CBSSports: Mavs "red flag" preseason - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

DoYouEvenLift · 10-22-2016, 07:46 PM

The Mavericks had a "red flag" preseason. Nothing but warning signs for Dallas. They finished
25th in offense
27th in defense
29th in defensive rebound percentage
22nd in assist ratio
26th in effective field goal percentage
29h in free throw rate
29th in opponent offensive rebound percentage
27th in points off turnovers
30th in points in the paint
28th in fast-break points allowed
22nd in opponent points in the paint

But wait, there's more! Harrison Barnes shot 27 percent from the field, and averaged as many turnovers as assists. Of all expected rotation players, Dirk Nowitzki had the highest defensive rating at better than 109 points per 100 possessions. Deron Williams, Andrew Bogut and Wesley Matthews all posted net points per 100 possession marks of worse than minus-18, which is horrendous.

It's Dallas, so you assume you can slough this off. It's a veteran team, and Rick Carlisle always has the answers. But you don't start the season looking at Dallas as entering with a lot of momentum from what they built in the preseason.

I know I know preseason, but we're clearly a team that isn't a lock to be great. We're hoping for a lot of players to overperform. I'm afraid this might finally be the season the analysts are right (dead clock is right twice a day) and we fall off a cliff and miss the playoffs.

EricaLubarsky · 10-22-2016, 07:48 PM

Mavs went 0-7 last year and made the playoffs. I'm weary but not super concerned

Budapest Maverick · 10-29-2016, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Mavs went 0-7 last year and made the playoffs. I'm weary but not super concerned

No we didn't. Or are you talking about a seven-game losing streak?

DoYouEvenLift · 10-22-2016, 08:03 PM

I mean, nobody is predicting us to be a top 4 seed. So what it really comes down to is about 10-12 games being wins or losses. Dirk and RC can probably get us about 35 wins alone, the question has been every year can we get 8-12 more with the team we have. Houston might be getting a bit overlooked and the Wolves are suddenly a playoff contender. Then there's New Orleans (Anthony Davis factor), Utah, maybe even the Kings fighting for the last spots. If the team can stay healthy I think we'll be at least close to a playoff spot if not grabbing one. But there's players with injury concerns and Dirk is also due to his age.

tap2390 · 10-23-2016, 03:37 PM

I'm worried too, but considering how injured we were last season, how much worse could we possibly be?

Our biggest problem is definitely lack of penetration. Also, I think there will be times we find ourselves playing young/small to match up athletically with some teams:

Barea
Curry
Anderson
Barnes
Dwight

Overall I think our depth and versatility (and coaching) are things that will mean a lot more in the regular season than they did in preseason.

Bryan_Wilson · 10-24-2016, 08:39 AM

I'm not as concerned about our overall numbers as I am how awful the starters looked together. Our numbers will be skewed just because we had guys 13-20 playing more minutes than most teams and we had several rotational players have multiple game absences.

Melonhead · 10-24-2016, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan_Wilson

I'm not as concerned about our overall numbers as I am how awful the starters looked together. Our numbers will be skewed just because we had guys 13-20 playing more minutes than most teams and we had several rotational players have multiple game absences.

But I think how awful the starters looked is reflective of those overall numbers. Just to be at or near .500 at the all star break might be a miracle.

DevinHarriswillstart · 10-24-2016, 11:06 AM

I'm a broken record, but Powell, Anderson, Curry, Barnes. Develop, develop, develop. If Rick runs the vets into the ground, then this season is a waste.

NeedlesKane · 10-26-2016, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I'm a broken record, but Powell, Anderson, Curry, Barnes. Develop, develop, develop. If Rick runs the vets into the ground, then this season is a waste.

At least it's stuck on a good track, one that our coach needs to hear over and over.

Jeff Wade · 10-31-2016, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I'm a broken record, but Powell, Anderson, Curry, Barnes. Develop, develop, develop. If Rick runs the vets into the ground, then this season is a waste.

I'm thinking we lack athleticism at the wing position someone like KJ McDaniels who everyone wrote off is playing good basketball for Mike Dantoni now. Will Carlisle find a surprise player or two this season? That is the 64,000 dollar question.

turin · 10-31-2016, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Wade

I'm thinking we lack athleticism at the wing position someone like KJ McDaniels who everyone wrote off is playing good basketball for Mike Dantoni now. Will Carlisle find a surprise player or two this season? That is the 64,000 dollar question.

