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3 hours ago, IU/Butler/Notre Dame said:

I didn’t watch a ton of suns games this year until the last two series in the playoffs ….I don’t have a team coming to mind that top of lineup for bottom shares the ball better since the first couple years the curry warriors became a force.  They all attack but are all willing to make a second and third pass to get the best shot…there was a series in the fourth where a dribble drive by Payne led to a pass to a cutter who immediately dumped to saric inside which would have resulted into a contested, albeit quality ,  post shot 99 times of 100 but without missing a beat saric threw across the lane to a baseline cutter all three passes happened in a split second …..the cutter fumbled the ball but it was high level iq and high level effort moving without the ball.  The suns are FUN

I thought Spurs title teams had incredible ball movement.   The Mavs title team did too. 

42 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

Is there a change toward modern society and technology that you do like?

probably the landline telephone with those long cords out of the wall.  They had those back in the 80s.  I hate replay because it is so fun when teams lose on wrong calls. We can talk about that for years. 

1 hour ago, BGleas said:

Completely agree. There's no way the Sixers are trading Simmons for Sabonis as the primary piece. They need an elite guard to pair with Simmons, not a 4. They need people like Lillard or McCollum, Beal, etc. Not saying those guys are realistic for the Sixers (McCollum is probably the most realistic) but those are the types they need. 

Not hating it as a Celtics fan, but for the Sixers it is unfortunate what has happened to Simmons trade value in just a couple of weeks. 

While not great he has been a 60% FT shooter his entire career with 1300 FTs taken and now after 34% on what 75 free throws thaat is the new norm that won't recover from.  I understand the concern over the 3's as that has been his whole career.  I thought Barkley made a decent point that Philly has probably tried so a hard to make him the PG early in his career rather work on his actual weakness.  Who knows but could be a decent point.  

7 hours ago, NotIThatLives said:

Okay let's play.   dream team versus this year's all NBA team.  

Starting five versus first team

Magic Jordan Pippin Barkley Ewing 

Luka, Kahwi, jokic, giannis, Curry.  

The only advantage I see is jokic versus Ewing, Ewing would not be able to step out and guard him but that's okay cuz you can bring David Robinson in off the bench or Karl Malone.  The mailman would just come in and break his forearms like Popeye the sailor Man.

I don't see this extreme athletic discrepancy that some of you guys are fantasizing about. I think we tend to remember the latter years of a player's career when they started to slow down rather than remembering them in their prime like Clyde the glide drexler not old man gray-haired Clyde.

Or Larry Bird struggling to pick himself up off the floor with a bad back in his last year or two.  

 

 

Are you bringing AD, Lebron, Durant and Harden off the bench or are they not allowed to play.  Who gets Tim Duncan.  Don't care how many points Malone scored give me Duncan all day long.

Seinfeld has a bit on Scott and 80's basketball only it is about clowns.

https://memes.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/a08c5ec1-faa7-48a0-aeed-7569964b749e

1 hour ago, rico said:

That is total BS.  You and your contraction thoughts.  The American population is growing, or have you noticed?  More people=more talent out there.

Not to mention the 107 international players on opening night rosters including 3 players who made the all NBA first team.  Joker, Luka and the Greek.  That's 7 teams right tthere.

19 hours ago, IU Scott said:

Simmons couldn't even lead LSU to the tournament in college

Maybe Mavs could trade Brunson for Simmons.  Brunson was part of titles at Villanova and voted player of the decade in college, I think.  To balance salaries the Mavs could throw in Porzingus. 

18 minutes ago, dgambill said:

Going to say this...Jeanie Buss is so so so damn lucky she landed Lebron...she is working with netflix and HBO not only to exec produce a drama based on show time 80s lakers but also a comedy about front office in NBA....I mean really??? This is the person that took over....who dated Phil Jackson...producing tv shows and is running your franchise? Good luck when Lebron retires....

Players want to play in LA.  Kawhi would have gone there had Lebron not.  Luka will probably head there after Lebron.  She is doing far better than her brother (was it?) who ran the team before her coup.  

19 hours ago, dbmhoosier said:

I really see us knocking out a lot of teams early this season.

 

 

I played on a team from our engineering group in a Texas Instruments league in dallas back in the late 80's.  One of the engineers was a golden gloves boxer. He was easily our best athlete. He had no basketball IQ but always got the ball.  His hands were so super quick. I saw at least 2 times where he faked the pass over the defenders head and the defender turned around to see where the ball went. Syl still had the ball and would then just drive on by. Rec league ball. Gotta love it.

He was like 33 or 34 when he finally quit boxing.  His last year he made it the regional finals before losing.

