Anyone else concerned about Porzingis?

[StepBackJay]

I am concerned that Porzingis has been practicing with the Mavs since the TDL and he doesn't look comfortable at all. He doesn't seem to know what to do on offense. He does a slip screen on every on-ball screen, can he not set an actual on-ball screen? I really thought the Doncic/KP PnR would look unstoppable. He is shooting open 3's which is good but I don't know why he doesn't pump-fake more on those. I like when he dribbles around, he gets a good rhythm off the bounce. I wish Rick was running more sets for KP to get him going. Anywho I suppose it's a work in progress being so early but he has been practicing with the team for some time now.

[IamDougieFresh]

Not concerned at all. RC's offense is always going to be flow... getting the ball moving and getting everyone touches. Porzingis will get plenty of those touches as you saw last night and the number of touches will increase as RC expands the offense once guys get the chemistry down.

When the game is on the line in the 4th they will start abusing the Luka/KP 2 man game.

[SleepingHero]

I am concerned that Porzingis has been practicing with the Mavs since the TDL and he doesn't look comfortable at all. He doesn't seem to know what to do on offense. He does a slip screen on every on-ball screen, can he not set an actual on-ball screen? I really thought the Doncic/KP PnR would look unstoppable. He is shooting open 3's which is good but I don't know why he doesn't pump-fake more on those. I like when he dribbles around, he gets a good rhythm off the bounce. I wish Rick was running more sets for KP to get him going. Anywho I suppose it's a work in progress being so early but he has been practicing with the team for some time now.

It's funny because I thought he looked fantastic for his first official game back in nearly 2 years. Putting up 23 points on 44/43/86 is quite remarkable. He's definitely looked rusty by missing some easy shots, but I think the more reps he gets the better he'll look. If you go back and look at rookie Porzingis highlights he looks a lot like you're describing.

[embellisher]

Not concerned at all. No matter how much you practice, chemistry is built in real games.

[j0Shi]

Well surprise, the new pieces don't gel 100% perfect yet. Let's give it a solid quarter of a season for a first assessment.

• Curry not played with Luka due to some minor injuries
  
• KP / Luka two-man game a WIP
  
• Wright completely out of sync with the offense, doesn't seem to know what he's supposed to do
  

[ClutchDirk]

Not concerned at all. No matter how much you practice, chemistry is built in real games.

I was going to say basically the same thing...just got to give them time playing in actual games to gel and build cohesion...It will not happen overnight but we should see gradual improvement over time...

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/MjsGoat/status/1187208752337997824

[fifteenth]

what they said

[vfromlmf]

The only thing I'm concerned about with Porzingis is injury. 
I'm just not used to seeing a 7' 3" guy move (and topple) like he does. 
I'll be honest, when he had that breakaway in game 1 -- you know, the fast break where Bertans fouled him -- I closed my eyes.

[embellisher]

The only thing I'm concerned about with Porzingis is injury. 
I'm just not used to seeing a 7' 3" guy move (and topple) like he does. 
I'll be honest, when he had that breakaway in game 1 -- you know, the fast break where Bertans fouled him -- I closed my eyes.

Yup. I'm scared everytime he hits the floor. Only time will tell. 

But I think that all of the work he's done getting stronger is going to really help. I think if he was really a bad risk our training / medical staff would have warned Cuban and Donnie.  There was a reason we didn't sign Parsons ro a new contract back in 2016. I'm pretty sure the advice of our training staff was it. 

If Porzingis was a much higher than normal risk for a repeat of this kind of injury, I don't think we would have signed him to a max contract with no options or incentives. 

I hope I'm right.

[Tyler]

This reminds me of a similar thread about this time last year questioning whether Luka was really that great of a point guard.  I expect it to age about as well.

[jdb152]

Nope. If uncomfortable is going for 23/4/2 in your first, regular season game in over 600 days with a team you've never played with before .... I'll take it. 

This is going to take time. KP, Wright, Curry & Boban are brand new to us. Jackson/Hardaway aren't much deeper into the experience. Luka/Brunson are in their second years and DP/Kleber are going to be filling for significant roles this season. That is a lot of new and a lot of change. With the lineups being as fluid as I expect them to be, it's going to be a minute before it's butter out there.

[bin610]

Not even a little concerned

[StepBackJay]

I like y'all's confidence! The good thing about KP is he contributes even when his shot isn't dropping. He plays defense, blocks shots, creates space, will get some easy buckets throughout the game.  His box score looks better than he looked on the screen so just imagine what he will do when he's feeling it. He can easily drop 30+ points when he's locked in.

[Jym]

Offensive efficiency will be touch and go, but his defense excites me. 
In an ideal world I think you pull off a trade that pushes him down to the 3rd option and lets him really focus on stopping the other team as his main goal.

[mavsman]

Offensive efficiency will be touch and go, but his defense excites me. 
In an ideal world I think you pull off a trade that pushes him down to the 3rd option and lets him really focus on stopping the other team as his main goal.

Really! I believe he can be most valuable player in NBA in next three years. So I don't really see any trades that can bump him to no 3 .

In an ideal world he can do what prime dirk did on offense and keep defending the way he is already doing.

[MrGoat]

The guy missed 20 months and in that first game he looked like our second best player. I'm not concerned at all at this point even if the chemistry isn't quite there yet. Just hoping he stays healthy

[Jommybone]

I am concerned that Porzingis has been practicing with the Mavs since the TDL and he doesn't look comfortable at all. He doesn't seem to know what to do on offense. He does a slip screen on every on-ball screen, can he not set an actual on-ball screen? I really thought the Doncic/KP PnR would look unstoppable. He is shooting open 3's which is good but I don't know why he doesn't pump-fake more on those. I like when he dribbles around, he gets a good rhythm off the bounce. I wish Rick was running more sets for KP to get him going. Anywho I suppose it's a work in progress being so early but he has been practicing with the team for some time now.

Like the question and share your concerns. Just one game. But he looked less athletic than I recall. Much less athletic than Dirk. And he looked like a defensive liability except in certain situations. 

Playing with Luka, Maxi, Delon & DFS helped because they rebounded so well for their positions. But it worries me a lot that he isn’t stronger or more athletic. Rik Smitsish.

[embellisher]

I am concerned that Porzingis has been practicing with the Mavs since the TDL and he doesn't look comfortable at all. He doesn't seem to know what to do on offense. He does a slip screen on every on-ball screen, can he not set an actual on-ball screen? I really thought the Doncic/KP PnR would look unstoppable. He is shooting open 3's which is good but I don't know why he doesn't pump-fake more on those. I like when he dribbles around, he gets a good rhythm off the bounce. I wish Rick was running more sets for KP to get him going. Anywho I suppose it's a work in progress being so early but he has been practicing with the team for some time now.

Like the question and share your concerns. Just one game. But he looked less athletic than I recall. Much less athletic than Dirk. And he looked like a defensive liability except in certain situations. 

Playing with Luka, Maxi, Delon & DFS helped because they rebounded so well for their positions. But it worries me a lot that he isn’t stronger or more athletic. Rik Smitsish.

Welcome to the new forum!

[donzingis38]

Him being injury-prone is my only concern.

I may have to say a prayer before game time.