PGT: Refs Take Control of the Rockets/Mavs game - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Bayliss · 11-01-2013, 09:45 PM

Nice fight but terrible outcome....

I'll post some thoughts in a bit....

EricaLubarsky · 11-01-2013, 09:47 PM

Going to be fun tearing up the Rockets in the playoffs.

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-01-2013, 09:49 PM

Tonight was probably a more accurate representation of what to expect from Monta.

Hopefully Calderon shakes off his mini-funk soon. Him hitting his open jumpers really opens things up.

We still have no one to guard Harden (and guys like him). Could have stood to have seen a bit more Ellington (though his shot wasn't falling). Hopefully Harris alleviates some of that.

Dirk was the only non-garbage time player with a positive plus/minus. Really brought it in the 3rd after a lackluster first half.

BTW, fun fact. Philly is 2-0 and Miami is about to be 1-2...

yahyes · 11-01-2013, 09:51 PM

Wow. This close to be down 3 points within 20 seconds by our bench of the bench. Crowder is vouching for that PT.

twelli · 11-01-2013, 09:52 PM

I liked what I saw from Blair, he can be real good. Didn't like what I saw from Calderon, has yet to show why he is one of the best 3-pt shooters. I think we saw the real Monta today. Really great at getting inside, really awful from outside. He needs to keep the defender honest by shooting once in a while from distance, but I'd rather have him drive all night and dish it out to someone else. Has Marion really declined so much? He appeared to have almost no impact on the game. The last foul on Dirk was a rediculous call, but why was he in foul trouble so early?

EricaLubarsky · 11-01-2013, 09:52 PM

7% shooting from Calderon so far, and he's still improving the team. Going to be fun when he starts knocking them down again.

Crowder 8-11 from three so far this year (73%). Another fluke. Perhaps Calderon lent him his ability to shoot.

Bayliss · 11-01-2013, 10:04 PM

Not upset about the loss tonight at all. Good effort. Even in the first half when they got down big.

Monta: Not sure if you can get him to stop shooting that mid range shot but he needs to shoot the shot from 10-15, and not 16-22 feet. I'd rather him penetrate off the pick and roll for one more dribble or two instead of pulling up immediately. And he has to take care of the ball. If he would just try to make the simple play that would happen immediately.

Calderon: He really needs to be the floor spacer on offense. Take the Peja role, take the Stevenson role. Be the guy they kick it out to because you will drill the 3. Every other points can come off of some pick and roll stuff. And his pnr game kind of sucks.

Blair: He sure does hustle. He makes some good offensive plays because of that hustle. But he appears to be a negative impact guy. For every o board he grabs or every point he scores.... he is giving up twice as many on the inside. You can see why Pop starting going with Splitter instead of him. Splitter aint a world beater but he can defensive rebound and block shots... and can guard somebody. Pairing him with Dirk reminds me of the Baked Potato days. Ugh.

Dalembert: Didn't stand out tonight but had a workload too. Got screwed a couple of times. Would like to see him set the screen for Dirk on the block.... I imagine Dalembert would get several catch lob dunks from it. He has to avoid fould because when he goes the defense becomes horrid.

Marion/Carter: Both brought nothing tonight. Carter is going to be hit and miss all year. Some nights he'll hit the 3. But if he can't... he doesn't bring much. Marion is a good defender but makes the spacing all weird by being in the corner. He can't hit the 3 so his man can basically play off of him all night.

Mekel: Nice game tonight. Needs to improve his shooting but is so solid in all areas. He is a natural floor general. Comes off that screen and roll with purpose.

Dirk: Weird game for him. Was pretty lackluster in some parts but got in a groove in the 3rd. Needs to board better. Got screwed tonight on some calls.

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-01-2013, 10:14 PM

Man...Rockets fans are really bad. Not surprised, since they're indoctrinated by their terrible announcers. Was reading their gameday thread on RealGM and saw so many, "How much did Cuban pay the refs?" comments.

