MavsBoard

(01-14-2023, 11:19 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status...8536147968

Five years?   That made me breath a little more easily.  Heck, the Mavs may lose their second best player 2-3 times before then.

(01-14-2023, 01:27 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think so. I think we'd see the narrative be pushed away from the Mavs' failures and toward "he was never going to finish his career in Dallas anyway" just like what happened with Brunson. Many will even vilify Luka if/when this happens and some will even have a full-on rationalization for why they're right to pin the blame on him. 

Hopefully it doesn't come to that. Hopefully they figure all this out and he's happy here.

But to the Heat...of all places?

A little salty this morning after listening to Bill Simmons podcast with Zach Lowe and near the end they started talking about how Brunson is an all star, shooting 60% last five minutes of a game that is within 5 points, and how losing Brunson may wind up being a bigger mistake than losing Nash for nothing.  They also talk all the mistakes Dallas made leading up to him leaving.  Ouch.

So, Dallas needs more ball movement and player movement.   Their options may be limited, but I think we are limiting some of the others effectiveness.   I keep hoping we add some variety to our offense, but we keep going the other direction.   My question, would this offense look any different or faster if we added two good creators?   I will say if I am a young talented player, this type of offense would not be fun to play in.    

But the reason for my post is Luka's disturbing body language.  Some of it is defensible, but I think he deserves some blame as the face of the franchise too.  Anytime McGee is on the court with him, the body language is terrible.  But at times, it looks bad with others he has played with for years.   There was one play last night that really bothered me.   It is just one play, but really perked me up when I saw it.   In the second quarter, Din had the ball on the left in early offense.  He had Simons on him, who had two fouls on him.   Luka was on the other side of the court, and had his hands over his head calling for the ball.   I believe he had his hands in the air for a few seconds until Din scored.   It is a really bad look.   Luka has the ball enough.   He needs to be the leader and cheer guys on to expand their game.   It can't be Luka every possession.

No reason to be salty.  Everyone should be critical of what the Mavs have built around Luka.  You only need to watch games this season to see how terrible the roster construction is.  In his fifth season, we are pinning our near future hopes on Christian Wood, while talented was little more than a throw in for a salary dump to an ever tanking team.  If Wood stays or goes, we are still 2-3 pieces away from being a contender.  When Luka is in all-star form, we have trouble putting away bad, average, and good teams and we have no hope of beating the elite.  If he is average or below average, we get blown out.  If he misses games, we have no hope of beating anyone.  

I do agree that Luka deserves some scrutiny.  The complaining is tiresome, especially when he doesn't try to get back on defense.  I'm starting to think he doesn't have it in him to get his conditioning to where it needs to be but I'm also a bit forgiving considering how big of a human being he is and the workload on his shoulders.  I do think it is ridiculous that we give a 23 year-old rest days.

(01-15-2023, 10:31 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: [ -> ]Luka's disturbing body language

It is BAD right now, REALLY BAD.

(01-16-2023, 09:07 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]https://twitter.com/Mavs_FFL/status/1614986918445432832

Fans might believe it’s disrespectful for YOU Mark Cuban, to continue to run down your very public and competitive for the community organization to the ground in every facet of the organization. Business side and court side.

Cuban deserves disrespect for the scandals he turned a blind eye to in the business operations of the Mavs, for wasting the tail end of Dirk's prime, and for botching the beginning of Luka's career for hiring a never-was head coach and a GM with zero experience to dig the team out of a hole created by dysfunction between he, Donnie, Carlisle and Bob.  It's going to suck when Luka walks but it can't happen to a more deserving owner.

(01-14-2023, 10:44 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-16-2023, 02:49 PM)Hogmelon Wrote: [ -> ]

Cheapest team in the entire NBA the last 5 years. That's such a terrible look.

(01-17-2023, 12:19 AM)BigDirk41 Wrote: [ -> ]Cheapest team in the entire NBA the last 5 years. That's such a terrible look.

17 through 19 is just another look at the clueless MO of this franchise. Presti has a much higher pay-roll throughout the tanking process, cause he took on bad deals for draft compensation. Cuban rather spent the money to keep his sellout streak alive.   

Remember when Memphis picked up Igoudala for a first (top four protected 2024), rehabbed him, then the rumours started Mavs wanted to compensate them with a first to acquire him. Classic Cuban or a Delon Wright/Tyus Jones³.

(01-17-2023, 12:19 AM)BigDirk41 Wrote: [ -> ]Cheapest team in the entire NBA the last 5 years. That's such a terrible look.

I mean this includes the 2 years where we tanked in 17 and 18. There wasn't much of a team to spend on. 

But I agree. Cuban has been cheap.

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https://twitter.com/PrestonPannek/status...8604604435

(01-17-2023, 03:28 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]I mean this includes the 2 years where we tanked in 17 and 18. There wasn't much of a team to spend on. 

