GDT: Nuggets at Mavs Pre-season game 1 8:30pm

[Javale McGeeber]

Oh no... oops...

[EricaLubarsky]

Man. Fourth quarter didn't have a single NBA talent in blue

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Javale McGeeber

Bona fide superstar.

[SMC0007]

What happened to the Summer league J.Anderson? Stud to dud.

Harris and JJB look excellent. I have no doubt they will be at worst as good as they have ever been.

If Jeremy Evans continues to grow confidence here, he could be very valuable.

Our backcourt appears to be setup very nicely. I am just really concerned about our front court, especially center.

[rimrocker]

What I think roster should be after watching last night:

Starters: Zaza/Dirk/Parsons/Matthews/DWill
Key Bench: JJB/Harris/Evans/CV/McGee
Situational Reserves: Powell/Felton/Dalembert
D-League: Anderson/Ndour

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

What I think roster should be after watching last night:

Starters: Zaza/Dirk/Parsons/Matthews/DWill
Key Bench: JJB/Harris/Evans/CV/McGee
Situational Reserves: Powell/Felton/Dalembert
D-League: Anderson/Ndour

No Jenkins? You don't want him to be a primary ballhandler, but after starting 0-5, he really found his game both on the drive and from three.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Can we fking ban this clown? Isnt funny and was never funny..

I was actually laughing..

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

No Jenkins? You don't want him to be a primary ballhandler, but after starting 0-5, he really found his game both on the drive and from three.

That last spot will come down to Jenkins, Ndour or Mejri. Jenkins did look pretty good toward the end but with Matthews, Williams, Harris, Felton, Barea, Anderson and even Parsons we are loaded with good experience, youth and talent in the backcourt. Plus we have plenty of 3pt firepower with all the those plus Dirk, CV, Powell and Ndour (if he makes the team).

Our frontcourt is shaky at best so I'd be more inclined to go with Mejri or Ndour unless Jenkins becomes a standout the rest of preseason. Still need to see Mejri play though but if all are equal I'd go with the big guys first.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

That last spot will come down to Jenkins, Ndour or Mejri. Jenkins did look pretty good toward the end but with Matthews, Williams, Harris, Felton, Barea, Anderson and even Parsons we are loaded with good experience, youth and talent in the backcourt. Plus we have plenty of 3pt firepower with all the those plus Dirk, CV, Powell and Ndour (if he makes the team).

Our frontcourt is shaky at best so I'd be more inclined to go with Mejri or Ndour unless Jenkins becomes a standout the rest of preseason. Still need to see Mejri play though but if all are equal I'd go with the big guys first.

I'd probably go with N'dour. He has a lot of upside and would go well with Evans and Anderson as young scrappy atheltic guys who can play multiple positions and do a bit of everything.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

That last spot will come down to Jenkins, Ndour or Mejri. Jenkins did look pretty good toward the end but with Matthews, Williams, Harris, Felton, Barea, Anderson and even Parsons we are loaded with good experience, youth and talent in the backcourt. Plus we have plenty of 3pt firepower with all the those plus Dirk, CV, Powell and Ndour (if he makes the team).

Our frontcourt is shaky at best so I'd be more inclined to go with Mejri or Ndour unless Jenkins becomes a standout the rest of preseason. Still need to see Mejri play though but if all are equal I'd go with the big guys first.

Agree 100% with this assessment, but I'm also starting to get the sense that Jenkins is going to simply outplay Mejri and Ndour and steal that last roster spot.

[EricaLubarsky]

The fact that Jenkins started the game and played a team-high 30 minutes last night is pretty telling. He had 7 minutes more than the second place guys.

Jenkins played with our starters (well, second string, but the closest we had to starters) and with reserves. He was also 2-5 from three in the second half when the team got comfortable.

I'd put the odds of each of the following guys making the roster at
Jenkins - 97%
N'Dour 1.9%
Mejri - 1.0%
Ashley - 0.09%
Wilson - 0.0001%

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

The fact that Jenkins started the game and played a team-high 30 minutes last night is pretty telling. He had 7 minutes more than the second place guys.

Jenkins played with our starters (well, second string, but the closest we had to starters) and with reserves. He was also 2-5 from three in the second half when the team got comfortable.

I'd put the odds of each of the following guys making the roster at
Jenkins - 97%
N'Dour 1.9%
Mejri - 1.0%
Ashley - 0.09%
Wilson - 0.0001%

We better start looking for another center then or a PF who can defend and rebound. Maybe sign Jenkins and then use as trade bait during the season because I doubt Mejri will make any kind of difference anyway.

If we sign Jenkins that would be an indication that Felton (or one of our other guards) is on the way out.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

We better start looking for another center then or a PF who can defend and rebound. Maybe sign Jenkins and then use as trade bait during the season because I doubt Mejri will make any kind of difference anyway.

If we sign Jenkins that would be an indication that Felton (or one of our other guards) is on the way out.

