GAME 68: DAL (42-26) vs. BOS (41-28)| 95-92 WIN!

[KillerLeft]

Why is it that conversation/board participation seems to decrease when the team wins? Is it just that people delight in complaining when things don't go the Mavs' way, or are there actually people who are annoyed that they won this game? 

Serious question.

[dirkfansince1998]

Why is it that conversation/board participation seems to decrease when the team wins? Is it just that people delight in complaining when things don't go the Mavs' way, or are there actually people who are annoyed that they won this game? 

Serious question.

Work sucks but it feels like the Mavs are playing a lot better when I cannot watch any games. Maybe I should just stop.

For real. We have 5-10 posters that are responsible for the majority of content on this board. If 2-3 of them are missing it really shows. Other ideas. Mavslur is gone and some people joined him on the LMF forum. A lot of people hated the KP trade and might need some time to come around and enjoy the new Mavs.

[BolsDamols]

Luka looked so fresh in that 4Q, seems like he was taking step back threes at half speed. Such a huge improvement over the past few seasons where he had to carry much of the load and runs out of gas at the end of games.

[Smitty]

How many times I’ve said “this is the best win of the year”. What a dog fight!

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Why is it that conversation/board participation seems to decrease when the team wins? Is it just that people delight in complaining when things don't go the Mavs' way, or are there actually people who are annoyed that they won this game? 

Serious question.

This place is always pretty quiet on weekends. I have noticed that a certain hater has been real quiet once the team and trade both proved to be very solid and he generated a ton of (negative) content on these boards.

[Smitty]

The game chat on discord has become unbearable for me. One poster in particular is just too over the top. It’s easier to follow on discord than here but I come to this site afterwards to look through what I’ve missed. FWIW.

[mvossman]

Work sucks but it feels like the Mavs are playing a lot better when I cannot watch any games. Maybe I should just stop.

For real. We have 5-10 posters that are responsible for the majority of content on this board. If 2-3 of them are missing it really shows. Other ideas. Mavslur is gone and some people joined him on the LMF forum. A lot of people hated the KP trade and might need some time to come around and enjoy the new Mavs.

I enjoy watching the new Mavs but still hate that trade, especially in conjunction with the prior offseason.  As great as Din has been for us, we could have had him during the offseason when we flat out stated our biggest need was playmaking "with size".  A Din/Holmes offseason would have made way more sense then THJ/Bullock.  

But who knows, maybe we tried Dinwiddie (there were rumors) but he would rather run the offense in Washington than play second fiddle to Luka.  Maybe his struggles in Washington was just what we needed for him to come here with the right attitude, but that seems more like luck than something carefully planned out.  

I get that KP needed to go, and I am glad he is gone, but we left ourselves with no legit starting center and nearly 40 mil in long term contracts on overpriced shoot only players.

[Jason Terry]

I enjoy watching the new Mavs but still hate that trade, especially in conjunction with the prior offseason.  As great as Din has been for us, we could have had him during the offseason when we flat out stated our biggest need was playmaking "with size".  A Din/Holmes offseason would have made way more sense then THJ/Bullock.  

But who knows, maybe we tried Dinwiddie (there were rumors) but he would rather run the offense in Washington than play second fiddle to Luka.  Maybe his struggles in Washington was just what we needed for him to come here with the right attitude, but that seems more like luck than something carefully planned out.  

I get that KP needed to go, and I am glad he is gone, but we left ourselves with no legit starting center and nearly 40 mil in long term contracts on overpriced shoot only players.

But we’re winning against good teams. Maybe not having a legit starting center is no big deal. We look better than ever

[mvossman]

But we’re winning against good teams. Maybe not having a legit starting center is no big deal. We look better than ever

We have been on a really good run for quite a long time (starting well before the trade).  It really helped when Luka started playing like a super star again.  But I feel like we are watching Powell and Maxi get ground into dust before our eyes.  I don't think we are going to be able to sustain this level of play for the rest of the regular season, and more importantly I think the playoffs are a different beast than the regular season.  Our lack of interior defense and rebounding can be exploited a lot more effectively by a playoff team that has 7 games to work on it.

And if either Powell or Maxi miss significant time in a playoff series, we are totally screwed.  We should not be that dependent on two guys who realistically should be coming off the bench.

[audiosway]

Why is it that conversation/board participation seems to decrease when the team wins? Is it just that people delight in complaining when things don't go the Mavs' way, or are there actually people who are annoyed that they won this game? 

Serious question.

I've noticed that too. It seems like that with a lot of things that go on in life. No one says anything unless it's a complaint. That's why it's easy to find bad reviews on a product but good ones the business really has to work to get.

[cow]

Why is it that conversation/board participation seems to decrease when the team wins? Is it just that people delight in complaining when things don't go the Mavs' way, or are there actually people who are annoyed that they won this game? 

Serious question.

Human nature.

[OBX Maverick]

I've noticed that too. It seems like that with a lot of things that go on in life. No one says anything unless it's a complaint. That's why it's easy to find bad reviews on a product but good ones the business really has to work to get.

Hell, I’ll post after a win! I hardly post anyway, but I found the discussion about less posts after wins kinda funny…. In reality, today, I waited to watch the game before I made a 5 hour drive back from the coast.  Literally just got in. Think there may be fewer posters after weekend-day games as folks are often doing other things, too. 

Speaking of center depth….has anyone heard anything new about Chriss? I’ve heard that he’s day to day, but he’s been that for a few weeks it seems. Mavs have been strangely quiet about him.

