Game 82: Dallas Mavericks (50-31) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (56-25)

[ThisIStheYear]

That was like watching the Washington Generals. The only good news is that by my count not a single player in today’s game is really needed for the regular playoff rotation.

[Scott41theMavs]

I typically hate the FIFY thing, because it's like putting words in people's mouth to add stuff to their quote bubble. 

But that one was funny. 

I'm not quite to that level of doom and gloom though. It depends on who the injury is to.

I think that the Mavs can probably handle one frontcourt injury that puts a player out for two or more games - one of Landlord, DLive, PJ, DJJ, or Maxi. I think they are cooked if it's two injuries. 

Backcourt is another story. If one of the three of Luka, Kyrie, or Exum (and yes, I understand those three aren't created equal) goes down for two or more games, the Mavs' playoff run will be rather abruptly done. I just don't think they are built to come anywhere close to surviving that in the competitive Western Conference playoffs.

[Mavs2021]

We really need another (defensive) PG that can orchestrate our offense without Luka/Kyrie. THJ, Green and Hardy are catch and shoot players. No dribbling allowed. I think they´d all look better in games like yesterday, if they had somebody to properly run the offense. To me the actually disappoint has been Lawson. He looks like he can shoot, but he really cannot.

[ballsrchr]

I wonder how this bottom 9, or 7--however you look at it--would do if they had some actual coaching. These last two games looked like G-League specials...no coach free for alls...

On the other hand, I've been wanting to see the deep bench guys play more. Got my wish. It was bittersweet. I think Omax has a future--WITH GOOD COACHING. Same goes for Hardy...I'm not as down on him as most people. Have to see more of Fudge in a game with an actual game plan. Lawson?...50/50 for the bench. Brandon Williams needs to spend some time learning teamwork under a good coach...but in this game I think he felt that he had to score.

[fifteenth]

We really need another (defensive) PG that can orchestrate our offense without Luka/Kyrie. THJ, Green and Hardy are catch and shoot players. No dribbling allowed. I think they´d all look better in games like yesterday, if they had somebody to properly run the offense. To me the actually disappoint has been Lawson. He looks like he can shoot, but he really cannot.

That's Exum

[Chicagojk]

I thought a bit about Hardy´s last game and his seeming 2nd year regression. They already got this wrong in SL, trying to force the ball into his hands imho. And to an extend this is actually Kyrie´s "fault". Think about it. He has become somewhat of a veteran leader on this team. I´m sure he´s mentoring Hardy, too. Hardy shares the very same physical traits as Irving. It´s only natural for a young player like Hardy, that he is trying to mold his game after a highly successful player of similar build.

The problem is Kyrie (and Luka) have godly handles, especially in tight spaces, while it might be Hardy´s biggest weakness. Hardy should mold his PG game after Exum, who can handle the ball a bit, but is very selective with it, when it comes to penetration. Exum is more like an court administrator till we call the bosses again for the tough decisions.

We don´t have to worry about Hardy being too tentative, when it comes to shooting. Though it would be good for next season, if they can move Hardy completely off the ball on the 2nd unit. Catch and shoot. Catch-one dribble-shoot. Simplify the game for him and he can easily give you that THJ production next year imho.

That is true.  Hardy is gotten much better making passing plays.  Some advanced.  He is still sloppy in this area.   I just never understood pairing him with Hardaway.    Even more so with no point guard.  You are just making a disaster a certainty.   I do think Hardy is better as weakside creator while playing with a dominant creator.  I believe he will be in that role next year (4th guard as a regular rotation piece).   I am still high on him.   Still plenty of bumps in the road ahead though.   He is only 21.  Donte Divenchenzo is 27 and after bouncing around a few teams had a break out year this year.  I believe Kidd.   The team knows Hardy is good, he is just going to need time.  

While I agree, forcing the ball in his hands will not play to his strengths now.  I believe it is important to try to make him get better at this.  It will only help the Mavs and Jaden moving forward.   If he can be a competent defender and more reliable handling the ball (and not attacking every time...he got better here during the second half of the season), I believe it could be the difference of making a 100 million over his career or being a minimum type of guy who bounces around the league and then disappears after 5-6 more years.

