What can go wrong will go wrong for this years team

[Dallas41]

I think the writing is on the wall for this season.

The mavs have found ways to lose close games and blow leads basically in every way possible.

Think about it up 7 points with 45 seconds left. No way you can possibly lose right?

Well guess again our Mavs continually find ways to get it done lol.

I guess the only good thing is once the playoffs start we don't have to suffer through any more blown leads or late game meltdowns because the clippers are blow them out every game lol

[MFFL]

Of the top 10 players for FTA per game, only Luka and Giannis fail to hit 83%

[rimrocker]

Luka has got to improve on the FTs, especially down the stretch, if he wants to become a true superstar.

Also, I thought Luka looked very slow last night for some reason and couldn't get to where he wanted to go against a sub-par defense.
That better improve as well if we want to have any chance against a team like the Clips.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

I think the writing is on the wall for this season.

The mavs have found ways to lose close games and blow leads basically in every way possible.

Think about it up 7 points with 45 seconds left. No way you can possibly lose right?

Well guess again our Mavs continually find ways to get it done lol.

I guess the only good thing is once the playoffs start we don't have to suffer through any more blown leads or late game meltdowns because the clippers are blow them out every game lol

Luka and the Mavs look a little bit like Roma and the Cowboys. I'm not a Cowboys fan but it sure seemed like they blew a lot of games down the stretch that they should have won and many seemed to be something that involved Romo in one way or another.

The fumbled hold on the FG against Seattle comes to mind. Everyone in the world would have bet their entire fortunes on the Cowboys winning that game right before that snap but somehow Romo and the Cowboys blew it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZIhEsAd_Ys

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

Luka and the Mavs look a little bit like Roma and the Cowboys. I'm not a Cowboys fan but it sure seemed like they blew a lot of games down the stretch that they should have won and many seemed to be something that involved Romo in one way or another.

The fumbled hold on the FG against Seattle comes to mind. Everyone in the world would have bet their entire fortunes on the Cowboys winning that game right before that snap but somehow Romo and the Cowboys blew it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZIhEsAd_Ys

Painful reminder


Romo is the reason why I went years stressing myself out for no reason over the cowboys

They would always find a way to blow it.

This years mavs team has literally sucked the life out of me because everytime you think they got a game won it's a wrap they come up with new ways to choke.

And yes at this point when you blow so many games in the manner in which they have I'm call it choking now.

The announcers freaking warned us last night ahead of time just how bad this team is at closing out games.

Doris Bourke was all over that prediction

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

Painful reminder


Romo is the reason why I went years stressing myself out for no reason over the cowboys

They would always find a way to blow it.

This years mavs team has literally sucked the life out of me because everytime you think they got a game won it's a wrap they come up with new ways to choke.

And yes at this point when you blow so many games in the manner in which they have I'm call it choking now.

The announcers freaking warned us last night ahead of time just how bad this team is at closing out games.

Doris Bourke was all over that prediction

The Mavs completely slow down and try to run clock out when they think they have the game won and that leads to bad possessions.

Milking the clock down to 6 seconds to start the offense only gives them 25% of an opportunity to get an open look. And essentially letting the defense know you won’t do anything for 18 seconds gives them both the advantage of rest and locking down knowing the offense will be in desperation mode.

Just play the damn way way that you did to build the leads and they should win most of them. This is becoming habitual and annoying for fans.

[Skywalker]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

The Mavs completely slow down and try to run clock out when they think they have the game won and that leads to bad possessions.

Milking the clock down to 6 seconds to start the offense only gives them 25% of an opportunity to get an open look. And essentially letting the defense know you won’t do anything for 18 seconds gives them both the advantage of rest and locking down knowing the offense will be in desperation mode.

Just play the damn way way that you did to build the leads and they should win most of them. This is becoming habitual and annoying for fans.

For the life of me I cant understand why they keep doing this every single close game, its incredibly frustrating. And its mostly on RC than anyone else tbh. He should be making sure they dont keep falling into the same trap but I guess its ok as far as hes concerned

[FreshJive]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

The Mavs completely slow down and try to run clock out when they think they have the game won and that leads to bad possessions.

Milking the clock down to 6 seconds to start the offense only gives them 25% of an opportunity to get an open look. And essentially letting the defense know you won’t do anything for 18 seconds gives them both the advantage of rest and locking down knowing the offense will be in desperation mode.

