Game 13: Milwaukee Bucks (9-4) vs. Dallas Mavericks (9-4) | 125-132 loss

[KillerLeft]

I think almost everyone is overreacting. This was a GOOD game, imo.

Williams did miss some big shots down the stretch, and that’s one of the bigger reasons they lost. I was disappointed by that, but on the other hand, the help defense he played against Giannis (while the ROOKIE guarded him REALLY well) was phenomenal. I’m surprised there aren’t more people in here raising the pom-poms for the Mavs’ defense in general. There were times last night when it was STIFLING, and I felt that even Luka had some really good moments on that end. More consistency is needed, obviously, but you can’t tell me it’s hopeless or that they’re not working on it now that I’ve seen that game.

Why aren’t more people remarking at what a dream fit THJ and the 6th man role have become? I never really thought he’d be a fit there, but he very obviously is. He literally might be the 6th man of the year, and is obviously good enough on both ends to play that role for a deep playoff team.

I still think it’s the forward group who needs the most help, but Williams, Green, DJJ and O-Max (I’m betting sooner than some of you think) all bring something pretty neat to the table. The improvement needed might actually happen from within that group, not without.

Powell wasn’t great last night, but he’s capable of playing much better. We’ve seen it many times. As I’ve said before, they’re obviously planning for and depending on a healthy, playing well version of Kleber. I haven’t given up on that yet. Some of you are sooooo quick to make these judgements!

I think we should all take a few beats to really let it sink in that the team is GOOD, and not HORRIBLE like many predicted. We should probably be happy about that and enjoy the ride from here, but instead, it weirdly seems like the better they get the angrier some of you get.

[Chicagojk]

Iztok game notes from X

1. Two star combos going at each other was entertaining to watch but role players making shots in 4th qtr decided it at the end

Kyrie scored 39, Luka 35, Giannis had 40, Dame 27

But in the 4th Bucks went 6/13 from 3, while Mavs were 3/15

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2. Mavs are (still) too small and lack bulk inside

Grant competed vs Giannis but gives up 5 inches. Lively lacks bulk and it's hard to adjust for a rookie to the speed & tenacity of the Greek Freak.

Giannis dominated (16/17, 94% FG, 32 points) in the paint and in transition.

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3. Luka and Kyrie going in waves was fun too watch

That being said Mavs still almost outgunned the Bucks.
Luka & Kyrie had great runs and shot 31/55 combined. Rest of the Mavs were just 20/48.

Luka dominated vs Bucks drop. And Kyrie's 33 pts 2nd half explosion was just wild.
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4. Details - part I

Mavs are playing much faster this yr but they had some reckless drives vs best rim protector in Lopez in transition & early offense.

DJJ missed 3 such contested shots + 1 transition turnover. THJ missed 2 early shots over Lopez + 1 bad transition turnover.

[Winter]

People here lose their mind when you suggest we need another high quality center with size.  No one is advocating that Lively shouldn't start and isn't the future of the position.  But some minimum wage backup isn't going to be any better than Powell in big games and in the playoffs.  We died when Lively picked up his fourth foul last night.  There has to be an answer other than Powell/Maxi when this happens (and it is going to keep happening for some time to come).

To me, this is obvious. I'm not sure whether people on the board are in disagreement with it as much as they simply talk around it. The discussion about Green is mildly interesting, but his play has very little do with team wins. We have wings that can replace his minutes. The same can't be said of our center problem. We have no rim protection without Lively on the court, and he's still learning.

Bigger teams will continue to hammer us in the paint until we get some bulk.

[Jason Terry]

I think it’s time to give Holmes a go at the backup center. Let’s see what we have.

Powell is okay and good sometimes. We need a better option for high stakes games. Powell is perfect in an “innings eater” role for low leverage minutes

Bottom line: 1. We are too small and must get bigger 2. Powell + THJ + Luka + Kyrie on the court to close a game should never happen. That was ugly defensively (which is miles better but still not good enough)

[sefant]

I knew demoting Green right after signing him to a contract was going to backfire on us at some point. Killed his confidence

The question is if DJJ starting was really that great. Mavs could use him on the bench more.

Even in terms of how well they are performing. The s5 is +-0 net now but was -5 net rating for a long time. I still don't like the starting 5 nor the rotation pattern for the most part. Even if the roster is limited, you can do better i think.