Oh, and apparently Dirk is a dirty player...

twelli · 11-01-2013, 10:17 PM

About the Rockets. Their commentators are awful, five minutes into the game I switched to Chinese commentary to shut them up. Harden is a dirty player (Dalembert collision) but he has range, those threes from way out were leathal. Howard, I am glad he plays for another team than the Mavs now. Low BB IQ, big baby in a big body. Chandler is gay, that's what I think when seeing him, not that being gay is a bad thing. Lin is Chandler's best friend... Anyway, we need to start games like they did, with intensity. Don't think the Rockets are world beaters, cause Howard is not nearly as good as advertised.

markus1234 · 11-01-2013, 10:39 PM

The game reminded me of the old battles vs LAL. Always close but at the end of the day LAL controlled the game.

Asik - Bynum
Dwight - Gasol
Harden - Kobe

And we have our Drew Gooden back...his name is Blair.

Vinsanity · 11-01-2013, 10:44 PM

No reason to get down about this game. Of course we didn't play well, but the refs really did take over the game. And it's just early-season funk. Just look at all the craziness that's already happened in the first week so far... the Heat are 1-2, the Sixers are 2-0, the Thunder just lost by 20, the Lakers beat the Clippers, Denver just lost by 20, and the Magic just won by 20.

Anything can happen early in the year when teams are out of sync and a bit rusty. This team should be fine once Wright and Harris get back, and once Calderon gets out of his slump. Give it 10 games or so before we really start to judge.

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-01-2013, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinsanity

No reason to get down about this game. Of course we didn't play well, but the refs really did take over the game. And it's just early-season funk. Just look at all the craziness that's already happened in the first week so far... the Heat are 1-2, the Sixers are 2-0, the Thunder just lost by 20, the Lakers beat the Clippers, Denver just lost by 20, and the Magic just won by 20.

Anything can happen early in the year when teams are out of sync and a bit rusty. This team should be fine once Wright and Harris get back, and once Calderon gets out of his slump. Give it 10 games or so before we really start to judge.

Denver is not going to make the playoffs this year. I'm not sure why some pundits seem to think they'll basically be the same team as last year.

DevinHarriswillstart · 11-01-2013, 11:48 PM

Ha, it figures that all of the knee jerking goes negative after losing just the second game of the season. Playing the Rockets at their arena is always going to be a tough game.

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-01-2013, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Ha, it figures that all of the knee jerking goes negative after losing just the second game of the season. Playing the Rockets at their arena is always going to be a tough game.

Well...it hadn't been. Mavs had won 10 of the past 11 match-ups against Houston.

antoinewalker · 11-02-2013, 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Going to be fun tearing up the Rockets in the playoffs.

are we even going to make the playoffs?

DevinHarriswillstart · 11-02-2013, 03:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GhostOfAdamMorrison

Well...it hadn't been. Mavs had won 10 of the past 11 match-ups against Houston.

We'll gee, I wonder what might have changed to make them tougher to beat...

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-02-2013, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

We'll gee, I wonder what might have changed to make them tougher to beat...

You said, "always," thus implying past tense.

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-02-2013, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antoinewalker

are we even going to make the playoffs?

Possibly. But I don't think you should say "we"...

Kante · 11-02-2013, 06:52 AM

Mekel was a bright spot in that game, hope he continues to play well.

markus1234 · 11-02-2013, 07:39 AM

Mekel looks better than Calderon to be honest.

oilfieldtrash · 11-02-2013, 07:51 AM

I'll be glad when Harris comes back. Calderon is awful two games in. I'm hoping there is more to his game than he's shown. Otherwise it really reeks of a poorly thought out panic signing.

markus1234 · 11-02-2013, 07:54 AM

When De Shawn Stevenson or Kidd had an off night at the 3pt line, their good/great defense was still there no matter what. Calderon is just a dead body.

Underdog · 11-02-2013, 08:58 AM

76 free throw attempts between both teams, 51 of those by Houston (although most of Dwight's 12 were intentional)... It doesn't matter which team got more attempts, when the refs blow their whistles that much it totally kills the tempo and takes both teams out of their game plan.

sike · 11-02-2013, 09:17 AM

Dirk fouling out, the officials taking over, Calderon still in his funk, Ellis not being a wold beater...impossible to overcome.

Mavs will really need Dirk, Ellis, AND Calderon playing well to compete/win against most good teams.

G-Man · 11-02-2013, 09:23 AM

Blame this loss on Cuban. He basically taunted the entire Rockets organization when he said Howard made a mistake by signing with an inferior club. Howard responded with a blizzard of rebounds in the 1st quarter. The memory of him just reaching over Blair to grab the ball may haunt me for a while. Throw that out and we win the game, even with Calderon and Ellis shooting poorly.

