PGT: Mavs beat Thunder again, break d-m.com

[Underdog]

Calderon with an excellent game: 22 points (6-9 from downtown), 8 assists and ZERO turnovers... Great to see the Mavs pull out a team win in OT, even though it totally crashed the forum.

Oh, and this guy's 32 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and a block didn't hurt either:

[Kante]

BIIIIG win!

[Underdog]

Even Dalembert had a bit of spring in his step last night... I actually thought he was Blair on one of his dunks because he seemed to be moving too fast to be Dalembert, but a jersey check confirmed that it was.

This is just a different team when everyone is firing on all cylinders.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Even Dalembert had a bit of spring in his step last night... I actually thought he was Blair on one of his dunks because he seemed to be moving too fast to be Dalembert, but a jersey check confirmed that it was.

This is just a different team when everyone is firing on all cylinders.

Dalembert has had a spring in his step in most of February and March. Looks like a totally different player from the rest of his subpar season.

Gotta love games when Calderon outplays Westbrook.

[LonghornDub]

Make buckets. Win games.

[sike]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

Make buckets. Win games.

Whaaaaaaa???

[Skywalker]

This game reminded me a lot of that OT win against the Clippers last year so I went and checked the date and to my surprise that game was exactly a year from today (03/26/13). It was also a tuesday night game and it was also on TNT. Pretty crazy.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Skywalker

This game reminded me a lot of that OT win against the Clippers last year so I went and checked the date and to my surprise that game was exactly a year from today (03/26/13). It was also a tuesday night game and it was also on TNT. Pretty crazy.

Mavs get up for Tuesday games on TNT against good Western Conference teams, especially if it's March 26th... That's just how they roll.

[Underdog]

Calderon played with a broken face.

[dirt_dobber]

From Elias Sports Bureau:

Dirk Nowitzki (DAL): 1st game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in over 2 seasons (March 19, 2012 at Nuggets)

Dirk's line tonight: 32 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals Including the regular season and playoffs, tonight was his 1,306th career game. It was the first time he's reached all of those thresholds in a single game.

[Vinsanity]

Woooooo!!

I was at this game last night and it was easily the best game I've ever attended. The energy in the crowd felt like it was 2011 again. This game might've saved the Mavs' playoffs chances... HUGE win

[sefant77]

Why i cant choose "Holger" in the poll? tzztzz

[yahyes]

Man this team looked dominate on offense.

[jumperh]

Calderon 22 points with 6-9 from 3, 8 assits, 4 Rebounds and 0 TurnOvers, scoring the triple to tie the game, still people think Dirk was the best player of this game... thats just sad. People keep talking about Calderon defense, that just become a myth, even when he plays good defense people will say that he lacks defense lmao. You just can't guard half of the point guards on this league, and ofcourse if you have the worst paint defense in the league with, robot dalembert and I don't defend aka Dirk...

[oilfieldtrash]

Originally Posted by jumperh

Calderon 22 points with 6-9 from 3, 8 assits, 4 Rebounds and 0 TurnOvers, scoring the triple to tie the game, still people think Dirk was the best player of this game... thats just sad. People keep talking about Calderon defense, that just become a myth, even when he plays good defense people will say that he lacks defense lmao. You just can't guard half of the point guards on this league, and ofcourse if you have the worst paint defense in the league with, robot dalembert and I don't defend aka Dirk...

This team would have lost by 30 without Dirk on the floor last night. It's questionable if the team would have lost a step with Devin running point the entire night last night. Sorry anytime Dirk or Ellis is on the floor Calderon's importance isn't even measurable over his replacement.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by oilfieldtrash

This team would have lost by 30 without Dirk on the floor last night. It's questionable if the team would have lost a step with Devin running point the entire night last night. Sorry anytime Dirk or Ellis is on the floor Calderon's importance isn't even measurable over his replacement.

I disagree with this smashing of calderon. IMO dirk doesn't touch the ball half as many times in that game without jose on the floor. Just doesn't.

And devin would be bricking 10 3ptrs instead of making 10.

[jumperh]

Originally Posted by oilfieldtrash

This team would have lost by 30 without Dirk on the floor last night. It's questionable if the team would have lost a step with Devin running point the entire night last night. Sorry anytime Dirk or Ellis is on the floor Calderon's importance isn't even measurable over his replacement.

