• Overcome injuries and scouting: The Mavs once stellar offensive rating has come down a little bit recently (still #1 though). A lot of it has to do with injuries, but also teams countering what the Mavs and Luka try to do. This will surely continue in 2020 and Dallas has to find ways to stay effective. The good news: Their rating during their recent skid would still rank top 10 in the league.
  
• Make a stand: Mavs now play six at home where they've struggled so far. Imho the AAC crowd is just weak outside crunch time so Dallas has to find other ways to dominate at home. Would be nice to go on a streak against manageable competition.
  
• Another scheduled loss? Back-2-backs are down, but definitely feels like the Mavs always get the tough ones. Recently we played at Toronto and at Staples on the tail end of a three in four. Now we get another three in four versus Denver, Lakers and 76ers. Thanks, but no thanks. Couldn't we get them first and then play the 3-in-4 vs Chicago, Brooklyn, and Charlotte? I'm sure the NBA does as best as it can, but some schedule situations are just bullshit. Give us a balanced round robin system already you jerks! On the other hand: Maybe we'll be mostly healthy by then.
  
• Crunch time issues or regression? A lot of talk about the Mavs choking away wins, but imho it's more a general regression and them looking tired. Will be interesting how Dallas is able to recover on the fly as the season is now just picking up. On way or the other, the Mavs flow is somewhat gone and they need to find ways to get it back.
  
• Brunson, Jackson, Powell: With guys being out Dallas needs more consistency from their role players. You could easily add Curry and Wright to this list, but I chose the three most obvious ones. Kleber is pretty much the only one performing on nightly basis.
  
• Call Reaves up? Reaves is playing well in the G-League and he seems to be a natural fill-in for Broekhoff. I hope the Mavs give him a shot now. He's a decent scorer and bulldog on defense.
  

(01-02-2020, 05:22 AM)j0Shi Wrote:

• Kleber is pretty much the only one performing on nightly basis.
  

(01-02-2020, 09:04 AM)DanSchwartzman Wrote:

(01-02-2020, 05:22 AM)j0Shi Wrote:

• Kleber is pretty much the only one performing on nightly basis.
  

I see this kind of thing a lot here.  Sometimes the eye test lies.  The team's O is 8 points per 100 worse with Maxi in the game (the D is 2.9 pp100 better for a net rating of - 5.1).  Last season the O was actually better when Maxi was on the floor (+1.7) and the D was +5.3.  His net rating was a stellar +6.9.  The metrics at 538.com aren't kind to Maxi either, but in fairness, his RPM numbers are good.

If anything, his raw data has improved this season.  Blocks are down, but scoring, rebounding and 3% are up slightly.  So, why is the team less effective when Maxi is on the floor this season?  My theory is his fit with the players around him.  He's playing 11.7 minutes less with Barea and 3 minutes less with Powell than he did a year ago.  On a bad team, Kleber + Powell were +8.5 and Kleber + Barea were +11.5.  Both numbers were astounding compared to all other combinations.  Powell is again BY FAR the best on/off player on the team (even without Barea).  Part of what made Maxi effective was he was a beneficiary of the Powell/Barea PnR and the Powell screen game.

Logically, this season, one might say that Powell gets more time with Luka.  So, the comparisons aren't fair.  Powell/KP/Luka is +7.4 while Maxi/KP/Luka is +1.2.  What Maxi really needs more of is Powell/Luka/Maxi.  That trio is +25 in 4.8 minutes per game in 22 games.  That trio works (and would help Maxi's numbers), but they don't use it very much.

(01-02-2020, 10:44 AM)j0Shi Wrote: It means he's playing with bad lineups.

(01-02-2020, 10:44 AM)j0Shi Wrote: Maxi's raw +/- is weird, but pretty much the only advanced stat that's looking bad for him. It means he's playing with bad lineups.

(01-02-2020, 02:13 PM)Fuerza1 Wrote: So KP is officially out again tonight. But Brooklyn is still without Kyrie and Levert. 

Since LeVert/Kyrie went down, Brooklyn is about top 5 in defensive rating. Their offense is mediocre but their defense can help them stay in the game. If it's close again in crunch time, they could pull off the upset. 

Ideally, we break their spirits early and build up a good enough lead heading into the 4Q.

(01-02-2020, 02:13 PM)Fuerza1 Wrote: So KP is officially out again tonight. But Brooklyn is still without Kyrie and Levert. 

Since LeVert/Kyrie went down, Brooklyn is about top 5 in defensive rating. Their offense is mediocre but their defense can help them stay in the game. If it's close again in crunch time, they could pull off the upset. 

Ideally, we break their spirits early and build up a good enough lead heading into the 4Q.

(01-02-2020, 10:44 AM)j0Shi Wrote:   It means he's playing with bad lineups.

(01-02-2020, 04:07 PM)ClutchDirk Wrote: http://twitter.com/coopmavs/status/1212807914085343233

(01-02-2020, 05:46 PM)DanSchwartzman Wrote:

(01-02-2020, 10:44 AM)j0Shi Wrote: It means he's playing with bad lineups.

