STD (@#$show thread daily): Mavs suckage

[BPo001]

50 wins! Woooo!

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Stunning wins. We just didn't win them like this before the deadline.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by BPo001

50 wins! Woooo!

Seriously, this is an accomplishment we should be proud of, especially considering how utterly unattainable it seemed before the trade deadline.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Guess it's time to give Kidd credit. Whatever strings he is pulling lately are the right ones.

[EricaLubarsky]

F the Heat
F em for the banana boat
F em for making fun of Dirk's fever
F em for the entitled attitude that other teams owe them
F em for the royal status the national media give them despite being in 8 seed

[blessednegr0]

Let's bring on the Clippers baby!!! No Boban starting at center this time.

[saclare]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I honestly don't think it was completely media driven. Partially media driven, sure. But honestly, I think the negative perception of Kyrie was pretty justified. He burned bridges in three consecutive places in quite spectacular fashion, missed a shitload of games, and alienated a hell of a lot of people. The antivaxx stuff in particular I honestly think is indefensible and I have zero sympathy for. I have great disdain for anti-science and anti-intellectual thinking, and Kyrie made himself the posterchild for that pseudoscientific garbage. Covid-19 has killed over 1 million Americans, and hundreds of thousands of those deaths were preventable. Kyrie earned his negative reputation.

I'll agree that he was misunderstood in one very specific and crucially important area- the respect he commands from other players around the league. That matters a great deal.

Whatever the case, this has been the absolute best case scenario with him, and I'm thrilled about it.

Ehhhh there's more to unpack here, but I'll just say I'm envious of Kyrie and his decision not to get the jab. Time will tell, Kyrie didn't force his views on anyone, people took his stance and ran with their own narratives. He simply didn't want an unproven vaccine that was rushed to the public (edit: not to be construed, this was out of necessity in the time we were dealing with the disease, not going full anti-vax on y'all) when he's the 1% of 1% in terms of top health and care for your body. He made his own choice, something I couldn't do or would have been forced to watch the birth of my firstborn via Zoom or some other shit. A LOT to unpack with Covid as a singular response. In fact, this post furthers the narrative being driven by others as Kyrie has stated multiple times why he didn't want the shot all while explicitly saying he's not anti-vaccine.

The other stuff can be said of the players who have done the same...KD, Harden, prob Dame next, list goes on...and I really don't believe he is truly 100% at fault, certainly not for the Nets exit. As someone else said, that owner was a jackass the entire time and the NYC lockdown/vax rules have since been mocked repeatedly.

Then there's the Amazon movie thing and flat earth, I've got nothing for those as I think them to be tepid at worst and he's acknowledged fault.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Number. 1. Defense.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Stunning wins. We just didn't win them like this before the deadline.

There?s so many games Mavs lose without the trades. I had them getting at most 43 wins. Barely sitting above .500. I mean they were 25-23 at one point.

What a hell of a turn around. Truly felt like a cloud lifted when the trade for Gafford and PJ was made. Wing size and legit rebounding. That?s all Luka and Kyrie needed to get this thing moving in the right direction.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by saclare

Ehhhh there's more to unpack here, but I'll just say I'm envious of Kyrie and his decision not to get the jab. Time will tell, Kyrie didn't force his views on anyone, people took his stance and ran with their own narratives. He simply didn't want an unproven vaccine that was rushed to the public (edit: not to be construed, this was out of necessity in the time we were dealing with the disease, not going full anti-vax on y'all) when he's the 1% of 1% in terms of top health and care for your body. He made his own choice, something I couldn't do or would have been forced to watch the birth of my firstborn via Zoom or some other shit. A LOT to unpack with Covid as a singular response. In fact, this post furthers the narrative being driven by others as Kyrie has stated multiple times why he didn't want the shot all while explicitly saying he's not anti-vaccine.

The other stuff can be said of the players who have done the same...KD, Harden, prob Dame next, list goes on...and I really don't believe he is truly 100% at fault, certainly not for the Nets exit. As someone else said, that owner was a jackass the entire time and the NYC lockdown/vax rules have since been mocked repeatedly.