Calderon was +9 when he left the court in the first half I think the score was 13-22 mavs up, when he came in again the mavs where loosing by 8 and you still think that Devin is better? Monta? man Monta makes 16 shots every game, and most of the time hits 5 and its with layups, everytime Calderon pass him the ball wide open he miss, isn't the same to pass the ball to Calderon than viceversa, cause Calderon will most of the time hit the 3 and give you an assist while Monta will miss. Dirk is one of the top of the NBA but its not all about him, he was horrible the past 8 games or so.

Calderon isn't a spot shooter, that's what carlisle wants from him, look Calderon games with the raptors and you will see those games with 22 assists. The mavs has like 5 point guards Calderon is the better shooter, so let him shot and let Monta TRY to run the offense... I mean Monta had 9 turnovers in a game, and most of his passes are horrible, he only creates space when he drives...

Ps: Also you all missing the point here Calderon plays for the team, he doesn't want to be a star, he's always helping his teammates and is a pass first PG.

[GermanStandard]

Originally Posted by jumperh

Calderon was +9 when he left the court in the first half I think the score was 13-22 mavs up, when he came in again the mavs where loosing by 8 and you still think that Devin is better? Monta? man Monta makes 16 shots every game, and most of the time hits 5 and its with layups, everytime Calderon pass him the ball wide open he miss, isn't the same to pass the ball to Calderon than viceversa, cause Calderon will most of the time hit the 3 and give you an assist while Monta will miss. Dirk is one of the top of the NBA but its not all about him, he was horrible the past 8 games or so.

Calderon isn't a spot shooter, that's what carlisle wants from him, look Calderon games with the raptors and you will see those games with 22 assists. The mavs has like 5 point guards Calderon is the better shooter, so let him shot and let Monta TRY to run the offense... I mean Monta had 9 turnovers in a game, and most of his passes are horrible, he only creates space when he drives...

Ps: Also you all missing the point here Calderon plays for the team, he doesn't want to be a star, he's always helping his teammates and is a pass first PG.

Dude get off your high horse you Jose Lover.

Dirk is averaging 21,1 PPG / 6,3 RPG in his last 8.
Far away from being horrible.

He had one off night in that stretch against the Nets.

Ellis carried the Team to more wins than Calderon.
Calderon has been pretty bad at the start of the season and comes to play in the last games.

Ellis is unselfish as it gets this year. He is averaging 5,7 Assists.
Most for SG.

Of course he is not a streaky 3point shooter like Calderon.
You cant compare them from that area.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by jumperh

Calderon 22 points with 6-9 from 3, 8 assits, 4 Rebounds and 0 TurnOvers, scoring the triple to tie the game, still people think Dirk was the best player of this game... thats just sad. People keep talking about Calderon defense, that just become a myth, even when he plays good defense people will say that he lacks defense lmao. You just can't guard half of the point guards on this league, and ofcourse if you have the worst paint defense in the league with, robot dalembert and I don't defend aka Dirk...

Does not understand basketball.

[Murphy3]

Big difference. Calderon is mostly a spot up shooter. Dirk is actually a guy that creates offense for himself and the rest of the team. Calderon benefits greatly off of other people's offensive work.

[Sportstudi]

Nice win, good effort by the team. But what really bothers me are Carlisle's substitutions concerning Dirk in the end of the game. This time it didn't matter, but this bullcrap has already cost us a few games this year. Why?
1. It burns timeouts, sometimes we didn't even had one left because of this shit
2. Dirk isn't that bad of a defender as some might think. His advanced stats also show this. Especially concerning our big men I take Dirk for sure over Blair and also over Wright as Wright lacks weight.

Even if you sub out Dirk for someone like Crowder and shift Marion to the 4, you still have burned a timeout and you would need to burn another to sub him back in if the opponent doesn't call a timeout. And in opposite to Crowder, Dirk has at least the length to bother a shooter if the opponent goes big. Moreover, not to have Dirk on the floor in crunch time as he's also the best FT-shooter in the NBA this season (yeah, I know some unknown scrub is in the lead now, but he hasn't made 125 FT's yet, so he doesn't qualify) is bullocks.

Yes, it has worked out a few times this season but often enough it didn't. Often when we still needed a timeout, all were gone. Like in that close loss against GSW in December. Not to have your go-to-guy on the floor to take the lead, to equalize or to get him intentionally fouled by the opponent is a bad tactic IMO.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Sportstudi

Nice win, good effort by the team. But what really bothers me are Carlisle's substitutions concerning Dirk in the end of the game. This time it didn't matter, but this bullcrap has already cost us a few games this year. Why?
1. It burns timeouts, sometimes we didn't even had one left because of this shit
2. Dirk isn't that bad of a defender as some might think. His advanced stats also show this. Especially concerning our big men I take Dirk for sure over Blair and also over Wright as Wright lacks weight.

