PLAY IN GAME 2: Dallas Mavericks vs. Memphis Grizzlies

[HoosierDaddyKid]

He took 2 half court threes for no reason and didnt play a lick of defense. Watching him play tonight, it looked like he was TRYING to throw the game to spite Kidd for benching him.

Oh, ok. He went from getting substantial minutes to barely playing. He's probably gone too.

[cow]

And we are officially on Kevin Durant Watch now

I still want CP3 too, just for the lols.  He did manage to play every game this season.

[myconsumerclub]

Brandon showed up and if he would have started maybe we don't fall behind so badly. PJ played so badly it was 4 on 5 all game. It's over just put it all behind you. Hope the mavs add a good draft pick or 3. Trades are not Nicos thing he may draft okay and sign good developmental guys but top tier stars not so much. If it was my team I would fire him and Kidd both.

[Scott41theMavs]

The more I see of this team, I want either to go all in or blow it up.  Both options will be painful.
Just not sure how medium changes has any effect on getting this team even close

As long as whatever is done is done by a new GM who knows what he's doing, I'm good with whatever.

[Chicagojk]

Caleb Martin finishes the playin games with 0 points.

I see some of his value for a playoff team. Just not sure he is playable if he is going to be a non factor shooting the ball. Especially with this team.

[Chicagojk]

Caleb Martin finishes the playin games with 0 points.

I see some of his value for a playoff team.  Just not sure he is playable if he is going to be a non factor shooting the ball.  Especially with this team.

Keeping Grimes was always the correct decision.  Even if he left, the second round pick would have been helpful.

A grimes/max two guard with Pj/klay at the three.  Pj plays a lot of backup 4 and Marshall get the rest of the remaining minutes.  Is a much better fitting team.  Maybe you are still missing wing defenders but that team is much better fitting. I have no idea how they thought this team had enough shooting around a big front court.  It just against everything teams are doing.  Sure, try to play big but you need to surround them with shooting and  creation.  

Plus if Grimes was getting 25-30 minutes per game, he is probably looking for a reason to stay rather than leave this summer.

[F Gump]

Dinwiddie in the doghouse? He only played 4 minutes.

SD ended the season as their 4th best PG (behind Najo, Exum, and B Will). It was that simple.

When B Will was unable to play near the end of the season, SD had been given a lot of minutes that he turned into meh performances (bad D, lots of ball-stopping and hero ball, but lousy shooting to show for it) The fact he barely played this game was very predictable, and it was the same setup as vs SAC.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Great game PJ, what were you talking about "Fire Nico" chants last month?

AD at the 4 with Lively or Gafford is a very bad idea but it's useless because nobody really think that it's the real motivation behind the trade.

It's collusion. This proof is this roster who is a mess.
End of the story.

[DL2RimRocker]

Great game PJ, what were you talking about "Fire Nico" chants last month?

AD at the 4 with Lively or Gafford is a very bad idea but it's useless because nobody really think that it's the real motivation behind the trade.

It's collusion. This proof is this roster who is a mess.
End of the story.

I have a hard time believing we will go from a non-playoff team to a championship caliber team by simply getting Kyrie back next season.
Kyrie is good but is he really that good....especially after the injury?

We need a new GM ASAP and trade everyone other than Lively for as many draft picks as we can get to give us something to look forward to.
The rebuild needs to start now imo to save us from torture over the next 2-3 years.

[FireNicoHarrison]

I have a hard time believing we will go from a non-playoff team to a championship caliber team by simply getting Kyrie back next season.
Kyrie is good but is he really that good....especially after the injury?

We need a new GM ASAP and trade everyone other than Lively for as many draft picks as we can get to give us something to look forward to.
The rebuild needs to start now imo to save us from torture over the next 2-3 years.

Absolutely no, this roster was setted for Luka.
Every players are right if you have him, last year Finals we lacked in 3s and then they trade for Klay.
Naji and Grimes were upgrade to Green and THJ.
We were ready to fight and to win... This or next year.

Now it's all a mess, Lively looks like a mediocre C and PJ isn't a SF because he can't shoot.

At this point a rebuild is easier than fix this mess, we are not 1or2 trade away for contending... We are a First round team even at full strenght.
And our core is old so time is not our friend.
We are done guys. Simple as that.

[FireNicoHarrison]

And AD at the 4 can't play. Too slow. We had the proof tonight.

[Knutsen]

Absolutely no, this roster was setted for Luka.
Every players are right if you have him, last year Finals we lacked in 3s and then they trade for Klay.
Naji and Grimes were upgrade to Green and THJ.
We were ready to fight and to win... This or next year.

Now it's all a mess, Lively looks like a mediocre C and PJ isn't a SF because he can't shoot.

At this point a rebuild is easier than fix this mess, we are not 1or2 trade away for contending... We are a First round team even at full strenght.
And our core is old so time is not our friend.
We are done guys. Simple as that.

I mean that’s probably the worst mistake they made, that they didn’t understand how much better Luka makes each and every guy on the floor just because of the attention he generates - be it our centers getting dunks and lobs all the time, our shooters getting wide-open shots and our secondary playmakers getting all the space they need to operate. Just beyond stupid.

[DL2RimRocker]

Absolutely no, this roster was setted for Luka.
Every players are right if you have him, last year Finals we lacked in 3s and then they trade for Klay.
Naji and Grimes were upgrade to Green and THJ.
We were ready to fight and to win... This or next year.

Now it's all a mess, Lively looks like a mediocre C and PJ isn't a SF because he can't shoot.