We go at least three deep and we will also see Powell, Dirk, and CV3 take some center minutes particularly when we run and gun. I'm not sure it's an issue of not having enough players as much as it is the limitation of the players we have. We have three decent centers and another three players that can provide institutional backup. Getting good, great, or star players is easier said than done. We were close this summer at getting a borderline star, but we can't just flip a borderline NBA-talent like Jenkins for

numbers in parentheses are rebound ranking by position

McGee(31st*) /Zaza (28th) /Daly (20th)
Dirk (68th) /CV3 (56th)/Powell (**) /Evans (**)

*ranking among centers from 2012-2013 when he last played significant minutes
**not enough minutes to rank

That's plenty of guys. They just aren't terribly talented-- particularly at rebounding. We got three centers who are all borderline starters (25th-25th in the league at rebounding rate). It's not really a roster problem. It's just a lack of talent/trade assets problem. We have an aging Dirk, the best roster we could put together (which isn't very good) and no trade assets to improve. Our first rounder cannot be traded until we know that we have it and it's Boston's if it falls between 8 and 30. Only way to keep it is for it to be 1-7 and to get a 1-7, we'd need to be one of the worst 7 teams in the league if this wikipedia article is correct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_draft_lottery

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Easy win.

Preach that.

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Can we fking ban this clown? Isnt funny and was never funny..

If funny is the threshold, do you think you would still be around?

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

We go at least three deep and we will also see Powell, Dirk, and CV3 take some center minutes particularly when we run and gun. I'm not sure it's an issue of not having enough players as much as it is the limitation of the players we have. We have three decent centers and another three players that can provide institutional backup. Getting good, great, or star players is easier said than done. We were close this summer at getting a borderline star, but we can't just flip a borderline NBA-talent like Jenkins for

numbers in parentheses are rebound ranking by position

McGee(31st*) /Zaza (28th) /Daly (20th)
Dirk (68th) /CV3 (56th)/Powell (**) /Evans (**)

*ranking among centers from 2012-2013 when he last played significant minutes
**not enough minutes to rank

That's plenty of guys. They just aren't terribly talented-- particularly at rebounding. We got three centers who are all borderline starters (25th-25th in the league at rebounding rate). It's not really a roster problem. It's just a lack of talent/trade assets problem. We have an aging Dirk, the best roster we could put together (which isn't very good) and no trade assets to improve. Our first rounder cannot be traded until we know that we have it and it's Boston's if it falls between 8 and 30. Only way to keep it is for it to be 1-7 and to get a 1-7, we'd need to be one of the worst 7 teams in the league if this wikipedia article is correct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_draft_lottery

I just think our front court is a complete mess. Zaza and Dirk will be as bad or worse than Kaman and Dirk and I have very little faith in Dally and JM. If Felton/Zaza/Jenkins could net us a decent shot blocker down the stretch I'd feel a little more comfortable.

Too soon to really tell but I'm very leery about our frontcourt situation going into this season.

[chumdawg]

This looks like the worst excuse for a Mavericks team this franchise has ever seen, and yes, that's including the storied (and at least promising) teams of the 1990s. Who in their right mind assembled this collection of antiques and shit? This is an embarrassment to not only Dallas Mavericks fans, Dallas, and the NBA, but also to the country at large. My goodness.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

I just think our front court is a complete mess. Zaza and Dirk will be as bad or worse than Kaman and Dirk and I have very little faith in Dally and JM. If Felton/Zaza/Jenkins could net us a decent shot blocker down the stretch I'd feel a little more comfortable.

Too soon to really tell but I'm very leery about our frontcourt situation going into this season.

I'm with you on there being a problem. I just don't see a solution. We needed a tough-nosed rebound/defense/shot-blocker. We almost got Jordan, who would have been a nice fit. When he punked us, we did the best we could, but getting the 31st, 28th, and 20th best centers in rebounding was the best we could do to go next to Dirk and Parsons-- who both are about as bad at rebounding as you can get

Dirk - 68th among PFs
Parsons - 40th among SFs
Matthews - 52nd among SGs
Williams - 33rd among PGs

We will absolutely be abused on the glass this year. That's a given. No point in beating a dead horse. I just wonder:

1) Can we develop a style that minimizes the damage (run-and-gun, high efficiency, lots of threes)?
2) can we upgrade our PF/C position in the next year or so.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

I'm with you on there being a problem. I just don't see a solution. We needed a tough-nosed rebound/defense/shot-blocker. We almost got Jordan, who would have been a nice fit. When he punked us, we did the best we could, but getting the 31st, 28th, and 20th best centers in rebounding was the best we could do to go next to Dirk and Parsons-- who both are about as bad at rebounding as you can get

Dirk - 68th among PFs
Parsons - 40th among SFs
Matthews - 52nd among SGs
Williams - 33rd among PGs

We will absolutely be abused on the glass this year. That's a given. No point in beating a dead horse. I just wonder:

1) Can we develop a style that minimizes the damage (run-and-gun, high efficiency, lots of threes)?
2) can we upgrade our PF/C position in the next year or so.

