MAVS 114, WOLVES 102

[mavsluvr]

MAVS WIN CLASH OF THE EMERGENCY TEAMS

The skeletons of the two contestants enter the AAC on the back half of a home-and-home. The Mavs are missing Reggie Bullock, Tim Hardaway, Josh Green, and Maxi due to COVID protocols. Additionally, Luka (ankle), KP (toe), and Omoruyi (foot) are out with injuries, and Willie still has his personal issues. That leaves 11 guys to suit up, including two-way player McLaughlin and a couple ten-day players signed within the last day (Theo Pinson and Marquese Chriss). Vanderbilt, Beverley, Edwards, Okogie, and Prince are out for Minnesota. 

Due to the decimated rosters of both teams, we may do an abbreviated version of the recap tonight. I’m not expecting much of a game, but if there unexpectedly is one, we’ve got it covered. However, we do have the special treat of Dirk serving as the color commentator, alongside Followill, so that should give us something to look forward to. 

In the end, the thrown-together Mavs cruised past their opponents, achieving a split on the mini-series. Dirk was a fabulous courtside analyst, and it was an odd but giddy night.


GAME NOTES

Starting lineup  Brunson-Ntlikina-DFS-Sterling-Powell

FIRST QUARTER

Dirk saying he anticipates simple plays with a lot of running. KAT opens the scoring with a jam. Brunson gets the Mavs started with a corner three. Dirk oohing and aah-ing over the “best shooting big man in the world,” lol. 

14-12  6:11

Mavs have four threes in the first six minutes, with Sterling, Powell, and Brunson (2) doing the honors. 

Theo Pinson has come in. Has an assist to Brunson for a three. Moses runs the floor for a jam. Dirk says Tyson must have taught him that. Mo bites on a Towns shot fake. Dirk says it’s a really tough matchup for Moses. 

23-22 2:44

Dirk is the highlight of this one, so far. Chriss and JaQuori McLaughlin on now. Dirk not totally pleased with the Mavs’ defense, making suggestions. Pinson knocks down a three! Chriss gets his first points as a Mav in the lane. Chriss hits a three at the end of the shot clock with a hand in his face! 

34-35 after one

Well, this game has been a romp, to this point. KAT leads the Wolves with 12 points, JB has 9 for Dallas. 

SECOND QUARTER

Bobi enters, sending the crowd into raptures. The Big Bo gets on the board with a free throw. Now he commits a foul on the floor, grabbing a passing Wolf’s leg to stop the fast break. Dirk doesn’t like Frank’s turnover trying to pass to Bobi — you have to get that pass up there to the big guy, he’s 7’5.” You tell 'em how to play with big guys, Dirk! Bobi with a put-back! Woo-hoo! Boban with a jumper! He gets hit on the arm, but the ref turns his head. Bobi is not happy with that. 

39-37  8:36

Dirk describes Boban as a “scoring machine,” a “walking double-double if he has the minutes,” and a “consummate professional.” Says he first saw Bobi when the Mavs were playing the Spurs. He had not encountered Bobi in Europe, and when he saw Bobi walk in, he was taken aback and thought, “Who in the world is that?” Bobi started the relationship by trying to dunk on Dirk all game, lol. 

Dirk observes that KAT is also a tough matchup for Boban. On the other end, though, Bobi earns an and-one, courtesy of the world’s best shooter. Powell and DFS trap the best shooter on the sidelines, force a turnover. DFS completes a 9-0 Mavs run with a flush from Pinson. 

50-42  5:05

Bobi had 8 points in 5 minutes. Brunson working Russell with a jam. The crowd loves it. Dirk hopes the Mavs will keep Brunson. Skin suggests he walk into the front office and make that happen. Dirk says everyone would like to keep JB, but free agency can be tough. Pinson with a steal and dunk. Yay. Brunson fouled shooting a three, Russell’s third. 

61-50  HT

Brunson and Beasley each leads his team with 16 points. Towns has 15 for MIN. Mavs have 9 offensive rebounds, and own a 10-0 advantage in second-chance points. Wolves score only 15 points in the second period. Devin thinks double-teaming Towns is the key to the game. 

THIRD QUARTER

67-52 10:37 

MIN calls an early timeout to stop their bleeding. Brunson tearing them up, not to speak of a nifty pass and flush on a DFS-Powell connection. Mavs had a double-digit lead here, but MIN on a run. Kidd wants a timeout to regroup.

79-73  3:46

DFS goaltended shot breaks a 13-0 MIN run. Dirk complaining that his seat is too small, he’s used to sitting on his comfy couch, lol. Mavs finish the quarter with a run of their own. 

