Game 45 Dirkie Thread: P.J. Washington

[ballsrchr]

Well...I guess lightning does strike twice. Those who didn't watch the game missed a good one. I'm afeared that by the end of the season the Mavs may not have the minimum number of players left to suit up.

Kessler Edwards played better than I expected him to.

OKC must have decided that if they can't stop Gafford they'll kick him in the head and rip his nuts off. It...sort of worked...

Whooo doggies! Kyrie is the man...also sort of. With the condition of his back and the fatigue factor he can only play to an elite level in parts of games--or against OKC. Right now I think that's good enough.

Dinwiddie continues to stop the ball and dribble too much. But sometimes he can score the points. He rises against OKC.

Omax Prosper! I'm quite happy with his performance. He's a lot raw, is developing an offensive game, and always brings effort and enthusiasm to the game.

Quentin Grimes' play was timely. I don't cringe when he gets the ball. I don't know if ya'll remember some of those guys who made us cringe if they even stepped on the court...

I saved the best for last. P. J. Washington has earned my Dirike tonight. He has the right blend of skill, size, and strength. It looks like he is learning how to use it.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

PJW - gets my vote (probably the most hated Mav in OKC right now).

Runner-up - SD (I still hate him calling his own, but when he has it -- he HAS it).

Omax and Edwards -- deserves to be mentioned.

[Reunion Mav]

PJW - gets my vote (probably the most hated Mav in OKC right now).

Runner-up - SD (I still hate him calling his own, but when he has it -- he HAS it).

Omax and Edwards -- deserves to be mentioned.

I agree that Omax seems to be starting to get it. He and Kessler both really contributed tonight. Kyrie earned all his props and more as usual. He gives us hope for a recovery this year. But my Dirkie vote goes to PJ by absolute landslide.

[SleepingHero]

I might be the only one, but Dinwiddie played practically a perfect game. He stepped up in the 4th when OKC got some momentum. He made such a smart play by holding the ball with 3 minutes left and finding Maxi wide open for a kill shot 3. It's crazy because if Dinwiddie played like this every game, we'd already have 40 wins. Dude played incredible. I have to give him the Dirkie just for that. That level of Dinwiddie play at his best literally turns this team into a super team when healthy.

PJ also played a practically perfect game. 22 points and what should be 20 rebounds, is an insane game by any measure. His effort on the boards was game changing. Herculean effort. Deserving of a dirkie.

OMax had his best game of his career tonight. His ability to get to the rim has surprised me over and over. He plays with pure effort and that alone saved the Mavs at least 10 points this game. I don't get why he doesn't get more minutes, especially from Maxi. If he can play like this every night he deserves it.

Kessler Edwards surprised me tonight. He has zero offensive game. He passed up so many wide open looks (which may have been smart given that OKC was begging him to shoot) that made it like the Mavs played 4 on 5 down on offense. But defensively? Sheesh. That dude covered Shai almost perfectly tonight. So many good contests and rotations. I can see why Nico and the Mavs made him a priority as a developmental spot.
Honorable mention to JKidd for that ingenious matchup 2-3 zone. OKC was flummoxed. They shaded 2 to the ball and had the big man tag the corner instead of the dude flashing middle. Honestly an incredible idea and it was so unique. Either corner had to cover the middle and it basically forced OKC's centers and wings into shots they aren't comfortable with. It's super risky, because if the corner man can't get in front of the rim fast enough, it's a wide open dunk. But we saw the benefits. Again, I have no clue how a coach that can conjure up that level of defensive mastery also the very next night look totally checked out and allow his team to play with no juice.

Anyways, what a game. What a fight.

[Mavs2021]

PJW - gets my vote (probably the most hated Mav in OKC right now).

Runner-up - SD (I still hate him calling his own, but when he has it -- he HAS it).

Omax and Edwards -- deserves to be mentioned.

Dinwiddie decides all our recent games. He kills the ball, when he´s on the floor. As long as his hero shots go in, we win his minutes and likely the game. If they don´t go in, we are dead.

