GDT: Preseason game Pacers @ Mavericks 7:30

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

You should see db.com's reaction. Hilarious how seriously some people take the preseason.

Dallas was competitive for 2.5 quarters with one of the best teams in the league--a team whose core has been together for several years now. I'm not sure what those DB.com folks are expecting, but if it's for the Mavs to already be better than the Pacers/Heat/Spurs/ of the league, then they need to chill out and let this thing develop.

[kg_veteran]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

Dallas was competitive for 2.5 quarters with one of the best teams in the league--a team whose core has been together for several years now. I'm not sure what those DB.com folks are expecting, but if it's for the Mavs to already be better than the Pacers/Heat/Spurs/ of the league, then they need to chill out and let this thing develop.

This was my general impression watching the game last night. I didn't see any reason to panic, but then again I'm not expecting this team to win the title this year either.

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

Dallas was competitive for 2.5 quarters with one of the best teams in the league--a team whose core has been together for several years now. I'm not sure what those DB.com folks are expecting, but if it's for the Mavs to already be better than the Pacers/Heat/Spurs/ of the league, then they need to chill out and let this thing develop.

I'm also on board with this. The energy/focus looked poor in the second half, and to my eyes that was the biggest factor in the final margin being what it was. But the first half was a solid competitive outing against a team that's on the short list of contenders this year.

On the downside, things do seem a bit unsettled on offense with Jose, and that's clearly going to have to change given how little he's typically going to contribute on the other end of the court. I almost can't imagine that's not just growing pains from him having sat out a large part of camp, though. Hopefully that proves to be the case and the chemistry between him and Dirk/Monta starts to come around.