MAVS NEWS:

[Reunion Mav]

I cant disagree with that but I will say Luka does know how to use his fat body to his advantage at times. 

Bottom line for me is that I just dont see an alpha on this team and that will become evident and problematic for them in tight games and in the POs.
I thought that was one of Houston's biggest problems last year. 

There were a lot of things I didnt like about Luka as mentioned by you, FG and myself, but he was an alpha on this team and had the knack for getting buckets in crucial times. Most of the top tier teams have at one but I cant say we clearly do.

Speaking of Alphas, or greats, I think we clearly have 3 players it is really great to have on our team. We have 8 more players who can be good to strong contributors to an overall very deep and strong supporting cast. I don’t think we can rule out Kyrie and AD playing at an Alpha or great level in next year’s playoffs. We can’t rule out that young Cooper Flagg is able to play a very strong third as a rising soon to be great player. 

I think all 3 of our stars are more likely to reach heights we may not expect precisely because of our potential top level supporting cast. These guys showed last year that they can compete hard and pretty well no matter what the situation. 

AD is an Alpha on defense, a solid rebounder, and can be an Alpha scorer at times. We would love getting him for just about any one but Luka. 

Kyrie has been wonderful here. He has been a great story. I’m not ruling out a great, Alpha performance from him in the playoffs. 

Cooper Flagg is certainly top 3 in the last 10 years as far as expectations for a draft pick. If he meets those expectations early even a little like Luka did, he can be a strong 3rd best player in all aspects of the game. 

This board is so great at knowing legitimate concerns as well as recognizing strengths of players and teams. I just think we have two guys who could rise to Alpha or great level in one or more playoff series, more than one good candidate for 3rd best player and more depth than most teams. We are plenty good enough to win a playoff series at our best. No this team is not a championship favorite nor even a certain contender. To me they will be fun to watch without worrying about high expectations. Even if too much does go wrong, we have a lot of guys who will be fun to watch and root for. Finally, they are way too good to rule anything out. I guarantee our guys aren’t.