Playoffs 2024 - R2 - G1 - Mavs @ Thunder (Tuesd., 9:30PMEST)

[ChipotleWest]

If Kidd signs a 4 year extension and Luka stays in Dallas they'll be together until he's 30. His legacy is going to be tied to Kidd as coach.

[GermanFan120]

I wonder what expectation you guys have had for us going into this series?

If we lose it, how would you feel? Say we lose it competitively, would you be satisfied enough as a mavs fan or would you be upset?

[Mavrelous]

I wonder what expectation you guys have had for us going into this series?

If we lose it, how would you feel? Say we lose it competitively, would you be satisfied enough as a mavs fan or would you be upset?

I think it's very close to evenly matched, it'll come down to shooting luck, losing Maxi and OKC being such a great shooting team, I have OKC slightly favoured.
I disklike Kidd as much as the next guy, but he's a good defensive strategist, we'll what he has up his sleeve.

[ozwizard8]

You still have to rest PJ. Who's replacing him in the lineup? The only options are Kief and Powell now.

O-Max (although he has an ankle) but I know, rookie. So is Lively.

It's too late for Kidd to experiment with OMax anyway. But that's why you don't play washed up veterans during the season instead you develop young guns.

lol who did Kidd played instead of Omax? I dont remember much Markieff minutes.

People complained about Carlisle and Kidd for not 'developing' Green, not giving enough minutes and ****. This is his 4th year and most of our fans dont feel confident to play Green main rotation minutes.

Omax thing is kinda similar too. Some rookies like Lively just deserve to play right away. Some needs to develop their games to deserve those minutes. Play time is not a magical potion for every player. And coaches want to win anyway so they'll play young lads if they are getting better in training.

This season Mavs needed to adjust many new faces: Exum, Grant, DJJ, Grant, Lively, Seth. Then at the trade deadline PJ, Gafford. Kidd would rather play PJ enough minutes to get used to with team than some 2 year project rookie.

Omax doesn't look ready for regular season let alone playoffs. But hey he has that A.Gordon, S.Marion type of body, athleticism, height, wingspan. If he is needed I hope he can stay away from easy fouls and defend/rebound!

[ozwizard8]

Hard to draw any conclusions on how this playoff series will go based off the Mavs-Thunder regular season matchups. Thunder went 3-1 against us, but the first game was pre-Gafford/PJ, another was without Luka, and the last game was against our B squad.

I did rewatch most of the February matchup, which was Gaff and PJs first game as Mavs. Maxi started and had 12p/12r. Josh Green was a starter too. Lively missed the game.

My main takeaways from the game were our defensive assignments:

-Our 5 man was always taking Giddey, but kept one foot in the paint. Always looking to clog lanes for SGA drives or keep Chet from having an easy roll to the basket
-DJJ or THJ or PJ would guard Chet.
-Luka was on Jdub
-Kai was on Dort
-Josh Green was on SGA. DJJ guarded him at times too.

Obviously Green is no longer a starter, so I suspect DJJ will be on SGA, but Josh will be leaned upon to guard SGA a lot.

It seems Gafford will be on Giddey, where I originally thought Luka would be. I could still see Luka on Giddey depending on how his knee is doing. Then PJ will be on Chet.

Watch for Dort pressing Luka full court anytime he brings the ball up. Will need to lean on others to initiate the offense to give Luka some breaks.

Nice points on the previous games. I think I missed 3 of the games to watch live and I did not even watch replay of one with Luka out and the one with TEAM B. I watched OKC live this season in different arena though.

I dont think they have that much mental resilience or winner instinct. I mean when things go wrong systematically, Luka-Kyrie etc can start a war by themselves. I dont think OKC players are like that.

However, they are a well balanced team with good spacing/shooting on offense and athleticism on defense.
Their star SGA has a crazy good whistle. He is like Trae Young with a bigger body and more finishing skills. He is getting every touch foul call.

Meanwhile on defense Dort is allowed to drag everyone with two hands. Ingram was so surprised how Dort's defense doesn't get called foul. NBA seemed to bright up SGA and Ant a lot. PHX winning 3-0 against Wolves in season and then losing 0-4 was no coincidence. Luka being semi-injured, shooting terrible 3pts will be huge issue with Dort's foul-free offense.

Hope we can find ways to stay in the game. Make some 3rd quarter runs with good D and OKC can get in a losing mindset. It will be a tough series.
DJJ, PJ, Green must perform well for us. We'll probably have Gafford-Lively rotation at C most of the times. But if offense get clogged, I'd not get surprised for Kidd to play PJ at 5. After all he'd need to defend Chet. Especially for minutes where SGA is off, we can see 5-6 minutes of this.

[ozwizard8]

If Kidd signs a 4 year extension and Luka stays in Dallas they'll be together until he's 30. His legacy is going to be tied to Kidd as coach.

