GAME 1: DAL (0-1) @ ATL (1-0) | 113-87 loss

[JamesConway]

https://twitter.com/dmn_mavericks/status...31785?s=21

What a headline.

[omahen]

What a headline.

You mostly know that I am not really impressed with the summer free agency results, but making such a drama after one game is quite irresponsible, imho. 

I thought defense and rebounding were good until the team basically fell apart in the third quarter. It is totally possible that the inefficient and unsuccessful offense killed all the will to play defense. I also think refs allowed extremely physical game, equal for both sides, but Atlanta responded better. 

Certainly, there were several things Mavs will have to have a deep look at. Paint was crowded with one of league best shotblockers in Capella always camping in the middle of it ignoring Powell. This basically made efforts to post up Young inefficient, as help was always there, drives from Luka and PnR with Powell were also not working. One game thing or something some of us were worried about? Would it really not be better to attack Capella with five out offense and force him to leave the paint? Doncic struggled, but it is not a big deal, it happens. What I will observe is, if this is a one time thing or perhaps a consequence of him playing off ball a lot. Did it perhaps prevent him to get it going after being used to much different style? I think he only had a brief moment in the third where he looked like he got hot (back to back assists for three pointers, basket on his own), but sadly it ended quickly as Atlanta always responded well. 

Anyway, I hope Mavs show a better game against Toronto, who had a similar first game as Mavs.

[KillerLeft]

This piling onto DFS seems bizarre to me. I thought it was crystal clear that basketball savant Jason Kidd's plan for this game was to get the ball in DFS's hands going downhill. In other words, what I think we saw last night was that DFS was Coach Kidd's first attempt at creating a "secondary playmaker." 

If that doesn't scare the hell out of you, I don't know what will, but I don't get the instinct to blame DFS for it.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Reddish reminded me of Jordan Clarkson out there but with a few extra inches and younger.  We will see if he can do that consistently.  If so, that is another really nice piece.

Yeah, he's the extra piece that was included in the Luka/Trae trade. After a shaky start due to injuries, he's starting to develop.  Luka is better than Trae, no disputing that. But Atlanta has done a much better job building around Trae, than the Mavs have built around Luka.  The trade isn't one-sided anymore.  Trae has won more playoff games and has advanced to the ECF, Luka has yet to get out of the 1st round.

[omahen]

This piling onto DFS seems bizarre to me. I thought it was crystal clear that basketball savant Jason Kidd's plan for this game was to get the ball in DFS's hands going downhill. In other words, what I think we saw last night was that DFS was Coach Kidd's first attempt at creating a "secondary playmaker." 

If that doesn't scare the hell out of you, I don't know what will, but I don't get the instinct to blame DFS for it.

I think if DFS would be left on an island against Young it could have some effect. But there was always help in the middle of the paint.

[Mavs2021]

This piling onto DFS seems bizarre to me. I thought it was crystal clear that basketball savant Jason Kidd's plan for this game was to get the ball in DFS's hands going downhill. In other words, what I think we saw last night was that DFS was Coach Kidd's first attempt at creating a "secondary playmaker." 

If that doesn't scare the hell out of you, I don't know what will, but I don't get the instinct to blame DFS for it.

Maybe people don´t want to face the harsh reality that for $60M dollars we got....


20 points
18 rebounds
1 assist
3 steals
2 blocks
7-26 shooting (26% from your PF/C rotation)

in 79 minutes from Porzingis, Powell, WCS, Kleber and Boban.

For $22M the Hawks got...

21 points
19 rebounds
2 assists
1 steal
4 blocks
10-11 shooting

in 35 minutes from Capela and Dieng.

Outplayed by 1/3 the salary in half the playing time.

[burekemde]

Yeah, he's the extra piece that was included in the Luka/Trae trade. After a shaky start due to injuries, he's starting to develop.  Luka is better than Trae, no disputing that. But Atlanta has done a much better job building around Trae, than the Mavs have built around Luka.  The trade isn't one-sided anymore.  Trae has won more playoff games and has advanced to the ECF, Luka has yet to get out of the 1st round.

