GAME 38: LAL (31-7) @ DAL (23-15) | 114-129 loss

[philjuan1]

Lebron's team is loaded, everyone wanted to go there. The rest of the league has to pick up the leftovers and hope they have enough. 
And of course Lebron gets' to plow over anyone he has to.

[TurkishMFFL]

Rick Carlisle is killing this team. Bad rotations, bad reads throughout the game, no legit offensive sets and lack of organized defensive schemes.

This team is going nowhere but nowhere under his command.

[cow]

How hard is it to back off Rondo when he's on the three point line? Let him shoot.

[mtrot]

How hard is it to back off Rondo when he's on the three point line?  Let him shoot.

That would be too high BB IQ for the Mavs to pull off.

---

Well, since the Mavs can't shoot for shyte tonight, may as well have left Boban in the game.

[robillionaire]

Poorly coached game by Carlisle. The Mavs should consider firing him after that unsportsmanlike display. It's a shame he had to be escorted out by the police. But man, what an incredible performance by Rajon Rondo, you can just tell he's the mastermind behind this Lakers team success and why they're the #1 seed. I mean he's just the ultimate professional.

[Hypermav]

muting this fawning...

[philjuan1]

How hard is it to back off Rondo when he's on the three point line?  Let him shoot.

That would be too high BB IQ for the Mavs to pull off.

---

Well, since the Mavs can't shoot for shyte tonight, may as well have left Boban in the game.

Now the foul calls are coming when the game is over. Typical

[hakeemfan]

The Mavs are not that far behind. They have a superstar and roster is not bad too. The problem is that they have played a lazy brand of basketball this season. It is fool’s gold with a lot of poor shooters having a career year. However against good teams that are waiting for them it is not working anymore.

It is time for RC to start coaching again. Not just in terms of better sets but also in terms of actually coaching Luka to force him to play better on both ends of the court, than enable him to do whatever he wants without any repercussions.

[MrGoat]

Worst loss of the year so far? The Knicks ones were pretty embarrassing but you knew they were going to circle us because of the KP trade

[philjuan1]

I'm gonna say this and I'll sleep good tonight after saying it. Even if we have to trade KP to get a much tougher team, I'd do it. What good is a dynamic offense if you can't stop anyone?
I mean, this Laker's team does whatever it wants. 

Shameful. I want a defensive team.

[Hypermav]

[dirkfansince1998]

Everyone is blaming RC because no one dares to say it like it is. In the 1st half Luka quit on his teammates. Only comparable performance from a player in a Mavs jersey was Rondos last game against Houston. Terrible attitude, no effort. Same story over and over again. Turnover or brick. Walks back on defense. Lakers score.
I don´t care about him putting up numbers in the 2nd half. He shouldn´t have played more than 5 minutes today.

[bin610]

I'm gonna say this and I'll sleep good tonight after saying it. Even if we have to trade KP to get a much tougher team, I'd do it. What good is a dynamic offense if you can't stop anyone?
I mean, this Laker's team does whatever it wants. 

Shameful. I want a defensive team.

Yeah good idea trade the only player that has a real defensive impact that for sure will make us better defensively.

[mtrot]

ROFL, good one!

---

Everyone is blaming RC because no one dares to say it like it is. In the 1st half Luka quit on his teammates. Only comparable performance from a player in a Mavs jersey was Rondos last game against Houston. Terrible attitude, no effort. Same story over and over again. Turnover or brick. Walks back on defense. Lakers score.
I don´t care about him putting up numbers in the 2nd half. He shouldn´t have played more than 5 minutes today.

Well, I posted early in the game that Rick should bring in Barea to run offense for a while, to show the younger guards how it's done.

[dirkfansince1998]

ROFL, good one!

---

Everyone is blaming RC because no one dares to say it like it is. In the 1st half Luka quit on his teammates. Only comparable performance from a player in a Mavs jersey was Rondos last game against Houston. Terrible attitude, no effort. Same story over and over again. Turnover or brick. Walks back on defense. Lakers score.
I don´t care about him putting up numbers in the 2nd half. He shouldn´t have played more than 5 minutes today.

Well, I posted early in the game that Rick should bring in Barea to run offense for a while, to show the younger guards how it's done.

Would have benched the entire starting 5. Cleveland, JJB, Lee and Boban. Just to send a message.

[mtrot]

Well, irrespective of scoring, I now am convinced that KP is more critical to the Mavs success than Luka.  Without KP, the Mavs' defense is like a sieve.

[hakeemfan]

Everyone is blaming RC because no one dares to say it like it is. In the 1st half Luka quit on his teammates. Only comparable performance from a player in a Mavs jersey was Rondos last game against Houston. Terrible attitude, no effort. Same story over and over again. Turnover or brick. Walks back on defense. Lakers score.
I don´t care about him putting up numbers in the 2nd half. He shouldn´t have played more than 5 minutes today.

But that’s also on RC or Cuban. They have clearly enabled this kid to do whatever he wants. Poor shot selection, hero ball, very minimal effort on defense. All is overlooked as long as he gets his numbers.  Where is the tough love? What is one thing RC has done this season that forces Luka to go out of his comfort zone to improve Luka as a player?  

Why just blame Luka now?

[burekemde]

Everyone is blaming RC because no one dares to say it like it is. In the 1st half Luka quit on his teammates. Only comparable performance from a player in a Mavs jersey was Rondos last game against Houston. Terrible attitude, no effort. Same story over and over again. Turnover or brick. Walks back on defense. Lakers score.
I don´t care about him putting up numbers in the 2nd half. He shouldn´t have played more than 5 minutes today.

This game is on RC. Lakers scored like 80 in the first half alone! In the paint we got dominated. Its entirely on being outmuscled inside. Not to play Kleber is a massive mistake. There was nobody in there to rim protect. Powell is a horrible defender. Should have played Kleber-Powell or Kleber-Boban.

[dirkfansince1998]

Everyone is blaming RC because no one dares to say it like it is. In the 1st half Luka quit on his teammates. Only comparable performance from a player in a Mavs jersey was Rondos last game against Houston. Terrible attitude, no effort. Same story over and over again. Turnover or brick. Walks back on defense. Lakers score.
I don´t care about him putting up numbers in the 2nd half. He shouldn´t have played more than 5 minutes today.

But that’s also on RC or Cuban. They have clearly enabled this kid to do whatever he wants. Poor shot selection, hero ball, very minimal effort on defense. All is overlooked as long as he gets his numbers.  Where is the tough love? What is one thing RC has done this season that forces Luka to go out of his comfort zone to improve Luka as a player?  

Why just blame Luka now?

I already mentioned Lukas attitude in previous game threads and agree on the coaching aspect. As I said. Luka deserved to be benched for the remaining game.
I don´t think that RC is solely to blame for the loss today. Luka wasn´t the only one that didn´t show up today. I disagreed with quit a few of his decisions in the last few weeks but I expect every single player on the floor to give 100% at all times. That shouldn´t be debatable. Lack of effort cannot be excused by bad coaching.

[hakeemfan]

Dirkfan. You said he should not have played more than 5 mins. Who controls that? The coach. It is time for RC to realize that if he tries to be Luka’s enabler he might still end up in the same place vs if he actually starts acting as a coach and gets on Luka to play harder and smarter...unemployed. At least with one approach he can still retain his dignity.


Luka’s defensive effort has always been poor. Shot selection is poor too. Those things need a massive correction. Else you will have nights like these where he feels even less interest in doing anything else when his shot is not falling. Why should he change? There has been constant enabling so far.