GDT: Mavericks (14-11) @ Pacers (14-9) - 6:00pm CT

[Vinsanity]

Mavs will see Monta Ellis for the first time as a Pacer tonight. Monta has been struggling to say the least so far this season averaging just 12.3ppg on 42FG% (ouch). But look for Monta to come out aggressive trying to prove that we should've attempted to resign him.

Big game for both teams with similar records looking to move up the rankings. Paul George was questionable (respiratory infection) but says he'll play tonight. All Mavs should be healthy and ready to go.

We saw Parsons have a nice game against the Suns (17pts)...hopefully he can build off that and have another solid game. Wesley Matthews looks to have found his stroke from three...we're gonna need him to make some big shots as well as defend Paul George who's been playing out of his mind. Deron Williams showed how valuable he is to the team after missing the Wizards game and then coming back with a strong performance against Phoenix. We probably win that game against Washington with D-Will in the lineup. Dirk's efficiency has gone down over the past 5+ games or so... we should look to get him involved early and often to break him out of his mini-slump. Zaza and Felton have been amazing and even Harris is starting to find his groove, especially on defense.

Gonna be a tough game tonight but we can do it... let's get this statement win... go Mavs!!

[CGM]

Mavs have proven to play more efficiently against the better teams and away from home... tonight, the Pezers have those two aforementioned qualities; therefore, the Mavs will win a game that will make Monta wish he still were a Mav... Parsons will continue to show improvement, as he will be the Mavs' second highest scorer, but most importantly, he will make the game-winning, last-second basket....

Mavs - 108
Pezers - 107

[Underdog]

Hope the Mavs show up tonight -- they've been struggling against good teams lately.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I sense a big night from Monta...

[CGM]

Monta's gameface tonight....

[yahyes]

Going to be a challenge that the team needs to get a good look at.

[BPo001]

What was George Hill thinking when he decided to bleach his hair? Trying to look like Sisqo?

[EricaLubarsky]

Our castoffs are sure looking bad.

Aminu putting up lots of numbers on terrible efficiency
Chandler often injured and reduced output.
Ellis pretty inefficient
Amare only getting 9 mpg
Ledo hasn't played in the NBA
Jameer pretty flat
Wright is injured again

[EricaLubarsky]

At least in this one game

Harris>Ellis

[Bryan_Wilson]

Zaza alrdy has 9 rebounds after 1st quarter. 4 offensive, both teams shooting poorly though.

[turin]

Parsons... SMH

[Underdog]

Man, I hate early start times... What did I miss?

(took a quick glance at the box, looks like Ellis is still on our payroll...)

[Javale McGeeber]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Man, I hate early start times... What did I miss?

(took a quick glance at the box, looks like Ellis is still on our payroll...)

Hello there says this rebound-a-minute machine.

Oops, gotta run, coach giving halftime talk.

[EricaLubarsky]

Harris tweaked hammy. Won't return.

[BPo001]

Matthews to the locker room.

Edit: Matthews now back on Mavs bench.

[EricaLubarsky]

Yeah... We aren't very good. No playing like a team. Lots of guys standing around. One man iso offense. Rebounding is awful. Missing every open look. Yipes

[yahyes]

Okay it's go time. Team needs to wake up.

[yahyes]

Not playing our fast tempo game. The slowness of indiana is beating us.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Yeah... We aren't very good. No playing like a team. Lots of guys standing around. One man iso offense. Rebounding is awful. Missing every open look. Yipes

[EricaLubarsky]

Embarrassing. These are the kind of repeated embarrassments that wear on a team

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by yahyes

Not playing our fast tempo game. The slowness of indiana is beating us.

Our inability to actually run a play without 4 guys watching the ball handler or daydreaming is what lost us this game.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Only 16 assists... 2 came in garbage time too. 33 3's to only 10 ft's. That's way too big of a disparity especially when we aren't exactly lighting teams up consistently from 3. And are just downright awful at wide open shots yet again for some bizarre reason.

[jay3189]

Alot of people on these posts go crazy when Dallas loses a game. Its a 82 game season. Granted, I'm not saying that Dallas don't have some games in which they could have come out with a win. But I don't expect Dallas to go 82-0. Lol. It's a long season, I just want to see them compete. They will face teams who are overall better than them. That's just a fact. I'm waiting to see where Dallas stands in the conference in March and April of 2016.

[EricaLubarsky]

And Parsons leaves injured

$&@& this

[Melonhead]

No sunshine pumping or making excuses. This is flat out a mediocre team that beats the bad and cannot beat anything with a pulse. I laid heavy on indy -3.5. Nothings changed. Just have to pull for a 7 seed.

BTW it's not inexplicable that mavs miss open shots. We don't have shooters. That's why they aren't going in.

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

And Parsons leaves injured

$&@& this

At least he's showing consistency.

[GermanDunk]

Ugh. Versus Pacers ...

[Vinsanity]

We just can't make our shots for whatever reason. Guys get open looks but they aren't knocking them down. At some point you'd have to think that'll change right?

