PGT: Mavs eek out a win

[oilfieldtrash]

Ellis goes off. Really some beautiful basketball on his part. Philly's D was stifling but mavs found enough ways to score to eek out a close one. Dirk with a good game overall but kinda disappeared in the second half.

[GhostOfAdamMorrison]

And Ellis "kind of disappeared" in the first half. Your agenda is stale.

[oilfieldtrash]

Originally Posted by GhostOfAdamMorrison

And Ellis "kind of disappeared" in the first half. Your agenda is stale.

lol. What are you talking about? I'm a much bigger fan of Dirk than any player that's ever played the game of basketball. I also happen to also like Ellis. They also both happen to play for my favorite sports team of any sport.

[Melonhead]

Insert Will Ferrell gif

[CanadianMavsFan]

It's a win. Calderon looks more and more disappointing every game, and I think we'd all like to see Dirk demand the ball a little more especially in the closing minutes. Rebounding was atrocious in the first quarter, gave Philly a ton of momentum.

Big game early in the season Wednesday against Houston. This team needs to be more motivated for that contest.

[spreedom]

Originally Posted by CanadianMavsFan

It's a win. Calderon looks more and more disappointing every game, and I think we'd all like to see Dirk demand the ball a little more especially in the closing minutes. Rebounding was atrocious in the first quarter, gave Philly a ton of momentum.

Big game early in the season Wednesday against Houston. This team needs to be more motivated for that contest.

I disagree with this... almost a 4:1 A/TO ratio, 46% from three... his defense stinks but we all knew that going in. I'd like to see him running more pick and rolls but Ellis has been so great as a distributor so far that I don't even really mind that Calderon has become something of an off-the-ball player.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by spreedom

I disagree with this... almost a 4:1 A/TO ratio, 46% from three... his defense stinks but we all knew that going in. I'd like to see him running more pick and rolls but Ellis has been so great as a distributor so far that I don't even really mind that Calderon has become something of an off-the-ball player.

This is very much the mavs offense the last few years. I don't see anything wrong with it either. He's a monster 3pt shooter...he just needs to work at defense, that's as good as he can give you.

[GhostOfAdamMorrison]

Originally Posted by oilfieldtrash

lol. What are you talking about? I'm a much bigger fan of Dirk than any player that's ever played the game of basketball. I also happen to also like Ellis. They also both happen to play for my favorite sports team of any sport.

So Ellis put up 24/10 in 39 minutes on 50% shooting and he "went off."

Dirk puts up 20/10 in 33 minutes on over 50% shooting and he "kind of disappeared."

Yeah, totally no agenda there.

[spreedom]

Originally Posted by GhostOfAdamMorrison

And Ellis "kind of disappeared" in the first half. Your agenda is stale.

[sefant77]

[Vinsanity]

Dana Larson's neck is almost as long as Chris Bosh's

[Melonhead]

Want to let the season play out, but what is calderons specialty as a point guard. I've been disappointed other than his somewhat decent 3 pt shot when still.

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

Want to let the season play out, but what is calderons specialty as a point guard. I've been disappointed other than his somewhat decent 3 pt shot when still.

His three point shot is a lot better than somewhat decent.

That said, he's definitely been underwhelming. And his body language suggests he agrees. I'm hoping its just a matter of him having not yet gotten a feel for the offense and what his role in it needs to be.

At any rate, good to see the team battle back and get the win after the sloppy start, some of which probably resulted from the lineup change. A wire-to-wire win would've been nicer, and really should have been in play, but I'll take it. No time to dwell with the Rockets coming to town.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Why do you people keep responding to the town drunk? Seriously, he'll go away if you just stop.

I liked that the Mavs fought their way back in after a slow start.

[yahyes]

I mean it's an foreign eastern team we play twice a season. Plus that sixers team has to be the quickest in the NBA. Needed this win, especially with this next game up.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I actually don't think Calderon's defense has been atrocious. He just isn't physically talented in that department. He is usually in the right spots to contest shots though.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I actually don't think Calderon's defense has been atrocious. He just isn't physically talented in that department. He is usually in the right spots to contest shots though.

I would like to see him play with more force and get handsier. He sort of plays defense by moving his feet okay but he's not trying to take the ball away from the opponent.

[sike]

Love Dirk taking lots of 3s if it means fresher legs later in the season.

Love Ellis finding open teammates.

Ellis going 7/14 while dishing 10 dimes? Yes please.

I too, am wanting more from Calderon. I don't expect him to be a world beater, but facilitating the offense a bit more would be nice. At this point, when Ellis isn't there to it, the offense seems to lag.