To me Luka is far better than Trae, it is a one sided trade. Trae is a great player however and is surrounded by far better talent.

Reddish has been completely inconsistent player. I would not overreact to one single game. Let's see how consistent he can be over the course of the season. If he can be consistent and do well like this regularly, and in future seasons, then it indeed taking some away from the Luka-Trae trade although I would still prefer to have the better superstar.

Reddish was a non factor in too large stretches last season/seasons and is a player that in moments shine and then is away for long stretches.

Hunter on other hand is consistent and far better than Reddish. I wish we had this player next to Luka. Unfortunately he is injure prone, but I do hope for Hawks that will change. He is all star potential player. Great draft there. The rest from Hawks: Collins, Bogdanovic, Gallinari, Capela. They are just talent wise far better than what Mavs have at corresponding positions. And its not even close. This is a team game and Hawks have been better at building at these positions. No question there. Luka as great as he is, cant change that.

[luka_skywalker_77]

Can we tap the breaks a bit and say it's only one game? Give it ten games because there's nothing you're gonna pull from the first game of the season with a lot of new parts. Nothing. Follow this ATL team and i'm sure they'll look silly in the next game or two because this happens. I mean, we all should know the drill by now being NBA "fans".

[dirkfansince1998]

Can we tap the breaks a bit and say it's only one game? Give it ten games because there's nothing you're gonna pull from the first game of the season with a lot of new parts. Nothing. Follow this ATL team and i'm sure they'll look silly in the next game or two because this happens. I mean, we all should know the drill by now being NBA "fans".

I think that´s a given. But we can also point out some of the new stuff that hasn´t been working. Not to judge it after one or two games but to have something to focus on in the coming weeks. Will the Mavs continue to shoot a higher volume from midrange. How will it impact the overall offense? Will they continue to run the offense through players not named Luka or KP. For example Brunson, DFS or Brown? Can they grow into that role?

[SwisherPrice]

I have all been for lessening Luka's usage but you're not going to have good results from this roster. If they are going to give their other wings/guards more of a chance to score on offense then it just won't work. In theory, it sounds nice but these are players who have been in the league for years now. They are vets and they're not going to suddenly start developing tools to their game that they never had in their career. It's like 15 years ago when we were hoping Erick Dampier would suddenly start learning how to catch and finish inside.

Brunson is the only player with that kind of upside, somewhat (although probably still limited overall). We are starting to see that it's just not happening for KP either...the ship has sailed on him developing that all-around offensive game. Now we are stuck with just trying to figure out what he can do well without hurting the team.

I did not like RC's Luka-heavy offense but that was probably all that they were able to do given the players that this team had.

[michaeltex]

Obviously, the game was a disappointment for Mav fans. But I think it's best to let it go and move forward.

That said...
I think ATL was primed (season opener, home opener, Trae vs Luka, etc.) plus they had several days to focus on how to play DAL for this game. Let's see if they can keep it up once the games start coming every other night.

If Kidd wants to emphasize more of the mid-range game, he's going to have to figure out how to get everyone involved other than creeping toward the paint. That spacing thing others have talked about. At times it looked more like a playground scrimmage than a professional game.

If KP can't figure out how to exploit mismatches in the post, he does need to go to the corner as a decoy.

Luka never really lit it up in the pre-season. Despite a couple weeks of practice, I'm wondering if his head is back from vacation yet.

Feels a little like the refs have decided that the non-basketball move thing means not calling any stuff unless it's blatant.

[Kammrath]

Luka never really lit it up in the pre-season. Despite a couple weeks of practice, I'm wondering if his BODY is back from vacation yet.

FIFY

[cow]

https://twitter.com/dmn_mavericks/status...31785?s=21

What a headline.

It's pretty simple to me.  You'd rather have Luka than Young.  You'd rather have the Hawks roster than the Mavs.  Both sides "won" the trade.   Given the playoff run that Atlanta went on last year, you could also argue that Young's had a more successful NBA career.