit concerning that we aren´t getting any information on Maxi. I just hope that he will make a full recovery. Even if he misses the rest of the season.
Basketball isn´t important. Health is.
(01-26-2021, 01:52 PM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]The key will be to get Gobert out of the paint on offensive side. That would leave wide open driving lanes for Doncic. He will probably guard DFS so his shooting will be crucial.
Totally agree. The key to defeating Utah (and the Lakers, tbh) is 5 out, for sure.
(01-26-2021, 01:53 PM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: [ -> ]A little bit concerning that we aren´t getting any information on Maxi. I just hope that he will make a full recovery. Even if he misses the rest of the season.
Basketball isn´t important. Health is.
Maybe this is even affecting the team performance. Maybe. I just speculate here, nothing more. Hope Maxi is fine.