88-78 after three

Beasley and Towns combine for 45 for Minnie. Brunson, Powell, and Doe-Doe in double figures for Dallas. 

FOURTH QUARTER

MIN within three after a couple of minutes. Now within one. Timeout Dallas. 

88-87  9:30

Bobi returns. The roof comes off the arena. Woah, Reid flush over Bobi. Mavs go down briefly, but Doe pulls the lead back with a corner three. Chriss follows up with a jam from DFS. 

99-95  5:31

Mavs with a 10-0 run! Frank called for a foul on Russell. Kidd challenges. Unsuccessful, which Dirk had predicted from the first. Mavs scamper to a win. 

114-102 FT


ANALYSIS

The makeshift Mavs overcame another poor shooting night (11-34, 32% from three) to dig out a win, enjoying a 50-40 edge in PIP.  Four starters were in double figures, with Bobi adding 10 off the bench. Chriss and Pinson combined for 13 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks in their Maverick debuts! Sterling claimed a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Brunson led the scoring, with 28 points. 


OBSERVATIONS

Dameris says that the identity of the 10-day players was not the result of some throw at the dart-board, but rather the product of a lot of effort in determining who the team might be interested in. Pinson was cute after the game, telling the story of how he learned he was being called up, and how blessed he felt. So refreshing, hearing someone that thrilled to be here. 

After the game, Kidd commented on the newcomers. They played their hearts out. Liked their energy, their spirit, their sense of having something to fight for, their ball movement. They definitely helped the Mavs win this game. Theo great at moving the ball and talking. Chriss has great athletic abilities and did a great job on Towns early, so Kidd trusted him in the closing lineup. 


A victory! Hurray! I don’t know what, if anything we can take from this little par-tay, but it was fun to watch a new cast of characters, and it was a relief avoiding a further slide in the W-L column. 

The highlight of the evening was having Dirk on the call. Oh, what a blast! He’s a very intelligent guy, and is almost like a coach commenting on the floor, cheering on the good and fussing about the bad, lol. He gave a little post-game interview with the Bally studio crew, treating us to his laugh-out-loud, hysterical, self-deprecating sense of humor. DIRK FOREVER!!!


NEXT.  Some version of the Mavs is scheduled to face Milwaukee on Thursday. I will not be able to do the recap for that one, so will check in again after the Christmas Day game, assuming there is one. 

Merry Christmas, Mavs fans!

[Kammrath]

Dameris says that the identity of the 10-day players was not the result of some throw at the dart-board, but rather the product of a lot of effort in determining who the team might be interested in.

Nico going to work! Well done, Nico, well done.

[KillerLeft]

I will not be able to do the recap for that one, so will check in again after the Christmas Day game, assuming there is one. 

It's ok, my guy! @"fifteenth" promised to cover for you that night so we're all set! Enjoy your time off!

[fifteenth]

It's ok, my guy! @"fifteenth" promised to cover for you that night so we're all set! Enjoy your time off!

He did? Why'd he go and do that?

@"SleepingHero" is the game thread play-by-play guy!

[SleepingHero]

He did? Why'd he go and do that?

@"SleepingHero" is the game thread play-by-play guy!

Ha! 

I'll admit I've definitely been slacking on the play-by-play recently. Combination of work and family has me watching my DVR at 3 am pretty much this entire month.

In any case there is no chance I'll be able to recap a game as concisely and well written as Mark Follo... err I mean mavsluvr does on a regular basis. Odds are I'll get side tracked and write 5 paragraphs on every single Sterling Brown mistake. 

We need a hero to save the Christmas recaps! Perhaps the Mavs have already covered this with the Charlie Brown signing?

[Mavs2021]

By the way, this might be the best DP has looked ALL season.

Agreed. It really shows that this whole big ball line-up is a mess, when Powell can look better as the single starting center.

We all argued vehemently against the big line-ups, but this make shift G-League small ball team only hammered home the point. We have far too many Cs on this roster. Realistically we need Porzingis, Kleber, Powell (for now) and Brown. And they should probably play a maximum of 60 minutes combined with the rest going to smaller players at the 4. Our defense is simply too slow and weak. The Cavs line-ups only work, cause Allen and Mobley are defensive studs and everybody else is playing fast and quick with lots of energy.

Furthermore Brunson and DFS are getting paid next summer, whether we like it or not. 