Then there's the Amazon movie thing and flat earth, I've got nothing for those as I think them to be tepid at worst and he's acknowledged fault.

I don't want to get into political territory here, but let's just say that I couldn't disagree more. The vaccine saves lives, period. Nothing "unproven" about that. Whether or not he's "full antivaxx" or not is splitting hairs. He was more than antivaxx enough to put a really bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, including mine. Not one shred of sympathy from me when it comes to that.

You can have the last word on this topic if you want, because I don't wish to discuss it further.

[saclare]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I don't want to get into political territory here, but let's just say that I couldn't disagree more. The vaccine saves lives, period. Nothing "unproven" about that. Whether or not he's "full antivaxx" or not is splitting hairs. He was more than antivaxx enough to put a really bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, including mine. Not one shred of sympathy from me when it comes to that.

You can have the last word on this topic if you want, because I don't wish to discuss it further.

We've each said our piece, I agree and disagree on points made. It's just sad how much one side gets called crazy for daring to question the paths taken and the efficacy of the shots themselves. More voices will come to light, I'm sure of that, as I said "time will tell"

Anyways, couldn't let it slide without saying something. Main point was to defend Kyrie and not get too political.

The boys are rolling and having a great time doing it. All I can ask for from my favorite basketball team.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by saclare

We've each said our piece, I agree and disagree on points made. It's just sad how much one side gets called crazy for daring to question the paths taken and the efficacy of the shots themselves. More voices will come to light, I'm sure of that, as I said "time will tell"

I was going to type a whole big response, but that would be going back on my desire to move on from it and stick to basketball. Suffice it to say that I don't think there are "sides" when it comes to settled science. There are some things that are murky and unsettled by science, where there is plenty of room for valid disagreement and debate. Then there are other things that are unequivocally settled, and are not at all controversial within the scientific community, but for some strange (usually political) reason are controversial among the general public. When it comes to those types of issues, there are not two valid "sides." There's reality, and there's bullshit. You can surmise which of those two categories I believe vaccine skepticism falls into. Sometimes bullshit is harmless (like say, thinking the Earth is flat.) In this particular instance, the bullshit literally kills people. That's why people like me get angry when people who take that stance that is clearly not based in reality, get butthurt when others call them out on it.

(Yes I know I said I was done before, but now I'm actually done.)

The boys are rolling and having a great time doing it. All I can ask for from my favorite basketball team.

Hear, hear! Seriously, I think this is easily the best Mavs team since 2011. I haven't been this excited since the 2011 playoffs. Even when we made the WCF two years ago, some part of me felt like the Mavs had just overachieved and weren't really contenders. Then we lost Brunson, which, it cannot be overstated how much of a setback that was. The fact that the Mavs are where they are right now is nothing short of a blessing. Nico deserves all the credit in the world, and as much as I've dismissed him over the last two seasons, Kidd deserves some too. If the Mavs are playing this well, he's definitely doing something right.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Clippers lost. If the Mavs clinch home court and Luka doesn't win MVP, then the award has henceforth lost all meaning.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Clippers lost. If the Mavs clinch home court and Luka doesn't win MVP, then the award has henceforth lost all meaning.

Damn, they lost badly too! It just sucks that their last two games are against teams that have nothing to play for.

Bring those bitches on!

[Thespiralgoeson]

The clippers rested absolutely everybody. Awfully arrogant, considering Homecourt advantage is still on the line.

[Melonhead]

Its too bad mavs dont have tiebreaker with clippers. Clips would have to lose out, and mavs would have to win out the only way to get 4th.

Clips have the tanking jazz next.

I say let them rest vs detroit, at least kyrie. Kudos to him on the 58/50 I laughed at those contract bonuses when they came out last summer.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

The clippers rested absolutely everybody. Awfully arrogant, considering Homecourt advantage is still on the line.

It's possible, but...

