GAME 45: DAL (24-21) @ POR (21-22) | 123-140 loss

[Chicagojk]

Fun Hardy game.  Don’t really care for mop up duty looking for stats.  He also looked a little tired playing all those consecutive minutes.  Btw, is that a Kidd thing?  Play you to you drop?  But I thought he played well when the game was still close.

[KillerLeft]

Has this new front office brought in one player who can help win games when Luka sits?  That may be a bit harsh.  But a year and a half is not a short amount of time and the arrow is trending down.

No, they went the other way. "If we make Luka try to win despite playing with Bullock and McGee and without Brunson, that will only make him stronger. It will pay off in the long run."

[DanSchwartzgan]

Fun Hardy game.  Don’t really care for mop up duty looking for stats.  He also looked a little tired playing all those consecutive minutes.  Btw, is that a Kidd thing?  Play you to you drop?  But I thought he played well when the game was still close.

Agreed.  They even ran an ATO play for him when the game was still within reach.  Don’t see that every day.

[KillerLeft]

Actually think that he was one of the few positives today. Made a couple of sneaky good plays on defense. Made three 3s. All in all above expectations. Just having a hard time when he is asked to defend the rim but that´s more about the Mavs lack of playable bigs. Not really on him.

That's just it though. I almost ALWAYS think, in his limited opportunities, he makes some sneaky good plays. But this last handful of games has been sufficient (at least to me) to prove that there's a lot more negative than positive. I mean they're just going at him nonstop, and he's a foul machine. I like that he hustles and plays hard (the team needs more of that) and sure, he'll surprise about once every 5 minutes or so, but I don't think there's any way to view him as a rotation player ever again.

[SleepingHero]

Agreed.  They even ran an ATO play for him when the game was still within reach.  Don’t see that every day.

He was delivering every time and the fact that Dinwiddie didn't prioritize giving him the ball definitely frustrated me.

There was a moment that I got flashbacks of Wes, DAJ, and Barnes all going out of their way to ignore Luka on the offensive end too. Feed the rookie if he's hot and you're not!!

[Chicagojk]

In the end the outcome is the same. Once again on pace to give up 140pts. Nearly impossible to win a game with defense like this.
Not sure why we are complaining about the offense. For the most part it wasn´t bad. Just had one cold stretch to start the 4th but still on pace for 115-120pts. That should be enough to win more often than not.

That is a good point.  It is easier to stress about offense but you won’t win playing that type of defense.  The reinforcements will help but will you ever be good enough on defense with Din and Luka?  Luka can move his feet but with his heavy load on offense, some immaturity and sometimes a little lack of focus, he struggles.  I am not sure Din will ever be average on D.  Luka can.

[dirkfansince1998]

Btw, is that a Kidd thing?  Play you to you drop?

I already made all the Thibs jokes I can come up with in the last few gamethreads.

Not sure what is going. I don´t think it was as bad last season. Injuries definitely play a role but this is slowly turning into a chicken-egg situation. More injuries lead to increased playing time for the available guys. With some questionable rotations that have guys playing entire halfs without rest. Leading to more injuries.

[Branduil]

If we had rested everyone in the 1st game we probably could have won the 2nd one, but Kidd gonna Kidd.

[ThisIStheYear]

The Mavs did the best they could without Luka. It will be surprising if they win a single game without him.

[cow]

Wood might have been better last night.

[Kammrath]

I am not sure Din will ever be average on D.  Luka can.

Mavs need to trade Din as fast as they can IMO.

[Dundalis]

That is a good point.  It is easier to stress about offense but you won’t win playing that type of defense.  The reinforcements will help but will you ever be good enough on defense with Din and Luka?  Luka can move his feet but with his heavy load on offense, some immaturity and sometimes a little lack of focus, he struggles.  I am not sure Din will ever be average on D.  Luka can.

I've always viewed Dinwiddie in the starting lineup as a stop gap purely for Luka's sake (although it doesn't seem to make that much difference for his usage). If the roster ever gets even half way towards having the players required to surround Luka, Dinwiddie is on the bench.

Luka doesn't need another ball handler with him, if he has players around him who can play defense, create their own shot in the half court and actually have the athleticism to run the court, giving Luka the ability to actually make a decent number of transition full court passes each game. I doubt they can find a trade for that guy, but a Siakam type of player alongside Wood, Green and DFS, you don't need another Dinwiddie level ball handler in the starting unit.