[youzigizag]

Jaden makes bad decisions.

Notice...Exum will attack the basket and when the hole collapses will circle back out to the arch. Jaden will dance around with the ball and try and force something up even if the lane collapses.

Its just bad decision making and trying to force bad takes. It can kill possessions.

Kid is extremely talented but seems to get blinded by being the show instead of making solid basketball decisions.

[DallasMaverick]

Jaden makes bad decisions.

Notice...Exum will attack the basket and when the hole collapses will circle back out to the arch.  Jaden will dance around with the ball and try and force something up even if the lane collapses.

Its just bad decision making and trying to force bad takes.  It can kill possessions.

Kid is extremely talented but seems to get blinded by being the show instead of making solid basketball decisions.

Yes.  Still has a lot to learn.

Can he deny his natural instincts and learn new habits?

Will he remain humble and teachable?

I think back to DSJ's time here.  Athletic ability off the charts.  But chafed under the tutelage of the coaching staff.  Unwilling to accept correction. Had to bounce around the league and be humbled before he substantially changed his game.

I wonder what the dynamics of Hardy's relationship with the coaching staff is.  The quick hook in yesterday's game makes me think they're hammering on some of his bad habits, and he keeps repeating them.

[youzigizag]

Yes.  Still has a lot to learn.

Can he deny his natural instincts and learn new habits?

Will he remain humble and teachable?

I think back to DSJ's time here.  Athletic ability off the charts.  But chafed under the tutelage of the coaching staff.  Unwilling to accept correction. Had to bounce around the league and be humbled before he substantially changed his game.

I wonder what the dynamics of Hardy's relationship with the coaching staff is.  The quick hook in yesterday's game makes me think they're hammering on some of his bad habits, and he keeps repeating them.

Jaden gets enough playing time that I am ok with a quick hook.   I dont want to sound as if I am contradicting myself because I hated on Rick Carisle's treatment of Josh Green getting yanked so quick.   But that case is different....Josh would literally get like no playing time and then if he did and made a mistake in the first 3 minutes...he would get yanked.   And then you wouldnt see Josh for 4 more games maybe.

Jaden plays a lot, though.

I hate constantly sounding like I hate on Jaden and Tim.  I just dont understand how some of the shot selection these guys make...or how they seem uninterested in passing the ball and more interested in taking bad shots.  Its baffling to me at the NBA level.

Both guys are talented but seem to have an issue wanting to be "the show"

[SleepingHero]

I must be a masochist watching this because I had this DVR'd and coming home after work I was excited to watch. Pretty quickly I realized this would be a blowout and I still sat there and watched the whole thing. Was I expecting anything else...? No not really. This game didn't matter whatsoever and nothing should be taken from it aside from individual performances at a game sample. With that in mind, lets go on to some things I was thinking throughout the game.

OMAX: OMax started so strong. You can see the time in the G-League really helped him. He looks so confident in his shot and the building blocks are there for him to slot in perfectly in the starting line up next year. Will he actually make that leap? I don't think so. BUT I do think he can be a rotation player next year if he has a great summer. And he fills a lot of what the Mavs want currently. He had some defensive lapses, especially off ball cuts wise, but on ball defense he was suffocating. Offensively he missed some easy ones. He had some drives that should've been called fouls. Overall great game from him and I'm excited for his future.

Alex Fudge: What a surprise game from him. He's as raw as can be, but his athleticism pops off the page. He played some great defense throughout the night. He also flashed the ability to hit some shots off the dribble. His highlight dunk made me get out of my seat and say "What the Fudge!" I hope the Mavs keep him on as a 2-way and see what he can do in the summer league this summer. There is something there with him for sure.

Brandon Williams: Really the only guy who could score at all today. He definitely can get a bucket. But as a PG he really lacks the ability to make the wide open pass. I can't count how many times he missed a guy in the corner when he decided to go 1 on 3 for a contested layup. Defensively the dude is too small. I see why the Mavs have kept him on, but other than a summer league try out I don't see a place even as a 2-way on this team for Williams next year.

