(08-08-2024, 05:13 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: Not even the fact that he may in fact be the second best player on the team with only a year under his belt? I'll hang up and listen.

(08-08-2024, 07:33 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: I've drank the kool-klaid and I'm just throwing it out there we're going to see a 25ppg Klay domination. 

Lively can have 2nd best player in year 3.

(08-08-2024, 09:03 PM)Smitty Wrote: That’s a lot of kool-aid. Kyrie is still the second best player on this team. Klay and Lively can battle it out for 3rd.

(08-08-2024, 11:30 AM)michaeltex Wrote: I think you're looking at ~6 weeks recovery before you start doing normal exercising, maybe longer when working out at a professional athlete level. Anyone want to bet what "bored Luka" will be doing during the recovery? Plus, 6 weeks is a significant chunk of an off season to not work on improving your skills.

Managing his diet, including alcohol intake, and working to build his stamina probably yields the best results. Simplistic to say and hard to do, but he can afford a support staff to help him find his way.

With a deeper team and improvements in some of the returning players (e.g., PJW and DLive) hopefully Luka can just relax not having to be the hero every game and get back to enjoying the game, although for a little fewer MPG. Happy Luka is much more of a terror for the opposition than stressed Luka, just ask Booker.

(08-08-2024, 05:13 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: Not even the fact that he may in fact be the second best player on the team with only a year under his belt? I'll hang up and listen.

(08-15-2024, 08:08 AM)Smitty Wrote: Missed games the last two seasons:

Luka: 16 & 12 | AVG. 14
Kyrie: 22 & 24 | AVG. 23
Klay: 13 & 5 | AVG. 9
PJW: 9 & 9 | AVG. 9
Lively: 27 | AVG. 27
Gaff: 4 & 8 | AVG. 6


I think it's safe to say Kyrie will miss 20+ games again this upcoming season. Others will miss time as well... I wanted to look at the starters and see what we can expect from a missed games perspective and imagine how the depth will help this team in the regular season. I think most of us agree that a top 4 seed in the West is critical, that the likelihood of making another run to the Finals as the road dog in each series is very unlikely.

With Luka out: Dinwiddie starts
Din | Exum
Kyrie | Hardy
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Lively | Gafford

With Kyrie out: Dinwiddie starts
Luka | Exum
Din | Hardy
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Lively | Gafford

With Klay out: Grimes starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Grimes | Naji
PJW | Maxi
Lively | Gafford

With PJW out: Naji starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Klay | Grimes
Naji | Maxi
Lively | Gafford

With Lively out: Gafford starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Gafford | Maxi

One thing I'd like to note on Luka. He might not miss as many games as Kyrie but he definitely plays a lot of games banged up. Near the end of the season he's almost always playing on one leg. We had a discussion about the rotation and what it looks like when everyone is healthy and a lot want Luka's minutes to go down to 30-32 MPG, which is just unrealistic. However, I think the more realistic path to help Luka with the nagging injuries is to lower his usage percentage. He's been at an unsustainable rate the last 5 years at 36.0% or more. Even Lebron, who's a freak athlete and ball dominant has only averaged 31.5% in his career with a high of 33.8%.
Now that the team has skill and depth, it's important that Kidd and the coaching staff find a way to reduce the workload for Luka when he's on the floor. Adding Klay and Grimes who are movement shooters and Naji/Dinwiddie that can handle the ball, it looks like the Mavs have the personnel to make the necessary changes to the offense. IF Luka's usage doesn't go down significantly this year, I'm blaming the coaching staff! And by significantly, I mean that he needs to be around his rookie year number of 30.5%.

(08-15-2024, 01:46 PM)Jym Wrote: Maybe this will be the year that Kidd will stop playing Luka for 12 minute stretches without a break
Makes zero sense to keep doing that. None, nada, zip

(08-15-2024, 01:57 PM)DallasMaverick Wrote: Western Conference champions.

(08-15-2024, 01:57 PM)DallasMaverick Wrote: Western Conference champions.

(08-15-2024, 04:23 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: Could have been NBA champions if Luka wasn't banged up. And if Kyrie had gotten over his Celtics block.

(08-15-2024, 09:44 PM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: Boston was a better defensive team. It didn't matter if Luka was healthy or not, and if Kyrie didn't get the yips playing them.

(08-16-2024, 06:59 AM)F Gump Wrote: I think the regular season is more than a prelude to the post-season that you can just yawn your way through.

IMO it's the prep for the post-season. It's where coaches have to figure out their best-of-the-best players, lineups, rotations, etc. Who can they trust. Who is valuable against this type of opposition or that, and who sucks?

It's also where players have to get ready.

If Luka is going to play long stretches in the playoffs, he has to prepare in the regular season. Not every game, but on a semi-regular basis -- like games against the better teams. He can't play lightly in the 82 and then be ready for playing through fatigue in what follows.

I'd also note that Luka isn't playing heavy minutes for a star player, in historical terms including recent history. Star players tend to like to play, and play a lot. They don't want to sit, or have lesser players mess a game up. Last season 35-year-old KD played more minutes than Luka, and about the same number of mpg. That's just how it goes.

For a point of reference, J Kidd (who was a similar type of player in a similar situation in NJ at a similar age) played a very similar number of minutes and mpg as we see Luka playing now. And Kidd was effective in carrying that team, including 2 Finals runs that no one expected from them.

That's my 2c.

(08-16-2024, 07:19 AM)Smitty Wrote: Luka will no doubt continue to play 36+ MPG / 2,400-2,700 total minutes. That's why I highlighted his usage percentage as a way to reduce the wear and tear of an 82-game season. I think most of us agree that the Mavs have to do something to get him through the season healthier. At the rate he's at, he may not play past the age 30.

(08-16-2024, 02:58 AM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: We'll agree to (vehemently) disagree. Boston didn't have a superstar (in my strong opinion - Brown and Tatum are elite stars, not superstars), and Luka is a superstar. A healthy Luka could have (and in my opinion, notwithstanding the defensive stoutness of Brown, Tatum, Holiday, and White, would have) taken over that series. Kyrie shitting the bed absolutely didn't help - most of all, I think that in itself led to Luka giving up. If Kyrie had played to his usual standards, I strongly believe gimpy Luka and our defenders would have at least made it a far more competitive series rather than something of a gentleman's sweep.