GAME 17: DAL (9-8) @ BOS (14-4) | 112-125 loss

[Kammrath]

Unfortunately not only have THJ, Bullock, DFS, Maxi and McGee seemed to have “lost a step”, but you could make a pretty good case that our coach has as well. Always a beat or two too slow.

I think patience is a really great virtue, I really, really do. BUT the Mavs have played 20% of their season and are sitting at 10th in the West. It has been obvious for well over 10 games what has needed to happen and yet those changes are not coming. It is mind-boggling and is likely going to cost the Mavs any shot at home court advantage.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

In fairness to Josh, Grant Williams shoved him into Smart for the first boneheaded foul. Grant Williams and Horford get away with that shove on the defender all the time. The second one was him over playing the 3 point line in a scramble. They called another foul on him that should’ve been an offensive foul on Boston. Josh’s on ball positioning and man defense needs work, no doubt. He has all the tools just needs more savvy and benefit from refs. His team and help defense, however, are off the charts good. Just a natural knack and gift in that regard.

[cow]

In fairness to Josh, Grant Williams shoved him into Smart for the first boneheaded foul. Grant Williams and Horford get away with that shove on the defender all the time. The second one was him over playing the 3 point line in a scramble. They called another foul on him that should’ve been an offensive foul on Boston. Josh’s on ball positioning and man defense needs work, no doubt. He has all the tools just needs more savvy and benefit from refs. His team and help defense, however, are off the charts good. Just a natural knack and gift in that regard.

I didn't see the first half as I'm recovering from my first bout with COVID, but Josh was terrible in the second half.  I'd still give him all of THJ's minutes.  

Our starters are always going to be at a disadvantage defensively playing alongside Luka.  With Bullock in the tank, I don't think we can surround Luka with enough good defenders so we might as well try something different.  Start Wood, Josh, Dorian, Luka and ???.  Let Dinwiddie play the sixth man role.  Never play THJ again.  

Wood's second half was a little rocky at times too (the two offensive fouls, the two fade away jumpers in the post over much smaller defenders, and that missed free throw on his and-1), but outside of Luka, he gives the team the best shot of elevating our ceiling.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

I feel ya, Kamm. I was saying before their flurry of “try hard” for the final quarter and a half that this was looking like one of those games where they hold the fabled “players only” meetings afterward. Guys barking at each other, hanging their heads. Sloppy turnovers, poorly set screens, lazy defense. On ESPN against the best team in the league no less. I think Kidd needs to light a fire under these guys sometimes. No one’s starting role should be safe except Luka and Doe in my opinion.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

Sorry to hear that Cow! Feel better. Josh had that stretch of seemingly egregious fouling, but he played really nice defense aside from that. His rotations and recovery are (mostly) spot on and his energy does really trickle down. He caused one turnover in Boston where he unexpectedly jumped a passing lane and caused the Celtics player to travel. Won’t show up in the stat sheet, but he has a few plays like that every game.

[IamDougieFresh]

I didn't see the first half as I'm recovering from my first bout with COVID, but Josh was terrible in the second half.  I'd still give him all of THJ's minutes.  

Our starters are always going to be at a disadvantage defensively playing alongside Luka.  With Bullock in the tank, I don't think we can surround Luka with enough good defenders so we might as well try something different.  Start Wood, Josh, Dorian, Luka and ???.  Let Dinwiddie play the sixth man role.  Never play THJ again.  

Wood's second half was a little rocky at times too (the two offensive fouls, the two fade away jumpers in the post over much smaller defenders, and that missed free throw on his and-1), but outside of Luka, he gives the team the best shot of elevating our ceiling.

Maximilian when his back heals

[cow]

Sorry to hear that Cow! Feel better. Josh had that stretch of seemingly egregious fouling, but he played really nice defense aside from that. His rotations and recovery are (mostly) spot on and his energy does really trickle down. He caused one turnover in Boston where he unexpectedly jumped a passing lane and caused the Celtics player to travel. Won’t show up in the stat sheet, but he has a few plays like that every game.