KP and Powell have almost the same amount of minutes played this season. It is true that Powell gets more minutes with the other starters. KP/Luka/DFS/THJ + Powell generates a net rating of 10.9 compared to 4.8 when Maxi plays with those four. The question is whether those guys inflate Powell's numbers or the other way around.

Almost 60% of Maxi's minutes come with Luka. He's +6.8 with Luka, but Powell is +11.8 and gets 65% of his minutes with Luka. Luka's best two man lineups come with THJ and Powell.

Maxi gets 45% of his minutes with KP. He's +4.2 with KP, but Powell is +11.6. Powell gets 63% of his minutes with KP, but that isn't an advantage as KP is a net minus of 4.2 points when he's on the floor. So, that doesn't help the "Maxi plays with bad lineups" argument. KP's best pairings are with Brunson and Powell. I'm starting to sense a pattern here.

Maxi is 5.3 with THJ, but Powell is 13.4. THJ's best two man pairings are Luka and Powell. The best two main pairing with DFS? Powell.

We had similar assertions to the "Powell is a system player" last year with the "Death Lineup". "Barea makes Powell good". "He can't do the same without Barea". Then Barea got hurt and Powell and the Death Lineup continued to do just fine. In his time in Dallas Powell has averaged an O-Rating of 126 and a D-Rating of 107. No one else comes close to that kind of spread. At some point people will start to wonder whether (fill in the blank) is making the Powell lineups look good or if it is actually Powell who is responsible for his own numbers.

(01-02-2020, 06:27 PM)JamesConway Wrote: https://twitter.com/TexasLegends/status/1212874179445477379?s=20

DNP incoming lol

(01-02-2020, 05:46 PM)DanSchwartzman Wrote:

(01-02-2020, 10:44 AM)j0Shi Wrote:   It means he's playing with bad lineups.

KP and Powell have almost the same amount of minutes played this season.  It is true that Powell gets more minutes with the other starters.  KP/Luka/DFS/THJ + Powell generates a net rating of 10.9 compared to 4.8 when Maxi plays with those four.  The question is whether those guys inflate Powell's numbers or the other way around.  

Almost 60% of Maxi's minutes come with Luka.  He's +6.8 with Luka, but Powell is +11.8 and gets 65% of his minutes with Luka.  Luka's best two man lineups come with THJ and Powell.

Maxi gets 45% of his minutes with KP.  He's +4.2 with KP, but Powell is +11.6.  Powell gets 63% of his minutes with KP, but that isn't an advantage as KP is a net minus of 4.2 points when he's on the floor.  So, that doesn't help the "Maxi plays with bad lineups" argument.  KP's best pairings are with Brunson and Powell.  I'm starting to sense a pattern here. 

Maxi is 5.3 with THJ, but Powell is 13.4.  THJ's best two man pairings are Luka and Powell.  The best two main pairing with DFS?  Powell.

We had similar assertions to the "Powell is a system player" last year with the "Death Lineup".  "Barea makes Powell good".  "He can't do the same without Barea".  Then Barea got hurt and Powell and the Death Lineup continued to do just fine.  In his time in Dallas Powell has averaged an O-Rating of 126 and a D-Rating of 107.  No one else comes close to that kind of spread.  At some point people will start to wonder whether (fill in the blank) is making the Powell lineups look good or if it is actually Powell who is responsible for his own numbers.

(01-02-2020, 05:46 PM)DanSchwartzman Wrote:

(01-02-2020, 10:44 AM)j0Shi Wrote:   It means he's playing with bad lineups.

KP and Powell have almost the same amount of minutes played this season.  It is true that Powell gets more minutes with the other starters.  KP/Luka/DFS/THJ + Powell generates a net rating of 10.9 compared to 4.8 when Maxi plays with those four.  The question is whether those guys inflate Powell's numbers or the other way around.  

Almost 60% of Maxi's minutes come with Luka.  He's +6.8 with Luka, but Powell is +11.8 and gets 65% of his minutes with Luka.  Luka's best two man lineups come with THJ and Powell.

Maxi gets 45% of his minutes with KP.  He's +4.2 with KP, but Powell is +11.6.  Powell gets 63% of his minutes with KP, but that isn't an advantage as KP is a net minus of 4.2 points when he's on the floor.  So, that doesn't help the "Maxi plays with bad lineups" argument.  KP's best pairings are with Brunson and Powell.  I'm starting to sense a pattern here. 

Maxi is 5.3 with THJ, but Powell is 13.4.  THJ's best two man pairings are Luka and Powell.  The best two main pairing with DFS?  Powell.

We had similar assertions to the "Powell is a system player" last year with the "Death Lineup".  "Barea makes Powell good".  "He can't do the same without Barea".  Then Barea got hurt and Powell and the Death Lineup continued to do just fine.  In his time in Dallas Powell has averaged an O-Rating of 126 and a D-Rating of 107.  No one else comes close to that kind of spread.  At some point people will start to wonder whether (fill in the blank) is making the Powell lineups look good or if it is actually Powell who is responsible for his own numbers.