A Few Thoughts on Mavs 101, Thunder 106

[mavsluvr]

Look. Everyone blaming the coaching staff and style is nuts. They were just fine with things until Luka got hurt. Our roster consists of 1) a 20-year-old superstar who is banged up and whom the officials are evidently all too willing to permit getting far more banged up, 2) a struggling would-be star on a max contract who at least affects defense positively when he plays , 3) 4 situational guys who don't play enough (JJB, Bobi, Lee, and the now-injured RFA), 4) 3 youngsters not ready for prime time (Roby, Reeves, and Cleveland), 5) a streaky 3-and-sorta-D guy on a way-too-big contract, 6) a bust 10th man who looked earlier like he could be something special (Justin), and 7) 6 other guys (DFS, Maxi, Wright, Curry, Powell, and Brunson) who are more bench players than starter caliber.

I will beat the dead horse until every single poster here concedes the point: this offseason was unforgiveable, given the cap room and opportunity we had, and it becomes even worse if we don't use the Barnes exception. We're looking at a team that should have a far greater talent quotient than it does right now. It's a miracle of sorts (Luka magic, tbh, plus the coaching everyone likes to bash) that our record is as good as it is.

---

To prove my point: 15 PER is supposed to denote an average NBA player. Here are the PERs for the 8 dwarfs (the other 8 guys in the rotation with Luka and KP - JJB, Bobi, Lee, and Bro all have high PERs, but I don't care, cause they don't play):

1) Wright 19.39 (this is one of the things you could complain about the coaching staff legitimately - this guy doesn't play nearly enough. On the other hand, I get to hear all kinds of tools in the game threads bashing him, so oh well)
2) Brunson 15.95 (Brunson beats the living turd out of the eye test, not just with PER, but also with RPM and those clutch stats. Maybe stats are useless after all.)
3) Powell 15.26 (this guy always has an inflated PER)
4) THJ 14.13
5) Maxi 13.02
6) Seth 12.84
7) DFS 12.12
8) Justin 11.36

When you have two young stars and $30 mil in caproom (IIRC), you go out and get help. Infriggingexcuseable. Stop defending it.

Scott, 

Thanks for digging up the stats. You make some interesting points, as usual. I appreciate your contributions. 

If I may be so bold, one thing puzzles me a little. That is how important it seems to you that everyone agree with your opinions. We could all swear an oath in blood that the offseason was terrible (or wonderful, for that matter), and it wouldn't change a thing. It will always have happened exactly the way it did. 

It seems to me that the point of a message board is that we can trade viewpoints and have discussions about a subject we all have an intense interest in, and learn from each other. If someone disagrees with you, or with me, that doesn't make them nuts, or ignorant, or stupid, or a bad fan, or a hater, or a gaslighter. Maybe they're just mistaken. Or, maybe they're just viewing the scene from a different window, and have something to offer that isn't visible from our vantage point. 

I hope this does not offend you. I think you are a passionate fan who has a lot to contribute. As do most of the posters here. It's perfectly permissible to vent, but it's not helpful to label fellow posters. The offseason didn't turn out as well as you hoped. But, after all, while you're beating up on your dead horse and us fans, Cubes is out dancing. 

In any event, thanks for your post, and I look forward to reading many more of them.