Appreciate it. I no longer want a bullet in my head so that a good thing.

[Kammrath]

This seems like the backup QB syndrome

I totally disagree. Backup QBs don't play, so you only IMAGINE them to be better. I am talking about guys who DO play and have shown repeatedly to BE better.

[IamDougieFresh]

Free Hardy

[BolsDamols]

You wont win many games with 2 guys in the starting line up (DFS and Bullock) having a PER of 13, not each, but combined! And they are key players, not just token starters

[SwisherPrice]

Nothing to get excited about until the Bullock Experience gets scaled back. His defense isn't great enough for him to consistently be out there when he's bringing nothing on offense. Ideally, he should be in the Deshawn Stevenson role, playing about 20 min max. He's not that guy...no matter how hard the Mavs are trying to force him on us. He's a good reserve to have for some depth - part of a rotation of defenders to throw at great scorers. But for him to be out there as a starter/closer is just insane.

DFS has his flaws too but he still does some good things even when he can't make shots, unlike Bullock.

[ThisIStheYear]

Two teams played tonight who arguably finished last season as the league’s second and third best. Both made deep playoff runs losing only to the champions. They finished the season with about the same record and played two one possession games. Since then, one has done what it takes to get better. The other has not. It showed.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

Cow, I advise you not to watch the first half then. May cause you to revisit bullet in the head ideas.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

Very well and succinctly said thisIStheyear. Doris and Mike Breen went out of their way to mention how much we miss Brunson multiple times. There were also a couple of shots of a very concerned looking Nico watching from the stands. A couple of players have taken shots at our roster in the press. Luka got frustrated that his “3&D” guys seemingly couldn’t 3 or D much at all tonight. I hope this is sinking in. For Cuban I mean. And I hope they have a plan. Otherwise I fear we are about a year away from Luka leaving whispers.

[burekemde]

Defense of the entire team was terrible in this game. Absolutely the worst team defense we played for very long time. Not just many single players, but the entire team movement on defense.

Bullock, THJ have been awful the whole year. They produce absolutely nothing on both ends. I get sense that these two players might get traded very soon.

Luka and Wood have such a great potential, they can connect and play awesome together. There is no way for any coach to be able to keep wood out of starting lineup and more minutes long-term. Its so obvious he is such a great fit with Luka.

Need to play your best players, and you will not get behind in games early. Luka, Wood, SD, Maxi and DFS is by far the best unit. On the bench I would give the most minutes to Powell, Green and Bertans and McGee. Bullock and THJ have been so terrible, its important to scale down their minutes in order for us to get more wins. As a team we desperately need one more PG playmaker for the bench and depth.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

Bullock, THJ have been awful the whole year. They produce absolutely nothing on both ends. I get sense that these two players might get traded very soon.

Who would want these guys though?

[Mavs2021]

Sadly this franchise is not smart enough to pull a one year tank and they might still end up in the lottery.

I bet they finish with the 10th worst record and then the Knicks jump from 12th to #1, take our pick in the process and we get to watch Brunson and Wembanyama for the next decade.

Also we played 11 (8-3) home games and only 6 (1-5) away games so far. Flip it and we might be 6-11.

[BoredAssistant]

43/9/13 and the game winner of course.

I admit it's uncanny.

[hakeemfaan]

I totally disagree. Backup QBs don't play, so you only IMAGINE them to be better. I am talking about guys who DO play and have shown repeatedly to BE better.

You are just asking for change because you are tired of what’s going on. I get that. However the names you threw out there like DP, Frank N , Bertans all have huge flaws of their own. The team doesn’t become clearly better by trying to figure out some combination among them. Give those guys heavy minutes and they get exposed  

I agree that DFS and Bullock right now should not play heavy minutes together given that both are limited offensive players and it creates a lot of pressure on Luka. 

