MAVS NEWS:

[DallasMaverick]

https://youtu.be/wjKwKI_EQQ8?si=6dpXS30owRFU6F9T

[F Gump]

mvossman  "I came away from that preseason with very different impression than you. (1) Dlo was not great, but he was better than the alternatives. (2) I saw nothing to suggest it would be a good idea to play Flagg at PG. (3) Brandon Williams was a two way last season with a small sample of quality play, and we got to see all of 3 minutes of garbage time in the preseason.  It will be a huge win if he turns into a quality rotational player, but its asking an awful lot for him to be starting.... (4) I'm not sure where this confidence that they will get great shots all the time comes from? ... There was little to no evidence of this "flow" offense generating a lot of good looks in the preseason."  

Yes, we saw different things, obviously. I don't endorse any of your 4 points above, fyi, but you probably knew that. The stats were bad in some areas, no question, but I think there was a lot of really good stuff that got lost in the quick takeaways.

But it doesn't matter, right? We start getting real answers tomorrow, rather than trying to read the future from what happened in 4 practice games. By the end of Nov, we should have a great read on whether they have answers that simply look different than we're used to, or whether this roster is going to be clueless and struggling to compete. 

Thanks for your opinion. You may be 1000% right on all of it, we'll see.

[KillerLeft]

One thing is clear as a bell: this is going to be a unique and interesting season in a number of ways.

[mvossman]

mvossman  "I came away from that preseason with very different impression than you. (1) Dlo was not great, but he was better than the alternatives. (2) I saw nothing to suggest it would be a good idea to play Flagg at PG. (3) Brandon Williams was a two way last season with a small sample of quality play, and we got to see all of 3 minutes of garbage time in the preseason.  It will be a huge win if he turns into a quality rotational player, but its asking an awful lot for him to be starting.... (4) I'm not sure where this confidence that they will get great shots all the time comes from? ... There was little to no evidence of this "flow" offense generating a lot of good looks in the preseason."  

Yes, we saw different things, obviously. I don't endorse any of your 4 points above, fyi, but you probably knew that. The stats were bad in some areas, no question, but I think there was a lot of really good stuff that got lost in the quick takeaways.

But it doesn't matter, right? We start getting real answers tomorrow, rather than trying to read the future from what happened in 4 practice games. By the end of Nov, we should have a great read on whether they have answers that simply look different than we're used to, or whether this roster is going to be clueless and struggling to compete. 

Thanks for your opinion. You may be 1000% right on all of it, we'll see.

Agreed.  Its silly to read too much into preseason and there will probably be massive overreactions to the first couple of games in the regular season.  We will have a lot better idea of where we are at with a decent (maybe 20 game) sample when it counts.

[Winter]

I went back and watched some summer league and preseason games on youtube. I really tried to get a feel for how this team could work, but I couln't really find any sweet spot type of lineup that really looked different and effective.

The only time this time looked really effective everywhere was when - strangely - Nembhard was running PG. All the the players were moving, cutting, and recieving passes like a good NBA team with a real offense.

Nemhard will not be getting minutes for awhile, but those minutes were some of the best minutes I witnessed in review.

[Chicagojk]

I went back and watched some summer league and preseason games on youtube. I really tried to get a feel for how this team could work, but I couln't really find any sweet spot type of lineup that really looked different and effective.

The only time this time looked really effective everywhere was when - strangely - Nembhard was running PG. All the the players were moving, cutting, and recieving passes like a good NBA team with a real offense.

Nemhard will not be getting minutes for awhile, but those minutes were some of the best minutes I witnessed in review.

It will be interesting to see how the backup PG minutes play out.   I really like what Nembhard brings.   Will it be enough to get playing time this year?  Not sure, but I think he gets some chances.  How much and how soon is tbd.  

I really like his passing to bigs.  If you watch his college highlights, he has this neat little trick where he dribbles into the paint.  He is not looking to score mostly at the rim due to his size, but he has this cool bounce pass to a big right under the rim.   He got his bigs a lot of great looks this way.   Plus his 5 to 1 turnover to assist ratio is nothing to sneeze at either.   Being so small will always be a disadvantage but if he is a smart defender, he can get by...I think.  Especially if he has all the height behind him.  I would like to see him with a lineup of Flagg, PJ, Gafford/Lively, plus a shooting guard.  That would be a fun lineup.

[DallasMaverick]

Agreed.  Its silly to read too much into preseason and there will probably be massive overreactions to the first couple of games in the regular season.  We will have a lot better idea of where we are at with a decent (maybe 20 game) sample when it counts.

Massive overreactions? On this board?

You’re kidding, right?

[Chicagojk]

Former mav Josh Howard’s son, Bryson, just committed to Duke.

[KillerLeft]

Former mav Josh Howard’s son, Bryson, just committed to Duke.

Hopefully, he CAN "control what the ball do."

[Winter]

Hoops Tonight with Jason

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5XFOAjcf4Y

Talks about the Warriors for the first 15 mins, but then pivots to Lakers\Luka

[DallasMaverick]

Hoops Tonight with Jason

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5XFOAjcf4Y

Talks about the Warriors for the first 15 mins, but then pivots to Lakers\Luka

Defense wins championships!

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

This season's official Mavs' lottery mantra is hereby called "Puntin' for Peterson".

[Chicagojk]

Personally I think it is inportant to find out if AD, Lively, PJ and Flagg can play together. They are your four best players and if they can’t then you have a flawed roster. Maybe it is.