Even if you sub out Dirk for someone like Crowder and shift Marion to the 4, you still have burned a timeout and you would need to burn another to sub him back in if the opponent doesn't call a timeout. And in opposite to Crowder, Dirk has at least the length to bother a shooter if the opponent goes big. Moreover, not to have Dirk on the floor in crunch time as he's also the best FT-shooter in the NBA this season (yeah, I know some unknown scrub is in the lead now, but he hasn't made 125 FT's yet, so he doesn't qualify) is bullocks.

Yes, it has worked out a few times this season but often enough it didn't. Often when we still needed a timeout, all were gone. Like in that close loss against GSW in December. Not to have your go-to-guy on the floor to take the lead, to equalize or to get him intentionally fouled by the opponent is a bad tactic IMO.

I agree, I hate it, absolutely hate it. End of game possession okay, but when you don't have dirk out there to get a shot or take a free throw IMO you are not at your best.

[mavErika]

Had to go with Dirk, but Calderon is a close second.

Crowder surprised a little making some important shots. But what happened to Blair (and to a lesser degree B.Wright)? He seemed somewhat useful early in the season, but for a while know I can barely understand why he's getting any minutes, other than you don't want him to go sour on the bench.

fyi, there is a lot of stuff on this game in the video-section of nba.com,
look for the highlights and all-videos category.

[sike]

we beat OKC. are 14 games over .500....and are in the 8th seed.

:/

[DirkFTW]

Originally Posted by sike

we beat OKC. are 14 games over .500....and are in the 8th seed.

:/

9th again.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DirkFTW

9th again.

Damn the West.

[twelli]

Originally Posted by sike

we beat OKC. are 14 games over .500....and are in the 8th seed.

:/

Maybe we shouldn't judge the team's success based on making or not making the playoffs but by number of wins and how we stack up against ALL teams in the NBA, currently we have the 11th best record of all 30 teams and we might get 50 wins. Not too shabby. Of course there is room for improvement, but overall I am not too disappointed with the Mavs this season.

[Vinsanity]

Memphis gets their ass kicked for 3 & 1/2 quarters and goes on their miraculous run to win the game... typical

[dude1394]

Calderon certainly in the category of dirk, that's ridiculous.

He's closer to monta but not much. Until you start to talk about point guard skills, then he's much better, order of magnitude than monta or devin or Larkin.

[Murphy3]

For what Calderon provides, he's overpaid. However, he's a very nice player.
...nevermind, I thought he made more than he does..

[jumperh]

Who the F*** said that Calderon is in the same category than Dirk? I don't know why people makes stuff up, I said that for me Calderon was the best player of this match, with the way he run the offense, he shot well and he passed the ball, he also worked his ass on defense. Like someone said before, he outplayed westbrook. Dirk was 11-23 and 2-8 from 3 while Calderon was 7-10 and 6-9 of three, one of those threes, been at the end of the first half, he throw it from half court so lets say 6-8 from three. Dirk also missed the shot to tie the game while Calderon did it.

GermanStandard: Like I said Ellis shots 16+ a game, while Calderon doesn't shot more than 10, since the beginning of the year Ellis has been more time with the ball than Calderon, and again he has more assists cause he can drive the ball, and he gives easy layups, not because he pass the open shooter(and most of those assists are from Calderon from three) Ellis is selfish as f, he's one of those that will shot 5 shots in the last minute and no fs where given... and yes, he might has helped win more games than Calderon, but... how many has he lost? cause he missed that last shot?

Ps: and if I'm a Calderon lover, you're one of Ellis.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by jumperh

Who the F*** said that Calderon is in the same category than Dirk? I don't know why people makes stuff up, I said that for me Calderon was the best player of this match, with the way he run the offense, he shot well and he passed the ball, he also worked his ass on defense. Like someone said before, he outplayed westbrook. Dirk was 11-23 and 2-8 from 3 while Calderon was 7-10 and 6-9 of three, one of those threes, been at the end of the first half, he throw it from half court so lets say 6-8 from three. Dirk also missed the shot to tie the game while Calderon did it.