At this point a rebuild is easier than fix this mess, we are not 1or2 trade away for contending... We are a First round team even at full strenght.
And our core is old so time is not our friend.
We are done guys. Simple as that.

This team was beginning to remind me a little bit of the 2011 Mavs before the trade.
We had 2 outstanding offensive players (Dirk/Terry, Luka/Kyrie) surrounded by a very solid center rotation (TC/Haywood/Mihinmi, Lively/Gaff/Powell) and very good defensive wings (Marion/Stevenson/Brewer, PJ/Naji/Grimes), with great offensive support (Barea/Peja/Roddie, Dinwiddie/Klay/Hardy).

You're right, we were set up well and I personally thought we were a Maxi/OMax/2nd rounder for DFS from being completely set for the POs and a favorite to win it all.

[myconsumerclub]

Well we are officially the retirement home for injured veterans so might as well accept it and just not care if we lose games the basketball gods have cursed us for our foolish trading and ungrateful nature with the wasting of the gifts they have bestowed upon us all.

AD can get sponsorships for QC kinetics and other products for seniors.

Nico should be evicerated in prose till the end of time for his bad decision making and Dumont likewise their names will become synonymous with failure.

I need to take a Dumont is what we all should use when we need to take a crap. Dumont probably works better for that than Nico. One should be like a number one and the other number 2. Which sounds better I got to drop a Nico or I need to squeeze out a Dumont? Nico definitely a number one instead of take a leak its now officially take a Nico.

At least we can still watch Luka play and see him win championships.

Excuse me now, I need to take a nico break. I might have to sit down and blast out a dumont also.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://x.com/TheSteinLine/status/1913442281354338530


From Mark Stein...

[FireNicoHarrison]

I mean that’s probably the worst mistake they made, that they didn’t understand how much better Luka makes each and every guy on the floor just because of the attention he generates - be it our centers getting dunks and lobs all the time, our shooters getting wide-open shots and our secondary playmakers getting all the space they need to operate. Just beyond stupid.

Yes, if it was a basketball trade but it's obviously not.

[mvossman]

My 1st choice of any outcome (by far) is Cooper Flagg. But I strongly suspect that all they would really lose by winning tonight would be to move down in the draft from about 12 to about 15, which I don't see as a big deal at all.

My 2nd choice of any outcome is winning a title (even if it means we're stuck longer with Nico the Dolt), which of course you have to play (and learn to do well at) before you can win.

Also I think it could be interesting to see how good this team with a dominant interior could go, without Kyrie but with a BWill- Exum PG rotation (both of whom are efficient scorers and shoot 3s at a high rate, to open the floor). I have a sneaky suspicion they can be as good as all the teams sitting in the 48-50 win plateau, and I DON'T think OKC or HOU are shoo-in's to the WCF at all (even though they ended on a much higher tier than everyone else in the West). IOW seems to me the West is wide open, and it feels like it would be a bad year to stay home from that party.

TL/DR. I'm likely to root for a W tonight, because I think there's going to be more to be gained by that outcome. BUT if they lose, I'll be expecting Cooper Flagg as the consolation prize, because, well, why not!?

For somebody that wrote a post last season giving up on the team (which ended up going to the finals) you seem surprisingly optimistic about this shit show.   I would argue that post would be much more appropriate now.

[myconsumerclub]

https://fanspo.com/nba/teams/mavericks/7/draft-picks

Still pissed off at Kidd for playing the start of the game without any PG.

Either Exum or Brandon should have started and then Brandon should have gone in a lot earlier.

Establish you can dribble and not turn the ball over or you may get made to look stupid.

After you establish your guys can protect the ball without falling and losing their handles then you can experiment.

At the start of a play off game everyone is looking to get over their being a little overly excited and suffering from butterflies.

That probably passes in a few minutes as the battle wages and after things settle down, then there is room to experiment.

You need set plays to start a game right and you gain momentum when a called play is successful. They were all discombobulated at the beginning of the game, and that was due to bad decision making by coach not the players another way to put it is this" You plan to fail when you fail to plan".

A coach knows better than to change things up and trying to do things out of the ordinary like using a SF to play PG is stinking thinking. Only bad things can happen when you are that stupid.

Our size was neutralized by the other teams size and they had a speedier backcourt with Ja, so Brandon should have been in the starting lineup or in off the bench early. Both he and Exum are better scoring threats from the 3point line than all the starters, except for Klay.

[F Gump]

For somebody that wrote a post last season giving up on the team (which ended up going to the finals) you seem surprisingly optimistic about this shit show.   I would argue that post would be much more appropriate now.

The team I gave up on had a weak front court, and then Lindsey was able to get BOTH Gafford and PJW (at fairly cheap prices). That completely changed the possibilities. 

I think they still have a massive talent base, which is why I thought they might show us something in the playoffs. 

Obviously the loss of Luka is a big issue. I do think they are going nowhere as long as Nico is figuring out what to do next, but I think they have significant talent base (and way more than fans want to admit) that can do good things in the right hands.

[DL2RimRocker]

The team I gave up on had a weak front court, and then Lindsey was able to get BOTH Gafford and PJW (at fairly cheap prices). That completely changed the possibilities. 

I think they still have a massive talent base, which is why I thought they might show us something in the playoffs. 

Obviously the loss of Luka is a big issue. I do think they are going nowhere as long as Nico is figuring out what to do next, but I think they have significant talent base (and way more than fans want to admit) that can do good things in the right hands.

What are your thoughts on JVG for our situation?