That´s exactly the point @"Mavs2021" made. Tanking doesn´t mean that you don´t need to pay. Smarter owners/GMs swallow bad contracts to collect future assets. Not to mention that the Mavs didn´t enter those seasons with the intention to tank. They never added picks or young players. The veteran cast simply wasn´t good enough.

(01-17-2023, 03:46 PM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: [ -> ]That´s exactly the point @Mavs2021 made. Tanking doesn´t mean that you don´t need to pay. Smarter owners/GMs swallow bad contracts to collect future assets. Not to mention that the Mavs didn´t enter those seasons with the intention to tank. They never added picks or young players. The veteran cast simply wasn´t good enough.

Fair. I'm not absolving Cuban here. I haven't really liked him for the last 7 years. The last 2 has made me want him to sell more than ever, hence my title. 

They definitely could have utilized their tanking years way better. Oh well, can't live in the past. Hopefully they can stop tripping over their own 2 feet.

(01-14-2023, 11:00 AM)ItsGoTime Wrote: [ -> ]I remember a story last month after one of these horrible FT shooting games that he stayed in the arena and immediately worked on shooting FTs. Up until lately, his FT shooting took a big turn for the better. Coincidence or has he stopped working on them?

I don't think Luka doesn't work on them, I think he knows it's possibly the biggest weakness in his game apart from defense. I think he works on it plenty. I have thought conditioning played a part, as I feel like his lack of conditioning resulting in fatigue during games takes his legs away a bit affecting his free throws. Which then begs the question if it is just conditioning (which maybe not so much since he supposedly came into the season in the best condition of his career), or just mental.

Or should he actually attempt tweaking his actual mechanics rather than just practising more with the same mechanics. If you are putting serious work into free throws in the off season and during the season yet your efficiency is remaining stagnant year after year, then I think you need to take a good look at mechanics. It shouldn't be a huge change to try putting a little bit more arc on his free throws, like one off season to work on that type of change. We know more arc gives players more room for error not just for free throws, but any type of shot. Of course not every player can change their mechanics successfully, but the way Luka can change the arc on his field goal shots at will whenever he wants tells me he's the type that could adapt very well. Of course it requires either himself or a coach identifying this as something to look at and making the decision to commit to this in the off season.

The arc on Dirk's FT is obviously a prime example, though he probably doesn't need to make that drastic of a change. Luka's FT are simply noticeably flatter than his FG shots, while Dirk's was basically the same on all his shots.

Luka simply does not like flat-footed spot up shooting. He does not want to take these kind of 3pt shots either. It´s very noticeable on the 2-3 occasions a month that he actually gets such opportunities.

(01-18-2023, 05:55 AM)Mavs2021 Wrote: [ -> ]Luka simply does not like flat-footed spot up shooting. He does not want to take these kind of 3pt shots either. It´s very noticeable on the 2-3 occasions a month that he actually gets such opportunities.

Flat footed? You mean catch and shoot? No one takes flat footed jump shots. Only flat footed shots are usually free throws. I think Luka is fine taking them, albeit he pretty much always takes his time on them and if he's closed down too quickly, he will usually put the ball on the floor. But then Luka has always had a pretty slow release, he can speed it up, but it's usually as a last resort. I also think if he is having a rough time having missed a bunch of 3's in the game he's more likely not to take the catch and shoot 3 opportunity if he gets it and drive to the paint instead.

The reduction in 3's and acknowledgement when he's just not hitting anything from 3 that he's better off just driving to the paint or taking post ups is one of the main reasons for his jump in scoring. One of the minor criticisms of his game previously has been dubious shot selection and lack of recognition when the jump shot just isn't going down, leading to games of 1 of 11 from 3 etc, which has been greatly reduced this season.

(01-18-2023, 03:39 AM)Dundalis Wrote: [ -> ]conditioning

This is still a MAJOR weakness of Luka. He has so much room for improvement and growth in this area still. Which is incredible to think about.

Quote:Sources said Doncic, who hasn't shown a desire to be involved in personnel matters in the past, has strongly indicated he wants the Mavs to upgrade before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

Quote:The Mavs are well aware of a modern NBA math problem: Unhappy stars who have only two guaranteed years remaining on their contracts have leverage if they're looking to leave. For reference, see Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans or James Harden and the Houston Rockets.

That doesn't necessarily mean Doncic will request a trade if the Mavs haven't put a contender-quality supporting cast in place by the summer of 2024. But the Mavs, like the Hawks with Young, surely don't want to fiddle around and find out.

For the Mavs in particular, that means having to balance trying to put the most competitive roster in place this season against diminishing the potential to deal for a co-star in the near future. The latter would likely require a bundle of first-round picks, so the Mavs must be extremely selective while considering giving up a pick now.

"It's a really tough spot," a pro personnel scout for a contending team told ESPN. "And it's the pressure great players place on the organization. You want to be good, but the balance of patience and competitiveness is a really hard line to walk."