Just play the damn way way that you did to build the leads and they should win most of them. This is becoming habitual and annoying for fans.

This is the way all coaches do it. It’s like conventional wisdom that you are supposed to slow down, give your best player the ball, and go into iso mode, because it limits turnovers. It doesn’t seem to work for this team. They need to just keep punching the other team in the mouth with the leagues best offense.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by FreshJive

This is the way all coaches do it. It’s like conventional wisdom that you are supposed to slow down, give your best player the ball, and go into iso mode, because it limits turnovers. It doesn’t seem to work for this team. They need to just keep punching the other team in the mouth with the leagues best offense.

Just like “prevent defenses” in the NFL.
Never liked it because it prevents wins just about as much as it prevents losses.

[Melonhead]

Young team, Luka hasnt learned that trait of putting away teams yet. And KP wasnt winning games before Dallas. The time will come.

I love all the mavs players but see what can be gotten for Delon and Justin Jackson. Barea will retire. Keep Burke. Powell comes back.

Dont overpay for anyone that was an outlier in the bubble. Shots will light up without fans for some players.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

Young team, Luka hasnt learned that trait of putting away teams yet. And KP wasnt winning games before Dallas. The time will come.

This.

Let's be real, folks. The Mavericks just aren't that good. We've seen stretches of brilliance throughout the season, and we've heard over and over again how they have the most efficient offense in NBA history (and I'll be honest, I really don't quite understand what that means.)

But really, here's what the Mavs are- a very young and still inexperienced superstar, a young and still inexperienced quasi-all-star, and a whole bunch of average to mediocre role players.

We've seen RC get the best out of guys like Curry and THJ, and he deserves credit for that. But all of these guys are incredibly limited. We have a roster full of guys like Jackson, Wright, DFS, and Maxi, who would all be 12th men on real contenders.

I honestly don't think there is a single good defensive player on this entire team. KP is probably our best defensive player, but he's only decent. Everyone else is mediocre to outright awful. Beyond that, we have no playmakers outside of Luka, bad rebounding, and even our two "stars" have a combined zero minutes of playoff experience.

So just to recap, no defense, no rebounding, and no experience, and we need a 21 year old sophomore to create every single shot opportunity. Is it really surprising then that the team can't close out games and blows leads? It's nothing mysterious. The team just isn't that good. We can talk about RC slowing the game down or whatever, but I think the real problem is personnel.

The Mavs do only one thing really well- shoot threes. That's enough to get to the playoffs in today's NBA, but it won't get you any further than that.

[EricaLubarsky]

This team needs more than one thing and that's just the honest truth. They aren't underperforming at all. They've occasionally overperformed, but they're just more than one step from actually being good.

1) KP and Doncic need to grow up and learn to win/play together. They're both talented, but you can't just throw talent together-- particularly young talent who have never really won big in the league and expect to win. They gotta learn to play together and learn to win.

2) They simply need more talent. Drafting well at 21/31 could help, but may not be enough. We're lagging behind in the level of talent we have on the roster. We don't have trade assets. We don't have first rounders in 2021, 2023, and 2025 and can't trade 2022 and 2024 draft picks at all. It's going to be hard, but I think we can do it.

3) More than the overall talent level, they need to build the roster around the guys we have. We (hopefully) learned the lesson in the year of the trash bag, but you can't surround Dirk with two other less-talented PFs and expect to win. Same with KP and Doncic who are both talented, but incredibly unique players who demand a unique roster to accompany them. We need defensive versatility. We need shooting. We need a big who can defend the PF and cover for some of KP's defensive liabilities. We need to build around the talent we have.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Mavs have a lot of talent, but something in the dots isn't connecting. I'm starting to think that Luka might need a secondary ball handler in the starting lineup.

Honestly, that's why Trey Burke looks so good. It's not that he is some great player, but the Mavs don't have anyone else outside of Luka or Barea that can create their own offense.

I also feel like guys like Curry and Wright are just going to let you down in the end. Curry, especially, can be so hot and cold...but when he is cold, he provides absolutely nothing else. That game against the Rockets was just awful.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

1) KP and Doncic need to grow up and learn to win/play together. They're both talented, but you can't just throw talent together-- particularly young talent who have never really won big in the league and expect to win. They gotta learn to play together and learn to win.

