Dallas Mavericks thread: Luka MVP

[BEaston]

Reading the tea leaves, I think the Mavs are hoping Capela and Smart both sign qualifying offers and become UFAs next year.

Now that would be a boss play.

If that ended up happening.... wow, dat core. You'd essentially have Barnes as the eldest statesman at 27 years old (who I still reckon has some growth in him)

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Review from first summer league game.

• DSJ is a point guard. He is getting better and better at finding teammates. He controlled the game very well.
• Brunson had a nightmare, Left every shot short, but stayed locked in. Not worried at all.
• 6'3 PG Dorian Finney Smith has grown 6 inches and become a forward. Still can't shoot.
• Jalen Jones might be fighting DFS for his spot. He's sloppy, but a better shooter and extremely aggressive.
• Spaulding put a bit of pressure on Motley for his spot.

 

[BEaston]

I'm back on the bandwagon this year. So keen for the season to start, gonna try commit to watching all our games.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

I'm back on the bandwagon this year. So keen for the season to start, gonna try commit to watching all our games.

Dat back court tho (drools)

 

[BEaston]

Dat back court tho (drools)

Tell me about it. From the snippets I've seen from pre-season Doncic is going to give me a season long boner.

Plus having an elite pnr guy again is very exciting for our system.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Tell me about it. From the snippets I've seen from pre-season Doncic is going to give me a season long boner.

Plus having an elite pnr guy again is very exciting for our system.

Just wait until he builds some more muscle. Has freakish court vision and passing ability for a 19 year old as well. Hawks might regret this although Young looks quite good.

 

[BEaston]

Soooo... pretty sure Luka and DAJ aren't friends.

 

[BEaston]

Great early season signs from both Kleber and DFS though.

Luka is obviously a jet. Slightly worried about DSJ but have to remind myself he's still very young/raw and playing the hardest position.

Powell's finishing around the rim has gone up another level... guy is just smooth finishing off the work of JJ. Just need DSJ to learn how to throw a lob :/

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Wes is shot hunting. Jordan is putting up numbers but the help defense has been inconsistent.

Finney-Smith is a much better defender than Matthews now and is a better fit with the starters.

 

[BEaston]

Can't believe the lack of rolling with Jordan as well as lack of lack of help D. He refuses to roll hard to the rim which essentially crumbles the whole offensive scheme. Leaves DSJ to drive into 2+ defenders consisently. It's crap. He also never rotates on D. Just stands there doing nothing.

Can't believe he pushed Luka out of the way for that rebound last game. What a joke.

The sooner they tell everyone it's Luka's team the better.

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Can't believe the lack of rolling with Jordan as well as lack of lack of help D. He refuses to roll hard to the rim which essentially crumbles the whole offensive scheme. Leaves DSJ to drive into 2+ defenders consisently. It's crap. He also never rotates on D. Just stands there doing nothing.

Can't believe he pushed Luka out of the way for that rebound last game. What a joke.

The sooner they tell everyone it's Luka's team the better.

I agree with you about the lack of DAJ's intensity. But the defensive numbers have taken a massive upswing since last season and he and Kleber are primarily responsible.

Part of it it Carlisle using him as a high post facilitator which teams seem to have wised up to in the last 3-4 games.

And Doncic is having one of the better rookie seasons in NBA history. Legitimate building block and future MVP candidate. The Chandler Parsons/Hhedo Turkoglu comparisons are embarrassing.

 

[BEaston]

I agree with you about the lack of DAJ's intensity. But the defensive numbers have taken a massive upswing since last season and he and Kleber are primarily responsible.

Part of it it Carlisle using him as a high post facilitator which teams seem to have wised up to in the last 3-4 games.

And Doncic is having one of the better rookie seasons in NBA history. Legitimate building block and future MVP candidate. The Chandler Parsons/Hhedo Turkoglu comparisons are embarrassing.