Clips would have to lose against both the Jazz and Rockets (both have been eliminated from the post-season)

Mavs would have to win against both Pistons and Thunder.

I could see the Mavs going 2-0 (unless they sat players), but Clippers will win one of those two.

[Melonhead]

Rewatching panda hanks highlights this morning and I came away with a couple of things. (Aside from the fact that this team is so electric)

1. PJ catching the ball on the elbow in the paint twice and converting them into buckets, finishing his hook over guys. DJJ flashed in once as well. He?s also good at driving in as he normally does.

2. Herro getting stripped by Exum, and highlight blocked twice. So it was brief a few years back, but the media latched onto saying Herro being as good or better than Luka. He still had an okay game for a supporting cast guy last night.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I mean, I guess it really was injuries over Kidd's coaching that was the main issue. He still isn't a good Xs and Os coach, but he does let his players play free and with confidence. And his minutes distribution outside of Hardy has been spot on.

Players learning to play with ball dominant guys like Kyrie and Luka is a big learning curve. When you see PJ miss a bunch of threes, well, he is often really only in a position to take corner threes whether that's his game or not. Same with Green.

To advance, the non-Kyrie/Luke guys always need to be involved on the offense. I think they have made huge strides with this but can still better it.

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Clippers lost. If the Mavs clinch home court and Luka doesn't win MVP, then the award has henceforth lost all meaning.

The main argument for Luka not to win was because we were like the 8 seed at the time (not enough wins to get the award). We now are a 50 win team. If Luka doesn?t win MVP we riot!

[G-Man]

Defense! Defense! Defense!

Jason Kidd won his championship with a team that closed games with 2 mediocre defenders in Dirk and Jason Terry. He knows that even the best defenders will get beat one on one against great, or even good scorers. What matters is how well the defense rotates and how quickly they recover. What matters more is to get those weak defending stars to give maximum effort and buy in.

Every time Kyrie dives for a loose ball or Luka blocks a shot or gets a steal, or just rotates properly, they are energizing the rest of the team. And now that the rest of the team includes 2 centers who guard the paint like a pair of Dobermans, and multiple long armed, quick footed forwards, the D looks rock solid for the first time since 2011.

Kudos to Nico for finding DJJ and Exum on the NBA scrap heat, and for believing that they, Gafford and PJ would thrive here. More Kudos for cutting his losses on players like Grant and Wood, instead of trying to pretend those moves were not mistakes. Two months ago, the rest of the league was talking about how much he'd miss all those picks he traded when the team collapsed, and Luka left in disappointment as soon as he could.

Against the Heat, when the Mavs could not hit a shot and the lead was disappearing, the Mavs held on by getting repeated stops. When is the last time a Mavs fan said "repeated stops" with a straight face?

This is why they say "Defense wins championships." Maybe not this year. But maybe real soon.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by BPo001

The main argument for Luka not to win was because we were like the 8 seed at the time (not enough wins to get the award). We now are a 50 win team. If Luka doesn?t win MVP we riot!

BP sighting! Stick around!

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I mean, I guess it really was injuries over Kidd's coaching that was the main issue. He still isn't a good Xs and Os coach, but he does let his players play free and with confidence. And his minutes distribution outside of Hardy has been spot on.

Players learning to play with ball dominant guys like Kyrie and Luka is a big learning curve. When you see PJ miss a bunch of threes, well, he is often really only in a position to take corner threes whether that's his game or not. Same with Green.

To advance, the non-Kyrie/Luke guys always need to be involved on the offense. I think they have made huge strides with this but can still better it.

Winning cures all. But imo it wasn?t the injuries. People like to bring up Kyrie but let?s be honest, this is the most games he?s played in a season in 5 years. Getting him for 50 games would?ve been a small victory. So he was expected to be out. And injuries played a small part but getting PJ and Gafford transformed this team. I mean number 1 defense in these last 20 games. Even the Tyson Chandler season wasn?t doing that. We have enough data on Kidd going back to Bucks days.

