MavsBoard

Preseason is over....time to call your shot.

NOTE: Winning 44 games of 72 is the equivalent of winning 50 games of 82.....53 is like winning 60....36 is like winning 41.

I think this team challenges for a top spot in the West, which is loaded.  KP's injury status makes it a bit harder to call the number - especially with an early schedule of playoff teams that he will miss.  That said, I am going for 72-0.

48

(12-17-2020, 11:58 PM)Mavsfan12 Wrote: [ -> ]I think this team challenges for a top spot in the West, which is loaded.  KP's injury status makes it a bit harder to call the number - especially with an early schedule of playoff teams that he will miss.  That said, I am going for 72-0.

You stole my answer.   I will say 41, no 45 sounds about right.

43-44 for me. KP is the unknown factor. I think we'll be in the 4-6 range at the end and it all depends on how much we have KP this season and if he can stay healthy once he's back. As long as KP is healthy come playoff time, I think the Mavs can play with anyone, even the Lakers.

I think this can be a 53-54 win team in an 82 game season.  So 47-48 for me.

Luka+KP 2nd year together plus the addition of Josh Richardson is enough to make me reach for that.

50 wins in an 82 game season, which is around 43-44 games..
Will translate to a top 4 seed, health permitting
First of many in the Luka era

55 in 82
So around 47-48

I'm optimistic--48.

Guess I'm the pessimist here going for 42 wins. Powell is starting and the West is loaded. 42-30 is a very respectable finish.

First 3 threads I read this morning all have some form of Powell bashing...

Reminds me of last season when THJ was the one being bashed in every thread...

47 wins...main reason is our bench will be tormenting other teams all year long if healthy...

Plus we have Luka who is good enough to drag us to the playoffs...

(12-18-2020, 08:14 AM)ClutchDirk Wrote: [ -> ]First 3 threads I read this morning all have some form of Powell bashing...

Reminds me of last season when THJ was the one being bashed in every thread...

Yeah, I made the mistake of looking at the game thread last night.  I almost never do that as I don't start games until about an hour in (plus my life is better without all the bitching and whining).  So, this time I could see comments before the actual plays happened.

The last three games Powell has been on an island guarding Towns and GA.  They ranked #1 and #5 in OPM in the league and we go nuts when an incredible offensive machine lures Powell into biting on a pump fake.  But, I see nary a word when Maxi is caught totally asleep on the lob play at the end of the third.  BTW, Powell made an incredible defensive play just prior to biting on the fake.  No credit for good plays ever.

We act like Powell did something wrong when he goes out with 3:00 left in the third and the team goes on a run.  But no one mentions the team was +3 WITH Powell in the third.  It wasn't Powell's departure that caused the run.  Minnesota had four turnovers (3 unforced) in a short span of time.  Maxi had one fantastic sequence near the end of the third, but the bulk of the run had nothing to do with him.

I hate comparing Powell to Maxi, but there is a total double standard.  Powell can do no right in the eyes of some who cling to well established narratives.  They couldn't conceive of him starting...yet he starts.  They couldn't conceive of him being healthy...yet he is.  Anyone else we'd be celebrating the hard work it took to get here and looking forward to what he'll look like when he shakes off a bit more rust (or KP comes back creating even more space in the lane).  But not with Powell.  I really don't get it.

BTW, Powell has changed his approach on 3's a bit.  For some reason he's always insisted on shooting a 3 point jumper and now he's closer to a set shot (he still gets some lift, but not as much as in the past).  There's no need to do anything else when you are left wide open.  I suspect we'll see 35% or more this season largely because of this adjustment.

(12-18-2020, 08:54 AM)DanSchwartzman Wrote: [ -> ]BTW, Powell has changed his approach on 3's a bit.  For some reason he's always insisted on shooting a 3 point jumper and now he's closer to a set shot (he still gets some lift, but not as much as in the past).  There's no need to do anything else when you are left wide open.  I suspect we'll see 35% or more this season largely because of this adjustment.

It is obvious Mavs value Powell a lot and not everything is shown in stats. Also, the starting unit did just fine with him. As for Maxi - it was proven many times that his production decreases when he has to play more than 20-25 minutes. In the end, I think Mavs will play best players.

Imho, Powells role and minutes depends on his three point shot. If he doesn't get to mid 30 % on wide open threes, it will be difficult. I don't think Luka and him managed a single PnR against Minnesota as they just clogged the paint leaving the three point shot wide open.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of Powell, he's coming off of a major injury. We watched KP take like 40 games last year to work himself back into a comfortable rhythm. On this roster, Powell has endured the longest stretch of not playing, I think, so some of this is learning to trust his foot and leg again, and some of it is simple rust. 

Knee jerking from "he won't be able to move right" to "he's moving great, but I'm upset because he doesn't look like the best version of himself immediately" seems kind of ridiculous. 

As for his playing time, well, the team has a lot invested in him. It would be silly not to give him every chance to play himself back into rhythm. We know that the team values him - that's nothing new. We also know that Carlisle is aware that he's holding the first team back right now, due to the fact that he didn't finish the first half with the first team...or their final stint in the 3rd quarter, I don't think.

Finally, we have NO idea how the rotation is going to work. Not only does the preseason not reveal too much, but even the first 20 games are likely to be all over the map with unexpected choices. This is what Carlisle does. He experiments during the first half of the season and sees what the analytics shake out for him. 

Everybody needs to relax. On a night when Luka wasn't great, they would've won the game by like 10-15 if the result had mattered.

(12-18-2020, 08:54 AM)DanSchwartzman Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah, I made the mistake of looking at the game thread last night.  I almost never do that as I don't start games until about an hour in (plus my life is better without all the bitching and whining).  So, this time I could see comments before the actual plays happened.