GermanStandard: Like I said Ellis shots 16+ a game, while Calderon doesn't shot more than 10, since the beginning of the year Ellis has been more time with the ball than Calderon, and again he has more assists cause he can drive the ball, and he gives easy layups, not because he pass the open shooter(and most of those assists are from Calderon from three) Ellis is selfish as fuck, he's one of those that will shot 5 shots in the last minute and no fucks where given... and yes, he might has helped win more games than Calderon, but... how many has he lost? cause he missed that last shot?

Ps: and if I'm a Calderon lover, you're one of Ellis.

[DirkFTW]

Maybe we should have just lost so this bickering would make sense.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by jumperh

GermanStandard: Like I said Ellis shots 16+ a game, while Calderon doesn't shot more than 10, since the beginning of the year Ellis has been more time with the ball than Calderon, and again he has more assists cause he can drive the ball, and he gives easy layups, not because he pass the open shooter(and most of those assists are from Calderon from three) Ellis is selfish as f, he's one of those that will shot 5 shots in the last minute and no fs where given... and yes, he might has helped win more games than Calderon, but... how many has he lost? cause he missed that last shot?

Ps: and if I'm a Calderon lover, you're one of Ellis.

First off, Ellis is averaging 19.0 PPG off of just 15.2 attempts per game... That's not much less than Dirk's 21.4 PPG off of 15.9 attempts, so what are you complaining about? It's not like anyone is chucking up a Melo-esque 21.8 attempts per game or something ridiculous like that. The shot distribution on this team is fine.

Also, why do you have to trash Monta in order to defend Calderon? Typical fanboy binary-think, as if their individual success is somehow mutually exclusive... They're one of the best offensive guard duos in the league because of their complimentary skill sets - it's the defensive end you should be talking about if you want to complain about either of these guys.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by Underdog

First off, Ellis is averaging 19.0 PPG off of just 15.2 attempts per game... That's not much less than Dirk's 21.4 PPG off of 15.9 attempts, so what are you complaining about? It's not like anyone is chucking up a Melo-esque 21.8 attempts per game or something ridiculous like that. The shot distribution on this team is fine.

Also, why do you have to trash Monta in order to defend Calderon? Typical fanboy binary-think, as if their individual success is somehow mutually exclusive... They're one of the best offensive guard duos in the league because of their complimentary skill sets - it's the defensive end you should be talking about if you want to complain about either of these guys.

It almost makes it hard to seriously upgrade this team. The team needs to get better defensively. Where are they going to upgrade? 5's don't grow on trees. You have your 4. Your #3 is one of your better defenders.. Your 2 is Monta and is a key offensively... Your PG is extraordinarily efficient offensively and is an amazing shooter..

It's going to be interesting. They'll probably have to give up something offensively at least in the starting lineup to seriously improve this team.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

It almost makes it hard to seriously upgrade this team. The team needs to get better defensively. Where are they going to upgrade? 5's don't grow on trees. You have your 4. Your #3 is one of your better defenders.. Your 2 is Monta and is a key offensively... Your PG is extraordinarily efficient offensively and is an amazing shooter..

It's going to be interesting. They'll probably have to give up something offensively at least in the starting lineup to seriously improve this team.

This is the million dollar question. A few thoughts:

First of all, I'm not sure how great Marion is defensively anymore. He has his spurts but it feels to me like he's slipped significantly this year. So I think it's possible to upgrade over Shawn defensively this offseason (Deng being the obvious option).

There's also a *ton* of room for improvement in the backup bigs. You can upgrade massively in that area by replacing Wright and Blair's minutes with a quality defender.

If Shawn leaves and you replace him with a true 3, you could also help your defense by finding a true backup 4 that can defend. Shawn loses a lot of his defensive and rebounding advantages when he plays 4.

But in the end, there's only so much you can do to help the starting lineup if it includes Calderon and Monta. I think Calderon has played well enough that he can be traded as a semi-asset. If you can get a PG that fits better and is above average defensively, you can compensate the spacing issues caused by losing Calderon by getting a starting 3 that can shoot and has to be defended on the wing.

It's going to be a very interesting offseason, methinks.

Oh, and for the resident Jose homer, I actually agree that Jose is significantly underrated by the general Mavs fan base. He's been really important this season. But you're shooting your argument in the foot when you complain about Dirk getting more praise and you run Monta down to that degree.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by jthig32

This is the million dollar question. A few thoughts:

First of all, I'm not sure how great Marion is defensively anymore. He has his spurts but it feels to me like he's slipped significantly this year. So I think it's possible to upgrade over Shawn defensively this offseason (Deng being the obvious option).