However the other things you are saying is like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. If you put most of this roster in a bag and pick whoever drops out, it is guaranteed to be a below average NBA player.  It is a collection of limited skill specialists with glaring weaknesses.

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Cow hope you feel better soon.

[DanSchwartzgan]

You know, I don't think Maxi has been particularly good this season compared to seasons past, but I think we really miss him right now.  1-3 without him with losses to Houston and Denver and this embarrassment in Boston.  I almost turned it off at halftime to join my wife in the other room.  She was watching a Hallmark Christmas movie and the characters in the movie were playing better D than the Mav's.  70 points on 55%/52% at halftime.  What we managed to do in the Josh Green led run in the late 3rd/early 4th doesn't come close to erasing the stench of the first half.  We looked awful and I'm getting really tired of watching Luka vs. The World while four inept players stand around and watch.

Killer, I'm a bit surprised you pick this game to tout the benefits of Wood solo-big.  Breaking it down by quarter it was -3 in Q1, -14 in Q2, +3 in Q3 and +0 in Q4.  That is -14.  Powell was -6 and we had 1:19 where McGee was by himself at -2.  Without Maxi, there was only 2:17 of two big's at the same time and that was +6.  

The second quarter was Keystone Cops stuff.  Wood really has no idea what to do defensively.  Don't watch the ball, watch Wood.  People are constantly pointing to where he's supposed to be.  Even on offense, I saw instances of people (including Luka) pointing to where Wood should go.  So, he either doesn't know or just breaks off plays and does what he wants.  I don't think we notice it as much on offense because 1. Most of us don't actually know where he's supposed to go on any given play and 2. Luka saves the day by ad-libbing something.  Wood is immensely talented, which makes the experiment worthwhile.  I hope it works, but my optimism that it will work is faltering.  One other note on Wood.  He's +47 for the season.  So, his overall +/- contribution is positive.  But be careful with that number.  The two blowouts make up 43 of that 47.  He's positive in only two of the last 11 games.  For the full season, his +/- has outperformed the team's +/- five times and two of those came in the first 3 games.

I'm also surprised Cow doesn't think Green was fantastic last night.  Maybe it wasn't as obvious on ESPN as it was on Bally, but he absolutely ignited the rally single handedly.  And, the rally died when he checked out.  Yes, he had back to back plays where he had hustle fouls that weren't pretty.  But, he created at least 4 extra possessions with great D and had some really great moments of individual D as well.  It isn't just some cosmic accident that the team is +13 when he's in the game.  Contrasting Green with Wood (and much of their time overlaps...+18 which is Wood's best pairing), Green has been positive in 13 of 17 games.  He's +81 for the season and still +50 when you take out the two blowout wins.  This despite the fact Green gets more minutes (177) with Dinwiddie +3 than he does with Luka (157 @+24).  Green is also Luka's best pairing and THJ's best pairing and Maxi's best pairing and DFS's best pairing.  Powell is actually Dinwiddie's best pairing, but Green is the only other one that is positive (let that sink in for a minute).

There is much talk that it is criminal that Wood isn't starting.  The real crime here is that Green isn't starting.  The lineup to start and finish games should absolutely be Maxi/Wood/DFS/Green/Luka.  There is literally no statistical argument for anyone else.  If you want Wood to start and get 30+ minutes, this is what you should be advocating for to make it work  The real question then becomes whether you can cobble together a bench with Powell/McGee, Bertans, Bullock, THJ and Dinwiddie.  Given that that's $70 million worth of salary, you damned well better be able to.  

This team is coasting.  Maybe they can turn it on like they did last season.  Much will depend on Wood figuring things out enough to 'earn' a bigger role.  But, medium effort Bullock and DFS don't do nearly as much for me as high effort Bullock and DFS.  The Luka/SD minutes aren't working either, so why not break them up some.  These grizzled vets need a wakeup call and shaking up the starters and adding Green and Wood/Maxi is the medicine Dr. Dan is prescribing.  

Happy Thanksgiving all!