The good news is, they have made a lot of progress together. It's easy to lose sight of because the loss was so incredibly frustrating, but KP looked frigging awesome against Houston- 39 and 12- and Luka put up his hilariously regular 28 point triple double. Earlier this year, KP looked so out of place and uncomfortable for a long enough time that I was legitimately worried that A: he would never be able to play next to Luka, or B: that he just wasn't the same player as before he tore his ACL. These two guys will be just fine, as long as they stay healthy. The last game was frustrating, but it happens. A missed free throw here, a turnover there, a bad foul there... Just inexperience and rust. It happens.

2) They simply need more talent. Drafting well at 21/31 could help, but may not be enough. We're lagging behind in the level of talent we have on the roster. We don't have trade assets. We don't have first rounders in 2021, 2023, and 2025 and can't trade 2022 and 2024 draft picks at all. It's going to be hard, but I think we can do it.

As we've said before, the Mavs need to make their remaining draft picks count, and then hopefully we can make something happen in free agency next summer. Won't be easy, but we've got a better chance than most.

3) More than the overall talent level, they need to build the roster around the guys we have. We (hopefully) learned the lesson in the year of the trash bag, but you can't surround Dirk with two other less-talented PFs and expect to win. Same with KP and Doncic who are both talented, but incredibly unique players who demand a unique roster to accompany them. We need defensive versatility. We need shooting. We need a big who can defend the PF and cover for some of KP's defensive liabilities. We need to build around the talent we have.

The way I see it, we need two things to be real contenders. A jack-of-all trades wingman, and an Ibaka-esque PF. We need a wingman who brings not only 3&D but can play a bit of point and take some of the burden off of Luka. Basically what Wright was supposed to be, but proved unable to. The name that frequently gets thrown around in fantasy scenarios is Oladipo. Pre-injury Oladipo is exactly the type of player we need. No clue if he can be close to that going forward though. And I've said before, Ibaka is the model of what we need at the 4 next to KP. 3&D, rebounding, and some toughness in the post.

Both of those guys are a bit older, and I don't know if we could get them anyway, so I'm not saying we need those two exactly, but those are the types of players we need.

Also, I giggled at "year of the trash bag."

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Mavs have a lot of talent, but something in the dots isn't connecting. I'm starting to think that Luka might need a secondary ball handler in the starting lineup.

Honestly, that's why Trey Burke looks so good. It's not that he is some great player, but the Mavs don't have anyone else outside of Luka or Barea that can create their own offense.

Burke looks way better than Wright in that role, that's for sure.

I also feel like guys like Curry and Wright are just going to let you down in the end. Curry, especially, can be so hot and cold...but when he is cold, he provides absolutely nothing else. That game against the Rockets was just awful.

Seth is a 3 point specialist and serves fine that role. But yeah, if you're counting on him to be your 3rd or 4th best player, you're in a bad spot. On a real contender, he'd be your 7th or 8th man, coming off the bench to fill that very specific role.

And honestly I think Wright is kinda useless. He was suppose to be our 3&D secondary ball handler, but he can't do any of those things particularly well.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

This team needs more than one thing and that's just the honest truth. They aren't underperforming at all. They've occasionally overperformed, but they're just more than one step from actually being good.

1) KP and Doncic need to grow up and learn to win/play together. They're both talented, but you can't just throw talent together-- particularly young talent who have never really won big in the league and expect to win. They gotta learn to play together and learn to win.

2) They simply need more talent. Drafting well at 21/31 could help, but may not be enough. We're lagging behind in the level of talent we have on the roster. We don't have trade assets. We don't have first rounders in 2021, 2023, and 2025 and can't trade 2022 and 2024 draft picks at all. It's going to be hard, but I think we can do it.

3) More than the overall talent level, they need to build the roster around the guys we have. We (hopefully) learned the lesson in the year of the trash bag, but you can't surround Dirk with two other less-talented PFs and expect to win. Same with KP and Doncic who are both talented, but incredibly unique players who demand a unique roster to accompany them. We need defensive versatility. We need shooting. We need a big who can defend the PF and cover for some of KP's defensive liabilities. We need to build around the talent we have.

I'm beginning to think drafting Josh Green and Paul Reed would be a very successful draft for us. Both are tremendous defenders and Green has star potential on the offensive end as well. Both have freakishly long wing spans. Reed has a funny looking shot but is able to shoot 3s well enough to get plenty of PT.

I personally think our best shot at improving the talent on our roster is through the draft and those two could pay huge dividends in a couple years.