04-02-2021, 11:57 AM
(04-01-2021, 12:00 PM)Letsgomavs20 Wrote: In some respects, we were lucky to win this game and owe a lot of it to Luka hitting the big 3 pointers in the first half. But a couple of things I have not seen mentioned were Hardaway (3-10 overall and 1-6 from 3) and Maxi (1-5 overall and 3-4 from 3). As two key scorers in a number of our wins, they were cold last night.
Not the best showing from these guys on the night. At least Hardaway can draw a defender, and thus have an impact on the game, even if he isn't hitting. I might have a quibble on the Maxi front. I wouldn't consider him a key scorer, although he has surprised us in a few games. I think of him as a primarily defensive player, who can hit threes well enough that his defensive impact usually outweighs his limited ability to contribute on the offensive end.
The biggest thing that I hope that Luka learns from this game is that he needs to move the ball more quickly early in the double-teams. If he doesn't, expect more of the same, especially in the playoffs.
Also, his teammates need to learn to step up and give him a passing angle, rather than just stand around watching as Luka struggles until the double team results in a turnover. I rather wonder if the Mavs/Luka will makes this a point of focus in the offseason and next season's training camp. They did that with Dirk, iirc.
I also think that we should have at minimum, a brief Boban sighting each game (especially as long as WCS is unavailable), not only to give KP some key rest, but it also disrupts the defensive strategy of the other team. It was also interesting to see Powell get zero playing time against an athletic team.
There are a lot of fans who are proponents of your Boban strategy. As a practical matter, I don't expect it to be implemented, even there is a case to be made for it, particularly on the rebounding front. Rick has tended to play him selectively against teams where he has the best chance of matching up (teams with gigantic front courts, teams with guards that don't implement the PNR very effectively).
There is zero question that Luka is a once a generation player and the hope is that he will not play too much hero ball, especially as teams double team him. His turnovers per game need to come down. The good news is that the same draft added the very mature for his age, Jalen Brunson. We would not have won the game without Jalen.