A Few Thoughts on Mavs 120, Hornets 123

[mavsluvr]

Mavsluvr, thanks for the recap as always. Sorry no one else has acknowledged it yet - too many butthurt from last night's loss.

Thanks, Scott. I like the way you have presented your points. 

Several points:

1) We can't win without two of our starters, even if one of them is somewhat questionable in that role (though increasingly solid pre-injury). I'll preach it over and over and over and over again - that's on the offseason.

I wouldn't say that we "can't" win without KP and THJ -- after all, we just did, against Brooklyn. In fact, part of the frustrating thing for me (and probably for them, too) is that they were in position to win, had a number of chances, and just didn't pull it out. It would actually be easier to understand if they had just gotten blown out by a clearly better team. But acknowledge that being without those two guys is a struggle. 

2) No playmaker aside from Luka - that's on the offseason as well.

Barea, Seth, Wright (if healthy), and Brunson should have been able to absorb some of this responsibility. And, in fairness, Barea did, although somewhat at Luka's expense. Agree that there seems to be too much weight on Luka in this respect. 

3) While I love the fact that we tanked for Luka, and he wouldn't be here without it, perhaps it wasn't such a great idea to tank last year when we didn't have our pick. Luka et al. seem to have some holdover from last year in not taking games seriously. Luka in Euroleague and the World Cup was one of the most clutch players in basketball history, and now he's not clutch?

I realize this is a debatable point, but I wouldn't say that Luka and some of his cohorts don't take games seriously. I would more say that they don't seem to value possessions as much they maybe should. In this regard, I think playoff experience would be good for them. Although it is also hard to explain away the Mavs' tendency, especially at home, to ease into games rather than coming out with force. 

I don't know how to explain Luka's clutch performance (defining clutch as any period in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter and all overtimes in which the scores are within 5 points). Iirc, Luka seemed pretty clutch last season, although I have not checked stats to verify. Various reasons have been put forth by a lot of smart people. I tend to think it's not that he doesn't care. I would say more that it's a combination of wearing down and trying to do too much. He sometimes reminds me of Kobe -- just bombing away, regardless.

4) On one hand, I am sick and tired of people bashing Wright. He's hands-down our third-best player all-around (DFS is fourth, Maxi fifth, and Seth sixth). Rick didn't put him in because he was injured. On the other hand, the comments in the game thread about Wright, Brunson, and Jackson struggling in their roles were appropos. Be ready is great. But Marion and others have questioned the rag-doll tactics. It's got to stop. If it doesn't, Luka will have a new coach in a year or two. 

I don't see any reason for anyone to bash Wright over this game. If he was hurt, he was hurt. I don't know what the comments about Brunson and Jackson in the game thread were, but from your comment, I infer that it had something to do with their not getting consistent roles and minutes. If that is it, I am wondering how the coach is supposed to adjust with two starters and another bench guy out. Carlisle alluded to playing Maxi and Powell as much as they could go, and having to use other players to fill in to give them a break. They both played long minutes. Maybe I am not understanding your point. Are you suggesting that Luka will try to force Carlisle out if Brunson, Wright, and Jackson aren't given defined roles in a set rotation? Tbh, I could see any or all of those guys not even being on the team next season, let alone claiming set minutes/responsibilities. 


5) I'm really concerned about KP's knee. It has to be in really bad shape to justify his absence, and that's a pretty terrible thing for the Mavs. JOn notwithstanding, we can't win like we were without him. 

Yes, leg injuries to Porzee are always concerning. The story on him in NY was a history of playing lights out for a couple of months and then being plagued by injuries the rest of the season. Having said that, someone semi-official mentioned that the Mavs were keeping him out in a desire to exercise an excess of caution. KP himself said he hopes to be back Wednesday. But Carlisle says he doesn't know when KP will be back, so there's that. 

6) No big-man rotation with KP out. Guess why that is. That's right. 

I wonder if the Mavs thought that Boban's playability would be less matchup-specific than it has been when they acquired him. 

7) Rozier was the man on the court last night. Think about that. A player on the #$%@ing Charlotte Hornets having more testicular fortitude than the entire healthy Mavs roster. Go get someone with some dog in him!!! 

Rozier did well, although perhaps Graham's going off was the bigger surprise. But we shouldn't pretend that Rozier and his team were some kind of juggernauts. They did surrender a 20-point lead and required overtime to wrench out a one-possession win. However, take your point that they were dogged and never hung their heads. 

It's not just that this team has a long way to go. It's that this roster has a long way to go. Guess why that is. I'll give you a hint. It's not what bartlettbear (and Kammrath, in last night's game thread) thinks it is.

Not sure what BB and Kamm think it is, but believe that your view of the reason is that the Mavs squandered the offseason. The roster is better than I thought it would be at the beginning of the season, but agree that they are not a squad that looks capable of contending for a title this season, and don't think the Mavs are under any impression that it is. Also think the Mavs will try to upgrade in the next couple of seasons to get to a realistic contending position. I realize that there will be lessons to be learned from the offseason, and that will be worth attending to, but at this specific point in the season, it has a feel of crying over spilt milk. For the moment, the roster is what it is, and agree that the team could consider it an extremely successful season with this group if they managed to win a playoff series.

Thanks for the thoughts.