GAME 21: PHX (11-8) @ DAL (8-13) | 108-109 loss | 6 game losing streak

[RDB]

KP is just not an efficient shooter.  He was 6/15 tonight and that’s not far off his 43% career average.  I realize he may not be a traditional center but I looked up ‘19/‘20 starting centers with over 1000 minutes and he was 29th out of 30 on shooting percentage.  The only one worse was Markkanen.

[hakeemfaan]

The thing about whinging about KP being a mistake is that that ship has sailed. The Mavs obviously put their eggs in the "Luka and KP are enough" basket the past two offseasons - more baffling in '19 than in '20, tbqh - but you're talking a max contract player that no one in the league will want for more than we got him for. We can't trade him until this summer at the soonest, and that's if he gets back to at least what he was for about the last month of last year pre-bubble. And at that point, trading him is more of a strategic move.

The KP thing was just a tangential thing. As Dan said you cannot trade him right now and have to see how to get back the player in the bubble. 

My main points in this thread are that we have a talent deficiency compared to teams that we are losing to and also our game plan is built around a weakness of the team (3 pt shooting).  Many other things might not have a quick fix but when your two cornerstones are shooting horribly from the 3, and the rest of the roster is not anything special from 3 too, that would seem like an obvious thing to question. But RC has dug deep. Lets see how it goes.

[cow]

I started my dislike for CP3 when he and Tyson Chandler used to roll into Dallas and try to mess with Dirk.  I had to warm up to Chandler when he first arrived here.  I guess I could get used to him here but would just prefer have our current guys git gud.

...and David West, did not care for him either.

I said in another thread that the roster construction just needs to be Luka and surrounded by players like DFS, Maxi, RoCo, Tucker, etc.  and then the final piece is the aging star for leadership and to take some pressure off during crunch.  I can't think of a better guy right now than CP3...until he gets hurt.

[dirkfansince1998]

The KP thing was just a tangential thing. As Dan said you cannot trade him right now and have to see how to get back the player in the bubble. 

My main points in this thread are that we have a talent deficiency compared to teams that we are losing to and also our game plan is built around a weakness of the team (3 pt shooting).  Many other things might not have a quick fix but when your two cornerstones are shooting horribly from the 3, and the rest of the roster is not anything special from 3 too, that would seem like an obvious thing to question. But RC has dug deep. Lets see how it goes.

Shooting is certainly the biggest problem right now but I am not sure if the Mavs really have less overall talent than the Suns. Among todays players:

CP3 and Booker vs Luka, KP
Johnson, Bridges, Crowder vs THJ, JRich, DFS
Moore, Galloway vs Brunson, Burke
Ayton, Kaminsky vs WCS, Johnson

Only matchup that the Mavs clearly lose is the non KP bigman rotation.

[hakeemfaan]

KP is just not an efficient shooter.  He was 6/15 tonight and that’s not far off his 43% career average.  I realize he may not be a traditional center but I looked up ‘19/‘20 starting centers with over 1000 minutes and he was 29th out of 30 on shooting percentage.  The only one worse was Markkanen.

But last year he expended a lot of energy on rebounding and defense too. Plus his role changed on offense.  Also there was a stretch without Luka where we played well and KP was leading the team. 

Even if you feel that those are excuses, he was spectacular in the playoffs until he got hurt.  Need that player back.

[cow]

Shooting is certainly the biggest problem right now but I am not sure if the Mavs really have less overall talent than the Suns. Among todays players:

CP3 and Booker vs Luka, KP
Johnson, Bridges, Crowder vs THJ, JRich, DFS
Moore, Galloway vs Brunson, Burke
Ayton, Kaminsky vs WCS, Johnson

Only matchup that the Mavs clearly lose is the non KP bigman rotation.

The only matchup I wouldn't pick the Suns for is probably Moore/Galloway but that probably depends on which version of Burke shows up.

[hakeemfaan]

Shooting is certainly the biggest problem right now but I am not sure if the Mavs really have less overall talent than the Suns. Among todays players:

CP3 and Booker vs Luka, KP
Johnson, Bridges, Crowder vs THJ, JRich, DFS
Moore, Galloway vs Brunson, Burke
Ayton, Kaminsky vs WCS, Johnson

Only matchup that the Mavs clearly lose is the non KP 

I guess we disagree completely. I would take everyone on the Phoenix roster over what we have now other than Luka Even Ayton for KP is a no brainer right now unfortunately and he is not even their 2nd best player.  I love the hustle our guys have but how can we say the talent level is comparable?

[RDB]

But last year he expended a lot of energy on rebounding and defense too. Plus his role changed on offense.  Also there was a stretch without Luka where we played well and KP was leading the team. 

Even if you feel that those are excuses, he was spectacular in the playoffs until he got hurt.  Need that player back.

