GDT: Jazz@Mavs Playoff Game 2

[BPo001]

JB and Maxi players of the game

[Melonhead]

That was an out of body experience for Jalen and Maxi.

[jleefilled]

Originally Posted by BPo001

JB and Maxi players of the game

Amazing shooting from Kleber. Really happy for him. Type of game that can change a career.

[JTmoney2424]

Not sure what got into Kleber tonight but we’ll take it. That was unreal. Where was that last half of the season? If JB and Maxi play like this with a 100% Luca, this series is ours

[jleefilled]

Wow, 0 turnovers for Brunson. Baller

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by jleefilled

Wow, 0 turnovers for Brunson. Baller

Saluted Dirk by putting up 41

[jleefilled]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Saluted Dirk by putting up 41

Hurt my soul when he missed that free throw late, but I should have understood that he was honoring his ancestor. Some things are more important than having a comfortable lead at the end.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Anyone still think we shouldn't keep Brunson? Guy is gonna get 25-30 mil a year. Mock that number all you want.

And Maxi will never have a game like this again, so a big congrats to him.

[blessednegr0]

We are destine! Jalen drops 41 in honor of Dirk, without our leader unavailable. I told y'all to stop bashing the players during the game. They played hard from the first whistle.

[blessednegr0]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Saluted Dirk by putting up 41

I just said the same thing lol!

[DevinHarriswillstart]

LOL Dirk twitter...."Yessirrr!" Father Dirk is our calming presence.

[jleefilled]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

LOL Dirk twitter...."Yessirrr!" Father Dirk is our calming presence.

The GOAT man.

Love the big German.

[EricaLubarsky]

Five game series without HCA

Steal one in Utah and we might actually do it

[Melonhead]

That was the Mavs one game without Luka. Need him back by Game 4…

What a hell of a game. One of the best wins along with Luka v Clippers since 2011

[Dallas41]

Should DFS get more prop's for his defense 4th Qtr defense on Mitchell

[blessednegr0]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

Should DFS get more prop's for his defense 4th Qtr defense on Mitchell

100%. He was our best defensive player all game and made some great plays. Also when his shot wasn't falling he found a way to hit some big ones.

[jleefilled]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

Should DFS get more prop's for his defense 4th Qtr defense on Mitchell

Absolutely. I think he forced two misses from Mitchell in the last few minutes of the game. I think he grabbed a huge board away from Gobert too.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

Should DFS get more prop's for his defense 4th Qtr defense on Mitchell

I've long been tough on DFS, but he should absolutely be on an all defensive team.

[ShaggyDirk]

Lets. Go. Mavs.

[SMC0007]

Proud of my boys in blue! What a gritty performance and what a game.

I was thinking that the difference was going to be all the contested circus shots they were hitting.


From Jazz perspective, they have to be feeling like they did everything they could but we really made them pay for having Gobert out there.

[Dallas41]

"I started this morning, I was talking to (Finney-Smith) and I told him, ‘Doe, I'm going to let 10 3s fly tonight.' And he said, ‘That's my dog.' And that kind of set the tone for the day," Kleber said. "The mindset is we know they're going to leave certain guys open to shoot. We've just got to let it fly."

[MFFL]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Five game series without HCA

Steal one in Utah and we might actually do it

I was talking to my son and we can't think of a player on the Jazz who can slow down Luka. He'll either have 40 points or 20 assists every game

[SMC0007]

The way Kidd and Co have handled Brunsons situation is a good blue print for how to keep a player who is due for a new deal and isn't the go-to starting PG on the team. He's gotten a permanent quality role and quality minutes. Clearly it's up to him, but the staff has worked with what they have to make him a staple and make his decision to leave incredibly hard.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

The way Kidd and Co have handled Brunsons situation is a good blue print for how to keep a player who is due for a new deal and isn't the go-to starting PG on the team. He's gotten a permanent quality role and quality minutes. Clearly it's up to him, but the staff has worked with what they have to make him a staple and make his decision to leave incredibly hard.

Translation: making the best of the former GM's terrible mistake.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Translation: making the best of the former GM's terrible mistake.

Yup. And I'm not sure they could have done it any better. They're getting the very most out of him and he has a huge role, especiallygiven his position and having g the best player in the league on his team at the same position essentially.

[turin]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Anyone still think we shouldn't keep Brunson? Guy is gonna get 25-30 mil a year. Mock that number all you want.