What they are missing is a connector. Even when Kyrie returns. Some of us brought up Lonzo ball this summer. I think they had interest, but the bulls wanted a former failed first pick instead. It is one of the reasons I like Nemnhard. Even at his size, he is a connector. DLO is fine but I just think they should have looked for a different type of player. DLo is a guy to play off a connector. Time will tell if he can fit in.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Personally I think it is inportant to find out if AD, Lively, PJ and Flagg can play together.  They are your four best players and if they can’t then you have a flawed roster.  Maybe it is.

All four of them together?  Absolutely not. I think it's TBD if three of them can play together. I'm 50/50.

Absolutely agree about a connector. Even with Kyrie healthy, they need a real distributor/connector.

[vfromlmf]

The thing is, I think they CAN play together. AD is still a top 15 player and the roster is deep with veteran rotation players. Plus Flagg is probably already a top 100 player and will look awesome at times. They could easily win half their games. I don't think they WILL ... but there's a reason Vegas has the over/under at 41.5 wins.

The problem is, that's not nearly good enough to be good news ....and it's not bad enough to be good news either.

All I see is BAD news.

[Chicagojk]

All four of them together?  Absolutely not.  I think it's TBD if three of them can play together. I'm 50/50.

Absolutely agree about a connector.  Even with Kyrie healthy, they need a real distributor/connector.

Yes, all 4.  I understand the fit is not great and it may not work out.  Although I have always been in the camp of getting good players who think the game well and things tend to be figured out.   I think Cooper is way ahead of where a normal rookie is and I think he will learn from his mistakes quickly.  I also think Lively is a really smart player.  If you add a connector and shooting around this group, I think things will run much better.  The tricky part is how do they do that this year without selling low to make a move.

[Jym]

Yes, all 4.  I understand the fit is not great and it may not work out.  Although I have always been in the camp of getting good players who think the game well and things tend to be figured out.   I think Cooper is way ahead of where a normal rookie is and I think he will learn from his mistakes quickly.  I also think Lively is a really smart player.  If you add a connector and shooting around this group, I think things will run much better.  The tricky part is how do they do that this year without selling low to make a move.

Not sure what the correct answer is but I know I don't want to send out yet another pick for someone on the PJ/Gafford level 
Can't keep doing that

[vfromlmf]

Anyone else notice at the 8:24 mark the broadcast crew quoted Kidd on Kyrie

"Around Thanksgiving, things could get interesting"

[From Dirk to SCREW YOU Nico]

From Flagg Mavs on twitter (X)

Here’s why overreacting to last night is valid.

1. You have no offensive focal point without Luka Doncic. Kyrie Irving is over 30 coming off a torn ACL and won’t be here to save this team any time soon.

2. This starting lineup was designed to stop or at least slow down someone like Wemby. He ran through them like Swiss cheese. Combination of him becoming a top 3 player in the league and this defense being terrible.

3. Jason Kidd didn’t have this team ready to play. There was no ball movement (something they never stop talking about because apparently Luka was a ball hog who averaged almost 10 dimes a game). The offense resorted to Dwight Powell DHO’s and PJ Washington isolations.

4. Cooper Flagg is not a point guard, he’s a small forward, PJ is not a small forward, he’s a Power Forward. Anthony Davis has this entire roster playing out of position. Which is another reason it doesn’t make sense to trade your generational point guard for a Power Forward.

5. Your only organizer offensively is a 5’9” rookie. I love Nembhard’s game, but that’s not an ideal situation to be in, the league is only getting bigger and stronger.

6. This team would need a Golden State Warriors type offensive schematic to succeed, and Jason Kidd is closer to me than he is to Steve Kerr, I don’t see it happening. Per usual it’s all isolations and the occasional DHO. Very rarely do they run a motion offense, no back screens, no ingenuity, I genuinely don’t see this getting better any time soon.

7. Playing someone like Flagg at PG may feel like you’re giving him a challenge and handing him the keys, but really you’re just hurting his confidence and you look stupid.

Don’t let anyone feed you blind optimism this morning, last night was an indictment on Nico, Kidd, and the Adelson’s. This was a miserable start to the season. The only rose colored glasses you can put on are related to foul trouble potentially sending this one off the rails.

[vfromlmf]

Well...I just rewatched the game and there is legit reason for optimism.

First, Flagg was really really bad. Badly missed shots including several that were either blocked or had no chance, catastrophic turnovers, fouled a 3pts shooter. Seems like all of those plays resulted in Spurs runouts. Turned his back to a wide open Klay in the corner, drives to nowhere, bad reads. He was way worse than his first preseason game. The good news is he might not play this poorly again in his life.

Lively changed Wemby's game when he was on the floor. This thing will look a lot better if he just plays smarter. Gafford's size and strength were missed. You can't judge the defense when fouls forced them to play AD or Powell at 5 with Naji at 4.

AD missed shots he normally makes.

PJW's 3pt shot looks much improved---and one of those early fouls was pretty questionable.

Spurs built their lead at the end of the first half against a lineup that featured only two starters. Klay and Flagg. Klay got some heat in the post game analysis but if we're being honest, Flagg sold hard.

The offense was HISTORICALLY bad. Terrible shots and turnovers. They won't have a strong pick & roll handler until Kyrie returns, so we can expect see plenty of center DHOs in the interim, but they'll be better than they were against SA.

Kyrie could return around Thanksgiving?!