The last three games Powell has been on an island guarding Towns and GA.  They ranked #1 and #5 in OPM in the league and we go nuts when an incredible offensive machine lures Powell into biting on a pump fake.  But, I see nary a word when Maxi is caught totally asleep on the lob play at the end of the third.  BTW, Powell made an incredible defensive play just prior to biting on the fake.  No credit for good plays ever.

We act like Powell did something wrong when he goes out with 3:00 left in the third and the team goes on a run.  But no one mentions the team was +3 WITH Powell in the third.  It wasn't Powell's departure that caused the run.  Minnesota had four turnovers (3 unforced) in a short span of time.  Maxi had one fantastic sequence near the end of the third, but the bulk of the run had nothing to do with him.

I hate comparing Powell to Maxi, but there is a total double standard.  Powell can do no right in the eyes of some who cling to well established narratives.  They couldn't conceive of him starting...yet he starts.  They couldn't conceive of him being healthy...yet he is.  Anyone else we'd be celebrating the hard work it took to get here and looking forward to what he'll look like when he shakes off a bit more rust (or KP comes back creating even more space in the lane).  But not with Powell.  I really don't get it.

BTW, Powell has changed his approach on 3's a bit.  For some reason he's always insisted on shooting a 3 point jumper and now he's closer to a set shot (he still gets some lift, but not as much as in the past).  There's no need to do anything else when you are left wide open.  I suspect we'll see 35% or more this season largely because of this adjustment.

I get that Powell bashing is not the right way to approach the situation but you are doing the reverse. There is no way to deny that Powell has been really bad in the three preseason games. Kleber on the other hand looked like the 2nd or 3rd best player. The sample size is obviously small and we can talk about Powells potential to improve in the coming weeks but that´s not the topic. Starting next week the Mavs need to win games. Meaning that the Mavs don´t have the time to wait for a potentially improved Powell. Do you really think that right now RC is doing Powell a favor when he asks him to defend KAT or Giannis?

If you want the cold hard facts:

Kleber 12/4 1.3blks, 63/67/100 shooting splits, +12.7 (lead all Mavs in the last 3 games)
Powell 6/5/2, 35/17/60 shooting splits, +1.3 (worst among the starters)

So far we haven´t seen Powell`s rim rolling gravity. The one thing that made him a perfect fit and high impact player next to Luka. The offense looked a lot better with Maxi as an additional floor spacer. Not to mention that he was way better on defense. His shooting splits are obviously not sustainable but his form looks better than ever. I think it is more likely that Kleber takes the next step and shoots 40+ % from 3 this season.

I think this is more about Kleber looking better than ever. Not to mention that he has a completly different skill set. I am okay with Kleber in a 6th man role. He doesn´t need to start the game. He needs to close it.
WCS is the one that could potentially replace Powell. Will be interesting to see what RC will do.

(12-18-2020, 09:29 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Everybody needs to relax. On a night when Luka wasn't great, they would've won the game by like 10-15 if the result had mattered.

With the added fact that Minnesota was extremely motivated. They haven't been to the playoffs for a long time so they might have mixed this late preseason with that. Beasley and Okogie went hard after Luka and he seemed annoyed by it, probably because he didn't play with same intensity. I am not worried at all about that.

(12-18-2020, 07:28 AM)aguiar95 Wrote: [ -> ]Guess I'm the pessimist here going for 42 wins. Powell is starting and the West is loaded. 42-30 is a very respectable finish.

That's my thinking also. The west will be tough. I'll be rooting for better, but 42-30 is my guestimation. I'm often wrong.

DP simply isn't very good right now and I'm not sure how good he can be without his normal lift. I hope he adapts and figures out how to be successful because that makes the Mavs better. I think it's unfair to the team that he is currently starting. IMO Maxi should be starting and WCS should be the backup 5 until DP comes around. He may not come around this year. Durant and Wall are 2 years removed from their achilles injury. For whatever reason I think RC sees DP as a son to him.

(12-18-2020, 08:54 AM)DanSchwartzman Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah, I made the mistake of looking at the game thread last night.  I almost never do that as I don't start games until about an hour in (plus my life is better without all the bitching and whining).  So, this time I could see comments before the actual plays happened.

The last three games Powell has been on an island guarding Towns and GA.  They ranked #1 and #5 in OPM in the league and we go nuts when an incredible offensive machine lures Powell into biting on a pump fake.  But, I see nary a word when Maxi is caught totally asleep on the lob play at the end of the third.  BTW, Powell made an incredible defensive play just prior to biting on the fake.  No credit for good plays ever.

We act like Powell did something wrong when he goes out with 3:00 left in the third and the team goes on a run.  But no one mentions the team was +3 WITH Powell in the third.  It wasn't Powell's departure that caused the run.  Minnesota had four turnovers (3 unforced) in a short span of time.  Maxi had one fantastic sequence near the end of the third, but the bulk of the run had nothing to do with him.

I hate comparing Powell to Maxi, but there is a total double standard.  Powell can do no right in the eyes of some who cling to well established narratives.  They couldn't conceive of him starting...yet he starts.  They couldn't conceive of him being healthy...yet he is.  Anyone else we'd be celebrating the hard work it took to get here and looking forward to what he'll look like when he shakes off a bit more rust (or KP comes back creating even more space in the lane).  But not with Powell.  I really don't get it.

BTW, Powell has changed his approach on 3's a bit.  For some reason he's always insisted on shooting a 3 point jumper and now he's closer to a set shot (he still gets some lift, but not as much as in the past).  There's no need to do anything else when you are left wide open.  I suspect we'll see 35% or more this season largely because of this adjustment.

*instert slow clap gif*

right on