And Maxi will never have a game like this again, so a big congrats to him.

Brunson had an awesome game. I couldn't be happier for him; however, the lack of long, athletic defenders made this a better matchup for him. I like what he brings to the table, especially in the regular season, but his effectiveness will be limited the deeper in the playoffs the Mavs go. Add to that the fact that the Mavs screwed up by resigning THJ, and the thought that the Mavs may have more than $40m/yr tied up between these 2 guys makes me sad moving forward.

This is not an efficient use of resources/cap $. It is what it is.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by turin

Brunson had an awesome game. I couldn't be happier for him; however, the lack of long, athletic defenders made this a better matchup for him. I like what he brings to the table, especially in the regular season, but his effectiveness will be limited the deeper in the playoffs the Mavs go. Add to that the fact that the Mavs screwed up by resigning THJ, and the thought that the Mavs may have more than $40m/yr tied up between these 2 guys makes me sad moving forward.

This is not an efficient use of resources/cap $. It is what it is.

Yeah but he is using his IQ to make up for his size the same way Chris Paul does. We are gonna keep him. Losing an asset like that for nothing would be much worse.

[turin]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Yeah but he is using his IQ to make up for his size the same way Chris Paul does. We are gonna keep him. Losing an asset like that for nothing would be much worse.

I get what you're saying, but this is only one game. Being able to deliver consistently against high level competition is what's important. Brunson is a defensive liability who disappears against athletic length on defense. I think it's still way too premature to be doling out $20m/yr to Brunson, but unfortunately, the Mavs aren't going to get too many more looks at him during the playoffs before signing him. Everybody got all excited when THJ had a couple of hot shooting nights in the playoffs against the LAC, and now we are stuck with him and his contract. :-( $40m/yr for a small guard whose a defensive liability paired with a streaky, black hole with no defense is a cap disaster in the making, and I'm not bagging on Luka, but those 3 together are going to be a huge liability on defense, and that's going to be what $70m/yr? That's crazy.

The Mavs need a big man and some bigger ball handlers. IMO, Brunson's spot isn't worth more than $15m/yr. I'd rather have $20m+ tied up in a productive big. You can't teach size. Now, if we didn't have THJ and his contract, then I'd be more onboard with keeping Brunson, but THJ and his contract are like a grenade in this scenario long-term. He needs to go.

[Scoobay]

Originally Posted by turin

I get what you're saying, but this is only one game. Being able to deliver consistently against high level competition is what's important. Brunson is a defensive liability who disappears against athletic length on defense. I think it's still way too premature to be doling out $20m/yr to Brunson, but unfortunately, the Mavs aren't going to get too many more looks at him during the playoffs before signing him. Everybody got all excited when THJ had a couple of hot shooting nights in the playoffs against the LAC, and now we are stuck with him and his contract. :-( $40m/yr for a small guard whose a defensive liability paired with a streaky, black hole with no defense is a cap disaster in the making, and I'm not bagging on Luka, but those 3 together are going to be a huge liability on defense, and that's going to be what $70m/yr? That's crazy.

The Mavs need a big man and some bigger ball handlers. IMO, Brunson's spot isn't worth more than $15m/yr. I'd rather have $20m+ tied up in a productive big. You can't teach size. Now, if we didn't have THJ and his contract, then I'd be more onboard with keeping Brunson, but THJ and his contract are like a grenade in this scenario long-term. He needs to go.

Get what you're saying... we just can't let an actual asset walk away with nothing in return. Worst case if you really don't feel Brunson is a fit is to sign him and trade him. But we can't take the hit of losing him for nothing.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Scoobay

Get what you're saying... we just can't let an actual asset walk away with nothing in return. Worst case if you really don't feel Brunson is a fit is to sign him and trade him. But we can't take the hit of losing him for nothing.

And you can't sell to the Fans that we keep THJ for 20 mil a season but can't keep Brunson who is an objectively better player.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by turin

I get what you're saying, but this is only one game. Being able to deliver consistently against high level competition are what's important. Brunson is a defensive liability who disappears against athletic length on defense. I think it's still way too premature to be doling out $20m/yr to Brunson, but unfortunately, the Mavs aren't going to get too many more looks at him during the playoffs before signing him. Everybody got all excited when THJ had a couple of hot shooting nights in the playoffs against the LAC, and now we are stuck with him and his contract. :-( $40m/yr for a small guard whose a defensive liability paired with a streaky, black hole with no defensive is a cap disaster in the making, and I'm not bagging on Luka, but those 3 together are going to be a huge liability on defense, and that's going to be what $70m/yr? That's crazy.

