SL Game 2: DAL vs SA @ 3:00cst on ESPN

[F Gump]

Agree with everyone above me.    That's what I've been trying to say.

Is this going to be a gap year to develop Flagg's offensive game?  Take some Ls but give him the ball and let him develop. 

Or are you really trying to win with Dangelo Russell as the #1 playmaker?

If you remove the word "gap" and the "L's" idea, then I would say ALL of the above is part of their plan for this season. 

They want to develop CF to the max and put him in learning opportunities. 
They expect DAR will be a major contributor. 
AND they want to do it all in a way that they will win and be one of the NBAs best. 

There will be a LOT of figuring it out as they go. Thats the price of having a lot of talent that can help, if you figure how to use them in the right way. Its a good "problem" to have. Coaches gotta coach.

[Chicagojk]

Spurs have a bright future. I wish Wemby played somewhere else. He is such a easy guy to root for. Eventhough the Spurs future is bright, put me in the camp that they need to prove they are the "old spurs". The old Spurs were the best run organization in sports for about 20 years. Since the old guard retired they have been very iffy. "picking" Wemby and selecting Castle does not mean they are the best of the best of organizations.

https://www.mavsboard.com/showthread.php?tid=2709&pid=224742#pid224742

Props to Juanc. I was impressed by Jones Garcia. I don't know if it games just fits summer league or if there is something there.

I really like Bryant. Seems like a guy who just makes impacts when he isn't scoring. His blocks after he is beaten is really great. Scary to think you will need to worry about Wemby at the rim and him coming out of nowhere to get a block.

Flagg was really good. I wonder if we see him again this summer league. He has played a lot of minutes.

Kelly looks the part. Wasn't as good in game two but is a guy who will really work with a team who can find open shooters.

Poor game by Nemhard. Just a summer league game but you have little room for error being a small point guard. Lets see how he bounces back.

I really don't see much in either or our centers. Good athletes with great height, not very good basketball players.

Maxwell Lewis has not really shown much thru two games.

[Winter]

Flagg was a man playing with boys.

I'm not sure he needs another game, but we should know tomorrow or Monday whether he's going to play again.

I can imagine Kelly hanging on for awhile. He's got a nice skillset and a good shot. And as poor as Nembard's stats are today, he still looks like the only PG on that team. No one else looked like they could make it as a rotation player anytime in the future.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

If you remove the word "gap" and the "L's" idea, then I would say ALL of the above is part of their plan for this season. 

They want to develop CF to the max and put him in learning opportunities. 
They expect DAR will be a major contributor. 
AND they want to do it all in a way that they will win and be one of the NBAs best. 

There will be a LOT of figuring it out as they go. Thats the price of having a lot of talent that can help, if you figure how to use them in the right way. Its a good "problem" to have. Coaches gotta coach.

Do you have some kind of inside source with the team?  You often state things matter of factly like you know what is going on and what you are opining on here is fact.

I don't think Cooper Flagg can play guard like you've been telling us and I don't think you can win with 3 centers and 2 power forwards playing a lot of time on the court together.

[F Gump]

I don't think Cooper Flagg can play guard like you've been telling us and I don't think you can win with 3 centers and 2 power forwards playing a lot of time on the court together.

" I don't think Cooper Flagg can play guard like you've been telling us and ..."

FWIW, what we are seeing in SL is exactly what I have been talking about. And they keep saying that's exactly what they are trying to do. They admit he's a work in progress in doing so, and that's not the norm for him previously, but are undeterred and believe he has the capacity to learn to excel (and do so relatively rapidly, if given the chance) in that role. Go figure.

Maybe you want to call it something rather than him working as a guard, in the way he is used on the offensive end to frequently initiate the offense and at times bring the ball up the floor. I dunno. Fine by me. But it is very apparent they see CF as potentially/hopefully one piece of the puzzle in solving their need to have players who create offense. 