I said it in the discord after a few games. He doesn't do Powell nor Green any favours running lineups that are smaller and look kinda bad on paper. To make it even harder. Kidd has put all the thicker players (Luka/DJJ/GW) in the s5, and the bench has ""none"". Because most of them are on the bench at the same time. The rotation pattern isn't working well. Lively plays with "more" defense than Powell does at times. If anything you need to put more defense around Powell, and not less.

Not surprised they suck on D if they play lineups with Luka or Tim at PF.




Powell has a great defensive two man net rating with Exum and Jones. Thats about it. The rest is more or less worst defense in the league material.

- Exum + Powell 112.5 DefRtg (18.5 net rating in 50 min)
- DJJ + Powell 107.8 DefRtg

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• starting 5 is low key surprisingly bad on offense (110 ORtg) and great on defense (110 DefRtg)
  
• bench is good on offense (Tim lineups have a great OffRtg for the most part), but Tim/Powell ultra bad defense
  

Aka bench has to be Exum - Tim - X - DJJ - Powell. X is either Luka or Kyrie.

How he gets there doesn't matter. Try to bench DJJ early if he is starting and bring him back with Tim and Powell.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

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I don’t think it’s an overreaction to say he’s been awful. He’s not a Caruso level defender to be an absolute zero on offense. They need to set him up wit a sports psychologist if they haven’t already. I thought he’d be a lot better once his contract situation was settled.

[SwisherPrice]

Problem with Green is I think he has already bought into the mindset of just being a guy content to be along for the ride like Powell and Kleber (who I think are his best friends on the team, coincidentally).

He is okay with just going to the corner and letting the stars carry the load on offense. After 3 years, teams now have a scouting report on him and plenty of game film to know what to do when he's in the game. The hustle and energy plays we used to see aren't coming as easily now because he's not surprising opponents anymore - they know to expect that from him now.

When that happens, you have to develop other parts of your game and we have not seen anything from Green - no floater, no creation of a jumper off the dribble, no post-up ability, etc. He's just content being that corner 3 and D guy like Bullock, except he's still not a great shooter. I think his struggles at the FT line also makes him scared to do anything else on offense. He is one of the worst FT shooters on the team and that might be a big reason why they lost confidence in him early in the season

The offense stalls when he's in the game because defenses know he is going to be glued to the corner for the entire shot clock so the Mavs only have 4/5 of the floor to operate. That results in bad possessions and then defensively, it's not all his fault but when you combine being out there with Powell/THJ and either Luka/Kyrie then you're going to give up a lot of buckets...thus the negative +/-

[The Jom]

. . . He is okay with just going to the corner and letting the stars carry the load on offense. . . .

You know, there’s this thing called an offense. And this thing called a coach. And basically the players go to the corner when they’re supposed to, and wait they’re spacing the floor like they’re supposed to, when the offense calls for that. Unless they’re Christian Wood and want to get sent away.

[The Jom]

To me, this is obvious. I'm not sure whether people on the board are in disagreement with it as much as they simply talk around it. The discussion about Green is mildly interesting, but his play has very little do with team wins. We have wings that can replace his minutes. The same can't be said of our center problem. We have no rim protection without Lively on the court, and he's still learning.

Bigger teams will continue to hammer us in the paint until we get some bulk.

I agree with the analysis. But I don’t care about bulk that can’t stay on the court in the playoffs. McGee and Holmes are examples of size that can’t even earn minutes here when Maxi is out and Dwight ineffective. Healthy Maxi would help. Experienced Omax could too.

[youzigizag]

Problem with Green is I think he has already bought into the mindset of just being a guy content to be along for the ride like Powell and Kleber (who I think are his best friends on the team, coincidentally).

He is okay with just going to the corner and letting the stars carry the load on offense. After 3 years, teams now have a scouting report on him and plenty of game film to know what to do when he's in the game. The hustle and energy plays we used to see aren't coming as easily now because he's not surprising opponents anymore - they know to expect that from him now.

