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+--- Thread: Game 9: Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3) | 6:30pm CST (/showthread.php?tid=3488)
RE: Game 9: Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3) | 6:30pm CST - KillerLeft - 11-10-2024
(11-10-2024, 12:25 PM)mvossman Wrote: Man that seems harsh. None of Grimes, Din or Hardy are making shots but Grimes is the only one who actually plays defense. And that statement is not even true if you are looking at the data (and I know they look at the data). I remember it took him forever to get Exum regular minutes and Grimes might be going down the same path.
I'm pulling for Grimes as much as you are, but I think the most logical takeaway here is that Kidd was expecting to see some things from Grimes that Grimes has not provided, not that Kidd just "doesn't get" why Grimes should be playing. Using hindsight combined with your Exum example, part of me wishes he would've sent a clearer message to Exum early during last season, because maybe then he'd have been playable during the post season. Maybe not, of course - just saying.
Then again, maybe this is just the entire organization punishing Grimes for not signing the extension they offered. We have no way of knowing, of course. But, given that Grimes hasn't been great in the time given, so far (on either end, really), I'd lean towards them simply wanting more from him being the answer. If one connects dots from there to the possibility that part of the let down is effort or buy-in related, the rotation choices of late start to make a bit more sense, imho. And, Kidd's message through the press (about Grimes, specifically) seem to add clout to that theory.
RE: Game 9: Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3) | 6:30pm CST - StrandedOnBeauboisHill - 11-10-2024
(11-10-2024, 12:25 PM)mvossman Wrote: Man that seems harsh. None of Grimes, Din or Hardy are making shots but Grimes is the only one who actually plays defense. And that statement is not even true if you are looking at the data (and I know they look at the data). I remember it took him forever to get Exum regular minutes and Grimes might be going down the same path.
Exum and Bullock were the two players I’ve been thinking of in terms of the path Grimes is on with Kidd. He does need to start making some of these shots though because he sure as hell ain’t shy about putting them up.
RE: Game 9: Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3) | 6:30pm CST - KillerLeft - 11-10-2024
(11-10-2024, 12:39 PM)StrandedOnBeauboisHill Wrote: Grimes...sure as hell ain’t shy about putting them up.
...which makes him an objectively (far) more valuable player than Exum, provided he makes a reasonable amount of them, as you say. I suspect there have been issues taken with some of his defensive choices, too, but maybe that's just about the early days of existing in a new system.
Either way, if Grimes doesn't work, this roster doesn't work, so this is officially concerning. I believe they'll figure it out, but I'm keeping an eye on it.
RE: Game 9: Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3) | 6:30pm CST - StrandedOnBeauboisHill - 11-10-2024
(11-10-2024, 12:42 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: ...which makes him an objectively (far) more valuable player than Exum, provided he makes a reasonable amount of them, as you say. I suspect there have been issues taken with some of his defensive choices, too, but maybe that's just about the early days of existing in a new system.
Either way, if Grimes doesn't work, this roster doesn't work, so this is officially concerning. I believe they'll figure it out, but I'm keeping an eye on it.
Ya definitely wasn’t trying to say that as a bad thing, just a matter of fact thing. I’m rooting for him though because I fully agree he HAS to be a big piece of this bench unit for it to be successful.
On paper, a Exum/Grimes/Naji/Maxi/Lively second unit is pretty great, we just have to have a little patience and a lot health luck for that to work out it appears.
Somewhat related, definitely feels like we’re getting ready to shop Hardy pretty hard at the deadline based on these early games.
RE: Game 9: Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3) | 6:30pm CST - mvossman - 11-10-2024
(11-10-2024, 12:42 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: ...which makes him an objectively (far) more valuable player than Exum, provided he makes a reasonable amount of them, as you say. I suspect there have been issues taken with some of his defensive choices, too, but maybe that's just about the early days of existing in a new system.
Either way, if Grimes doesn't work, this roster doesn't work, so this is officially concerning. I believe they'll figure it out, but I'm keeping an eye on it.
I believe they will as well. Grimes managed to work his way into the starting lineup on a Thibs team, so he obviously knows how to work his ass off.
RE: Game 9: Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3) | 6:30pm CST - omahen - 11-10-2024
Luka had a rough start in first couple of games, but he is back to his "normal" TS in last five games. He didn't deliver an out of the world performance yet, but he has been far from bad. Other than the game against Indiana, he is also playing very solid defense. Mavs are (significantly) better with him on the court than off.
Mavs as a team have 6th best defense in the league so far, which is a great sign, imho. Despite losing (letting go) their arguably best defender, they still have good defense, which is a great sign, if they are able to keep it up. Their offense is 12th best, still solid. Mavs are shooting threes below league average at the moment, which is likely main reason driving their offense down. I would expect that to improve. Their net rating is 8th best in the league. I would say they are doing just fine. They lost a couple of tight games, but nothing to worry about, imho.
Mavs are still taking very good care of the ball, consequently not allowing many points from turnovers. Defensive rebounding is the one thing that is currently standing out on the negative side, as Mavs are just 20th in the league.
As for slow start against Phoenix, we also need to take into account that Phoenix was shooting 61 % from three (on 13 attempts) in the first quarter. That included 2 threes from Nurkic, who is 34 % from three this season and was 29 % last one. Once Phoenix shooting normalized, Mavs were back in the game. This was all with missing two of their top6 guys against a team with a hot start to the season.
RE: Game 9: Phoenix Suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3) | 6:30pm CST - RGP1981 - 11-12-2024
I feel that Grimes' best utility will come when he's playing in this lineup with these specific players.
Kyrie - Grimes - Luka - PJW - Lively/Gafford.
How much playing time has this lineup gotten so far? Not sure if they've even been on the court together at all.
It's so obvious... lol, so maybe that's why the Mavs don't see it. Guess they'll go through all other options before they finally get to this one.