I agree he was great in the playoffs but that was 3 games and he shot over 52% overall and over 52% from 3 Pt.  He has never sniffed those numbers over an extended time.  I don’t think that player exists in the NBA over a season.

[cow]

I agree he was great in the playoffs but that was 3 games and he shot over 52% overall and over 52% from 3 Pt.  He has never sniffed those numbers over an extended time.  I don’t think that player exists in the NBA over a season.

Maybe his a big shot rob/big game rob type of player?

He's obviously frustrated right now.  No idea if that's with himself, the coaching, his teammates or some combination of them all.

[Omega_Supreme]

I agree he was great in the playoffs but that was 3 games and he shot over 52% overall and over 52% from 3 Pt.  He has never sniffed those numbers over an extended time.  I don’t think that player exists in the NBA over a season.

This 100% 

I think its safe to say the bubble is not an accurate way to judge what a guy can do and can't do. 

The best the mavs could do is trade for Drummond and figure out a way to not lose the rebounding battle

We are not going to be able to fix shooting as there are really not many options out there but rebounding can get fixed 

I offer Johnson and Stein + a future protected 1st for Drummond

[Kammrath]

I would take everyone on the Phoenix roster over what we have now other than Luka

Yeah we definitely see things very different in regard to talent evaluation.

[MaxiThreeba]

Maybe his a big shot rob/big game rob type of player?

He's obviously frustrated right now.  No idea if that's with himself, the coaching, his teammates or some combination of them all.

He’s not a roll man and that’s the biggest problem.

[cow]

He’s not a roll man and that’s the biggest problem.

Stick him in the corners and let him get those attempts then.

[KillerLeft]

Had to watch late tonight. Just finished the game. What a gut punch. Here are a few thoughts (haven’t read this thread, so don’t attack me like I’m your nemesis if any of this disagrees with something you’re fighting with someone about, please):

1) I thought Porzingis had a GREAT game tonight. He still doesn’t look fully comfortable on offense, and wasn’t very efficient on that end, although he certainly had some encouraging moments. On the defensive end, however, he was a different guy than he has been over the last two weeks. He was engaged, active, aggressive and mobile. He contested a ton of shots (many went in anyway, but not because he didn’t defend) and even played pretty decent defense on like 90% of the times he had to switch onto Paul and got iso’d. The only major error I can remember is when he came off of Paul prematurely late in the fourth and gave up a wide open three-point shot. I believe this made the score 95-90. If this is the kind of effort he brings consistently moving forward, I believe he will work his way through this rough patch. 

2) Building off of point number 1, Porzingis and WCS both combined to play probably the best 48 minutes of pick and roll defense I have seen the Mavericks play this year. It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t often successful, but they did play hard and almost always intelligently. Sometimes, you just can’t judge everything by the results. This brings me to point number 3...

3) They were not going to beat Phoenix tonight. Chris Paul was the best player on the floor for either team, and it wasn’t even remotely close. At his age, I’m not sure how many more of these he has in him, but tonight he was the Point God. This was not the same as his dominant performance the other night, when the Mavericks acted like they had no idea where he was trying to get to on the floor. It also wasn’t like the back to back performances from Jordan Clarkson against Utah. The Mavericks played defense tonight, but Chris Paul was just too good. I know that sounds like a copout, but he would’ve beaten the Lakers or Nets tonight. I believe that. Phoenix has been going through a rough patch themselves, so this win was just as important to them as it was for the Mavs. BOTH teams played like they really wanted it.

4) Not to beat a dead horse, and I know people don’t want to hear this, but I really thought the Mavericks played a good game tonight. If this had not happened to extend a five-game losing streak into a six game losing streak, we would all just shake our heads with a little bit of frustration and tip our hats to Phoenix. It stings more right now because of the losing streak, I know, but this is the type of game you lose, sometimes. I cannot express strongly enough how much better I feel tonight than I have after the other 5 losses in this streak. I actually feel better tonight than I did after a few of this season’s wins. The Mavericks played like a team who knew what they wanted to accomplish and couldn’t quite get it done.

5) For the most part, I thought Luka had a really good, unselfish game, and for the most part it paid off. I am not trying to nitpick him, but he passed up a layup late to kick it out to the perimeter, and I think that was a pretty costly mistake. In my opinion, he should have just taken the shot. It led to a wide open Chris Paul layup, which miraculously was one of the few bad plays CP3 made tonight, as he missed the chippy, Josh Green style. Crisis averted, temporarily, but I bring it up because I honestly think that Luka has barely scratched the surface of what he is capable of. I believe his decision making will continue to get better for several years, and as it progresses, so too will the Mavericks ability to close out games like this. Please don’t interpret this as me pinning the loss on Luka - that’s not what I mean. I honestly think it is unfair to expect ANY 21 year old who has ever lived to close a game out better than veteran Chris Paul. That’s not to say it will never happen, it’s just to say we cannot be mad when it doesn’t. It’s freaking Chris Paul.