You'll get no argument from me on Kleber. The guy is an absolute beast on the defensive end. Ridiculously good shot blocker but also has some of the quickest feet around for a big guy. His positioning defending 1-on-1 is elite. Can legit guard 1 to 5.

Lol, who said that about Doncic? That's fking stupid. Only rookie since Jordan to avg 20+/6+/4+ I don't see why he can't keep this level up tbh. If anything I see his assist numbers going up because it seems Rick has now figured out he's a better handler than Smith.

 

[BEaston]

Also, DoDo's shot is falling nicely. Only a matter of time before he's starting IMO. How good was the play they ran to get him the oop from JJ against OKC. Boss.

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

You'll get no argument from me on Kleber. The guy is an absolute beast on the defensive end. Ridiculously good shot blocker but also has some of the quickest feet around for a big guy. His positioning defending 1-on-1 is elite. Can legit guard 1 to 5.

Lol, who said that about Doncic? That's fking stupid. Only rookie since Jordan to avg 20+/6+/4+ I don't see why he can't keep this level up tbh. If anything I see his assist numbers going up because it seems Rick has now figured out he's a better handler than Smith.

Kleber is going to get paid. Prototypical modern big. Agree with you about DFS aswell. Those 2 guys are perfect role players on a good team. We need 2 A graders to support Doncic. I, not convinced Smith Jnr is that (though I lean towards he is) but Jordan, Matthews and Barnes aren't.

Im certain they will make a massive play for Giannis in 3 years.

 

[BEaston]

Huge improvement over the past month:
a) the return of Barnes can't be understated. Just so handy having him around to bail us out sometimes when we don't really have anyone else that can create their own shot. Also his defense is underrated IMO.
b) they seemed to have figured out the chemistry issues somewhat. maybe it going public was what was needed for some of them to air their differences.
c) Jordan is helping more on D, although can still improve a lot.
d) Wes stopped trying to create his own shot as much. He's sticking with catch and shoots a lot more where he is way more effective.

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Yep. Barnes is taking far more of his shots either at the rim or on spot up 3s.

The bench is the best in the league. It runs like a machine. Everyone plays their role perfectly.

It's a shame DSJ doesn't know how to run a pick and roll yet. I hope he learns off JJ because he just pounds the air out of it sometimes.

 

[BEaston]

It's a shame DSJ doesn't know how to run a pick and roll yet. I hope he learns off JJ because he just pounds the air out of it sometimes.

Yeah he does. One other thing I'd like to see him do is jump for his layups/dunks a lot earlier. He seems to leave it way too late and either attempt shots once he's too far under the rim or dribble into heavy traffic and not get any aerial separation. If he jumped earlier, he's got the athleticism to literally jump over guys and get some height in the air before contact is made. It also means they're not as set. I reckon he could be drawing a s**t load more fouls this way.

 

[Simon_Says]

Is Luka Donic just dirk 2.0?

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Is Luka Donic just dirk 2.0?

Nah, he's a different player.

Although Dirk seperated himself from the Malones, Webbers, KGs, Duncans because of what he could do in the clutch. Doncic seems to have the same innate ability to bury teams late.

 

[BEaston]

Is Luka Donic just dirk 2.0?

they're both European?

 

[Simon_Says]

they're both European?

Kidd Vicious his jumpshot release is quite similar

 

[BEaston]

dat luka/zinger pnr

 

[BEaston]

Is Luka Donic just dirk 2.0?

now we have dirk 2.0

 

[BEEG]

Can't believe we landed Zinga it's a risk but one I'm happy to take as a long time Mavs fan.

Glad we screwed Jordan cop that.

Now what to do with Barnes do we continue or trade him to a team like Sacramento?

Vucevic is someone the Mavs will go after hard not sure we will beable to trade Hardaway.

 

[BEaston]

We should trade Barnes for expirings. Can't have him and THJ on the roster next year and I don't think we're allowed to trade THJ even if another team wanted him.