[DevinHarriswillstart]

The offense is completely broken and has been going that way for a while. Team needs an offensive coordinator.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

The offense is completely broken and has been going that way for a while. Team needs an offensive coordinator.

I'd say Rick can't coach offense but every time I said it, I was attacked like I was saying something ridiculous

Rick may be able to coach offense, but it sure hasn't shown the last three years. Guys can't make basic plays. Every possession is one-on-five with awful, meaningless passes ending in an iso. Ricks offense be broke. This is a team with tremendous offensive talent that can't even run a basic pick.

[turin]

Sad to say, but I'm glad I bailed early on the game. My initial enthusiasm for this team is beginning to wane. Right now, I pretty much hate Parsons, but there's plenty of blame to go around. Next game, new opportunity. I'll be watching.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by jay3189

Alot of people on these posts go crazy when Dallas loses a game. Its a 82 game season. Granted, I'm not saying that Dallas don't have some games in which they could have come out with a win, but I don't expect Dallas to go 82-0. Lol. It's a long season, I just want to see them compete. They will face teams who are overall better than them. That's just a fact. I'm waiting to see where Dallas stands in the conference in March and April of 2016.

You cant minimize the way this team lost tonight. I wasnt expecting a win, but I dang sure wasnt expecting them to get the doors blown off AFTER leading by 2 at half. To me, these are red flags especially coming from a Pacers team that's 14-9.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

I'd say Rick can't coach offense but every time I said it, I was attacked like I was saying something ridiculous

Rick may be able to coach offense, but it sure hasn't shown the last three years. Guys can't make basic plays. Every possession is one-on-five with awful, meaningless passes ending in an iso. Ricks offense be broke. This is a team with tremendous offensive talent that can't even run a basic pick.

Yeah I try not to mention his offense either because he's so highly regarded as a magician on offense. But whats going on right now isnt working. Lot of it has to do with not having shooters, but something has to change for the offense.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Catch and shoot/drive numbers last season:

Barea- Frequency: 18.8% Percentile: 84%
Harris- Frequency: 28.7% Percentile: 86.7%
Parsons- Frequency: 35.2% Percentile: 83.4%
Dirk- Frequency: 20.7% Percentile: 70%
Villanueva- Frequency: 36.9% Percentile: 90.8%
(Portland)Matthews- Frequency: 30.3% Percentile: 90.4%
(Brooklyn)Williams- Frequency 15.2% Percentile: 81.2%

So far this season:

Barea- Frequency: 15.5% Percentile: 62.5%
Harris- Frequency: 25.8% Percentile: 68.6%
Parsons- Frequency: 20.0% Percentile: 39.0%
Dirk- Frequency: 18.6% Percentile: 76.1%
Villanueva- Frequency: 36.2% Percentile: 32.4%
Matthews- Frequency: 31.2% Percentile: 42.1%
Williams- Frequency 15.9% Percentile: 67.9%

I'm sure we miss monta's ability to get inside at will but getting inside hasn't seemed to be our problem IMO. I think the bigger problem is we don't have the roll man of a TC/Wright allowing teams to show harder on screens knowing that if our big gets behind them he likely won't be finishing above the rim and they would have time to recover.

Some PnR ball handler numbers so far this season-

Barea- Frequency: 43.5% Percentile: 29.5% <-----
Harris- Frequency: 20.0% Percentile: 55.8%
Parsons- Frequency: 21.1% Percentile: 73.7%
Williams- Frequency 29.2% Percentile: 80.0%
Felton- Frequency: 40.9% Percentile: 53.7%

For all the praise I and others heap on felton when I look at his numbers in PnR and his shooting numbers in general I think he has been talked so highly of more in part due to the struggles of Harris and especially JJ and also obv Parsons recovering. Also the praise of the closing lineup of Dwill/Dirk/Felton/Wes/Zaza IMO is much more due to the fact that Dwill in those times almost always has it in his hands or Dirk does. Which is why Dwill was leading in clutch scoring. Felton has more possessions as the ball handler in PnR sets than DWil despite playing less minutes. More than likely because DWill is a much better off ball threat but we wouldn't be in that bind if we didn't have to have 2 pgs on the court at seemingly all times for whatever reason. I'd much rather see some time for Evans or learning for Anderson or some Jenkins than see 2 pgs on the court the entire 48mins when it obviously handcuffs some of our more efficient sets anyway. And for the same reason JJ has more than double the possessions as Harris as the PnR ball handler despite it being quite literally our worst high volume play this season.

Also Matthews has only taken 30 shots coming off screens this season yet ranks in the top 92.2 percentile of the NBA doing so... sure would be nice to get him a few more of those in games to get him in a better rhythm. I find it hard to believe we are top 5 in screens set but can't seem to get Wes much more than 1 shot per game coming off a down screen or curl. Only Curry and Patty Mills have attempted at least 30 and have a better eFG% than Matthews in these situations. For comparison sake Klay has shot over 100 coming off screens Korver 75, Curry 77, Reddick 78... Baffling how Wes has just 30 when compared to other guys great at catch and shoot off screens.