Last two games:

Brunson: 23.0 PPG, 8.5 APG, 2 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 3.5 TOPG, shooting 52/38/75
Dorian: 21.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 4 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1.5 TOPG, shooting 57/43/100

The Mavs need to make room for these guys. Ideally you move at least two of THJ, Powell and Bullock. Certainly let WCS go, Burke if you can.

The Mavs really need to pay attention to the league right now, cause so many teams will give opportunities to hidden gems and untapped potential (some of whom will be available via trades or free agency).

[omahen]

Much needed win. I think main factor was the fact that Mavs played one big only mostly. Much more room in the paint. Also Minny missing their two best defenders helperd. Nice contributions from 10-day contract guys, although I find it kind of interesting the +- guys didn't point out the team high -8 from Pinson  

A bit head scratching the 10-day guy played more than 3 of our regular roster centers that were signed/traded for in the offseason. But perhaps this is a sign that our new GM is learning his job?  

Btw - whats with the Mavs and absences for personal reasons? Terry missed almost whole season last year, WCS is missing half of this season.

[Kammrath]

We all argued vehemently against the big line-ups, but this make shift G-League small ball team only hammered home the point. We have far too many Cs on this roster.

It does feel like the evidence is mounting that Kidd's schemes on both ends favor a "small-ball" approach with just a bunch of athletic 6'5" to 6'9" type guys.

[Chicagojk]

I probably would have skipped that game if Dirk wasn't announcer.  As it turned out, it was probably one of my top 2 games of the year to watch.  Really fun.   

I liked both Chriss and Pinson.  It was only one game but lets see if they can be productive in any minutes they get.    To be honest, I think Jaquiri spot should be looked at.   He doesn't look ready to help at all in NBA action.   I wonder if that could be a spot the Mavs look at if either Chriss or Pinson produce.  I mentioned in the George King thread if we could take anything from the type of guys the Mavs signed moving forward.  Probably not, but still.   Just imagine better versions of Pinson and Chriss on this team.   A 6'5 to 6'8 wing who is a natural passer, good defender and hustle guy and a big, physical athletic 4/5.   The other guys they signed are long guards/wings who shot good percentages from three.  Chriss lob plays were way off but that is mainly a timing issue, but I really liked some of his big boy rebounds late.   Just went up and got the ball.   

At the start of the fourth, I felt it was the same old Mavs.  I am starting to think the fourth quarter is a mental hurdle for the team.  The offense grinds to a halt.  But last night give them credit.  They didn't panic and tried to keep the pace fast when the opportunities were there and they had a stretch with really good defense.   

I wish I could half as cool as DFS.  Swing, Swing.   If I said that, people would slowly leave the room.  Ha

I loved Dirk.  Fun game.  I found it interesting what he said about Jalen.  Said how everyone in the organization wants him back but FA is tricky.    Seems like the Mavs need to sell Jalen on being here.  I hope they can do it.

[DanSchwartzgan]

MAVS WIN CLASH OF THE EMERGENCY TEAMS

 
OBSERVATIONS

Dameris says that the identity of the 10-day players was not the result of some throw at the dart-board, but rather the product of a lot of effort in determining who the team might be interested in. Pinson was cute after the game, telling the story of how he learned he was being called up, and how blessed he felt. So refreshing, hearing someone that thrilled to be here. 

After the game, Kidd commented on the newcomers. They played their hearts out. Liked their energy, their spirit, their sense of having something to fight for, their ball movement. They definitely helped the Mavs win this game. Theo great at moving the ball and talking. Chriss has great athletic abilities and did a great job on Towns early, so Kidd trusted him in the closing lineup. 

I was a bit surprised at the people yesterday who were wondering why we didn't just promote guys from Frisco.  By now, we know what those guys can/can't do.  Why not take this opportunity to get a peak at similar talent on other G-League teams.  

I mentioned in the George King thread if we could take anything from the type of guys the Mavs signed moving forward.  Probably not, but still.   Just imagine better versions of Pinson and Chriss on this team.   A 6'5 to 6'8 wing who is a natural passer, good defender and hustle guy and a big, physical athletic 4/5.    

Interesting thought.  It is easy to see what a strong rebounding mobile big who defends well might do here.  Whether its Chriss or someone else, it is a much better fit than what we get from Willie.

It does feel like the evidence is mounting that Kidd's schemes on both ends favor a "small-ball" approach with just a bunch of athletic 6'5" to 6'9" type guys.

The evidence also showed we had an unbelievable offense two years ago when KP and Powell were on the floor together.  