Do you think Cuban did this to hype up the rivalry? Maybe he wants to charge extra for Rockets tickets like he does for the Spurs.

We have so many players who have yet to find their groove. History tells us Calderon will hit some threes, and that alone will make a huge difference. Its up to Coach Rick to make sure we see more of game 1 Monta and less of the game 2 version. As long as he remembers his open looks depend on the fact that he is willing to dump it off to Dirk, he will have open lanes to drive, or Dirk will have wide open jump shots.

The defense will get better when Harris returns. The offense will improve when we get Wright back. Mekel looks like he might make a decent backup PG, and we have yet to see if Larkin will be of any help this year. All this gives us a lot to look forward to.

DTownKidd · 11-02-2013, 09:34 AM

So what was Calderon's contract again?

DevinHarriswillstart · 11-02-2013, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTownKidd

So what was Calderon's contract again?

4/29 fully guaranteed.

ddh33 · 11-02-2013, 10:19 AM

I was disappointed in the loss, but at least the team gets a chance to bounce back quickly against another good team.

I wasn't as impressed by the Rockets as I thought I would be. Harden played great, and Dwight was awesome for a quarter. I know he is farther away from his surgery, but if I were a Lakers fan, I would absolutely hate everything about him though. I thought he looked more engaged last night than any game last year. The Rockets probably do just need to spread the floor around him though. Playing him next to Asik isn't very pretty or effective.

As for the Mavs, they got destroyed on the glass early on, couldn't hit shots, and committed a million fouls. I was pleased at how they continued to compete though.

Calderon continues to not be able to shoot through two games. I have to imagine that changes. He's just been too good of a shooter throughout his career for it not to, right? I do have my concerns about him defensively, but he has been pretty solid at running the team in these first two games. Mekel really impressed me last night though. I thought he was the better player last night, and his confidence just kept growing. I didn't know if he would be able to play at this level, but I think he can.

Monta really struggled with his shot. He still finished with 20, and I will take that. I think this team needs a guy who can go get 20 nightly. I thought his foul trouble really bothered him last night on both ends of the floor, and Harden really took it to the team. Ellington couldn't hit a shot last night either. He needs to be a good 3 and D guy for this team.

I thought Marion and Carter both struggled as well. That doesn't happen that often. At least one of them usually plays well. Jae Crowder looked great though in the fourth quarter. I think Rick is going to have to find some minutes for him. He may also make one of those veterans very available for trade. I just like his size, defense, and shooting ability. I would expect him to start stealing some of Ellington's minutes if Wayne doesn't hit shots.

Dirk had 22, but he kind of seemed disinterested at times. I know it's early in the season, but his defense and rebounding aren't going to magically improve these days. He's the least of my concerns though.

I thought Dalembert surprisingly held his own, despite foul problems, and I was really proud of what Blair gave the team. This team is just small though. Brendan Wright coming back will help, but he's not enough. I think they still need to be looking at getting another big who can take up some space.

spreedom · 11-02-2013, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markus1234

Mekel looks better than Calderon to be honest.

All the more reason I've been saying that Monta might be a better fit on this roster off of the bench.

oilfieldtrash · 11-02-2013, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spreedom

All the more reason I've been saying that Monta might be a better fit on this roster off of the bench.

You're starting Ellington over him? Wow. I've heard it all now. Possibly the best player on the team coming off the bench... And judging by two games thus far he is that.

oilfieldtrash · 11-02-2013, 10:56 AM

Rick Carlisle isn't one to put up with bad pg play. He went away from Calderon in game one by having Monta handle the ball. In game two Mekel got extended time. Calderon is quickly finding himself in the RC doghouse.

vdale · 11-02-2013, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oilfieldtrash

Rick Carlisle isn't one to put up with bad pg play. He went away from Calderon in game one by having Monta handle the ball. In game two Mekel got extended time. Calderon is quickly finding himself in the RC doghouse.

I don't think that he made any adjustments in game one. Calderon passed really well in the first game, he involved everyone, Monta mostly played the two-man game with Dirk, which worked really well.

Calderon was our best passer in the first two games, but we really needed someone who could score in the second game and Mekel did that better than Calderon.