Jaden Hardy: Sheesh man. What a horrific performance. These last 2 games honestly have been bad for him. He can't dribble. He can't get anyone involved. His shot selection was piss poor. He had some easy ones not fall down. He really wasted this opportunity to show he's grown game wise with almost fouling out. The frustrating thing is that the talent is so apparent with Hardy. He's one of the smoothest scorers the Mavs have seen in a long time. But he's 1 dimensional and if he's off scoring wise then he's horrific on the court. Hopefully Hardy uses this summer properly and shows out in the playoffs and Summer league.

AJ Lawson: Probably was the 4th best guy out there today which isn't a compliment. Still can't really shoot at all. He drives to the rim with reckless abandon. He's athletic as hell though. Curious to see what his summer league will be because there is zero chance he's getting minutes in the playoffs.

Josh Green: I don't want to dog on him since he's coming back from injury. He still looks rusty. He had a really really bad game all things considered though. I don't understand for the life of me why Green decided to defer to Brandon Williams/Hardy/OMax/Morris the entire night instead of just shooting 20 shots. It's in his DNA to be a role player and defer I suppose. Oh well. I hope he rests up and gets ready for the playoffs.

THJ: SHEEEEEEEEEESH. Has there been a greater fall off within a single season offensively from a guy? The only other one that stands out was OJ Mayo. Basically as soon as the Mavs made the trades and started their torrid winning streak Timmy fell off the earth. Before the trades: 18.3ppg/3.7rpg/1.7apg 42/37/87. After the trades: 9.0ppg/2.5rpg/1.8apg 36/32/77. My goodness. Can Timmy even play basketball anymore?

Powell: Always solid. Never great. Glad he was able to play a bit.

Morris: See above.

Whatever. These are single game thoughts. Overall the Mavs punted this game and for very very good reason. If everything goes well they won't see Denver till the WCF. Good strategy by the Mavs. Glad everyone got some extra rest heading into the playoffs. Time to lock in and be ALL in! Lets go Mavs!

[fifteenth]

Kid is extremely talented but seems to get blinded by being the show instead of making solid basketball decisions.

Talent is relative. He was able to get pretty far with his talent at previous levels. Compared to an NBA rotation level player, his talent doesn't pop, I don't think. I think the Hardy fandom on this board is hope based at this point.

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Jaden gets enough playing time that I am ok with a quick hook.   I dont want to sound as if I am contradicting myself because I hated on Rick Carisle's treatment of Josh Green getting yanked so quick.   But that case is different....Josh would literally get like no playing time and then if he did and made a mistake in the first 3 minutes...he would get yanked.   And then you wouldnt see Josh for 4 more games maybe.

Jaden plays a lot, though.

I hate constantly sounding like I hate on Jaden and Tim.  I just dont understand how some of the shot selection these guys make...or how they seem uninterested in passing the ball and more interested in taking bad shots.  Its baffling to me at the NBA level.

Both guys are talented but seem to have an issue wanting to be "the show"

I think Josh has shown a lot more NBA possibility than Hardy. When you say "playing time" for Hardy, are you asking for playoff minutes? I could be wrong, but I doubt he gets any playoff minutes, unless we have garbage time in some playoff games.

[youzigizag]

Talent is relative. He was able to get pretty far with his talent at previous levels. Compared to an NBA rotation level player, his talent doesn't pop, I don't think. I think the Hardy fandom on this board is hope based at this point.

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I think Josh has shown a lot more NBA possibility than Hardy. When you say "playing time" for Hardy, are you asking for playoff minutes? I could be wrong, but I doubt he gets any playoff minutes, unless we have garbage time in some playoff games.

I wasnt talking about Playoffs playing time.  I was saying the Jaden get plenty of minutes during the regular season that I have no problem with him getting yanked quick.   Josh Green first year he hardly got playing time and when he did and made a mistake early....Rick would yank him, even if he had only played 3 minutes....and we wouldnt see him again for another 5 games.

I dont think Jaden gets much Playoff pull unless we need a change of pace for some reason.   You just cant trust the kid.   He is too inconsistent of a player still.

Not to hate on the kid....but I think Jaden's style of basketball that we have seen reinforces my assertion that he is into being 'the show'. His game is tailored around being fancy which usually suggest you like/want to be seen.