03-12-2021, 02:26 AM
(03-12-2021, 12:36 AM)cow Wrote: I've been off this train for a while. I'm sticking with my overly harsh statement that 50% of the team probably shouldn't be in the league or part of any rotation.
Powell, WCS, Boban, Iwundu, Burke, Johnson + rookies (long NBA careers forfor their draft positions is fairly low combined with the fact that Donnie is in the bottom three in terms of draft success along with Sacramento and Orlando).
I understand the skill level is lower. But I would expect that in this kind of games, when some guys finally get their chance, they would hustle and try to show the coach they deserve more minutes. But there was no heart, no fight in them. They were outhustled by guys like Pokusevski and Brown, who are clearly not NBA ready as far as overall skill level goes. But they hustle! This is the thing I am basically writing since bubble - this team lacks heart, winning mentality. They are sympatic loosers. Capable of playing nice games but when things really matter, they balk down. In the bubble, they came with the goal to move up in the standings and avoid Clippers. They failed miserably winning just three out of eight, with one of them being against Utah who did everything possible to lose the game. Than Mavs put a couple of nice performances against Clippers when nobody expected them to win and of course lose the series (which is what really mattered).
Kleber, Johnson, WCS and Powell collectively gathered 12 rebounds in 74 combined minutes. Moses Brown had 12 in 19 minutes, Poku 8 in 29 minutes and Horford 9 in 27 minutes. Our 4 guys mentioned shot a combined 1-8 for 2 points! Moses Brown was 3 of 8! And it is not just their fault. Outside of Doncic there doesn't seem to be anyone able to get two defenders on him and pass to an open teammate. Our guards Brunson, JRich and THJ are able to beat their man quite well, but don't really make plays for others. I guess most of the assists were counted on semi contested three pointers. I don't remember any pick and roll action.
Hustle and heart are things that are usually cheap to find, if you are not looking for much other qualities. I am just not sure if the problem is in the Mavs system and culture or in players.