Game 14: Sacramento Kings(8-4) vs. Dallas Mavericks (9-5) | 113-129 loss

[Chicagojk]

This is very noticeable and I have seen other posters complain about this in the past few days.

Could this be something he is being coached to do right now?

There is so much being thrown at him now.  I am surprised he isn’t drowning out there.  Being asked to anchor a defense is a lot to ask for a rookie.  It has been a mixed bag. I had high hopes and thought he would be a little better defending the rim.  It just shows you how fast the nba game moves and throwing him out there on a not good defensive team is probably not fair to him.

[SleepingHero]

3:10- Fox gets around DJJ by rejecting the screen, Powell gives zero resistance and an easy layup for Fox
94-89.
2:37- DJJ completes the and-1
94-92
2:14- Sabonis iso’s and posts up Powell. Hits an easy turnaround
96-92
2:00- Kyrie drives and gets clobbered. No call.
96-92
1:51- Exum picks up Sabonis in transition, Sabonis then clearly pushes off Exum for the easy lay in
98-92
1:37- quick contested mid range pullup by THJ. Clank
98-92
1:24- Powell gets blown by on the PnR which leads to an open kickout. Mavs get put into rotation where Exum DJJ, AND Kyrie are all late. Wide open 3 but SAC misses. Murray gets his rebound because DJJ is ball watching. Then Monk gets the kickout and THJ just lazily closes out, easy 3 for Monk.
101-92
0:55- quick contested mid range pullup by THJ. Swish
101-94
0:36- I have no clue why DJJ and THJ just decide to not switch, but DJJ basically stops guarding his guy and THJ doesn’t switch off. Wide open 3 for Monk. Both are at fault, but DJJ is 51% of the blame.
104-94
0:21- Smooth Exum pullup off the Powell screen
104-96
0:10- Exum helps off really far off his man, quick pass puts the Mavs in rotation. Kyrie helps smartly, THJ rotates corner but wildly closes out. DJJ again chooses the wrong rotation and it leads to a wide open 3 for Murray
107-96
End of quarter.


Decided to compile the last 3 mins of the 3rd quarter. DJJ lost us this game. Powell and THJ tied for a close 2nd.

[Chicagojk]

3:10- Fox gets around DJJ by rejecting the screen, Powell gives zero resistance and an easy layup for Fox
94-89.
2:37- DJJ completes the and-1
94-92
2:14- Sabonis iso’s and posts up Powell. Hits an easy turnaround
96-92
2:00- Kyrie drives and gets clobbered. No call.
96-92
1:51- Exum picks up Sabonis in transition, Sabonis then clearly pushes off Exum for the easy lay in
98-92
1:37- quick contested mid range pullup by THJ. Clank
98-92
1:24- Powell gets blown by on the PnR which leads to an open kickout. Mavs get put into rotation where Exum DJJ, AND Kyrie are all late. Wide open 3 but SAC misses. Murray gets his rebound because DJJ is ball watching. Then Monk gets the kickout and THJ just lazily closes out, easy 3 for Monk.
101-92
0:55- quick contested mid range pullup by THJ. Swish
101-94
0:36- I have no clue why DJJ and THJ just decide to not switch, but DJJ basically stops guarding his guy and THJ doesn’t switch off. Wide open 3 for Monk. Both are at fault, but DJJ is 51% of the blame.
104-94
0:21- Smooth Exum pullup off the Powell screen
104-96
0:10- Exum helps off really far off his man, quick pass puts the Mavs in rotation. Kyrie helps smartly, THJ rotates corner but wildly closes out. DJJ again chooses the wrong rotation and it leads to a wide open 3 for Murray
107-96
End of quarter.


Decided to compile the last 3 mins of the 3rd quarter. DJJ lost us this game. Powell and THJ tied for a close 2nd.

Is Hardaway just awful on defense?  He competes hard.  He takes charges.  Is he rotations off?  Are we asking him to guard up too much?  Something seems off.  See,s we get in too many times where we trade baskets.  Very good offense but no stops on the other end.  So when we miss a few shots we lose ground quickly.

I thought Green was good tonight.  I just feel like I like him better at guard.  I wonder if the battle is between him or Hardy.  Tough to get big with both of them in your rotation.  Green is much more important to our future than Jones.  So he gets a much long leash to work through things.

[surfpuckmd]

The Kings are a talented and very well coached team.  The Mavericks mostly looked tired and were lost on defense.

Lively has played well for a rookie but is still a rookie and is not strong or experienced enough to win against a beast like Sabonis.  Lively will get better with experience and will bulk up a bit over the next few years.  Powell was simply helpless tonight.  Honestly, JaVale McGee looked pretty good for Sacramento-  6 points and 7 rebounds in 9 minutes.  We could use a backup big like that....

The DJJ magic seems to be gone.  Luka looks exhausted and hurt.  He was running the court like a 40-year old man tonight.  I respect his toughness but Kidd probably needs to force him to sit out a couple of games to recuperate.  

Mike Brown is an excellent coach who is constantly communicating with his team (and the officials).  Jason Kidd is a very different type and caliber of coach.  I think there just wasn't a solution on our roster tonight though so Kidd can't be blamed for our defensive failure.

There aren't a lot of "big wings" on the market right now.  Anunoby is not affordable.  Our best bet is a bigger backup center who can rebound and match the physicality of players like Sabonis and Jokic.  Andre Drummond is the best reasonable option out there.  He solves our defensive rebounding problem.  He may not be playable in the playoffs but we need to worry about making the playoffs right now.

[SwisherPrice]

When you are building your team around Luka/Kyrie (and as of now, THJ), you won't get by with just "decent"/"not bad" defenders at the other positions...you need elite/All-NBA Defensive Team-caliber defenders just to have a chance. And even then, I think that might not be enough because teams can still figure out how to exploit and attack the weaker defenders in the game.

But due to the roster right now, there are always going to be anywhere from 2-4 bad defenders on the floor at all times so it's just hard to stop anyone. When you're constantly having to help/double, you're going to be scrambling to guard the entire possession. The Bucks and Kings were toying with the Mavs and that's why they were able to shoot well and get 29 and 34 assists (league average is 25.7 per game).

[ThisIStheYear]

Two pretty talented teams but the Mavs were tired and the Kings have a much better coach. Something about the underlying schemes for the Mavs seems flawed.

[Chicagojk]

https://x.com/boweman55/status/1726654834575839244?s=46&t=iwQP5yZoJF3Ulzfb9MH7Cg

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/boweman55/status/1726654834575839244?s=46&t=iwQP5yZoJF3Ulzfb9MH7Cg

@Boweman55
currently pulling some clips of the mavericks defense to perhaps write a post, and boy, I don't think a single image can better sum up the current state of the mavericks defense than this

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

I love DJJ and GWill as rotation contributors, but they are who they are. Neither are starters on a championship team.