GAME 4: CHA (2-2) @ DAL (1-3) | 99-118 loss

[Scott41theMavs]

One things is for certain, Josh Richardson is not a second or even third option on a competitive team. He's a slightly above average NBA starter (4th option at best) nothing more.

No one expects him to be the second option. Everything else you said has nothing to do with one bad game where he played hurt.

[omahen]

Perhaps Luka is getting tired of having to start with a gimmick island of misfit toys frontcourt every night.

His stat line looks bad, but he generated a ton of open looks for his teammates. Charlotte really clogged the paint. His first two turnovers in the open quarter were both ref mistakes. First one didn't go out from him, second one was an obvious Ball foul before Luka was called for offensive one.

[pompelmo]

Please. Trey Burke needs his minutes. This team will go as far as Burke takes them. Why waste minutes on Terry.

Terry doesn't appear to be capable of bringing anything to the table this season.

Small guy with no vision that can't move, dribble, pass or shoot at NBA level. Has no skills at the level to polish by giving him floor time yet. He needs more time at the training ground and G-League before actually playing with the big guys.

We need Burke in game shape more.

[donzingis38]

I really like Miles Bridges (even the other brother). I wonder what his contract's like. I want him to take THJ's spot next season. Tell him he could start in Dallas..

[Playmaker]

No one expects him to be the second option. Everything else you said has nothing to do with one bad game where he played hurt.

He has been asked to be the second or third offensive option since KP has been been out.  So yes people including the Mavs have expected that out of him.   

The rest of my point was to say fans (many on this board) that are expecting him to be a consistent offensive player are fooling themselves.

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I really like Miles Bridges (even the other brother). I wonder what his contract's like. I want him to take THJ's spot next season. Tell him he could start in Dallas..

They aren't brothers.

[omahen]

How the second hals started for Mavs offensively:
1. Missed alley oop by DFS
2. Missed layup by Luka
3. Missed open 3 by DFS (pass Luka), missed open three by Richardson, missed 3 by Luka (bad shot)
4. Another missed open 3 by DFS (pass Luka)
5. Travel JRich
6. Missed corner three by THJ, WCS going to the line after being fouled on a dunk - missed both FT

In the meantime, Charlotte scored on every possesion.

[khaled1987]

Terry doesn't appear to be capable of bringing anything to the table this season.

Small guy with no vision that can't move, dribble, pass or shoot at NBA level. Has no skills at the level to polish by giving him floor time yet. He needs more time at the training ground and G-League before actually playing with the big guys.

We need Burke in game shape more.

G-League will be played in February,  so gotta give him some garbage minutes till then.


Also, we were down by 30, I think giving a rookie some minutes isn't a bad idea in such circumstances

[Scott41theMavs]

No one expects him to be the second option. Everything else you said has nothing to do with one bad game where he played hurt.

He has been asked to be the second or third offensive option since KP has been been out. So yes people including the Mavs have expected that out of him.

The rest of my point was to say fans (many on this board) that are expecting him to be a consistent offensive player are fooling themselves.

OK. My point was, KP being out certainly has zero to do with the Mavs' longterm strategy, so ***no one*** expects JRich to be the second option offensively, ever. Not the Mavs. No one.

If you're talking just in terms of offense, you're probably right - you don't want him to be more than the fourth-best offensive option on a contending team. So? He's still the best-meshing player Luka has ever played with in his NBA career, and is a keeper, period. I'm a JRich truther on that level, so picking a fight with me on it isn't very productive, to say the least.

[robillionaire]

Luka is shooting 9% from 3 this year... yikes!

I don’t care what anybody says. The mavs miss Seth Curry

[KillerLeft]

Luka is shooting 9% from 3 this year... yikes!

I don’t care what anybody says. The mavs miss Seth Curry

Maybe a they miss him a little, but I think more than anything their synergy is just off to start the season. For a team this inexperienced, even this amount of roster turnover was too much, given the lack of ample off-season training. That’s my take, anyway. 

And, while it’s tough to swallow, I do think Luka is struggling, at least relative to what we’ve come to expect from him. The whole team’s timing looks a bit off, and he’s the one with the ball in his hands most often. It’s connected, at least a little. I have confidence that he’ll start playing better and they’ll figure things out.

[SwisherPrice]

Missing veteran leadership on the bench and in the locker room. This is life without a guy like Dirk/JJB who owned the locker room and could keep these inexperienced players in check. 

