I am concerned that Porzingis has been practicing with the Mavs since the TDL and he doesn't look comfortable at all. He doesn't seem to know what to do on offense. He does a slip screen on every on-ball screen, can he not set an actual on-ball screen? I really thought the Doncic/KP PnR would look unstoppable. He is shooting open 3's which is good but I don't know why he doesn't pump-fake more on those. I like when he dribbles around, he gets a good rhythm off the bounce. I wish Rick was running more sets for KP to get him going. Anywho I suppose it's a work in progress being so early but he has been practicing with the team for some time now.

We want to see what the community thinks about how we set up the gamethread and the Dirkie poll.... So please share your thoughts!

https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1187420055077830656

Quote:I’ll say it again: There’s no doubt in my mind that the Mavericks should have a ring from 2006. And the Sacramento Kings should have a ring from 2002. And if it wasn’t because of the officiating and the officials on the floor for certain games and the supervisor of officials back in 2006, I think they would have a ring and they should have a ring.

Is it just me, or does Luka look even more polished and poised than he did last year? 

I know it's early, and I know the Wizards are a bad team, but he was head and shoulders above everybody else on the court except for Porzingis. He was clearly the best player on the court last night. 

Yes, I want to see him getting others involved in the game more, but he was almost other-worldly last night, showed no signs of early season rust after maybe the first three or four minutes.

The Wizards hounded him and Beal tried to get under his skin, but he just kept being dominant. 

I don't want to jinx him, but I don't think we have to worry about a sophomore slump. He is a stud!

https://twitter.com/tim_cato/status/1187208131337736192

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1187597137539817472

Spo says "Everything is fine", but I'll bet that this stint in Miami has more fireworks...hope not, because he's a tough player, when he's about playing.

Yes or No

As far as I can tell Mavs.com probably has the best coverage of this team now. The site hosts real feature stories by real professional writers with real daily access. Most everything else you see is simply a fan blog.

Personally I think Fish's site has really gone down the tubes. There are multiple reasons but I think it's significant that the community is effectively gone with the move to Maven. I also find the current stories lack originality and perspective. There's really nothing to differentiate dallasbasketball.com from other blogger sites offering similar content. 

Of course, there's some good content / feature stories on pay sites like The Athletic and occasionally DMN, Observer etc. I'm curious about the free stuff.

I'm reminded of a post from Mark Cuban about a decade ago.

http://blogmaverick.com/2008/03/10/blogg...cker-room/

It's been said the Mavs will have a very deep bench this year. Trouble is, three of those bench players will have to start. 

One of the most interesting things to watch this year:

Who is most likely to develop into a core high-level NBA starter next to Doncic & Porzingis? 

Brunson - Closed his rookie season strong, with better numbers than DSJ. Extremely skilled and mature with high BBIQ. But lack length, speed and overall athleticism limits his upside. Brunson will never be a superstar. But is he a high level starter? Or is he JJB 2.0?

Wright - Carlisle is on record: the Mavs are confident Wright is an NBA starter. He's a strong defender and plus rebounder, but he can't shoot or space the floor. Does Carlisle mean Wright can be a starter on a contender? Or is he a starter on a lottery team?

Jackson - Jackson models his game after George Gervin, and there are some similarities to his floater game; and Cuban has said JJ is being overlooked for his ability to impact the game at both ends. But JJ himself can often seem to just float. Is he a high impact starting SF? Or low impact finesse small ball 4?

Powell - Powell has been one of the most efficient backup centers in the NBA for several seasons but he closed last season strong in a starting role. He's clearly elite at one thing -- rim rolling. But he's clearly lacking in shooting, shot blocking, rebounding and size. The center position has changed drastically but this league still has some aircraft carriers like Jokic, Gobert, Embiid, Ayton, KAT, Drummond - not to mention strong traditional PFs like Aldridge. Can this team contend with Powell starting? Or is he an elite backup?

This is big enough news for a stand alone thread....

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1186382650581409794

https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/...6516847617