MAVS NEWS: Luka Wins Community Cares Award! | DLive's Mom Passes Away

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1b...?rdt=42423&onetap_auto=true&one_tap=true



Micheal Finley describes what Luka did to Grant Williams in practice.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1767543314713301373


Highest Fg% since the AS break.

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https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1767369126484259129



Gafford's last 4 games.

[SleepingHero]

Pretty crazy that Luka is second in the league in 3 pointers made behind Steph Curry.   Curry is shooting at 40.7 percent on 713 attempts.  Luka is shooting at 38% on 594 attempts.

Its insane to me.

The biggest knock on his game was his lack of consistent 3 coming into year 3. Well by year 6 he's going to be in territory where only Steph and Dame have been at. 

Luka is an animal.

[KillerLeft]

Luka surpasses Jason Terry for 2nd all time in made threes in Mavericks history. 

Decided to add in the games played by the way:

Dirk-1522 games
Luka- 387 games
JET- 619 games
THJ- 335 games
Finley- 626 games

This is the most compelling argument for moving Hardaway I’ve seen to date. We can’t have him passing JET on that list.

[DallasMaverick]

Kidd on a new defensive scheme that he put in post TDL. 

So maybe we're premature to criticize him?

[RGP1981]

You basically have 4 of the 5 players you need to create a contending lineup (imo) with Luka/Kyrie/PJ/Lively (or Gafford) and are looking for that last wing who can play defense and give you a consistent 14 to 16 a night and a little bit of playmaking.  Exum has been REALLY good in that role but hasn't been healthy enough to trust, DJJ is lacking on offense, Green is too up and down.

A name that I would keep an eye on is Keldon Johnson.  Mikal Bridges would be the perfect fit but not sure if we have the ammo to do it but I bet we could pry Keldon Johnson has he's kind of fallen out of the Spurs future plans it seems.

Mikal Bridges would be awesome but he's too expensive to trade for.

I don't like the fit of Keldon at SG on defense.

Agreed that the Mavs basically have 4 of the 5 players you need to create a contending lineup. Grimes feels like the missing depth piece IMHO. He can catch and shoot, drive to the rim, makes cuts, leads fast breaks, defends well. Between Josh Green and Grimes, the 5th SG position should be very nicely covered.

- Kyrie, Green/Grimes, Luka, PJ, Lively/Gafford

I'm also curious to see this lineup below, when Kyrie sits.

- Green, Grimes, Luka, PJ, Lively/Gafford

I'm wanting Fontecchio as backup to Luka, rather than as a THJ replacement.

- Kyrie, Green/Grimes, Fontecchio, PJ, Lively/Gafford

And if Kyrie's health or age is a concern, he could be traded for Dejounte, who should fit in with these same lineups nicely too.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

So maybe we're premature to criticize him?

That will be determined at the end of the regular season.

[SleepingHero]

So maybe we're premature to criticize him?

Not at all. This team played some of the worst defense I've ever seen a basketball team play. That's on the coach for trying to put in a whole new system during a critical part of the season and failing to have the team ready.

[KillerLeft]

Not at all. This team played some of the worst defense I've ever seen a basketball team play. That's on the coach for trying to put in a whole new system during a critical part of the season and failing to have the team ready.

At the very least, it's a risky call that can be questioned. If they can get it up to speed in time for the playoffs, but without losing so much ground in the standings for it not to matter, then it's a great decision. 

The problem is that I'm not sure we can even trust that Kidd can design a system WORTH putting in late season with the new personnel, so it's tough to tell if it sucks or they're just not good at it yet. 

We shall see.

[Smitty]

Not at all. This team played some of the worst defense I've ever seen a basketball team play. That's on the coach for trying to put in a whole new system during a critical part of the season and failing to have the team ready.

It’s not popular to defend Kidd on here. Believe me, I’ve criticized him plenty. But his two stars are poor defenders. His best defender, Maxi, has missed 37 games of a possible 65. Second best defender, Exum, has missed 26 games.

This team has shown that they can play excellent defense and they’ve shown the exact opposite, in back to back weeks, even game to game. And that’s honestly what I expect when nobody on the team has played together all season.