Kidd also admitted to those insanely idiotic defensive schemes that were driving us mad. And he still clings to lineups too long that are getting roasted on the floor. But Luka and Kyrie like him so that?s all that matters.

I?m so ready for April 20.

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

BP sighting! Stick around!

Man, I didn?t know what to do with myself those few days the board was down. I wasn?t sure where else to go for Mavs talk.

[Scoobay]

One thing I always hope for is that a deep mavs playoff run brings old timers back on. I miss the days of kgvet and underdog mffl maledan50 lol and many more

[Scoobay]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

Rewatching panda hanks highlights this morning and I came away with a couple of things. (Aside from the fact that this team is so electric)

1. PJ catching the ball on the elbow in the paint twice and converting them into buckets, finishing his hook over guys. DJJ flashed in once as well. He?s also good at driving in as he normally does.

2. Herro getting stripped by Exum, and highlight blocked twice. So it was brief a few years back, but the media latched onto saying Herro being as good or better than Luka. He still had an okay game for a supporting cast guy last night.

PJ also had a few nice dump offs to Gafford for easy buckets
It?s important that both he and Gafford have shown at least some ability to pass well enough as they have gotten many opportunities to do so off of Luka/kyrie being doubled

For Green glad to see him bringing that energy but when he gets into the lane at a good angle with a head of steam he needs to effin dunk that rather than pass it out. He needs to picture himself dunking all over Julian Newman from his IMG days lol

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Kyrie and Luka are both questionable for Friday. I guess we are already going to rest guys.

Edit: Sorry Kyries is OUT for Friday.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Kyrie and Luka are both questionable for Friday. I guess we are already going to rest guys.

Edit: Sorry Kyries is OUT for Friday.

Smart

there is an almost 0% chance we get HCA. Clippers will win at home tomorrow and our 5th seed will be decided. No need to risk injuries. Plus, I think fresh legs from three days more rest is probably more advantageous than one more game in LA.

[EricaLubarsky]

@espn_macmahon
?
22h
Mavs are 16-2 over an 18-game span for the first time since their championship season in 2011, per
@ESPNStatsInfo
.

Plan the parade now

[Melonhead]

Luka doesn?t seem to benefit from too much rest. My guess is he plays at least for thunder game. I?m not too worried if Kyrie sits out both games. He does so much preparation to get ready for a game. I seriously can?t wait until next Saturday.

Saw the video of a reporter asking him about potentially having 10-11 days of rest and he smiled and did a little fist pump quote yes yes 10-11 days you said I?m not taking that for granted end quote.

Leads me to think he won?t be playing either game which is fine.

[Melonhead]

One wrinkle is Mavs not playing down to competition IF we find out Kawhi won?t be playing game 1. I trust Kyrie to not allow it, but Luka has to come with it.

The last time LA listed kawhi day to day he had a torn acl. They just kept it under wraps.

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

@espn_macmahon
?
22h
Mavs are 16-2 over an 18-game span for the first time since their championship season in 2011, per
@ESPNStatsInfo
.

Plan the parade now

Unpopular opinion on here

But I think Kidd needs an apology from a lot of mavs fans.

I hated the fact that Powell and THJ kept getting heavy rotation minutes but as soon as Nico finally upgraded the roster Powell became and after thought and THJ started getting his minutes cut in half.

Kudos to Kidd and he's also put together his 2nd 50 win season here which is terrific when you think about it.

Also in other news who would have thought that Jalen Brunson after he left here would have become a legitimate All Star and MVP caliber player. Shout out to JB for taking his game to another level.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

Unpopular opinion on here

But I think Kidd needs an apology from a lot of mavs fans.

I hated the fact that Powell and THJ kept getting heavy rotation minutes but as soon as Nico finally upgraded the roster Powell became and after thought and THJ started getting his minutes cut in half.

Kudos to Kidd and he's also put together his 2nd 50 win season here which is terrific when you think about it.

Also in other news who would have thought that Jalen Brunson after he left here would have become a legitimate All Star and MVP caliber player. Shout out to JB for taking his game to another level.