The longest tenured Mav is Powell and he's a veteran by definition but his resume just doesn't have enough to command the same level of respect.

[omahen]

Maybe a they miss him a little, but I think more than anything their synergy is just off to start the season. For a team this inexperienced, even this amount of roster turnover was too much, given the lack of ample off-season training. That’s my take, anyway. 

And, while it’s tough to swallow, I do think Luka is struggling, at least relative to what we’ve come to expect from him. The whole team’s timing looks a bit off, and he’s the one with the ball in his hands most often. It’s connected, at least a little. I have confidence that he’ll start playing better and they’ll figure things out.

Offense was no problem at all today. Other than off course missing all the shots. But they got a ton of open looks. No one can claim offense was bad. 

The problem is phsycological. They just fell apart after a couple of things didn't go their way. They lack the energy.

[FunkBoreland]

https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1344483383242461186

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Powell gave some great effort on the 4th quarter when they cut the lead from 30 down to 20. Everything else was bleh.

[KillerLeft]

The longest tenured Mav is Powell and he's a veteran by definition but his resume just doesn't have enough to command the same level of respect.

I really, really think there’s something to this line of thinking.

[Hogmelon]

What did Harper say that he’s apologizing for? I stopped paying attention to this awhile ago

Not sure, but I think he said the word "shit" few minutes before it? But maybe I misheard it

With 6:30 remaining in the first quarter, Harper said, "those fuckin' streets" (referring to twitter).

[RDB]

Knee jerk postgame reaction:
Johnson may have the second best handles of the potential Mavs starters.  I don’t know much about him but at least tonight, I thought his passing and ability to get to the basket looked solid.  His finishing however left something to be desired.

The Mavs are woefully thin when it comes to shot creators and have to rely too much on Luka to create shots.  I’m not sure 1 creator/facilitator and 4 catch and shoot types is the best recipe for a contending lineup.

[pompelmo]

G-League will be played in February,  so gotta give him some garbage minutes till then.


Also, we were down by 30, I think giving a rookie some minutes isn't a bad idea in such circumstances

That would have been throwing the towel early. As we now, A 30 point lead can be built in one quarter, then lost in the next.

He got his garbage minutes in the end.

[donzingis38]

It's all good. At least it's not a 50 pt loss..lol. Get these ugly games out of the way now. They still tried and won the last quarter, they didn't just fold, which is a plus. Imo, it would hurt even more if they lost a close game.

I know they'll figure this out.

The one thing that worries me though is the other team's strategy which is make Luka work on defense. If Luka can fish for fouls, the other team will just try to do the same thing to piss him off/take him out of the game..

[SleepingHero]

That was legit some of the worst basketball I have ever seen in a long long time.

I was actually screaming at my TV to bench Luka. I was screaming at Rick for his inane choices at what I felt were key momentum points in the game. I was screaming whenever Burke missed a wide open 3. I was screaming at the refs (of course but I mean cmon). 

I am so tired of Jalen Brunson on this team. He is one of the most selfish players I've ever had the displeasure to watch. For a point guard, all he does is put his head down and try to "get his". And whenever he does try to pass its either to the wrong player on the court which leads to the offense resetting, or a turnover. I could deal with it when he was a rookie and this team was tanking. I could deal with it when it was his 2nd year and he got spot minutes at the 1 or 2. I cannot deal with it this year. My patience has ran out for him. Its annoying because I felt like he never exhibited these sort of tendencies this much his previous 2 years. It's like he's a totally different player. 

Trey Burke is THJ on steroids. He can be microwave hot or he can be colder than 0 Kelvin. Tonight was the latter. I don't see how relying on him is a smart choice for the bench.

This entire team looks like they haven't learned a thing in 4 games. The same damn mistakes from games 1 and 2. The offense still looks so broken. I don't know how many times these dudes missed WIDE OPEN shots that Luka set up.  

They showed zero pride. And it troubles me because I would think that Carlisle would actually try and rally the team at halftime with a speech. This was a "Fuck you for believing in us" game.  I'm disgusted. Very rarely have I ever wanted to turn off the TV watching a Mavs game. This was one of those few times I nearly did.\

Also. This team is too young with no veteran leadership. James Johnson is the most elder statesman and he's 33.

[cow]

We just aren't competitive to start the season. It took another team to lay even larger egg than our norm to put is in the win column.