[Melonhead]

I guess for the caliber of pg I thought we were getting, I was expecting more facilitating at this point. Its damn good that Ellis can dish like nobody's business

[G-Man]

This was another of the kind of wins we did not get last year. Philly is young and twice as athletic at every position. In the 1st half, they were quicker to every ball and outrunning us getting down the floor on fast breaks. Last year's Mavs would have collapsed under the onslaught. These guys fight back. Dalembert responds to not starting by bringing down 14 rebounds. Philly killed us in that dept in the 1st half, Daly helped even that out when he started the 2nd half. He also showed his value at the end of the game...a job that had gone to Blair recently.

Ellis continues to exceed expectations and I've just decided to block the idiots who can't see that.

I don't share the disappointment in Calderon. Like JKidd, he plays smart, hits the 3 and doesn't turn it over. Nowhere near the defender, but if he had that, he'd have cost twice as much. With Ellis such a good facilitator, he may not get as many assists. But he is a cool head and a cool hand, and after last year's PG failures, I'm just happy not to be cringing when he gets the ball in end of game situations.

I'm always impressed at comebacks after an entire sh**ty half. That makes this a solid win.

Hollinger puts the Mavs at 10 in his rankings. besides being proof of how nutty his stats can be, its a nice accomplishment.

[GhostOfAdamMorrison]

The Calderon hate is ridiculous.

Coming into tonight he has a 59% TS% and a fantastic 121 ORtg (for comparison. Ellis is at 105...). His DRtg, unsurprisingly, is poor at 110. He's not getting as many assists or creating as much because, frankly, he isn't being asked to/put into position to. His Usage is only 14%. That's the lowest since his rookie season. Ellis has double the usage. He can't create with the ball not in his hands. RC seems content to make him a spot-up shooter and guy who brings it up the court and runs sets. He's performing that role just fine.

[Kante]

Calderon is playing ok, his D is not as bad as i thought but he still get scored on nearly every time somehow.

Dalembert was really good and he stayed with Hawes so the lineup change was a mistake from RC, even more with how much Crowder sucked, alongside Mekel. Carter wasn't good either...

Ellis was great, Dirk was pretty good.

[dirt_dobber]

Notebook: Mavericks 97, 76ers 94
http://www.nba.com/games/20131118/PH...fo.html?ls=slt
Micah Powell, for NBA.com
Posted Tue Nov 19, 2013 12:02 AM - Updated Tue Nov 19, 2013 12:02 AM

THE FACT: Monta Ellis poured in 24 points, marking his 11th consecutive game with at least 18 points. No other player has started his career in Dallas with more than two.

THE LEAD: Ellis notched 19 of his 24 points in the second half, and Dirk Nowitzki chipped in 20, to propel Dallas to a 97-94 come-from-behind win over Philadelphia, Monday night at the American Airlines Center.

Philadelphia (5-7) jumped out to an early advantage, leading Dallas (7-4) by as much as 10 points in the second quarter, but Ellis took over after halftime, connecting on 5-of-9 shots from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line to lead the comeback effort.

The Mavericks overcame sloppy play from the outset, as Philadelphia turned 21 Dallas turnovers into 22 points and recorded a 31-16 advantage in fast break points. The 76ers were done in at the line, where they connected on just 12-of-22 shots from the charity stripe, while Dallas hit 20-of-26 attempts.

QUOTABLE I: "My teammates look for me to make plays not only for myself but for others and they put me in a great position, so that's what I tried to do."
-- Ellis on his fourth-quarter performance.

THE STAT: The Mavericks held on for the win despite being outscored 54-26 in the paint.

TURNING POINT: Shawn Marion threw down a fast break slam to cap off a 10-2 run to give Dallas its first lead of the game, 70-69, late in the third quarter. The dunk noticeably energized the team and the crowd, keying the Mavs to a win.

QUOTABLE II: "They're really hard to guard and they're well coached. We missed a lot of free throws and we missed a lot of layups. We didn't help ourselves, but I was proud of our guys."
-- 76ers coach Brett Brown.

BAD MOVE: Dallas changed up its starting five for the first time this season, inserting Jae Crowder for Samuel Dalembert. The change did not lead to favorable results early, as the Mavericks started 0-of-7 from the field, including 0-of-5 from Crowder, and didn't score their first points until a Nowitzki jumper ended the drought with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter.

QUOTABLE III: "I didn't like the matchups to start the game, but we didn't play well and they played harder than us. ... The lineup to start the game didn't work out, but we just had to keep searching. By the time the game was over, we played 11 guys. Everyone that played contributed. This was a survival-type game. We did what we had to do to win."
-- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle on starting Crowder over Dalembert

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Evan Turner flirted with a triple-double, posting a game-high 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the loss. ... Nowitzki notched his first double-double since Feb. 24, 2013, adding 10 rebounds to his 20 points.

ROOKIE WATCH: First-round selection in 2013, Shane Larkin (fractured right ankle), made his NBA debut, playing nine minutes and contributing three points, three assists and three steals.