"I don't think you can win with 3 centers and 2 power forwards playing a lot of time on the court together." ....Hyperbole much? While the Mavs certainly have a lot of talented bigger players, I don't know of anyone, myself included, who thinks they will ever play a 3C 2PF lineup. Sheesh. But yes, they may tend to use lineups that are bigger than most teams. Got me there.

[Winter]

I don't think Cooper Flagg can play guard like you've been telling us and I don't think you can win with 3 centers and 2 power forwards playing a lot of time on the court together.

You make it sound like guard is some kind of permanent label. If he brings the ball up the court, he's now a guard? I doubt any game starts without a true PG like Russell. Will it start with Flagg instead of Klay? Doubtful... but remotely possible perhaps (although I can't imagine it at the start of a game). More likely Flagg is a front line player who sometimes brings the ball up the court. That's what he's done the last two games.

This is a game of matchups. The Mavs have some versatility. All sorts of mismatches are possible. I'm not sure why this is confusing. Just because Flagg performs a duty usually relegated to guards, it does not necessarily assign some "G" label to it. Maybe the lineup is tweaked at some point in the game to a very big lineup, but that's generally because of the opponents lineup ... not a permanent designation. If Flagg and PJ find themselves in the game with AD and Lively, it will be because the mismatch is in our favor.

[Chicagojk]

You have to be impressed with Cooper. I hope they sit him out the remainder of summer league. I would love to see more of him, but I think I have seen enough. I have been more impressed with his handle than I was expecting. They got away from him iniating the offense yesterday as the game went on. He looks poised and doesn't make many mistakes. With that being said, I think it is going to take time before he can effectively run a team (not in the Doncic level). I think he is going to be asked to make decisions in half court sets often. I think he can do that well now. Not without some failure but where you have pre-determined reads mostly. He is a pretty skilled passer.

In some cases handling the ball in summer league is more challenging than a regular season game. With that being said, if I am another team I am forcing the ball out of our guards hands and trying to make Cooper, PJ, Klay bring the ball up to get organized. I think this will lead to a lot of uneven offense play where you don't get good possessions. It is going to take time, but I feel he is going to be thrown into the fire either by design or teams forcing this style.

[Winter]

I don't need to see him either. No sense in risking injury.

In an interview yesterday, he said he was a lot more exhausted with bringing the ball up the court. And with Carter Bryant playing a stifling defense, probably even more so. But he can do it. I think he had only 3 TOs for both games, and only one related to his handles. He's such a handful going to the basket using either hand to finish.

I think FG mentioned this earlier, but he's faster than I thought. It doesn't seem like it because he's got such a long stride, but he regularly beat guards and wings to the basket on the fast break. And he's largey unfazed by the media. He did interviews like a champ and answered the questions easily. I can't believe this guy is 18.

[SleepingHero]

I don't need to see him either. No sense in risking injury.

In an interview yesterday, he said he was a lot more exhausted with bringing the ball up the court. And with Carter Bryant playing a stifling defense, probably even more so. But he can do it. I think he had only 3 TOs for both games, and only one related to his handles. He's such a handful going to the basket using either hand to finish.

I think FG mentioned this earlier, but he's faster than I thought. It doesn't seem like it because he's got such a long stride, but he regularly beat guards and wings to the basket on the fast break. And he's largey unfazed by the media. He did interviews like a champ and answered the questions easily. I can't believe this guy is 18.

What really blows my mind is that the day he starts the NBA regular season should've been his freshman college basketball career. 

He is so poised out there both on and off the court. It's jarring truly.

[Chicagojk]

What really blows my mind is that the day he starts the NBA regular season should've been his freshman college basketball career. 

He is so poised out there both on and off the court. It's jarring truly.

I love his demeanor on the court.   Plays with passion but without all the BS complaining.  I hope the NBA doesn't change him.  Maybe not having an owner who tries to blame everything on the refs is a benefit as well.

