12-05-2019, 10:08 AM
(12-05-2019, 09:53 AM)fifteenth Wrote: They're exceeding expectations by so much, and so quickly, that it's hard to know what to think. We were all prepared for a nice season of reasonable growth where they fight for an 8th seed. I feel a little like this team deserves more excitement from me than I've been able to muster but their level of play this early in the process is just hard to comprehend!
I think this has to be attributed to Luka growth. I think most of people, including me, assumed he will have a couple of assists more due to playing with better teammates and probably a couple of points per game more compared to last season. Let's say, we assumed that last night version against Minny with a bit better 3 point shooting would be his standard for the season. This kind of version of Luka would probably have Mavs in the battle for 8th seed and not much more.
Reality is, that his game against Minny was probably one of his worst 3 games of the season. He is getting so much attention from opposing teams that this is leaving more space for others. He is deadly in the paint and a PnR master. Kudos to Rick for really nailing the roles on the team and the rotations. Everything is nicely coming to place to such extent, that all of a sudden only league best players can be seen as an upgrade to this team - even upgrade over DFS, THJ or Powell. Kudos to KP to give 100 % on defense and accepting a lesser role on offense - putting team in front of personal stats. I am so happy Powell found his game lately.
I think the Mavs biggest question at this point is - can Luka provide MVP level performance throughout the whole season? If not and games as yesterday become standard, help will be needed next season (if not at TDL) to take some load from him. If yes, Mavs can afford to be very patient and aim only for the best of players as one right move might be enough to really make them serious contenders.