[Mavs2021]

I enjoy watching the new Mavs but still hate that trade, especially in conjunction with the prior offseason.  As great as Din has been for us, we could have had him during the offseason when we flat out stated our biggest need was playmaking "with size".  A Din/Holmes offseason would have made way more sense then THJ/Bullock.  

But who knows, maybe we tried Dinwiddie (there were rumors) but he would rather run the offense in Washington than play second fiddle to Luka.  Maybe his struggles in Washington was just what we needed for him to come here with the right attitude, but that seems more like luck than something carefully planned out.  

I get that KP needed to go, and I am glad he is gone, but we left ourselves with no legit starting center and nearly 40 mil in long term contracts on overpriced shoot only players.

You can find a cheap center all the time, especially if you just need a legit BIG to cover 15-20 minutes max. As good as the more mobile defense line-ups are they are so vulnerable to 2nd chance points. I think yesterday it was like 20 to 3 in Boston´s favor, which is crazy considering the low-scoring nature of the game.

How good this team can be, we´ll learn in the play-offs.

[mvossman]

You can find a cheap center all the time, especially if you just need a legit BIG to cover 15-20 minutes max. As good as the more mobile defense line-ups are they are so vulnerable to 2nd chance points. I think yesterday it was like 20 to 3 in Boston´s favor, which is crazy considering the low-scoring nature of the game.

How good this team can be, we´ll learn in the play-offs.

I understand the argument for a cheap center to consume 15-20 minutes, and if we do nothing else that would be helpful, but my question is who do we want on the court in crunch time in the playoffs?  Right now I figure its the three PG and DFS.  That group could really use an interior defensive anchor.  Maxi is the only real option for that right now, but he has really struggled offensively in crunch time.  I would argue a mobile starting quality center that can protect the rim, get rebounds and not be a complete negative on offense would be a huge help to this team, and should not be that expensive to acquire.

[Jason Terry]

I understand the argument for a cheap center to consume 15-20 minutes, and if we do nothing else that would be helpful, but my question is who do we want on the court in crunch time in the playoffs?  Right now I figure its the three PG and DFS.  That group could really use an interior defensive anchor.  Maxi is the only real option for that right now, but he has really struggled offensively in crunch time.  I would argue a mobile starting quality center that can protect the rim, get rebounds and not be a complete negative on offense would be a huge help to this team, and should not be that expensive to acquire.

Playoff closing lineup:
Luka
Dinwiddie
Bullock
DFS
Maxi

I guess we’ll see what this group can do. Even if we got Holmes though i still think we run out this same lineup.

[SleepingHero]

Work sucks but it feels like the Mavs are playing a lot better when I cannot watch any games. Maybe I should just stop.

For real. We have 5-10 posters that are responsible for the majority of content on this board. If 2-3 of them are missing it really shows. Other ideas. Mavslur is gone and some people joined him on the LMF forum. A lot of people hated the KP trade and might need some time to come around and enjoy the new Mavs.

I too have been busy the last week. Hard to make time to post.

[ItsGoTime]

You can find a cheap center all the time, especially if you just need a legit BIG to cover 15-20 minutes max. As good as the more mobile defense line-ups are they are so vulnerable to 2nd chance points. I think yesterday it was like 20 to 3 in Boston´s favor, which is crazy considering the low-scoring nature of the game.

How good this team can be, we´ll learn in the play-offs.

I liked this post for the last sentence. I’ve been saying that in my head after saying my peace after the trade (since then after seeing KP sit out for even more time than was originally planned I realized how much the FO was working with in trying to trade him right then, that relaxed my stance on the return at the time of trade).


I think if we pick up any ol center off the heap for cheap, that returns us to Powell starting. We’re probably in for more first quarters of trying to get out of the hole we dug if that is the case. I myself don’t want that.

[KillerLeft]

I guess I'm in the minority. I don't think Powell is the absolute ideal starter, but I also don't think he's some huge weakness. I wish there was a cheap option to go a little bigger playing behind Powell and Kleber, but I actually have quite a bit of faith in both of those players. 

I prefer either of them over Porzingis, for example, especially in the playoffs. 

It's true that if one of them gets worn down/hurt the team is in a lot of trouble, but I don't know that any team is well suited to endure such a situation. 

The guy I'm most worried about is Bullock, personally. If I were to choose the area most in need of upgrade it would be his role. That's not to suggest I think he's terrible or anything, I just think he's the worst starter.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

The guy I'm most worried about is Bullock, personally. If I were to choose the area most in need of upgrade it would be his role.

If Bullock ends up getting moved then I think it will be because Kidd and company feel very good about betting on Josh Green to be that upgrade and Bullock would be moved to add to the front court rotation.  That would also potentially open up minutes for Hardway to re enter the rotation as well.  Still feels like a defense first player like Bullock fits much more cleanly in Kidd's system though so we'll see.

I agree though on wanting to add to Powell and Maxi as opposed to replacing them.  It really feels like we just need some more bodies (and rebounding) so those two don't get completely worn down and that extra body happens to be a starting caliber player that we could get without gutting our current rotation then that's just gravy.

[mvossman]

Playoff closing lineup:
Luka
Dinwiddie
Bullock
DFS
Maxi

I guess we’ll see what this group can do. Even if we got Holmes though i still think we run out this same lineup.

That is what makes the most sense right now, but Maxi reluctance to pull the trigger in big moments is a problem for the offense.  Assuming Holmes can get back to what he was the last couple of seasons, I would expect him to be in that finishing lineup over Maxi.