[Chicagojk]

Nassir Little signed a 4 year 28 million dollar extension a few months ago.  He was in the draft before Josh Green.  I am not sure of the specifics of when you can sign extensions, but the Mavs would be wise to take the proactive approach to Green, when they can.  If they could get Green for that range, it would be a bargain.   My fear is they wait and it will eventually make the price much higher if he continues to improve.

[Dundalis]

Mavs need to trade Din as fast as they can IMO.

I think he would be fantastic as the lead ball handler of the second unit (as he was in the regular season last year), even on a championship level team. But you need to find the right piece to relegate him to the bench. Obviously you trade him if you need to. But he's hardly a guy who you need to be desperate to be rid of, especially considering the number of bad fits already on the team. Obviously he is not going to look good as your main scoring option (with Luka out) or even secondary option, that's not how he should be used. That's more a circumstance issue, than an indictment of him as a player though I think. He has a clear role that he could really excel at, but our team isn't good enough to allow him to play that role.

[Chicagojk]

Mavs need to trade Din as fast as they can IMO.

It will be interesting  to see what they do with him.   Next year is his last year on his contract.   There has been talk about having cap room in '25 (God, I hope this isn't the only plan).   If so, it would seem unwise to resign Din.  So what is the plan.

I think we are underutilizing him with the role he is in.   But on the other hand, I don't feel like he is a long term fit here either.   There are a some things to his game, I like.  Unfortunately, some of the things I don't like have been really bothering me.

[Kammrath]

It will be interesting  to see what they do with him.   Next year is his last year on his contract.   There has been talk about having cap room in '25 (God, I hope this isn't the only plan).   If so, it would seem unwise to resign Din.  So what is the plan.

With a good GM I think the plan would be one of two things:

1) Trade him this TDL while he is still under contract and putting up great counting numbers----sell high.

OR

2) Hold onto him and continue to bolster his counting numbers knowing that you are going to trade him as part of the package with a lot of picks for a star. 

I think #1 is safer IMO, because if they move past this year and don't extend him he could walk. If they do extend him, then they cannot trade him for a year.


I think a bad GM would see SD as part of some foundation to build around.

[HAguiar95]

I'd love to see the Dinwiddie minutes with and w/o Luka. 

Spencer is still one of our best performers in my ratings (1-10) compared with expectation/season prediction stats so far (only games where the guy played 10+ minutes):

Luka - 7,1
Wood - 6,2
Dinwiddie - 5,5
Green - 5,5
Hardy - 5,2 
Kleber - 5,1
Wright III - 4,9
Hardaway - 4,8
Powell - 4,7
Finney-Smith - 4,7
Bertans - 4,5 
McGee - 4,3
Ntilikina - 4,2
Bullock - 4,1

Kidd - 4,8

[Kammrath]

I'd love to see the Dinwiddie minutes with and w/o Luka. 

Ask and you shall receive:






THEN when SD is on the bench: 

709 minutes
Offensive Rating: 114.0
Defensive Rating: 108.0
Net Rating: +6.0

[KillerLeft]

I think he would be fantastic as the lead ball handler of the second unit (as he was in the regular season last year), even on a championship level team.

The thing is, even though he's starting, he IS still the lead ball-handler of the second unit. So, why isn't it working as well this season? That's the question. Is it simply because he's starting...

...or is it because those minutes don't have Jalen Brunson on the floor anymore?

[Chicagojk]

The thing is, even though he's starting, he IS still the lead ball-handler of the second unit. So, why isn't it working as well this season? That's the question. Is it simply because he's starting...

...or is it because those minutes don't have Jalen Brunson on the floor anymore?

It is a good question and one I don't know the answer to.   Making it more difficult is that we haven't seen our team on the court with Wood starting due to injury.

If I had to guess, I think Dinwiddie best in an attacking role.    But he is not a guy to run an offense...especially one without other creators.  Not discussing defense, but he is at his best as a guy who hits open shots and attacks off all Luka's attention.  When Luka goes to the bench, he should be the lead attacker but have another guy (Conley?) to set the table.   No more of Dinwiddie pointing at people 30 feet from the basket looking for a switch to go iso when everyone is standing around.