Is it Kidd's "scheme" or just his placating KP?  Early in the season Powell got all the blame for crowding up the lane (because blaming Powell is just what we do around here).  But over time it has become clear that KP is the one killing the spacing.  He even kills it when Powell is out of the game and it is impacting Luka's ability to get to the rim.  

What are we getting for our investment in KP's happiness?  .388 from 3-10 feet and .382 from 10-16 feet (oh yeah, and his 3% has totally gone to crap).   Meanwhile, Luka has lost 47 basis points off his TS% because KP's flashing into the lane while Luka is trying to drive.  Hardaway's TS% is over 70 basis points worse than each of the last two seasons.   Bullock's TS% is a full percentage point worse than his career average.  The payoff of Kidd letting KP "just be a basketball player" is a hugely diminished team offense.  

[Kammrath]

The evidence also showed we had an unbelievable offense two years ago when KP and Powell were on the floor together.  

Is it Kidd's "scheme" or just his placating KP?  Early in the season Powell got all the blame for crowding up the lane (because blaming Powell is just what we do around here).  But over time it has become clear that KP is the one killing the spacing.  He even kills it when Powell is out of the game and it is impacting Luka's ability to get to the rim.  

What are we getting for our investment in KP's happiness?  .388 from 3-10 feet and .382 from 10-16 feet (oh yeah, and his 3% has totally gone to crap).   Meanwhile, Luka has lost 47 basis points off his TS% because KP's flashing into the lane while Luka is trying to drive.  Hardaway's TS% is over 70 basis points worse than each of the last two seasons.   Bullock's TS% is a full percentage point worse than his career average.  The payoff of Kidd letting KP "just be a basketball player" is a hugely diminished team offense.  

Here are the numbers from Luka and KP this year....




Luka's lineups have been WAY better offensively without KP...but absolutely HORRIBLE defensively. So the net is about the same. KP's lineups offensively without Luka have been WAY better as well and only slightly worse defensively. 


And with the DP+KP lineups two years ago not sure we can ever get back to that....too much has changed. DP has, the coaches, the schemes, and in many ways Luka has. Luka has just been really "meh" this year and I am desperately hoping that nagging injury stuff is the only issue there and that everything else (including weight) will resolve itself once his body heals.

[Kammrath]

More @"DanSchwartzgan" by the way! MORE!

[fifteenth]

What are we getting for our investment in KP's happiness?  .388 from 3-10 feet and .382 from 10-16 feet (oh yeah, and his 3% has totally gone to crap).   Meanwhile, Luka has lost 47 basis points off his TS% because KP's flashing into the lane while Luka is trying to drive.  Hardaway's TS% is over 70 basis points worse than each of the last two seasons.   Bullock's TS% is a full percentage point worse than his career average.  The payoff of Kidd letting KP "just be a basketball player" is a hugely diminished team offense.  

the depressing truth

---

[omahen]

I was a bit surprised at the people yesterday who were wondering why we didn't just promote guys from Frisco.  By now, we know what those guys can/can't do.  Why not take this opportunity to get a peak at similar talent on other G-League teams.  

I am one of those people. Aren't those guys in Frisco because we believe in them? So why jump them when it comes to actual opportunity? It is obvious it means the world to guys. I think all these players will soon be forgotten (difficult for any of them to get a roster spot), but I think this is where term continuity would be important. Motivating the guys - come to Frisco, work hard with us and you might get a chance. The message now is - come work with us but when the opportunity comes we will give it to someone else to have a look at someone else.

I agree with take from one other poster, that MacLaughlin doesn't look great. 

What are we getting for our investment in KP's happiness?  .388 from 3-10 feet and .382 from 10-16 feet (oh yeah, and his 3% has totally gone to crap).   Meanwhile, Luka has lost 47 basis points off his TS% because KP's flashing into the lane while Luka is trying to drive.  Hardaway's TS% is over 70 basis points worse than each of the last two seasons.   Bullock's TS% is a full percentage point worse than his career average.  The payoff of Kidd letting KP "just be a basketball player" is a hugely diminished team offense. 

Totally agree with this. Mavs have failed in whatever they tried to do with KP. Even if the goal was just to showcase him, the result is showing only that RC was actually totally correct what is the best way to use him. KP is not a star, he can't create for himself. He can be good if he receives ball on the move near the basket or as a CnS. Everything else is suboptimal. So RC was not the problem, it is the KP perception of himself. Not to mention that the reason to play another center is to save KP health. But he is missing games anyway, quite a lot of them. I would much rather see they play him only every second game but use rotations that make sense than this crap we have to watch now.