NOTABLE: Nowitzki's 20 points brings him within 17 points of tying Reggie Miller (25,279) for 15th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. With a first-quarter 3-pointer, he also passed Dan Majerle (1,360) for 25th place on the NBA's all-time 3-point field goals made list. ... Ellis added 10 assists to record his first double-double with the Mavs. ... The starting lineups did the damage, as the two benches combined for just 30 points. ... Dalembert amassed 14 rebounds off the bench, tying a career-high for most boards in a reserve role. ... Tony Wroten continued to impress in Michael Carter-Williams' absence, posting 19 points and five steals. ... Spencer Hawes recorded his seventh double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 points.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Wednesday vs. Rockets, Friday vs. Jazz, Saturday @ Nuggets. For the 76ers, Wednesday vs. Raptors, Friday vs. Bucks, Saturday @ Pacers.

[dirt_dobber]

Ellis is averaging 22.1 points and 5.5 assists and shooting 47.3% from the floor.

this was a note from Tim MacMahon's article:
According to SportVU player-tracking data, Ellis entered the night leading the league in points per game off of drives (8.1), ranked second behind Denver’s Ty Lawson in drives per game (11.2) and third behind Lawson and Houston’s Jeremy Lin in team points generated off of drives (12.2).

[sike]

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

According to SportVU player-tracking data, Ellis entered the night leading the league in points per game off of drives (8.1), ranked second behind Denver’s Ty Lawson in drives per game (11.2) and third behind Lawson and Houston’s Jeremy Lin in team points generated off of drives (12.2).

Worth reposting. Ellis has been great for this team.

[EricaLubarsky]

Still wondering why we went to Crowder as our starting center.

[Kante]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Still wondering why we went to Crowder as our starting center.

Matching up with them, putting Dirk on Hawes, Marion on Young. But Dalembert played great when he was out there like i said, not a good move.

[DavidDaMonkey]

Originally Posted by Kante

Matching up with them, putting Dirk on Hawes, Marion on Young. But Dalembert played great when he was out there like i said, not a good move.

What was most interesting was that once Daly started in the 2nd half, Hawes tended to stick to the paint much more rather than hang out on the perimeter (which was the basis for the lineup change). I'm not sure why the Sixers elected to do that, but it worked out in our favor.

[Kante]

Originally Posted by DavidDaMonkey

What was most interesting was that once Daly started in the 2nd half, Hawes tended to stick to the paint much more rather than hang out on the perimeter (which was the basis for the lineup change). I'm not sure why the Sixers elected to do that, but it worked out in our favor.

Yeah, pretty odd. But even when Hawes was on the perimeter, Dalembert did a good job and looked pretty quick.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Dalembert still has pretty good mobility so I don't really get the move. But, it is early in the season against a mediocre-bad team. Rick can afford to experiment in these circumstances. And Daly grabbed 14 rebounds so maybe he should be benched more often.

[Dirk's Knee]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Dalembert still has pretty good mobility so I don't really get the move. But, it is early in the season against a mediocre-bad team. Rick can afford to experiment in these circumstances. And Daly grabbed 14 rebounds so maybe he should be benched more often.

Dalembert has horrible lateral mobility. Unless a player is coming right at him, he has zero chance of stopping them. And despite 14 boards, how many potential rebounds last night bounced off him last night either out of bounds or to the other team?

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Dirk's Knee

And despite 14 boards, how many potential rebounds last night bounced off him last night either out of bounds or to the other team?

You're basically saying to ignore Dalembert's 14 boards (in 28 minutes) while knocking the effort and hustle that allowed him to bring down those 14 boards in the first place... The fact that he even TOUCHED those other potential rebounds is a gigantic improvement over someone like Kaman, who would just stand there and watch the ball fall into another player's hands.

[Dirk's Knee]

Originally Posted by Underdog

You're basically saying to ignore Dalembert's 14 boards (in 28 minutes) while knocking the effort and hustle that allowed him to bring down those 14 boards in the first place... The fact that he even TOUCHED those other potential rebounds is a gigantic improvement over someone like Kaman, who would just stand there and watch the ball fall into another player's hands.

If your benchmark of a good center is being better than Chris Kaman than your expectations are set unbelievably low. Blair has outrebounded dalembert on average. It wasn't hustle that got him many if not most of those boards, he was uncontested many possessions as the 76er's didn't have a rebounder down low due to Hawe's positioning for midrange jumpers. Philly scored 54 points in the paint last night tieing our season high to date against the Thunder. In fact, go look at opponents points in the paint for the season to date while Dalembert is on the court.

