RS 23/24 - Mavs @ Celtics (Frid., 7:30PMEST)

[ejs78]

Gaff has proven that he can move his feet, he's a mobile big who can rebound, close out and most importantly block/disrupt shots. If Mavs give up more 2's than 3's and gets them a W, i'm fine with that. But i can't be fine with the way Mavs defend the perimeter when they're constantly collapsing for no reason at all when their small guys struggle to hold ground around the paint.

He's not blocking shots on the perimeter and his rebounding like everyone else is going to dip when he's pulled aways from the basket. We have seen this happen to other bigs around the league so this isn't just a Mavs problem.

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Like i said, i rather give up 2 points than 3 and also get their shooters going in the process. You'll still have a better chance with Gaff at 5 than Maxi.

You can't tell me with what you saw over the years still having Maxi at 5 is a recipe for success? I would much rather play Powell then and go Rick's old school way with Powell/Maxi center lineup lol.

They aren't giving up 2s they are giving up 3s with him out there. All these teams have massive amounts of data at their fingertips. Regardless of what you think of Kidd this data is likely leading to this along with what they are seeing. Unless you're an elite offense center who make up for things like this you can get played off the floor.

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[tleikheen]

Maybe we should ask Wizard fans what they think of Gafford in space. This just wasn't his game. Its more a they need a better stretch 5 than they need to play Gafford more.

This one got a good laugh from me .... even the lowly wizards wouldnt play Maxi over Gafford.

The truth is Maxi wouldnt be getting these kind of minutes on any team.

[ejs78]

Maybe we should ask Wizard fans what they think of Gafford in space. This just wasn't his game. Its more a they need a better stretch 5 than they need to play Gafford more.

This one got a good laugh from me .... even the lowly wizards wouldnt play Maxi over Gafford.

The truth is Maxi wouldnt be getting these kind of minutes on any team.

You're missing the point.

Saying Gafford can't play in certain situations doesn't mean I'm saying Maxi is awesome. I'm just saying just cuz Gafford is the shiny new object doesn't mean they need to force the situation. I would just prefer Lively play more which should be the discussion.

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[GermanFan120]

Don't believe me when I said Green has low ball iq? What was that on a fast break and got his arse blocked? This guy doesn't know what change of pace is. He is either yes or no when he decided to do something.

Preach

Only people who PLAY (rather than watch only) basketball will understand what I meant by ball IQ. Green is an athlete without a smart basketball brain.

[Mavrelous]

**** KP, he's had more good and healthy games this season than his entire tenure here.
I didn't see targeting of Gafford when he was on the floor, but I don't think it mattered all that much, against that good of a team, you can't afford to go cold from 3.

[GermanFan120]

At least we will not miss the play in tournament this year, what a step forward.

All the credits go to Kidd, we should absolutely re-sign him for a new extension.

[ejs78]

**** KP, he's had more good and healthy games this season than his entire tenure here.
I didn't see targeting of Gafford when he was on the floor, but I don't think it mattered all that much, against that good of a team, you can't afford to go cold from 3.

This is a good point as well.

If Gafford plays more is the outcome of this game changing at all? Does the Cavs game have a different ending if Gafford is playing cuz they were up 10 with Maxi on the floor?

The team got deeper and now we don't like how the backup options are being used.

Lively-30 min assuming no foul trouble
Then 12-6 Gafford/Maxi based on matchups

Oh well hopefully Sundays outcome is better.

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[Mavrelous]

Now starts the stretch to win, Mavs should be favoured in almost all games from now on, no excuses.

[GermanFan120]

I think we will be ok against the 76ers on Sunday, LMAO.

[ozwizard8]

Celtics are a complete team, they have more assets than us.

Sad reality is Kyrie not being that big of threat anymore. Cs can score more on him than Kyrie's offensive damage. At the end of the day he didn't command much double teams which show the lack of offensive dominance.

A Luka team firstly needs its elite defensive teammates against top competition.

On to the next one. Dont worry about this one too much.

[41Dirk41]

We lost the game at the end of the 3rd with this small ball lineup and Maxi at the C... all widely predicted here on the forum. Nothing new.

What a clown coach. Fire him ASAP.

Maxi 20 minutes
Gafford 6minutes



Maxi is our new Powell, but what a great OFFRTG last game... He is a juggernaut.

[41Dirk41]

But the biggest idiot of the game award goes to the guy reshuffling lineups when Mavs got it to 2pts and then playing small leaving Celtics to do anything they wanted.

Agree.

I had the same feeling, were in the game and that lineup bury our chances.
Maxi is a PF damn.

[Teffer10]

So what I'm hearing here is that Gafford has filled the Holmes/McGee/WCS role?
Sure glad we gave up assets, and to hear several of you are satisfied to get a potential 13th man of the year candidate!

