(03-12-2021, 02:26 AM)omahen Wrote: 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.
Rebounding is driving me crazy. Being a great defensive team doesn't matter if you don't secure the board. And considering that we aren't a great defensive team, the problem is compounded. OKC was +18 tonight on the boards. THJ was our second leading rebounder behind DFS.
And speaking of THJ, and as bad as he's looked the last 6 or so games, he does hustle.
I'm just not sure the team has a lot of starting caliber talent outside of Luka, KP and maybe JRich. We are probably asking too much or expecting too much out of the likes of Maxi, DFS and Jalen.