GAMETHREAD: MIL @ DAL, Oct 11, 7:30 pm (111-118 loss)

[j0Shi]

For a team that hasn't been doing many things that well collectively, it shouldn't come as a surprise we continue to shoot the ball less efficiently than our opponent. Call it working out the kinks, knocking the rust off, whatever - it's disconcerting that we continue the practice of hoisting so many threes with the precision of rec league hacks.

Small sample size. I understand. Preseason. Yeah, I get it. But tonight they put up ten more threes (50) than the Bucks and still converted about the same number from long range. To this point, they're knocking down 31 percent of 3PA  (opponents are hitting better than 43 percent). This would not be so much of a concern if this weren't already the Mavericks' M.O.

Okay, so we understand the plan is to actually ramp up the carpet bombing this year. Great! That number better be closer to 36 percent when games start counting.

This team doesn't defend particularly well. It doesn't really stand out on the glass, either. In a league gravitating more towards position-less basketball with a concentration on three pointers and getting to the rim, to be even halfway competitive in the West, Dallas must climb on the strength of its shooting.

Otherwise, while Luka and KP combine for a mean two-man game, good luck fielding a .500 campaign.

This was a vintage last season game called "Luka and the scrubs". I agree it's preseason and the team still needs time to gel, but tbh. there's little evidence as of right now that the Mavs are a better shooting or rebounding team. These are key things to potential improvement. I don't want to sound too down, I think the team will eventually figure it out and has the pieces to make a run at the playoffs. Might need a little more time than I had hoped for.

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Still not sure what think of Wright's play 
I'd honestly prefer it if he was jacking up shots and missing them. We need an attacker to play off Luka/KP

Wright and Curry are obviously not well incorporated yet. Wright theoretically is our secondary playmaker alongside Luka, but right now is merely shooting threes inefficiently. Curry's shooting should make an impact immediately, not sure what's going on with him.

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We'll have fun with Brunson all season btw. Question is: Given the impression, should he be upgraded to become the first Mav off the bench? I thought Curry so far, but don't see why you shouldn't be able to run with Doncic and Brunson in the backcourt until Luka checks out. Currently it looks like Brunson's role was primarily to back up Luka at point. But I guess he's too good for that?