When that happens, you have to develop other parts of your game and we have not seen anything from Green - no floater, no creation of a jumper off the dribble, no post-up ability, etc. He's just content being that corner 3 and D guy like Bullock, except he's still not a great shooter. I think his struggles at the FT line also makes him scared to do anything else on offense. He is one of the worst FT shooters on the team and that might be a big reason why they lost confidence in him early in the season

The offense stalls when he's in the game because defenses know he is going to be glued to the corner for the entire shot clock so the Mavs only have 4/5 of the floor to operate. That results in bad possessions and then defensively, it's not all his fault but when you combine being out there with Powell/THJ and either Luka/Kyrie then you're going to give up a lot of buckets...thus the negative +/-

He's also playing more minutes now...so his ability to make hustle plays dwindles due to energy/tank.

I have always been a Green supporter...but if I had to suggest his best use would be...it would be like a max of 22 minutes a night.   His most efficient use seems to be to throw him in and be disruptive defensively with his energy.   Playing 35 minutes a night he wont be able to be as effective.

Im hoping there is a plan for Josh to succeed and they Mavs have use for him they just havent showed in games yet.   Kid has some flaws though.

[omahen]

Mavs didn't lose because offense wasn't good. Offense was great. Milwaukee really misses JRue. Lopez is great protecting the rim (as DJJ found out), but opponents can have as much of open mid range shots as they want. Kyrie and Luka exploted that greatly. Mavs scored 125 points. That is a lot and should be enough in most games.

Mavs problem is, they allowed 132 points and Milwaukee wasn't even that great from three. Not sure about the praise for defense against Giannis. What I saw is he basically got whatever he wanted - 18 of 26 from the floor. He is an awesome player, but I am not sure why Mavs didn't even try to play tougher against him. Make him earn it from the line... DJJ is basically the only point of attack defender and he is a liability offensively. The other thing I don't understand is people defending Green. And its not about his offense, it is about his defense. He sucks as a point of attack defender in last couple of games. He always brings energy, but he is awful getting around the screens or even staying in front of people. Offense with him was 81.8 (but I could accept a lot goes to other guys missing shots), but defense with him was at 143, only Curry and Powell got worse numbers. Not sure what happened, but defense with Green on the floor really fell apart in the last 3 games. Defense in DJJ minutes was great, but offense wasn't.

As said so many times before, Mavs biggest need is a better player like DJJ. Great defender who can do more offensively. THJ has been supprisingly awesome offensively, but you can't hope for a good enough defense with him next to Luka and Kyrie. This is about building correct pieces around Mavs stars, not saying THJ is a bad player. He just isn't what Mavs need. Team defense improves dramatically with him off the court. Not because THJ is bad, but because Mavs need better defenders next to their stars. However, the way Green has played lately, we might start thinking about keeping THJ and replacing Green and his minutes with that true 2-way wing. Mavs playing 4 guards and Powell is not doing anyone any favors...

I have no idea why Drummond or Olynik are mentioned around here. Both are horrible defenders. Powell is not that bad and that big of a problem. Mavs problem is imho, they only have guards in bench rotation. Hardaway, Green, Curry, Exum and Hardy. These are the only bench players in rotation besides Powell (with Kleber out, and even than they played him exclusively at center, so instead of Powell not next to him). Bringing a slow footed offensive big will not help with defensive issues. They need to bring in bigger wings. Replace at least one of those guards with a bigger wing. Most logical solution imho is, again, a good 2-way wing replacing DJJ in the starting unit and bringing DJJ from bench.

[Nowitzki Way]

I have no idea why Drummond or Olynik are mentioned around here. Both are horrible defenders. Powell is not that bad and that big of a problem. Mavs problem is imho, they only have guards in bench rotation. Hardaway, Green, Curry, Exum and Hardy. These are the only bench players in rotation besides Powell (with Kleber out, and even than they played him exclusively at center, so instead of Powell not next to him). Bringing a slow footed offensive big will not help with defensive issues. They need to bring in bigger wings. Replace at least one of those guards with a bigger wing. Most logical solution imho is, again, a good 2-way wing replacing DJJ in the starting unit and bringing DJJ from bench.

I agree with everything you said, but the stance on Powell.  He's terrible for what we need him for. We need him for rebounding, rim protection, and interior defense off the bench.  He provides none of this. 

Every game its the same problem. Lively goes out and we get abused even more in the paint. No rebounding. No rim protection.

I agree that we need bigger wings. I agree that our bench is only guards. Small guards at that.  But Powell is terrible. He's a great guy. He plays hard. But he displays none of the skills we need for a back up big.