Just now, dgambill said:

Yep...Hardaway also had an ankle thing for a game or two and I thought it effected his jumper. Hard to say....I probably didn't watch as many games as you during the season from the sound of it (actually very few of Dallas) but he certainly didn't look healthy for a couple of those games with his neck....but then he came back strong after. Just a rough post season if you are a fan of watching teams have their best players playing at the peak of their ability. It really feels like this year more so than almost any other injuries have effected almost every single game/series.

Yeh.  I'm a diehard Mavs guy.  Even healthy THJ has cold streaks the way he jacks up shots but yes, he was a bit gimpy too. I don't discount Luka playing hurt but he doesn't mind making sure everyone knows it

After 24 years, Donnie Nelson and Mavs are parting ways.  IMO, that guy is really good.  He picked up a lot pieces from Cuban's meddling.  I sure hope RC is staying but one of the reasons he was in Dallas was working with Donnie.  Maybe RC moves up to the front office and JJ Barea comes back to coach.  I assumed JJ to be their next coach when it happens but not so soon.

5 hours ago, dgambill said:

Kind of whomever is the last team standing will win. I agree. Even though I don't like these "super teams" nor did I like the Lakers or Philly I really just want to see the best basketball being played and each team as close to how they've been constructed fight it out. We've seen some incredible performances as a result of the injuries and guys gutting it out but it just feels like almost a giant asterisk this postseason.....

Washington- Thomas Bryant (although he was out all season)

Boston- Kemba & Brown

Miami- Oladipo

Atlanta- Hunter

Mil-Divenchizo

Brooklyn-Harden, Kyrie, and Green

PHI-Embiid

Lakers-AD, Lebron (wasn't 100)

Dallas-Doncic was hurt much of series

Clippers-Kawhi

Denver-Murray, Barton, Dozier

Phx- CP3 not 100

Utah-Mitchell not 100, Conley

That is ROUGH! A lot of great players there. The team that can stay healthy likely will be the ones to finish it. If I'm a team that is still playing I have think....this is IT...this window might never open up again...time to get it done is now!

 

Every game Luka plays, he is grimacing through something.  It seriously happens every game with. I wonder how much of it is the showman in him.   IMO, KP's knee soreness  after the late season ankle sprain was a much bigger issue in the playoffs.  Whatever usage he had during the season in the paint was there at all in the playoffs. Kleber's achilles was a big problem also.  Kleber was their most reliable 3 point shooter during the season and a solid defender who just really didn't have the same mobility.

5 hours ago, BGleas said:

All of these injuries are a real shame, this was setup to be a great playoffs for the NBA, but literally every team has been decimated with injuries. 

No doubt.  I am now watching Copa Americas and Euro soccer over the NBA playoffs.  That has never happened. 

8 hours ago, BGleas said:

Luka is a phenomenal player, and already on his way to potentially becoming an all-time great, but when I watch Dallas I wonder sometimes if it is becoming a bit of an Iverson/Sixers situation where you just had to build the entire roster around Iverson and there wasn't room another playmaker because he was so ball dominant. 

Remember that Sixers team that went to the Finals, their only other star was Mutumbo who was not an offensive player really, then they surrounded Iverson with guys like Eric Snow, Aaron McKie and Tyrone Hill. 

Obviously in this day and age you can't build a roster with defensive-only guys like that, you'd have to do it with high level 3 and D guys. But, I do wonder if Luka is too ball dominant to add another playmaker? Does he want to share those duties at this point?

Maybe a guy that would fit great might be someone like Fred VanVleet? I believe he's a free agent, or did he resign with Toronto last offseason? He'd be an upgrade over Brunson with similar skills. 

They got to get a 2nd star who can play with Luka.  Maybe that is still KP but they got to get him stronger.  If they blow up the team around Luka, THJ, DFS and the 4 rookies that would be fine by me. Kemba Walker would be a hard pass at 38 mil per year.  I doubt the Mavs would trade KP for him. It would be better to just play it out and see if he builds his strength up to handle the NBA grind. THJ is a FA so we'll see what he wants as far as salary.  If the Mavs let THJ go and Richardson opts out that opens a big salary slot for them to chase a FA.  FA class is kinda weak though.      He is only 25 and didn't they use to say bigs take longer to develop.

1 hour ago, BGleas said:

Starting matters because it's about depth. If Hardaway and Kleber are coming off the bench as your 6th/7th men, then that means you have two better players starting in their positions. That is a deep team that is probably a legit title contender. 

As currently constructed, the Mavs need Luka to be Superman to win a title. Don't get me wrong they're still a good team, and with the Lakers so banged up I could see Dallas making a run to the Finals, but having Hardaway and Kleber off the bench makes Dallas a legit, deep contender.  