[BolsDamols]

No votes for OMax? Let me fix that

[Chicagojk]

Dinwiddie decides all our recent games. He kills the ball, when he´s on the floor. As long as his hero shots go in, we win his minutes and likely the game. If they don´t go in, we are dead.

He is way more valuable than a minimum guy, but man when he is off it can be rough.  He certainly wasn't off last night.  Ideally, he is in a smaller role where the teams success does not depend so much on his performance.

My Dirkie goes to PJ.  Should have been a 20-20 game.  I love how he put his head down and attacked the smaller OKC Thunder team.  It won't be that easy when they have their starting centers, but it is exactly how he should play when teams don't have a shot blocker.  His defensive rebounding was awesome.   You can't allow OKC to beat you up there.  PJ had almost half our rebounds last night.

Special shotout to OMax and Edwards.  You see glimpses that Omax could be our backup 4 (and then potentially more) with more experience.   If he could just slow down a tick and gain a tad more awareness, there is no reason he couldn't continue to develop getting backup 4 minutes.   It probably doesn't happen this year when eveyone is healthy.   One, negative thing..make your free throws Omax.  Going 1-4 late in the third could of come back to hurt us.   He also needs to finish better in contact.   To not finish at the rim and then miss the two free throws was painful.   

There is no reason why Edwards can't have a long NBA career.  His size and defense are exactly what teams are looking for.   I am fine with him being a reluctant shooter.  It is a nice change from most young players.  With that being said, when a player drives and kicks to the corner, you need to take that open three.   If you don't it allows the defense to settle.  I looked at his college stats and he was a solid three point shooter.    He just needs to know the shots he has to take.

[ThisIStheYear]

If it’s OKC, just get that Dirkie prepped for P.J.

[KillerLeft]

OMax had his best game of his career tonight. His ability to get to the rim has surprised me over and over. He plays with pure effort and that alone saved the Mavs at least 10 points this game. I don't get why he doesn't get more minutes, especially from Maxi. If he can play like this every night he deserves it.

With Kidd forced to play Kleber at the 5 (which I'd argue is in everyone's best interest, anyway), my guess is that we're going to see plenty of O-Max in the coming weeks. Good thing he's starting to figure it out. Let's hope that trend continues.

[KillerLeft]

Speaking of Kleber at the 5, it sure is interesting how often he's CLOSING these games since he started playing there again, and usually to successful effect when "winning time" is close enough to be a contest.

To be clear, this has been a great stretch of play from Gafford. Kleber is not a better basketball player than Gafford, obviously. But, down the stretch against these good teams with swarming defenses and sophisticated offenses, the priority has to be flooring a unit that can CLOSE OUT to shooters for the full shot clock when in defensive rotation and CREATE DRIVING LANES on offense through good spacing.

That's why guys like Dinwiddie, Kyrie and Grimes had better games down the stretch last night. That's why Dallas was hitting more of those dagger 3's than OKC. The only downside is that it requires PJW (and others) to have monster games on the glass, but that's probably going to be a need no matter what they do.

[mvossman]

Speaking of Kleber at the 5, it sure is interesting how often he's CLOSING these games since he started playing there again, and usually to successful effect when "winning time" is close enough to be a contest.

To be clear, this has been a great stretch of play from Gafford. Kleber is not a better basketball player than Gafford, obviously. But, down the stretch against these good teams with swarming defenses and sophisticated offenses, the priority has to be flooring a unit that can CLOSE OUT to shooters for the full shot clock when in defensive rotation and CREATING DRIVING LANES on offense through good spacing.

That's why guys like Dinwiddie, Kyrie and Grimes had better games down the stretch last night. That's why Dallas was hitting more of those dagger 3's than OKC. The only downside is that it requires PJW (and others) to have monster games on the glass, but that's probably going to be a need no matter what they do.

Yep.  Its the same thing Kidd did when Lively was out late last season (another good Gafford run).  As well as Gafford was playing, Kidd generally closed with Maxi.