Is it possible to trade for Tyson Chandler this season?
Add him to this team and I think we'd be able to compete for one of the top 6 seeds.

[FreshJive]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

That last spot will come down to Jenkins, Ndour or Mejri. Jenkins did look pretty good toward the end but with Matthews, Williams, Harris, Felton, Barea, Anderson and even Parsons we are loaded with good experience, youth and talent in the backcourt. Plus we have plenty of 3pt firepower with all the those plus Dirk, CV, Powell and Ndour (if he makes the team).

Our frontcourt is shaky at best so I'd be more inclined to go with Mejri or Ndour unless Jenkins becomes a standout the rest of preseason. Still need to see Mejri play though but if all are equal I'd go with the big guys first.

Agree with Erica on this. Jenkins is an actual NBA player. Ndour looks really raw. On offense it looked like he was just jacking terrible shots, because he didn't know what else to do with the ball.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

Is it possible to trade for Tyson Chandler this season?
Add him to this team and I think we'd be able to compete for one of the top 6 seeds.

Don't know why Phoenix would do it, but their management also does completely unintelligible things every single year-- they keep building teams capable of making the playoffs and then giving away assets when they realize that they aren't competing for a championship.

They could be willing, but we'd have to match salaries and to get to 13mill, we'd have to give up a lot. We don't really have any overpaid pieces.

Team salaries
Wesley Matthews $16,407,500
Chandler Parsons $15,361,500
Dirk Nowitzki $8,333,333
Deron Williams $5,378,974
Zaza Pachulia $5,200,000
José Juan Barea $4,290,000
Devin Harris $4,053,446
Raymond Felton $3,949,800
Samuel Dalembert $1,499,187
Charlie Villanueva $1,499,187
Justin Anderson $1,449,000
JaVale McGee $1,270,964
Jeremy Evans $1,100,602
John Jenkins $981,348
Dwight Powell $845,059
Jarrid Famous $525,093
Brandon Ashley $525,093
Jamil Wilson $525,093
Salah Mejri $525,093
Maurice Ndour $525,093

With a payroll like that, it's hard to come up with a trade where we can send around 13 million out and still have a team that can compete. You'd basically have to send out some combination of Williams/Matthews/Dirk/Parsons/Barea/Zaza

A Zaza/Barea/Felton deal would work after December 15th, but I'm not sure it'd greatly benefit the team, I'm not sure why the Suns would do it, and Chandler may be sick of being jerked around by us.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by FreshJive

Agree with Erica on this. Jenkins is an actual NBA player. Ndour looks really raw. On offense it looked like he was just jacking terrible shots, because he didn't know what else to do with the ball.

I'll have to watch more of Jenkins....he looked completely lost in the first half of the first game and was picking himself off the floor every other play.
He did look better later in the game when he was running the show but that was basically garbage time...even for a preseason game.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Don't know why Phoenix would do it, but their management also does completely unintelligible things every single year-- they keep building teams capable of making the playoffs and then giving away assets when they realize that they aren't competing for a championship.

They could be willing, but we'd have to match salaries and to get to 13mill, we'd have to give up a lot. We don't really have any overpaid pieces.

Team salaries
Wesley Matthews $16,407,500
Chandler Parsons $15,361,500
Dirk Nowitzki $8,333,333
Deron Williams $5,378,974
Zaza Pachulia $5,200,000
José Juan Barea $4,290,000
Devin Harris $4,053,446
Raymond Felton $3,949,800
Samuel Dalembert $1,499,187
Charlie Villanueva $1,499,187
Justin Anderson $1,449,000
JaVale McGee $1,270,964
Jeremy Evans $1,100,602
John Jenkins $981,348
Dwight Powell $845,059
Jarrid Famous $525,093
Brandon Ashley $525,093
Jamil Wilson $525,093
Salah Mejri $525,093
Maurice Ndour $525,093

With a payroll like that, it's hard to come up with a trade where we can send around 13 million out and still have a team that can compete. You'd basically have to send out some combination of Williams/Matthews/Dirk/Parsons/Barea/Zaza

A Zaza/Barea/Felton deal would work after December 15th, but I'm not sure it'd greatly benefit the team, I'm not sure why the Suns would do it, and Chandler may be sick of being jerked around by us.

I don't see why the Suns and Tyson would want it either unless it just becomes an ugly situation and both want to part. I'd definitely consider Felton//Zaza/Barea (or Devin) for Tyson if our 1-4 positions look pretty solid by TDL.
If Deron returns to all-star form, and Parsons and Matthews live up to expectations, we'd definitely be a PO team and somewhat of a decent contender Tyson was added to the mix.
But I don't see Suns wanting to dump Chandler unless he becomes injury plagued.