6) Good gravy, anyone who wonders why coaches don’t like to play young players, just look at Phoenix. I have not checked the data (sorry @"Kammrath") and this could just be a tonight only happening, but my goodness is Phoenix a better team with Kaminsky on the floor than they are when Ayton plays. Night and day. They have to play Ayton, of course - he’s the future - but man, it must be frustrating to be in that situation when trying to win games.

7) I thought Kleber looked rusty tonight, but he had the best debut of any of the Covid guys, by far. He made some mistakes that ultimately contributed to the loss, but I thought he gave the team a much needed shot in the arm, energy wise. Glad to have him back. He worked his butt off. 

8) I really like the wing rotation of Richardson, Hardaway and DFS. I really like Hardaway coming off of the bench. All three of them had their moments, and we really didn’t get the absolute best game from any of them, but that is an area of the team that I think will be working in a couple of weeks when everyone gets back into shape and rhythm. 

9) I am not sure why Powell didn’t play. I’m sure you guys do know, but like I said, I had to tune in late and so I didn’t hear anything pregame. I assume he was just being rested, but if this was Johnson’s opportunity to get in front of him, I think it’s safe to say it’s a missed opportunity. Powell was badly missed tonight, in my opinion.

10) to get to the next level, I believe the team is going to need just a little bit more from Brunson. He did not play badly tonight at all, quite the opposite. I just think a stronger, more aggressive version of him is needed when Luka sits, especially if he’s to move decisively ahead of Burke in the rotation, which it appears he has. 

I know it’s hard, but in many ways this is sort of the beginning of the season for our Mavericks. It’s going to take a week or two for them to get to the end of this rough patch, but tonight showed me that there is light at the end of the tunnel and I do not believe they are going to spiral down any farther. Chins up, my dudes.

[ThisIStheYear]

Taking a more sober view, the rebounding numbers look close, but Phoenix won the rebounding percentage decisively, so that misleading. Mavs also shot poorly. It was only a friendly whistle that even kept them in the game. Mavs had a massive advantage from the charity stripe they were unable to take advantage of. So, shooting, rebounding, how can a team function if both are its weaknesses? How the heck can they win if they can’t rebound and can’t shoot? The officials aren’t going to give them a 2-1 advantage from the line that often. And, if you have a foul to give at the end of the game, give the damn foul.

[RDB]

Maybe his a big shot rob/big game rob type of player?

He's obviously frustrated right now.  No idea if that's with himself, the coaching, his teammates or some combination of them all.

Maybe you’re right.  I don’t dislike KP but his shooting efficiency is frustrating.  He was 12th on the Mavs last year.  I would think that your bigs are typically your most efficient shooters...especially a 7’3 big.

[dirkfansince1998]

I guess we disagree completely. I would take everyone on the Phoenix roster over what we have now other than Luka Even Ayton for KP is a no brainer right now unfortunately and he is not even their 2nd best player.  I love the hustle our guys have but how can we say the talent level is comparable?

KP not playing to his full potential is the big difference maker right now but if we are talking about bubble KP I am not sure if Booker is the better player. No way I am taking Ayton over that version of KP. That brings us back to the issue of durability and KPs injury history. KP without injuries is a level above guys like Ayton or Booker. With his injuries he probably is a level below both.

Not sure what guys like Bridges, Crowder or Cam Johnson have done to justify taking them over JRich, DFS or THJ. I guess Bridges has the highest upside and Crowder the most experience but just talking about pure ability I don´t think they are better. Big difference is that right now Galloway and Bridges are shooting career high percentages from 3. Don´t think both will finish the season at 40% + from 3. If I had to rank them I would go

Bridges
JRich
THJ
Crowder
DFS
Johnson

Same for the mentioned end of the bench guys. Just a month ago Kaminsky was waived by the Kings. He is a 3rd string big. Just like WCS or Johnson.

I think the Suns made a smart move and surrounded their young talent with veteran leadership and experience. Something the Mavs failed to do. Mavs are relying on Doncic or KP to close the game and according to RC failed to use the foul to give on the last possession. That probably wouldn´t happen if the Mavs had CP3 or Crowder on the floor.

[Kammrath]

Chins up, my dudes.

[dirkfansince1998]

The only matchup I wouldn't pick the Suns for is probably Moore/Galloway but that probably depends on which version of Burke shows up.

That´s interesting because most of this board celebrated JRich as a proven starter. Thought that Johnson would be just as good as Crowder and add the lacking vet leadership. I think prior to the season most people would have picked the Mavs cast over the Suns. 20 games later most Mavs players are shooting career low percentages from 3. Suns are shooting career highs. That´s the big difference.

[Scott41theMavs]

KL, loved your post, with the sole exception of commenting on JRich not having his best game. I don't know how he could have been any better on either O or D, and imagine he was the single most frustrated Mav after the loss.