MAVS SCHOOL THUNDERKIDS IN LOUD CITY
This game had a “cruising-down-the-river-on-a-Sunday-afternoon” feel against a bunch of fresh-faced Thunders who looked like they might be coming in straight from Prom Weekend. One might make some nitpicks about the first half, and the second quarter in particular, but your boys turned on the juice in the second twenty-four and made short work of the contest.
NOTABLE ITEMS
STATS. The Mavericks had 16 triples, which never hurts a bit, and also had 58 PIP. They had a 15-shot-attempt advantage, and shot 18 more 3PAs than the opponent. Coach Boucek counseled that they were fouling a little too much, and indeed, OKC had a staggering 33-13 differential in FTAs. Dallas moved the ball well, achieving a 30-17 assist edge over the Thunder, and gained 24 points off Thunder turnovers.
PORZINGIS. KP had a lovely all-around game, treating us to a display of his panoply of skills. His stat sheet did not go empty, as he posted 20 points, 9-15 shooting, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. He was awarded the Defensive Player of the Game belt for limiting Moses Brown on the boards and doing a “nice job around the rim.” He drew especial kudos for playing within the flow of the game, and not forcing things. Love seeing the big guy play like this!
DONCIC. Luka is the engine that makes this team go, and he made a welcome return, with 25 points and 7 assists in 28 minutes. He could have scored much more, but appeared to be making a concerted effort to get his teammates involved. Great team leadership!
THJ. Hardaway has really stepped up his game of late, and tonight was a continuation of that pattern. He was the classic spark plug off the bench, firing in 19 points in 21 minutes on 6-10 shooting, with a team-high 5 FTAs. He has a flashy style (in a good way), and his array of scoring abilities were in evidence and provided excitement and entertainment for the fans. Keep it up, Tim!
MELLI. New Mav Nicolo Melli looked really good in his Dallas debut. He had 6 points, 3 rebounds, and a steal in 11 minutes of action. Boucek and Carlisle both lauded him for high activity, moving the ball, playing in the team style, and making great plays. Carlisle said he was “very impressed “with Melli’s performance and thinks he is “obviously ready to play.” High praise from the coach!
Luka was familiar with Nicolo from Europe and described him as an “amazing player” and “great person.” There was a tender moment between the two when Luka had a good look late in the third, but instead passed to Melli, who took and made his first Maverick shot, causing Luka to throw his arms up and cheer. Rick also drew up an ATO play for Melli in the fourth, which was a compliment in and of itself.
HONORABLE MENTIONS. Rick thought DFS was the “other” Player of the Game (in addition to the Defensive Player of the Game KP). Doe was his usual steady self defensively, but also showed some offensive chops with 12 points on 5-8 shooting, including a couple of threes. Brunson continued his excellent run of play, and added 9 points and 7 assists off the bench.
RARE APPEARANCES. Fans who have been pining to see the rookies were treated to a 16-minute outing by Josh Green. Rick commended the youngster for steady improvement over the season, activity, defense, and rebounding and crashing. He described Josh as a “low-mistake, high-energy guy,” and we know that is the way Coach likes them. Hinton and Bey each got a few minutes at the end. Bobi was on for the last five minutes, and took a few turns at orchestrating. It was pretty hilarious seeing him calmly dribble while surveying the court and pointing to his teammates to direct them where he wanted. I don’t know what it is about big guys, but they just seem to have a hankering to play like guards every now and again, lol. No harm done.
THUNDER. I could not have told you more than a couple of the active roster’s names coming into the game. The OKC Tank Operation is in full swing, and although their guys played hard, I don’t think the organization will be too upset with the loss. We got a chance to check in with former Mav Isaiah Roby, who acquitted himself well with 12 points and 9 rebounds in a starting role.
OBSERVATIONS
It was decent of Luka and KP to show up for the match. Without them on the court, particularly Luka, this cohesive collection of players collapses into a bunch of parts. With Luka, the whole team makes sense. Hope he has recovered from his illness, and it was a good feeling to see him out there managing so well. Both stars were able to keep their minutes under 30, which should be a good thing with this intense schedule.
This was a relaxed, relatively drama-free contest against a “carefree team,” to use Coach Jenny’s words. I don’t think there is much to learn from it, but at least they didn’t have to undergo another desperate struggle. The score represented the squad’s third-highest point differential of the season, at 21, and the team did a pretty good job of taking care of business.
Wednesday, on the third game of the roadie, the Mavs face the Celtics, who should present more of a challenge.
This game had a “cruising-down-the-river-on-a-Sunday-afternoon” feel against a bunch of fresh-faced Thunders who looked like they might be coming in straight from Prom Weekend. One might make some nitpicks about the first half, and the second quarter in particular, but your boys turned on the juice in the second twenty-four and made short work of the contest.