I'm just saying THJ is a starting caliber NBA player whether they play him off the bench or as a starter. There is no rule that a starter is a better player than a bench player.  Same with Kleber if he plays 24 minutes as a starter but is on the bench during closing time. He is part of the rotation.  Jason Terry when he was on the Mavs was one of the top players on the team in their title year and he came off the bench for around 30 minutes a game. He was always in the game in crunch time.  THJ came off the bench all year behind Richardson and DFS until the last couple of weeks when he was playing out of his mind.  I don't know if he was in the running for 6th man of year but should have been. He really picked up his scoring when KP was out.  He pretty much forced RC to swap him and Richardson's rotation spots though both were playing upper 20's per game.  THJ has put in a ton of work to improve his strength and game since joining the Mavs. He is a legit starter in the NBA.  I didn't want him when the deal was made because I believed they were taking on a salary dump and head case of sorts just to land KP.  His leadership and professional attitude are outstanding.

I understand what the Mavs are and what Luka needs to be for their playoff success  They are a bottom 5 team without him.  I agree they could improve the top end of the roster after Luka and that is the next step in the evolution of the build around Luka. They actually might of had a nice draft so they will need to make some moves. Hopefully some of those guys like Green and Bey can come off the bench and so maybe they can do a deal.  My hope DFS and THJ stay and play their 30mpg and the changes come from elsewhere.

The Mavs top 7 rotation players all are solid players. I'd rank them like this.  

Luka

KP

THJ

DFS

Richardson

Kleber

Brunson

THJ has been awesome this year and last year.  He is a solid starter and reaching JET levels in Dallas.  Like JET he goes cold for a game or 2 but winds up shooting nearly 40% from the arc for the season. He is average defender and plays extremely hard.  He provides leadership and will accept a role starting or off the bench. I think he hated being on a poorly run team like the Knicks and losing. I think he wants to stay in Dallas. 

Kleber is playing with an achilles issue.  He is a solid rotation player on any team with his 3 and D game.  What does it matter if you start or come off the bench.  Either way he usually is around 25 minutes. 

I hope KP can get thru the playoffs without any injury setbacks.  He is only 25 and one of the more gifted offensive players in the league. He has averaged 20 and 9 plus rebounds in his 2 subpar season with Dallas.  He just needs to have an off season of strength building not rehab. Just when he start putting up a stretch of games averaging 25 and 10, he has a setback and misses a week of games then seems to have to start over.  I do think the Mavs will entertain offers this off season but doubt they be shopping him. It will be more like what are you offering when someone calls.   

Would you offer Brogdon and Turner for Brunson, Richardson, KP?  

Our govt. loves to ruin peoples lives over something trivial like pot which is now legal in many places.  Our govt. like to start drug wars and steal taxpayer money to pay for it.  Taxpayers have to pay for those in prison for marijuana.  I'd rather not pay those taxes.  The closer I get to retirement, the more and more buying a place to live in Arequipa makes sense to get out of this now violent country and live in peace. Swanigan is getting a bad deal here and should be left be.  

Does Jerome go somewhere with 3 years of eligibility. I can't remember anymore if the COVID year tranfers when you transfer or not. 

Not surprised since steam and stories starting popping up about Durr.  Seems Hunter and Rob would be the top candidates to move on. Fife talked up Rob. 

52 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

No...

Although Pedro once wore a Mets hat out of a brawl between the Mets and Reds in the 73 NLCS (Rose vs Bud Harrelson)

The answer isn't an obscure pitcher though...

Didn't Pedro chew the button off the top of that hat.  Loved that guy during the Big Red Machine days. 

Don't know that answer but will go Gary nolan as a guess.   I'll go look it up on google now

Has anything happened with M. Carr yet? Was Race recruiting him?

https://www.si.com/college/washington/recruiting/national-recruit-tamar-bates-has-rush-of-new-suitors-including-uw

Tamar Bates wants to play for a black coach after all the racial tension. He decommitted from Texas after shaka moved on I think. Should Woody and Hunter give him a call. I suspect Shaka may still get him but who knows.

IMO, the clips will get it right this season and come out of the West. 

There also seems to be a lot of highly ranked 2021 that are listed as undecided.  Maybe being new to the college recruiting, Woodson can jump in.  That Holmgren guy is a center and top ranked player.    Also, Tamar Bates wants out of his Texas commitment. Maybe going to follow shaka or maybe not?  He is at the same Folrida academy as 2 high ranked centers.  I don't follow the recruiting enough other than the names but would it be a good idea for Woodson to make call or a visit to that academy?

On 3/14/2021 at 4:25 PM, dgambill said:

Imagine if Golden St pick from Minnesota ends up being #1! I’ve also heard they might target Vic by moving Oubre and some smaller pieces.

I think that pick is top 3 protected so Wolves keep it in that case and GS gets 22 pick unprotected. I like cunningham but the 4 pick is likely to be pretty good too if the Warriors land that one.