6 hours ago
Alright, so I've watched every preseason game (at least as long as the starters were playing), and here are my observations:
- It feels like our lineups work better if we only play one center (Dereck Lively or AD), which actually makes AD kind of expendable because...
- I already officially hate AD’s game. He feels too soft to do the dirty work and attack inside. He just settles for long 2s or 3s — and he simply can’t shoot them (career best was 34%, and most seasons he’s below 30%).
- Sure, AD looks pretty much unstoppable inside, but he rarely goes there (afraid of injury?). I almost had to puke when he brought the ball up at the end of the first half and jacked up a 3 like he was Luka or something.
- Yes, I would trade AD because I don’t trust his game — and I definitely don’t trust his body. But I know that’s never going to happen, because Nico would basically be admitting defeat. So, on to the positives:
- Even with AD, I think we have a good team on our hands. It’ll be frustrating to watch him play, but if he can stay healthy, we’re solid. We’re obviously great at rebounding due to our sheer size, and if we decide to mostly play only one center, I think we’ll be very strong defensively too.
- PJ needs to play big minutes — maybe even start. He looked great in preseason, and he’s not a spark plug type off the bench.
- DLo has been disappointing so far, but his shooting splits are awful and should regress to the mean. If they do, he’ll look fine. I still think he should play a 6th-man type role, and we should experiment with huge lineups featuring Cooper at the point and run our dribble-handoff offense — which, surprisingly, seems to work quite well.
- Nembhard was a pleasant surprise — he looks super comfortable, not like a rookie at all. I’d definitely give him some burn.
- I’m done with Hardy. I don’t want to see him play.
- DP is the best 4th-string center in league history, and I hope we never have to see him on the court — especially once Gafford is back. But, like I said at the beginning, we have too many bodies in the frontcourt. In an ideal world, we’d move on from AD, but since that’s not happening — and the Mavs seem sold on trying this “even bigger than Cleveland” approach — it’s going to be an interesting season.
- Obviously, our 3-point shooting has been awful (30% over four games). It’ll improve a little over time, but we’re going to be bad in that department and have to make it up by dominating the glass and controlling the paint.
If the team stays healthy and locked in defensively, we’ll be tough to beat. Without Kyrie, though, I don’t see a closer on this roster — and we’re in for some AD hero-ball, which will not work. It might be better with both Kyrie and AD on the floor, because defenses can’t just focus on one of them. But until Ky is back, that’s going to be a huge problem for us.
Flagg is great on both ends of the floor and will inly improve. Not worried about him at all. If we had not won the lottery, I might be done with this team but now I am REALLY excited for what they can do. But I am also prepared for misery (lack of shooting and, most likely, lack of health. Looking at you, AD).
- It feels like our lineups work better if we only play one center (Dereck Lively or AD), which actually makes AD kind of expendable because...
- I already officially hate AD’s game. He feels too soft to do the dirty work and attack inside. He just settles for long 2s or 3s — and he simply can’t shoot them (career best was 34%, and most seasons he’s below 30%).
- Sure, AD looks pretty much unstoppable inside, but he rarely goes there (afraid of injury?). I almost had to puke when he brought the ball up at the end of the first half and jacked up a 3 like he was Luka or something.
- Yes, I would trade AD because I don’t trust his game — and I definitely don’t trust his body. But I know that’s never going to happen, because Nico would basically be admitting defeat. So, on to the positives:
- Even with AD, I think we have a good team on our hands. It’ll be frustrating to watch him play, but if he can stay healthy, we’re solid. We’re obviously great at rebounding due to our sheer size, and if we decide to mostly play only one center, I think we’ll be very strong defensively too.
- PJ needs to play big minutes — maybe even start. He looked great in preseason, and he’s not a spark plug type off the bench.
- DLo has been disappointing so far, but his shooting splits are awful and should regress to the mean. If they do, he’ll look fine. I still think he should play a 6th-man type role, and we should experiment with huge lineups featuring Cooper at the point and run our dribble-handoff offense — which, surprisingly, seems to work quite well.
- Nembhard was a pleasant surprise — he looks super comfortable, not like a rookie at all. I’d definitely give him some burn.
- I’m done with Hardy. I don’t want to see him play.
- DP is the best 4th-string center in league history, and I hope we never have to see him on the court — especially once Gafford is back. But, like I said at the beginning, we have too many bodies in the frontcourt. In an ideal world, we’d move on from AD, but since that’s not happening — and the Mavs seem sold on trying this “even bigger than Cleveland” approach — it’s going to be an interesting season.
- Obviously, our 3-point shooting has been awful (30% over four games). It’ll improve a little over time, but we’re going to be bad in that department and have to make it up by dominating the glass and controlling the paint.
If the team stays healthy and locked in defensively, we’ll be tough to beat. Without Kyrie, though, I don’t see a closer on this roster — and we’re in for some AD hero-ball, which will not work. It might be better with both Kyrie and AD on the floor, because defenses can’t just focus on one of them. But until Ky is back, that’s going to be a huge problem for us.
Flagg is great on both ends of the floor and will inly improve. Not worried about him at all. If we had not won the lottery, I might be done with this team but now I am REALLY excited for what they can do. But I am also prepared for misery (lack of shooting and, most likely, lack of health. Looking at you, AD).
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