[Twenty4sevenn]

Originally Posted by Bryan_Wilson

Catch and shoot/drive numbers last season:

Barea- Frequency: 18.8% Percentile: 84%
Harris- Frequency: 28.7% Percentile: 86.7%
Parsons- Frequency: 35.2% Percentile: 83.4%
Dirk- Frequency: 20.7% Percentile: 70%
Villanueva- Frequency: 36.9% Percentile: 90.8%
(Portland)Matthews- Frequency: 30.3% Percentile: 90.4%
(Brooklyn)Williams- Frequency 15.2% Percentile: 81.2%

So far this season:

Barea- Frequency: 15.5% Percentile: 62.5%
Harris- Frequency: 25.8% Percentile: 68.6%
Parsons- Frequency: 20.0% Percentile: 39.0%
Dirk- Frequency: 18.6% Percentile: 76.1%
Villanueva- Frequency: 36.2% Percentile: 32.4%
Matthews- Frequency: 31.2% Percentile: 42.1%
Williams- Frequency 15.9% Percentile: 67.9%

I'm sure we miss monta's ability to get inside at will but getting inside hasn't seemed to be our problem IMO. I think the bigger problem is we don't have the roll man of a TC/Wright allowing teams to show harder on screens knowing that if our big gets behind them he likely won't be finishing above the rim and they would have time to recover.

Some PnR ball handler numbers so far this season-

Barea- Frequency: 43.5% Percentile: 29.5% <-----
Harris- Frequency: 20.0% Percentile: 55.8%
Parsons- Frequency: 21.1% Percentile: 73.7%
Williams- Frequency 29.2% Percentile: 80.0%
Felton- Frequency: 40.9% Percentile: 53.7%

For all the praise I and others heap on felton when I look at his numbers in PnR and his shooting numbers in general I think he has been talked so highly of more in part due to the struggles of Harris and especially JJ and also obv Parsons recovering. Also the praise of the closing lineup of Dwill/Dirk/Felton/Wes/Zaza IMO is much more due to the fact that Dwill in those times almost always has it in his hands or Dirk does. Which is why Dwill was leading in clutch scoring. Felton has more possessions as the ball handler in PnR sets than DWil despite playing less minutes. More than likely because DWill is a much better off ball threat but we wouldn't be in that bind if we didn't have to have 2 pgs on the court at seemingly all times for whatever reason. I'd much rather see some time for Evans or learning for Anderson or some Jenkins than see 2 pgs on the court the entire 48mins when it obviously handcuffs some of our more efficient sets anyway. And for the same reason JJ has more than double the possessions as Harris as the PnR ball handler despite it being quite literally our worst high volume play this season.

Also Matthews has only taken 30 shots coming off screens this season yet ranks in the top 92.2 percentile of the NBA doing so... sure would be nice to get him a few more of those in games to get him in a better rhythm. I find it hard to believe we are top 5 in screens set but can't seem to get Wes much more than 1 shot per game coming off a down screen or curl. Only Curry and Patty Mills have attempted at least 30 and have a better eFG% than Matthews in these situations. For comparison sake Klay has shot over 100 coming off screens Korver 75, Curry 77, Reddick 78... Baffling how Wes has just 30 when compared to other guys great at catch and shoot off screens.

Excellent post. Thanks.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

And Parsons leaves injured

$&@& this

Any news on this? Haven't heard anything so it must not be serious.

[jleefilled]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Any news on this? Haven't heard anything so it must not be serious.

Yeah, I don't think it is serious. Parsons said his knee is a little sore, but he will be fine.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by jleefilled

Yeah, I don't think it is serious. Parsons said his knee is a little sore, but he will be fine.

CP looked in pain and a little gimpy against the Suns....just think this will be nagging for him all season long. Really feel for the guy.

[jay3189]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

You cant minimize the way this team lost tonight. I wasnt expecting a win, but I dang sure wasnt expecting them to either doors blown off AFTER leading by 2 at half. To me, these are red flags especially coming from a Pacers team that's 14-9.

I understand. Trust me, I am hard on the Mavericks when needed. The 2013-2014 season, Dallas lost some real BAD games that year. There were either 6-7 games that Dallas had at least a 14 point lead at some point of those games and lost. Dallas could have possibly won 56 games instead of 49 games, if they would have held on to those leads. Last season, Dallas had one of their best teams on paper. The starting 5 with Rondo/Ellis/Parsons/Dirk/Tyson could have been the best in the league. But the Rondo situation didn't pan out. Parsons got hurt late in the season. And now this season so far, Dallas has been good, not bad, not great. Against the teams that are playing good right now, Dallas has lost to the Thunder, Spurs, Pacers and Hawks, and they split 2 games with the Clippers, Grizzlies, and Rockets. Of course Dallas can improve. But unless EVERY game Dallas lose this season are games that they don't play with effort or passion, we don't need to overreact to every lost. Remember, Zaza and Deron are playing better than expected by alot of people (including me). Amd Parsons plays every 3 games or comes off the bench.