Usually, one has to be looking in order to find something. Rick isn't exactly know for looking at young players, at least not in my eyes, and that's one of my biggest complaints. He was practically forced to play Mejri at the end of last year due to injuries and such, and then the Mavs finally had an interior presence and looked markedly better. Hopefully, he won't be so obtuse this season and play Mejri and other younger guys more.

spreedom · 10-31-2016, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turin

Usually, one has to be looking in order to find something. Rick isn't exactly know for looking at young players, at least not in my eyes, and that's one of my biggest complaints. He was practically forced to play Mejri at the end of last year due to injuries and such, and then the Mavs finally had an interior presence and looked markedly better. Hopefully, he won't be so obtuse this season and play Mejri and other younger guys more.

Dude, we brought two undrafted rookies from training camp into the regular season. Carlisle is also giving Harrison Barnes a bigger role than as he's ever had. Our issue has more to do with drafting than it does with Carlisle being willing to use good players.

Bryan_Wilson · 10-31-2016, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spreedom

Dude, we brought two undrafted rookies from training camp into the regular season. Carlisle is also giving Harrison Barnes a bigger role than as he's ever had. Our issue has more to do with drafting than it does with Carlisle being willing to use good players.

Agreed. Last year I thought even Salah had said he wasn't ready till later on to contribute. Whether it be speed of the game or whatever, he and Anderson both made that statement I thought.

Jeff Wade · 10-31-2016, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turin

Usually, one has to be looking in order to find something. Rick isn't exactly know for looking at young players, at least not in my eyes, and that's one of my biggest complaints. He was practically forced to play Mejri at the end of last year due to injuries and such, and then the Mavs finally had an interior presence and looked markedly better. Hopefully, he won't be so obtuse this season and play Mejri and other younger guys more.

you're right. He's not looking. I can see that Finny-Smith is a great player but they won't play him. Same with Anderson last season and all the other rookies the Mavs have drafted over the last 10 seasons.

Frankly I think Carlisle is completely satisfied with being about the 8th seed every season and being bounced quickly in the playoffs. Carlisle and Cuban are both very pleased with that each and every season.

turin · 10-31-2016, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Wade

you're right. He's not looking. I can see that Finny-Smith is a great player but they won't play him. Same with Anderson last season and all the other rookies the Mavs have drafted over the last 10 seasons.

Frankly I think Carlisle is completely satisfied with being about the 8th seed every season and being bounced quickly in the playoffs. Carlisle and Cuban are both very pleased with that each and every season.

While I appreciate your sarcasm, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree. Last year, Matthews logged very heavy minutes, especially in light of him coming back from a major injury and surgery and at times imo looked overused and ineffective. He might have benefited from less playing time, and there were other players like Simba who could've benefited from playing some of those minutes. Simba's development may have been accelerated while at the same time reducing the workload placed on a recovering Matthews.

Just because I believe that Carlisle is more comfortable with veterans doesn't logically follow that Cuban and Carlisle are happy with so-so results. I'll chalk up that assertion from you to sarcasm and not fallacious logic. If you want to argue that Charlie V's minutes played were so precious last year that there would've been a huge drop off in production had a different/ younger player been playing his minutes, then knock yourself out. I just won't agree with you.

Thankfully, the Mavericks are moving away for the rent-a-player strategy that they've been having to implement the last few years and focusing on getting younger. I applaud them for this, but it is not without risks. Still, they won't know what they have until they play them. Worst case scenario is they all fail and are busts. Still, if the Mavs are going to be mediocre to poor, I'd rather watch younger players with an opportunity to show something and develop rather than older veterans who certainly won't be here in 2+ years.

Oh yeah, Carlisle has been the head coach for a while. Is it solely Cuban's fault that year after year the Mavs traded away their first round draft choices? Maybe you disagree, but that speaks volumes to me as to what the expectations were from these draft picks...

Budapest Maverick · 10-29-2016, 01:30 AM

Our problem is pretty simple, we have one two-way player on the roster (now that Matthews seems to be done as an offensive player).

SMC0007 · 10-31-2016, 01:54 PM

No one is penetrating the ball effectively aside from Barea.

No post threat.

Too many heave hoes from outside.