NOTABLE ITEMS
STATS. The Mavericks had 16 triples, which never hurts a bit, and also had 58 PIP. They had a 15-shot-attempt advantage, and shot 18 more 3PAs than the opponent. Coach Boucek counseled that they were fouling a little too much, and indeed, OKC had a staggering 33-13 differential in FTAs. Dallas moved the ball well, achieving a 30-17 assist edge over the Thunder, and gained 24 points off Thunder turnovers.
PORZINGIS. KP had a lovely all-around game, treating us to a display of his panoply of skills. His stat sheet did not go empty, as he posted 20 points, 9-15 shooting, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. He was awarded the Defensive Player of the Game belt for limiting Moses Brown on the boards and doing a “nice job around the rim.” He drew especial kudos for playing within the flow of the game, and not forcing things. Love seeing the big guy play like this!
DONCIC. Luka is the engine that makes this team go, and he made a welcome return, with 25 points and 7 assists in 28 minutes. He could have scored much more, but appeared to be making a concerted effort to get his teammates involved. Great team leadership!
THJ. Hardaway has really stepped up his game of late, and tonight was a continuation of that pattern. He was the classic spark plug off the bench, firing in 19 points in 21 minutes on 6-10 shooting, with a team-high 5 FTAs. He has a flashy style (in a good way), and his array of scoring abilities were in evidence and provided excitement and entertainment for the fans. Keep it up, Tim!
MELLI. New Mav Nicolo Melli looked really good in his Dallas debut. He had 6 points, 3 rebounds, and a steal in 11 minutes of action. Boucek and Carlisle both lauded him for high activity, moving the ball, playing in the team style, and making great plays. Carlisle said he was “very impressed “with Melli’s performance and thinks he is “obviously ready to play.” High praise from the coach!
Luka was familiar with Nicolo from Europe and described him as an “amazing player” and “great person.” There was a tender moment between the two when Luka had a good look late in the third, but instead passed to Melli, who took and made his first Maverick shot, causing Luka to throw his arms up and cheer. Rick also drew up an ATO play for Melli in the fourth, which was a compliment in and of itself.
HONORABLE MENTIONS. Rick thought DFS was the “other” Player of the Game (in addition to the Defensive Player of the Game KP). Doe was his usual steady self defensively, but also showed some offensive chops with 12 points on 5-8 shooting, including a couple of threes. Brunson continued his excellent run of play, and added 9 points and 7 assists off the bench.
RARE APPEARANCES. Fans who have been pining to see the rookies were treated to a 16-minute outing by Josh Green. Rick commended the youngster for steady improvement over the season, activity, defense, and rebounding and crashing. He described Josh as a “low-mistake, high-energy guy,” and we know that is the way Coach likes them. Hinton and Bey each got a few minutes at the end. Bobi was on for the last five minutes, and took a few turns at orchestrating. It was pretty hilarious seeing him calmly dribble while surveying the court and pointing to his teammates to direct them where he wanted. I don’t know what it is about big guys, but they just seem to have a hankering to play like guards every now and again, lol. No harm done.
THUNDER. I could not have told you more than a couple of the active roster’s names coming into the game. The OKC Tank Operation is in full swing, and although their guys played hard, I don’t think the organization will be too upset with the loss. We got a chance to check in with former Mav Isaiah Roby, who acquitted himself well with 12 points and 9 rebounds in a starting role.
OBSERVATIONS
It was decent of Luka and KP to show up for the match. Without them on the court, particularly Luka, this cohesive collection of players collapses into a bunch of parts. With Luka, the whole team makes sense. Hope he has recovered from his illness, and it was a good feeling to see him out there managing so well. Both stars were able to keep their minutes under 30, which should be a good thing with this intense schedule.
This was a relaxed, relatively drama-free contest against a “carefree team,” to use Coach Jenny’s words. I don’t think there is much to learn from it, but at least they didn’t have to undergo another desperate struggle. The score represented the squad’s third-highest point differential of the season, at 21, and the team did a pretty good job of taking care of business.
Wednesday, on the third game of the roadie, the Mavs face the Celtics, who should present more of a challenge.
. Green may have ruined that a bit. Still not sure what to think of him (considered there seem to be some picks which have been available to the Mavs and are really contributing on their teams). On the one hand Green looks really smooth to me on a lot of different things and could have a relatively broad skillset if he ever gets more confidence/experience/game slows down form him/whatever. On the other hand, he doesn't contribute very much overall and the nice glimpses don't connect to acutally making a continued positive impact.
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