I wonder if a team has ever drafted 2 MVP caliber players in the same draft.

That might have been the best draft ever for any team.

[washedklean77]

Originally Posted by Dallas41

Unpopular opinion on here

But I think Kidd needs an apology from a lot of mavs fans.

I hated the fact that Powell and THJ kept getting heavy rotation minutes but as soon as Nico finally upgraded the roster Powell became and after thought and THJ started getting his minutes cut in half.

Kudos to Kidd and he's also put together his 2nd 50 win season here which is terrific when you think about it.

Also in other news who would have thought that Jalen Brunson after he left here would have become a legitimate All Star and MVP caliber player. Shout out to JB for taking his game to another level.

Don't judge a marathon according to certain segments of the race. But absolutely, the trade resulted in the right pieces for a cohesive team construct. Not the best pieces, but the right pieces.

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

I wonder if a team has ever drafted 2 MVP caliber players in the same draft.

That might have been the best draft ever for any team.

That's a interesting take

The way they both have developed if you went back and redid that draft today they would probably go 1st and 2nd

That's amazing the mavs ended up drafting 2 elite players in the same draft class

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by saclare

Ehhhh there's more to unpack here, but I'll just say I'm envious of Kyrie and his decision not to get the jab. Time will tell, Kyrie didn't force his views on anyone, people took his stance and ran with their own narratives. He simply didn't want an unproven vaccine that was rushed to the public (edit: not to be construed, this was out of necessity in the time we were dealing with the disease, not going full anti-vax on y'all) when he's the 1% of 1% in terms of top health and care for your body. He made his own choice, something I couldn't do or would have been forced to watch the birth of my firstborn via Zoom or some other shit. A LOT to unpack with Covid as a singular response. In fact, this post furthers the narrative being driven by others as Kyrie has stated multiple times why he didn't want the shot all while explicitly saying he's not anti-vaccine.

The other stuff can be said of the players who have done the same...KD, Harden, prob Dame next, list goes on...and I really don't believe he is truly 100% at fault, certainly not for the Nets exit. As someone else said, that owner was a jackass the entire time and the NYC lockdown/vax rules have since been mocked repeatedly.

Then there's the Amazon movie thing and flat earth, I've got nothing for those as I think them to be tepid at worst and he's acknowledged fault.

I applaud Kai for his independence on the vax. F that noise. Saying its indefensible is insane.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Thank goodness this place is still around because the dumpster fire of opinions against Luka on twitter is astounding. I really, really hope it fuels him.

[Melonhead]

Luka will win a finals mvp before a regular season mvp. Media is positioning for Shai Anthony Edwards to be the face of the league when Lebron retires.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Thank goodness this place is still around because the dumpster fire of opinions against Luka on twitter is astounding. I really, really hope it fuels him.

He turned the corner a bit about the constant bitching about officiating. Other than that, idk why it seem like Jokic is accepted more than Luka. Because he won a chip? I think outsiders would hate on Luka even more if he won

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

I applaud Kai for his independence on the vax. F that noise. Saying its indefensible is insane.

Whatever dude. Applaud whatever you want. I applaud living in reality.

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Suffice it to say that I don't think there are "sides" when it comes to settled science. There are some things that are murky and unsettled by science, where there is plenty of room for valid disagreement and debate. Then there are other things that are unequivocally settled, and are not at all controversial within the scientific community, but for some strange (usually political) reason are controversial among the general public. When it comes to those types of issues, there are not two valid "sides." There's reality, and there's bullshit. You can surmise which of those two categories I believe vaccine skepticism falls into. Sometimes bullshit is harmless (like say, thinking the Earth is flat.) In this particular instance, the bullshit literally kills people. That's why people like me get angry when people who take that stance that is clearly not based in reality, get butthurt when others call them out on it.

I have nothing to add to this. If you wish to discuss it further, feel free to DM me. For the sake of the rest of the board, I really would like to get back to basketball and stay there.