There's also a *ton* of room for improvement in the backup bigs. You can upgrade massively in that area by replacing Wright and Blair's minutes with a quality defender.

If Shawn leaves and you replace him with a true 3, you could also help your defense by finding a true backup 4 that can defend. Shawn loses a lot of his defensive and rebounding advantages when he plays 4.

But in the end, there's only so much you can do to help the starting lineup if it includes Calderon and Monta. I think Calderon has played well enough that he can be traded as a semi-asset. If you can get a PG that fits better and is above average defensively, you can compensate the spacing issues caused by losing Calderon by getting a starting 3 that can shoot and has to be defended on the wing.

It's going to be a very interesting offseason, methinks.

Oh, and for the resident Jose homer, I actually agree that Jose is significantly underrated by the general Mavs fan base. He's been really important this season. But you're shooting your argument in the foot when you complain about Dirk getting more praise and you run Monta down to that degree.

Agree on Marion and definitely on how underrated Calderon has been. I honestly think he has been solid for most of the season. He disappeared at times, but he is a warrior and I love his emotion on the court.

[sike]

I'm thinking that either Monta or Jose MUST be traded this offseason for this roster to have a chance at fighting for a title.

Offseason Needs to go something like this: Splash around some of that money getting a very good all around player (ex: Deng/Stevenson) and then move either Monta or Jose for a defensive stud Guard who can be your 3rd option on offense.

I might be dreaming, but those kinds of moves feel in the realm of possibility.

Originally Posted by jthig32

This is the million dollar question. A few thoughts:

First of all, I'm not sure how great Marion is defensively anymore. He has his spurts but it feels to me like he's slipped significantly this year. So I think it's possible to upgrade over Shawn defensively this offseason (Deng being the obvious option).

There's also a *ton* of room for improvement in the backup bigs. You can upgrade massively in that area by replacing Wright and Blair's minutes with a quality defender.

If Shawn leaves and you replace him with a true 3, you could also help your defense by finding a true backup 4 that can defend. Shawn loses a lot of his defensive and rebounding advantages when he plays 4.

But in the end, there's only so much you can do to help the starting lineup if it includes Calderon and Monta. I think Calderon has played well enough that he can be traded as a semi-asset. If you can get a PG that fits better and is above average defensively, you can compensate the spacing issues caused by losing Calderon by getting a starting 3 that can shoot and has to be defended on the wing.

It's going to be a very interesting offseason, methinks.

Oh, and for the resident Jose homer, I actually agree that Jose is significantly underrated by the general Mavs fan base. He's been really important this season. But you're shooting your argument in the foot when you complain about Dirk getting more praise and you run Monta down to that degree.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

It almost makes it hard to seriously upgrade this team. The team needs to get better defensively. Where are they going to upgrade? 5's don't grow on trees. You have your 4. Your #3 is one of your better defenders.. Your 2 is Monta and is a key offensively... Your PG is extraordinarily efficient offensively and is an amazing shooter..

It's going to be interesting. They'll probably have to give up something offensively at least in the starting lineup to seriously improve this team.

Thats what I worry about. There's not much upgrading besides the 5 spot. Blair and Sarge are two spots that should definitely be replaced for other players. We need a wing defender/3 pt shooter and a 30min per game center.
Anyone who thinks Calderon is going to be traded just because he and Monta dont work well on the court for defense, then they are going to be upset.

[Sportstudi]

Originally Posted by jumperh

Who the F*** said that Calderon is in the same category than Dirk? I don't know why people makes stuff up, I said that for me Calderon was the best player of this match, with the way he run the offense, he shot well and he passed the ball, he also worked his ass on defense. Like someone said before, he outplayed westbrook. Dirk was 11-23 and 2-8 from 3 while Calderon was 7-10 and 6-9 of three, one of those threes, been at the end of the first half, he throw it from half court so lets say 6-8 from three. Dirk also missed the shot to tie the game while Calderon did it.

GermanStandard: Like I said Ellis shots 16+ a game, while Calderon doesn't shot more than 10, since the beginning of the year Ellis has been more time with the ball than Calderon, and again he has more assists cause he can drive the ball, and he gives easy layups, not because he pass the open shooter(and most of those assists are from Calderon from three) Ellis is selfish as f, he's one of those that will shot 5 shots in the last minute and no fs where given... and yes, he might has helped win more games than Calderon, but... how many has he lost? cause he missed that last shot?

Ps: and if I'm a Calderon lover, you're one of Ellis.