Dick Motta’s 10 game set

[Reunion Mav]

A tough schedule is a given with so many relatively equal and good teams to go with about 6 bad teams. A 50 win team keeps very close to 60% win rate. Tough schedules and bad performances get held to 40%. That would be 9-6 over the next 15 to the All Star break. This team has played great after bad losses this year which helps. We have beaten the majority of teams we should beat and we do have some good wins. What I’m watching for is Luka, Kyrie, Derrick and Tim all playing together and getting some good rhythm together. I’m watching Kleber and hoping for Dante and some others to integrate well into team rhythm. If we get more of that going, 9-6 is very doable. That might get us up to a 5 seed.

We will see and enjoy watching. We have a chance.

[SleepingHero]

If we could ever get healthy we could actually know how good this team is.

[Reunion Mav]

If we could ever get healthy we could actually know how good this team is.

That is so true yet we are in a tight battle with Sacramento and New Orleans for seeds 5-7. We have hung in there with room for improvement for sure. 

Looking at the standings after our 41 game halfway point, our home record kind of weighs us down but our road record has been good. We are currently tied for 10th best record in the league. 

Nine teams are above 60% while 10 teams look hopelessly below 500 for the year not counting Houston and Golden State. Just watching games the league looks pretty top heavy in the top 12 teams with no clear favorites in my eyes. I watched LAC out muscle an also skilled OKC team last night so strength seems even more important this year. We are not the only team getting physically punked. 

Our East and West records are about the same reflecting similar levels of play between the conferences. 

We do need some improvement to be able to win two rounds in the playoffs. We do have the star players to do that if we somehow cover our glaring weaknesses. Certain of our guys could fill those roles or a successful trade may happen by February 8th I think. Again I look forward to watching. We have a lot to watch for. What an improvement from last year!

[Reunion Mav]

From 23-17 we are now 27-23. We were 4-6 the last 10 and are now 3 wins behind the 60% pace. To get to 46 wins we need to resume our 6-4 pace and go 19-13 which we did for almost 40 games.

This past 10 games honestly seemed worse. Our team just cannot catch a break and several guys have joined what seemed like a team wide downturn. But we did hang in there for some needed wins like the one tonight. Kleber and Kyrie are back. Green is showing up. Lively may miss only one more game. Even Grant Williams played better tonight and had a 27. Of course Luka had the 73 and also got the win unlike Booker and others.
Who knows maybe our best pickups for the trade deadline is our own guys. Maybe when they finally stay healthy they play much better and we do go 18-12 to the 80 game mark. I watched the past 10 and was pretty disappointed but hope is not lost.

[MFFL]

7-3 in the last 10 games. Could have easily been 8-2 but still a very nice 10 game stretch.

[Reunion Mav]

Wow it was only 10 games ago that we had no idea what our team would look like now. The 7 game win streak including the first 6 games of this set was nice. The 4 game road trip was tough with a brutal loss. Overall though we did good. We are now on pace for 47 wins. I have noticed several positive developments though we have also gotten a couple of hard lessons on how far we have to go. I’m glad Boston is in the East.

[Reunion Mav]

At 39-29 we need to win these next 2 to give us back to back 7-3 sets. We might just get to 49 wins. I have no idea what seed that would earn but it would mean a very solid finish to the last 22 games. We also get a 3 day off day break over the next weekend with 12 games to go. I guess that is because of the NCAA first round.

[MFFL]

Another 7-3 stretch of 10 games. The team is starting to gell a little.

[Reunion Mav]

We finish the set in 6th place and only needing 5 wins to get to my prediction of 46 wins. Several others went with 46 as well. I guess we should be happy. Now we really need a strong final 12 to earn the 6 seed and even challenge for the 5 seed. Another 7-3 plus 1&1 gets 49 wins and a finish to feel good about.

There is currently a 3 way tie for the Southwest Division lead. It means little but bragging rights are fun.

[Reunion Mav]

80 games in the books. What a finish. At 50 games we were 3 games behind pace. We finish plus 2 and already at 50 wins. A major reason for Dick Motta’s measure of consistency was to get to 50 wins. In the 80s 50 wins was harder to do because tanking was not yet a thing. Bad teams upsetting people more often was a thing.

50 wins is still very good. We had the least consistent 50 win season I have ever seen. It may be one of the strongest finishes we’ve ever had as well. We’ve been consistently top notch these last 10. Best of all here comes playoff basketball after a nice rest.

[Reunion Mav]

Ok Fifteenth and others the Ten Game set is back. Last night after our FIFTH gut punch loss of the year I saw Shaq credit Phil Jackson with using 10 game sets. I guess team consistency has long been valued.
I left last year on here because it end as a very fun year and shows how even a 4-6 set did not derail us.