I think there are going to be plenty of challenges.  Maybe especially on finding and getting to his spots on offense.  It is exciting of him putting in the work the next few years on what are his spots and how he gets to them.   It was always a fun journey watching Dirk and Luka get there.  Luka much faster than Dirk.

I also really hope Mark is laying the groundwork of a Dirk and Cooper mentorship.  Even if it wasn't tied to the Mavs organization.  I think they could really have a good relationship while not being Mavs specific.   I would love to see that relationship build.

[ballsrchr]

I love his demeanor on the court.   Plays with passion but without all the BS complaining.  I hope the NBA doesn't change him.  Maybe not having an owner who tries to blame everything on the refs is a benefit as well.

I think there are going to be plenty of challenges.  Maybe especially on finding and getting to his spots on offense.  It is exciting of him putting in the work the next few years on what are his spots and how he gets to them.   It was always a fun journey watching Dirk and Luka get there.  Luka much faster than Dirk.

I also really hope "anyone" is laying the groundwork of a Dirk and Cooper mentorship.  Even if it wasn't tied to the Mavs organization.  I think they could really have a good relationship while not being Mavs specific.   I would love to see that relationship build.

This.  I don't know what Nico did to turn Dirk sour on the Mavs organization, but CF could learn a lot from Dirk--as a man, basketball player, and friend.  Dirk had some warts, but he always worked hard to improve in every way.  My hat's off to Dirk.  I hope we can eventually say the same to CF.

Wow...I try not to, but I'm also putting a lot on CF.  When I was 18--60 years ago--I was dumb as a bag of rocks.  I did stupid, stupid things.  I just hope the pressure won't be too much for CF.

[Jmaciscool]

This.  I don't know what Nico did to turn Dirk sour on the Mavs organization, but CF could learn a lot from Dirk--as a man, basketball player, and friend.  Dirk had some warts, but he always worked hard to improve in every way.  My hat's off to Dirk.  I hope we can eventually say the same to CF.

Wow...I try not to, but I'm also putting a lot on CF.  When I was 18--60 years ago--I was dumb as a bag of rocks.  I did stupid, stupid things.  I just hope the pressure won't be too much for CF.

From what I recall (can't remember the source) Dirk took a step back from the Mavs after Casey Smith wasn't retained. Dirk didn't like how Casey was treated.

[From Dirk to SCREW YOU Nico]

From what I recall (can't remember the source) Dirk took a step back from the Mavs after Casey Smith wasn't retained. Dirk didn't like how Casey was treated.

That is correct.

[Chicagojk]

From what I recall (can't remember the source) Dirk took a step back from the Mavs after Casey Smith wasn't retained. Dirk didn't like how Casey was treated.

I don’t think we ever get Dirk back with the current leadership.  That is fine.  He gave everything for the franchise and now has a national gig with the nba.  I just hope for some independent stuff from him.  Maybe some informal mentoring with Flagg and some fan stuff not team related.  I don’t think the new leadership deserves anything official from Dirk at the moment.

[KillerLeft]

I don’t think we ever get Dirk back with the current leadership.  That is fine.  He gave everything for the franchise and now has a national gig with the nba.  I just hope for some independent stuff from him.  Maybe some informal mentoring with Flagg and some fan stuff not team related.  I don’t think the new leadership deserves anything official from Dirk at the moment.

I mean, he did record a video welcoming Cooper Flagg to Dallas, presumably at the behest of the current Mavs PR team. I know that's a small thing, but it's not nothing. I don't think Dirk will ever be "done" with the Mavs, even temporarily.

[Chicagojk]

https://x.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/194...75/photo/1

[Winter]

https://x.com/All_Things_Mavs/status/194...75/photo/1

That guy just isn't confused at all about his ability to perform in the NBA. He knows he can do it. He just knows it. And he hasn't played a game yet.

I think the most common thing I've heard about him is, "He always makes the right play".... which is probably why he will be in the starting lineup in October.