[Kante]

Originally Posted by Dirk's Knee

If your benchmark of a good center is being better than Chris Kaman than your expectations are set unbelievably low. Blair has outrebounded dalembert on average. It wasn't hustle that got him many if not most of those boards, he was uncontested many possessions as the 76er's didn't have a rebounder down low due to Hawe's positioning for midrange jumpers. Philly scored 54 points in the paint last night tieing our season high to date against the Thunder. In fact, go look at opponents points in the paint for the season to date while Dalembert is on the court.

Point is, Dalembert was a (big) part of the win yesterday, easy as that. I get your Blair love but he wasn't playing well yesterday, even in his limited minutes. Dalembert was getting rebounds, Blair was just looking at the balls.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Dalembert still has pretty good mobility so I don't really get the move. But, it is early in the season against a mediocre-bad team. Rick can afford to experiment in these circumstances. And Daly grabbed 14 rebounds so maybe he should be benched more often.

It's just an interesting move and it made me wonder. We did play a LOT of rookie/sophomore guys as if Carlisle had a theme night.

Crowder 20min including the starting 7min
Mekel 6min
Larkin 9min
James 6min

It was probably too early in the season to have such a tight rotation like we had in the first 10 games, but every time the new guys hit the floor, the spacing and flow really went down the toilet. We ended up eeking out a win, but I wonder if Carlisle could have introduced the young guys more subtly. We also have two more guys to add back into the fray with Harris and Wright getting healthy over the next 4 weeks.

Larkin looked confident and incredibly quick, but was about as frazzled and ineffective as Mekel was in his first game. If he can keep his confidence and speed while learning to make more of an impact, I like him. He's a nice poor-man's Ellis while Mekel is a poor-man's Calderon/Kidd.

James hustles, but he's a bit too small and rough. A couple of times he battled for the board well, but didn't block out or call out the rebound and we didn't end up securing the board. The effort level is off the charts, but the fundamentals are a bit weak.

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

It's just an interesting move and it made me wonder. We did play a LOT of rookie/sophomore guys as if Carlisle had a theme night.

Crowder 20min including the starting 7min
Mekel 6min
Larkin 9min
James 6min

It was probably too early in the season to have such a tight rotation like we had in the first 10 games, but every time the new guys hit the floor, the spacing and flow really went down the toilet. We ended up eeking out a win, but I wonder if Carlisle could have introduced the young guys more subtly. We also have two more guys to add back into the fray with Harris and Wright getting healthy over the next 4 weeks.

Larkin looked confident and incredibly quick, but was about as frazzled and ineffective as Mekel was in his first game. If he can keep his confidence and speed while learning to make more of an impact, I like him. He's a nice poor-man's Ellis while Mekel is a poor-man's Calderon/Kidd.

James hustles, but he's a bit too small and rough. A couple of times he battled for the board well, but didn't block out or call out the rebound and we didn't end up securing the board. The effort level is off the charts, but the fundamentals are a bit weak.

I suspect he started out wanting to give Jae and Shane an opportunity, and then the way the game unfolded forced his hand, particularly with Sarge (come back Brandan!). The two rooks only combined for 15 minutes at the backup point guard spot, which isn't excessive at all given they're the only options there outside of Monta, who logged almost 40 minutes as it was. If you can't give those guys minutes in a home game against the 4th seed in the East, when can you give them minutes?

[Dirk's Knee]

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

I suspect he started out wanting to give Jae and Shane an opportunity, and then the way the game unfolded forced his hand, particularly with Sarge (come back Brandan!). The two rooks only combined for 15 minutes at the backup point guard spot, which isn't excessive at all given they're the only options there outside of Monta, who logged almost 40 minutes as it was. If you can't give those guys minutes in a home game against the 4th seed in the East, when can you give them minutes?

Actually Larkin and Mekel shared the floor with Larkin at the 2 for a few of those minutes. Larkin's minutes were all at PG. Looking like Harris maybe available by month's end.

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by Dirk's Knee

Actually Larkin and Mekel shared the floor with Larkin at the 2 for a few of those minutes. Larkin's minutes were all at PG. Looking like Harris maybe available by month's end.

About 3 minutes, but my point still stands. 15 minutes combined for the only two true guards coming off the bench isn't particularly high, nor were the minutes allotted to the starters particularly low.

[Dirk's Knee]

That was an ugly game that the Mavs probably deserved to lose. The biggest concerns for me was Rick Carlisle getting very experimental with the line ups starting Crowder with no center, limiting Blair's minutes, way too much 3 point chucking (even late in the game with the lead, WTF?), and having 2 rookie point guards on the floor together (though I loved seeing Larkin's debut).

As for the Calderon hate, he's playing a bit below my expectations but way, way better than what we had last year. Plus we are guard rich this year so I really have zero concerns about PG production through out the season.

[Kante]

Originally Posted by Dirk's Knee

limiting Blair's minutes

Blair was as worse as Crowder was!