Edit: Calderon actually played 35 minutes in game one. He is usually a 30 min guy.

grndmstr_c · 11-02-2013, 11:46 AM

Calderon's stuggles right now are problematic from the standpoint of needing to get wins, but I don't see any reason to view his poor offensive efficiency as a likely long-term issue. He's been one of the truly elite shooters in the league for a while now. He'll get it straightened out.

Last night was rough for a lot of guys. Dirk's foul trouble, JC's shooting woes, Monta looked out of sync most of the night to me. For that matter the team looked out of sync, though they are to be commended for sticking with it.

Gal, though...man, what a turnaround from his early preseason showing. 5-6 games ago he looked like he'd been plucked off a junior college team two years too early. Last night he was the second most effective ball-handler on the court for either team.

j0Shi · 11-02-2013, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bayliss

Monta: Not sure if you can get him to stop shooting that mid range shot but he needs to shoot the shot from 10-15, and not 16-22 feet. I'd rather him penetrate off the pick and roll for one more dribble or two instead of pulling up immediately. And he has to take care of the ball. If he would just try to make the simple play that would happen immediately.

He also took way to many midrange shots in game 1, they were simply going in. I like his aggressiveness, but his shot selection has to improve majorly or he'll be a net minus. I cringe every time he goes up for a contested 20 footer, that's the worst shot you can possibly take. He took 11 of them in the first two games, mostly unassisted.

I think he needs to settle in a bit, at times he tried to do to much. Turnovers tell the story. I'd like to see that he shoots less than Dirk in every game.

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-02-2013, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oilfieldtrash

You're starting Ellington over him? Wow. I've heard it all now. Possibly the best player on the team coming off the bench... And judging by two games thus far he is that.

Ellis is, by no defentition of the word, possibly the Mavs' best player.

oilfieldtrash · 11-02-2013, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GhostOfAdamMorrison

Ellis is, by no defentition of the word, possibly the Mavs' best player.

Yes if you didn't know the history of either player and put the tapes in from the first two games then you'd say Monta is the teams best player. Dirk isn't the same guy we've all known. I'm not disrespecting Dirk in anyway shape or form. I understand he's the greatest mav ever and probably will be for another 30 years. I'm just stating the fact he's not the same guy.

Kante · 11-02-2013, 01:18 PM

Dirk is still the best player, please...

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-02-2013, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oilfieldtrash

Yes if you didn't know the history of either player and put the tapes in from the first two games then you'd say Monta is the teams best player. Dirk isn't the same guy we've all known. I'm not disrespecting Dirk in anyway shape or form. I understand he's the greatest mav ever and probably will be for another 30 years. I'm just stating the fact he's not the same guy.

Your argument simply has no merit (nor apparent clarity). Are you asserting Ellis could be the best Mav on the team, or that Dirk isn't the same player as prime Dirk? If it's the latter, well...yes...and grass is green. Regardless, Dirk is still, and will be all year, a better player than Monta Ellis. That's simply not debatable.

Even taking the silly sample size of two games, Dirk has still quite easily been the best Mav. Through 2 games:

Dirk: 24.3 PER, 136 ORtg, 114 DRtg, .275 WS/48

Ellis: 21.2 PER, 102 ORtg (awful), 106 DRtg, 0.99 WS/48

In Dirk's "down year" last year, his PER was still better than ANY of Ellis' years.

After the all-star break last year (once finally healthy), Dirk put up a rather insane line of: 19/8/3/1/1 on 51/43/91 shooting. He was arguably the best PF in the NBA after the break.

So again, no, Ellis is by no definition of the word the Mavs' best player.

oilfieldtrash · 11-02-2013, 04:03 PM

Yeah and you can evaluate basketball on is numbers you pull off of other people's websites. Your a fool if you think dirk has had more of an impact in the first two games than Ellis. But if the stats tell you to believe that then I guess you have no choice as you don't have any basketball knowledge.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/201...in-basketball/

GhostOfAdamMorrison · 11-02-2013, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oilfieldtrash

Yeah and you can evaluate basketball on is numbers you pull off of other people's websites. Your a fool if you think dirk has had more of an impact in the first two games than Ellis. But if the stats tell you to believe that then I guess you have no choice as you don't have any basketball knowledge.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/201...in-basketball/

Who could disagree with such a sound argument?