The Mavs and Grizzlies are the only teams in the West that don’t have a 5 man lineup that’s played 100+ minutes together. The top 4 in the West average 640 minutes played for their top 5-man lineups. The Mavs - 88 minutes.

Defense in the NBA regular season seems optional these days but to just be average you need effort, availability and continuity. Effort will always be an issue with a Luka led team. Availability hasn’t been the case this year and continuity comes with time.

The scheme obviously has flaws and to me it looks like they’re working through those things. Some games it looks good and others the communication and effort isn’t there. I watched the Celtics defense against the Mavs and it was a joke. Of course the Mavs couldn’t make anything but they’re supposed to be the best of the best and they looked like a G league team on the defensive end that night.

Hopefully they get it figured out because if they can just be average consistently, their offense is good enough to be dangerous.

[The Jom]

Like the rational, patient take, Smitty. I propose something similar re the offense. Lots of hate here for all the iso sets. But come games 4, 5, 6, 7 of a playoff series, the D knows the whole playbook. Fancy offensive plays no longer work. Iso and p&r = the bread and butter. Kidd seems to be running his playoff offense all year long. That’s not dumb.

[Smitty]

Like the rational, patient take, Smitty. I propose something similar re the offense. Lots of hate here for all the iso sets. But come games 4, 5, 6, 7 of a playoff series, the D knows the whole playbook. Fancy offensive plays no longer work. Iso and p&r = the bread and butter. Kidd seems to be running his playoff offense all year long. That’s not dumb.

I agree with you. Luka iso is one of the most efficient plays in the NBA and it’s the most efficient for the Mavs. People want Carlisle’s offense but that’s clearly not what Luka wants. The crazy thing is, the Mavs only run iso 20% of the time and several analytics guys argue that they should run it more often, yet most fans think they run it 90% of the time.

Come playoff time it will be even more effective and hopefully just as efficient.

[Chicagojk]

Tim Cato Mavs article

https://theathletic.com/5333793/2024/03/...c-centers/

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Mikal Bridges would be awesome but he's too expensive to trade for.

I don't like the fit of Keldon at SG on defense.

Agreed that the Mavs basically have 4 of the 5 players you need to create a contending lineup. Grimes feels like the missing depth piece IMHO. He can catch and shoot, drive to the rim, makes cuts, leads fast breaks, defends well. Between Josh Green and Grimes, the 5th SG position should be very nicely covered.

- Kyrie, Green/Grimes, Luka, PJ, Lively/Gafford

I'm also curious to see this lineup below, when Kyrie sits.

- Green, Grimes, Luka, PJ, Lively/Gafford

I'm wanting Fontecchio as backup to Luka, rather than as a THJ replacement.

- Kyrie, Green/Grimes, Fontecchio, PJ, Lively/Gafford

And if Kyrie's health or age is a concern, he could be traded for Dejounte, who should fit in with these same lineups nicely too.

Grmies is a perfect fit but he also just got traded to the Pistons as part of their franchise moving forward.  He isn't available anymore.

So did Fontecchio for that matter. Neither are gettable for the foreseeable future.

[MFFL]

Tim Cato Mavs article

https://theathletic.com/5333793/2024/03/...c-centers/

Cato is still employed? Weird

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1b...mmentator/

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Tim Cato Mavs article

https://theathletic.com/5333793/2024/03/...c-centers/

Pretty good summary of the Mavs tbh.

[The Jom]

Pretty good summary of the Mavs tbh.

Yeah, good takes. But I was astonished at the number of typos or similar errors.

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/slohoopsfan/status/1768113...00943?s=46&t=4w35gotNXtBJnqxbaL7e9w

SLO HOOPS FAN (@SloHoopsFan)
VIDEO: The moment Luka realized something’s wrong with his hamstring. A mild one could easily be 2 weeks off. Has huge implications for the Mavs playoff chances and Luka’s All NBA and other awards. I really hope for the best

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://ahnfiredigital.com/nba/celtics/c...-room-guy/


Celtics commentator says GW was a bad locker room guy.