We have very scattered data regarding KP as the only big. Lots of different lineups with 30 minutes for most used one THJ-DFS-Luka_Brunson-DFS. Not surprisingly this lineup is bad defensively, what is surprising is they were very bad on the offense. Other than that most of the remaining lineups with KP as the only big (counting Kleber as a non-big as he can spread the floor) are doing ok on a very small sample.

The only scheme that imho makes sense with KP is to have him as the screener in the Luka PnR with three floor spreading wings. The one thing they basically refuse to play for three years now. Since it is so obvious they should at least try to do this, the only logical reason they don't do it can be, that one of the players doesn't want to do it.

[fifteenth]

So RC was not the problem, it is the KP perception of himself.

Yes!!

The only scheme that imho makes sense with KP is to have him as the screener in the Luka PnR with three floor spreading wings. The one thing they basically refuse to play for three years now.

It sure was exciting to see it the one game this year where they tried it. Not sure why that's all we got.

[TXBamanut]

We blame Dwight for a reason... he tries so hard and is a good guy, but he can't be a good player consistently every night in this league.  He's a good energy guy off the bench (good to see that his 3 point shot is coming back..he's being very judicious when he shoots it and very limited, but that's good), but he's not a starter.  

I agree on KP floating in the lane.  That needs to get reined in better, imho. 

I'm going to say this, so don't laugh, but I'm going to use NBA2k as an example (here we go).  

I play a lot with a Glass Cleaning Lockdown.  Last year, I went with total defense, gigantic player, a ton of defensive badges, zero offense -- got a ton of blocks and rebounds, not many points if it wasn't a clear dunk...sometimes, I just get rebound/steal/block, make the outlet pass and start hitting my emotes and not come down to the other end of the floor.  This year, I made the same build except I sacrificed a little of the size and weight and picked up some offensive game.  I play with the same group of guys, so all of a sudden, I can score in the low post and they are giving me the ball a lot and I go to work...but even when I was successful, we still struggled winning.  You have to have the three to win.  So we actually started winning more when I started doing less on the offensive end, because every two I made, took away a 3 that we could make.

How that stupid video game nonsense applies, strangely enough, is now all of a sudden, KP has the green light to score...and he's like a kid with a new toy...and he's overusing it, and it's hurting the team.

Honestly, I haven't looked at the numbers, but the floating into Luka's driving lane is something I noticed early on in the season, and while I don't have numbers, to me, it seems to have been getting better.  (At the beginning of the season, Dwight was doing it too, as well as Maxi, which was nuts... the other night, KP was on the block actually going to work on a guard 6 feet from the basket backing in and Maxi actually flashes and posts up 4 feet from the basket and I was like "what are you doing???" -- KP looked at him, he got a weird look on his face and then cleared out and KP scored.)   The hard part is that Luka and KP aren't playing as much together to get the feel worked out due to injuries and such, I think.

I wonder if part of that is time and feel for the system and coaching.  I mean, if you want a guy to be able to do it sometimes, you want him to be comfortable with it, so you don't want to just shut him down or just say "you get 2 a game, and we won't help you with the set to get you there (which is what I think Rick did, hoping him constantly failing would discourage him from wanting to do it...which I think had a negative effect overall on KP's play).  I think Kidd is trying a different approach.  I'll be watching through the season to see if there's a trend to balancing that out.  I do notice KP passing out of the postup a lot more also, and they are usually good decisions.

Everything is working on something to be ready and good at it in the playoffs, so I'm just watching what they are spending time on now, to see what they think the playoff Mavs will look like (if we get there.).

[omahen]

https://twitter.com/iztok_franko/status/...7326040064

[KillerLeft]

What are we getting for our investment in KP's happiness?  .388 from 3-10 feet and .382 from 10-16 feet (oh yeah, and his 3% has totally gone to crap).   Meanwhile, Luka has lost 47 basis points off his TS% because KP's flashing into the lane while Luka is trying to drive.  Hardaway's TS% is over 70 basis points worse than each of the last two seasons.   Bullock's TS% is a full percentage point worse than his career average.  The payoff of Kidd letting KP "just be a basketball player" is a hugely diminished team offense.  

Yes. Thanks.

[KillerLeft]

The payoff of Kidd letting KP "just be a basketball player" is a hugely diminished team offense.  

Had to quote it again. 

I might have this done in calligraphy, framed, and put on my wall next to my work desk.

[fifteenth]

***************************************
* The payoff of Kidd letting KP          *
* "just be a basketball player" is       *
* a hugely diminished team offense.*
****************************************