The Mavs need a big man and some bigger ball handlers. IMO, Brunson's spot isn't worth more than $15m/yr. I'd rather have $20m+ tied up in a productive big. You can't teach size.

Mavs are a team that

1) Is perfect for Brunson. With a 6'8" PG, we are the best team in the league for a 6'1" combo-guard who plays mostly like a SG, but can play PG in a pinch.

2) A team that is totally starved of talent. We simply cannot afford to let a starting-caliber player walk for nothing, just because you can find faults with their game.

3) A team that will be over the cap/tax regardless of whether or not we re-sign Brunson. It's great to talk about what Brunson is worth. 10? 15? 20? 25?. But what Brunson gets is going to be set by other teams and after a 41-8-5 game in the playoffs, we either pay for him a lot or he walks away for nothing. If he walks away for more money, we don't magically go under the cap and clear room for a max contract either. We're either in the tax or WAY over the tax.

[saclare]

I'm going on record to counter the THJ slant and say he will be a valuable piece for this team next year. I'm sorry, but I think the dude is highly liked and respected in the locker room, especially it seems by Luka. Having him for these first two games without Luka changes outcomes, for the better, too, before someone comes with what they think is a quick wit joke. He gets shit on so much for the contract, but it's a declining contract that will be $16.1MM in the 4th year or 2024-25. That's going to at least be an easy to package contract or a valuable one as I see THJ as a contributing piece. My two cents, take it for what it is.

[washedklean77]

Originally Posted by saclare

I'm going on record to counter the THJ slant and say he will be a valuable piece for this team next year. I'm sorry, but I think the dude is highly liked and respected in the locker room, especially it seems by Luka. Having him for these first two games without Luka changes outcomes, for the better, too, before someone comes with what they think is a quick wit joke. He gets shit on so much for the contract, but it's a declining contract that will be $16.1MM in the 4th year or 2024-25. That's going to at least be an easy to package contract or a valuable one as I see THJ as a contributing piece. My two cents, take it for what it is.

THJ plays good about every 3rd or 4th game. I do agree that I think he's a very likable dude, but man...that's a lot of cheddar for being a very inconsistent producer. Most average NBA players have their moments - just as does THJ for this team. Not worth the spend.

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by saclare

I'm going on record to counter the THJ slant and say he will be a valuable piece for this team next year. I'm sorry, but I think the dude is highly liked and respected in the locker room, especially it seems by Luka. Having him for these first two games without Luka changes outcomes, for the better, too, before someone comes with what they think is a quick wit joke. He gets shit on so much for the contract, but it's a declining contract that will be $16.1MM in the 4th year or 2024-25. That's going to at least be an easy to package contract or a valuable one as I see THJ as a contributing piece. My two cents, take it for what it is.

The sooner they can trade this the guy the better IMO

The team committed to defense and they are much better on that end of the floor without him.

Sure he'll occasionally give that awesome game but as someone else pointed out he shows up every 3-4 games which isn't helpful in the playoffs.

Mavs don't have time for guys like THJ to play well once in a series if they are trying to get the finals.

If they could ship his ass out of town this summer in a package deal to Indiana for Turner and Brogdon you do that in heart beat

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Btw, is Sterling Brown healthy? What's up with that guy?

[EricaLubarsky]

I like THJ

That said if the Magic strike out in free agency and offer a second-rounder for THJ or even just offer to take him for free, I would do it 10/10

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Btw, is Sterling Brown healthy? What's up with that guy?

I'm guessing he turned into our new Josh Richardson/Delon Wright signing

One and day with us will most likely get traded just they were doing the off-season.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

Should DFS get more prop's for his defense 4th Qtr defense on Mitchell

There was a couple late layups that DFS went balls out for completely extended altering Mitchell’s layup.

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

There was a couple late layups that DFS went balls out for completely extended altering Mitchell’s layup.

Mitchell has got his points but it has come from volume shooting

I think he's like 22/60 in the series so far

[tap2390]

There is such a huge difference between a scoring star like Mitchell and a playmaking superstar like Luka. So grateful to have the latter.