To me the news here is how different our close game performance has been compared to last year’s 24-9. Last night’s 11th game Stoph Curry loss makes us 1-5. I’m in pain today but I have enjoyed watching except for the endings.

[SleepingHero]

5-5 in the first ten game set. Already lost against GSW but the next 9 games look like this:

@UTA
vs. SAS
@OKC
vs. NOP
@DEN
@MIA
@ATL
vs. NYK
@UTA

The 3 games vs. the Spurs and Utah are must wins. Pelicans are extremely banged up and should be a must win. So my bare minimum over the next 10 games has to be 4 wins. Atlanta *should* be an easy game based on how they are constructed, but they do have Dyson Daniels who is a top 3 Luka defender in the league imo.

My optimistic stance is 7-3. Pessimistic stance is 5-5.

[KillerLeft]

To me the news here is how different our close game performance has been compared to last year’s 24-9. Last night’s 11th game Stoph Curry loss makes us 1-5. I’m in pain today but I have enjoyed watching except for the endings.

Their play down the stretch of close games has been concerning. 

If I were to play Devil's Advocate here, I'd point out that the majority of these struggles are due to offensive issues, and that the defense has actually gotten them back into these games late in order for them to be close in the first place. Further, never once during the Kidd era has the team started a season with any sense of offensive cohesion. I don't know if Kidd just isn't good at getting the offense ready during training camp, doesn't care enough about that even to try during training camp, or if this is TOTALLY about Luka's lack of urgency to start seasons, but it shouldn't surprise us. This extrapolation isn't definite, so we shouldn't count the chickens before they hatch, but there's plenty of track record at this point to suggest it's possible, maybe even likely, that the offense will get more polished as they go.

[Reunion Mav]

I certainly agree that there is precedent and ample reason for hope.

[KillerLeft]

5-5 in the first ten game set. Already lost against GSW but the next 9 games look like this:

@UTA
vs. SAS
@OKC
vs. NOP
@DEN
@MIA
@ATL
vs. NYK
@UTA

The 3 games vs. the Spurs and Utah are must wins. Pelicans are extremely banged up and should be a must win. So my bare minimum over the next 10 games has to be 4 wins. Atlanta *should* be an easy game based on how they are constructed, but they do have Dyson Daniels who is a top 3 Luka defender in the league imo.

My optimistic stance is 7-3. Pessimistic stance is 5-5.

I have them at 12-8 after that stretch, and that's factoring in one big win that could easily be a loss. If they have 12 or more wins after 20 games, I'll feel semi-decent, but only if they're playing well.

[Chicagojk]

I just want to see the play even out more. Every team goes on hot streaks and has some droughts. I just want to see better, more solid play when they are not in a hot streak. It sort of feels like we have stretches of great play but outside of that we have too many blah moments. You hot streaks should help you build leads quickly. Not allow you to stay in a game. Especially with the talent.

[DallasMaverick]

So 12-8 after first 20.

Not too shabby, especially considering injuries and working new players into new roles.

5th place in the West. Sure feels like they have the capacity to get on a win streak and have an 8-2 ten-game set.

[KillerLeft]

So 12-8 after first 20.

Not too shabby, especially considering injuries and working new players into new roles.

5th place in the West.  Sure feels like they have the capacity to get on a win streak and have an 8-2 ten-game set.

Agreed on all, and I liked that stat from the broadcast last night. Teams that win 12 of their first 20 go on to make the playoffs 90% of the time. I know we're all hoping for better than just a playoff berth, but it's nice to be on track for that, at least. Also, it's interesting that this record is identical to last season's record at this point, only this team feels like it can hit its stride without a trade deadline deal (not that we won't obsess over one at some point), so there's potential for a high level of play much earlier in the season.

[KillerLeft]

I have them at 12-8 after that stretch, and that's factoring in one big win that could easily be a loss. If they have 12 or more wins after 20 games, I'll feel semi-decent, but only if they're playing well.

In true Mavs fashion, they hit this mark by winning all of the games I thought they'd lose and losing all the games I thought they'd win. I love this team.

[Reunion Mav]

In true Mavs fashion, they hit this mark by winning all of the games I thought they'd lose and losing all the games I thought they'd win. I love this team.

After a 0-2 start, we finished 7-3 to get to 12-8 as we hoped 10 games ago. Winning last night against Portland kept a pattern going: we seem to be winning with a lot of different guys rising to the occasion. We have had important guys out every game but it seems our depth may stay good enough to overcome a lot of adversity. Last night it was Portland d shooting 62% from 3and overall until very late in the game. 

My favorite improvement in addition to a lot of minutes for different guys is end of game good execution tentatively seems to be returning. Getting a 1-5 punch in the mouth can do that for a team if it doesn’t cause tanking first.