[Teffer10]

Don't believe me when I said Green has low ball iq? What was that on a fast break and got his arse blocked? This guy doesn't know what change of pace is. He is either yes or no when he decided to do something.

Preach

Only people who PLAY (rather than watch only) basketball will understand what I meant by ball IQ. Green is an athlete without a smart basketball brain.

So using that logic, Green ought to know he has a low BBIQ.

[Dirk]

I guess the Celtics are a great team with loads of players who make good decisions with the ball and all... but it's absolutely disgraceful that time and time and again basic motions lead to defense breaking apart and scrambling around.

Obviously, it's impossible to keep up if on the other end Kyrie goes missing.

Interestingly enough, our beloved coach referenced "can't have empty possessions", which reminds us of Timmy just jacking up a wild shot with 20 seconds on the clock. Accountability: zero.

“You can’t have empty possessions against them. And then you can’t have breakdowns defensively against them,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “They’re going to make you pay for it at the 3-point line, and that’s what they did.”

It was cool to see Lively making some plays.

Obviously didn't lose because of the refs, but yeah... they didn't help. It intrigued me how Tatum gets away with pushing off, but then is seen complaining all the time someone breathes on him.

Foul on Green & no push offs, no basket interferences, no fouls

Spoiler:

Luka was great. But this play kind of exemplifies that the Mavs simply at times don't play D with enough focus and aggressiveness. This was a rebound, other times it was overreacting and double some guy who then passed out and defense was completely burned.

Spoiler:

Let's hope we see some guys getting back to previous form like Exum DJJr and hey Gafford playing again!?

**** KP.

[AJace]

People talk about Maxi's "invaluable" ability to stretch the floor like he's Dirk or something. The dude's barely making one 3 a night, and outside of being a threat to hit that one 3 a night, he's a complete liability on offense that it's almost like playing 4 vs 5 on that end of the floor. And I don't think you'll ever hear an opposing coach instruct his center to go out and cover Maxi from 3. They'd rather give him his one 3 if that means on the other end they'll dominate the paint and the boards and if it means Dallas not having a prolific shot blocker as last line of defense when guards go past Kyrie and Luka.

[Archx]

It was cool to see Lively making some plays.

For the life of me i can't undestand how Lively doesn't play more than 30 mins when he dominates on both ends of the floor. I honestly can't comprehend how they don't let him play and learn if he f*cks up. Are there any restriction on his minutes?

It's bad enough seeing Powell almost playing more than Gaff and then you have Maxi, doing nothing, matching Lively's minutes when he has a great game.

[Bob8]

People talk about Maxi's "invaluable" ability to stretch the floor like he's Dirk or something. The dude's barely making one 3 a night, and outside of being a threat to hit that one 3 a night, he's a complete liability on offense that it's almost like playing 4 vs 5 on that end of the floor. And I don't think you'll ever hear an opposing coach instruct his center to go out and cover Maxi from 3. They'd rather give him his one 3 if that means on the other end they'll dominate the paint and the boards and if it means Dallas not having a prolific shot blocker as last line of defense when guards go past Kyrie and Luka.

Kleber is playing too much for sure, but Josh is playing too much too, he just can't defend bigger wings. Josh's D is very overrated overall. Exum and DJJ should get some of his minutes.

Josh is energetic bunny, but unfortunately his understanding of basketball is near 0.

[Dirk]

It was cool to see Lively making some plays.

For the life of me i can't undestand how Lively doesn't play more than 30 mins when he dominates on both ends of the floor. I honestly can't comprehend how they don't let him play and learn if he f*cks up. Are there any restriction on his minutes?

It's bad enough seeing Powell almost playing more than Gaff and then you have Maxi, doing nothing, matching Lively's minutes when he has a great game.

#Mavsnation thinks the same.

What can we do...

The biggest positive of the game was seeing Lively make some good plays in space against guards. That's very hopeful for the future.

On the other hand, we are living in a very strange period... a front office trades for a C one week. Everyone's excited and over the moon. And then the coach basically doesn't even try, he just assumes that "it is a shooting drill if we play our bigs against them".... A front office wouldnt trade for a guy if the guy would very quickly be labelled as someone who can't play in certain matchups. Surely there must another way...

I am hopeful people like Exum, Djjr play to the level they were playing before the injuries. And hey... THJr, Green sometimes have stretches. In an ideal world this can be a good team, gotta hope for lightning to strike and almost everyone to be shooting and playing well at the same time.

[ejs78]

Everyone here seems to like Iztok so here's his thoughts on Gafford:

Read on Twitter

?t=Uc3iJRKy8ACkoAGrWj_MtA&s=19

Basically he has to play drop since be can't be out in space. Neither of these things are good and again this isn't a Maxi is great thing.



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