Coach signing 4 year really doesn't mean he stays for 4 year. He can get fired in the first year.

Luka's legacy is tied to Cuban and that's the problem for him
Even Dirk was able to win only one with Cuban...

[ozwizard8]

Mavs are undefeated this playoffs, when they play at night. So we're going to win this series in 5 games.

You may be onto something!

[Teffer10]

No way Prosper plays over Morris.
My biggest fear is Powell taking over Maxi's spot in the rotation though.

I'm thinking/hoping it was situations like this is the reason for resigning Morris.
He can spread the floor, provide some D and Rebounding, has PO experience, and has a thug mentality that could be useful in this series.

[dirkules_41]

No way Prosper plays over Morris.
My biggest fear is Powell taking over Maxi's spot in the rotation though.

I'm thinking/hoping it was situations like this is the reason for resigning Morris.
He can spread the floor, provide some D and Rebounding, has PO experience, and has a thug mentality that could be useful in this series.

Omax is out anyway. Agreed on everything regarding Powell and Morris.

[MassimoPayne]

Morris contract was given because of veteran lockerroom presence. Which is good because he already gave a great lockerroom talk after the all star break when things went down. Also Kyrie likes him a lot.

And not for spacing etc. WTF this dude looks so unplayable when out there...

[Mavrelous]

Maxi minutes should go to Exum and Green
Gafford 24/Lively 24
PJ 38/Luka 10
Luka 28/Exum 20
DJJ 30/Green 18
Kyrie 38/Green 10

Exum and Green cover 48 minutes to backup 1-4

[Archx]

O-Max (although he has an ankle) but I know, rookie. So is Lively.

It's too late for Kidd to experiment with OMax anyway. But that's why you don't play washed up veterans during the season instead you develop young guns.

lol who did Kidd played instead of Omax? I dont remember much Markieff minutes.

There were stretches when Kieff played quite a lot of minutes and OMax was stuck in GLeague for most of the year.

People complained about Carlisle and Kidd for not 'developing' Green, not giving enough minutes and ****. This is his 4th year and most of our fans dont feel confident to play Green main rotation minutes.

Green has been very valuable vs LAC a much needed hustle and energy guy. He played better than Exum who had a better regular season than Green.

[Mavrelous]

I am so relieved that the 4 days before the series against a team built in a revoutionary way, 5 out spacing, 3 PG level capable ball handlers, mobile rim protector, we are focusing on the real deal, Jason Kidd extention.
**** Cuban, shoe salesman and the new casino mobsters.

[Archx]

I am so relieved that the 4 days before the series against a team built in a revoutionary way, 5 out spacing, 3 PG level capable ball handlers, mobile rim protector, we are focusing on the real deal, Jason Kidd extention.
**** Cuban, shoe salesman and the new casino mobsters.

I never thought i'll ever see you this mad. They really got under your skin.

[Swish77]

Morris will play the Maxi roll. Don't be shocked if Powell gets some run when Luka is in the game.

[kacey ring]

Maxi minutes should go to Exum and Green
Gafford 24/Lively 24
PJ 38/Luka 10
Luka 28/Exum 20
DJJ 30/Green 18
Kyrie 38/Green 10

Exum and Green cover 48 minutes to backup 1-4

I like this. It’s only an 8 man rotation, but seems necessary with the injuries and opponent. Maybe Hardy could provide a 2-3 min break with an expanded opportunity if he does well. Also, not sure what THJ status is.

I really don’t want to see Powell out there. Oz mentioned giving PJ some run at the 5, if we need to go small, which would work in this series.

[arkuo]

Prosper is for next year's project. Not this year. I don't expect him to see playoff minutes.

[daoneandonly]

I am so relieved that the 4 days before the series against a team built in a revoutionary way, 5 out spacing, 3 PG level capable ball handlers, mobile rim protector, we are focusing on the real deal, Jason Kidd extention.
**** Cuban, shoe salesman and the new casino mobsters.

Yea dont get it. Were they afraid of him forcing hsi way to coach Lebron in LA or something? Kidd hasnt warranted this. We're all stoked about what the team has doen recently and advancing to round 2, but it seems no matter who the FO, this team jumps the gun on things they dont need to. Kidd extension, Green's extension, etc.

[tleikheen]

With an athletic team like OKC who seem to be a team full of wings and players between 6'4" and 6'7" ,we'll see Exum and Green play more minutes . Powell and Morris will be unplayable against players much faster than them.
The 2 factors that all Mavs fans will look for. Has Luka's shot 3 pt shooting deserted him and will he continue to take those shots that start to look more like TO's. Possessions count .
And secondly how will OKC try to slow down Kyrie Irving. I think they try to use SGA on him with Dort on Luka.
Dort will try to manhandle the most physical PG in the world in Luka and SGA like Anthony Edwards plays top notch 2 way BB.
If Luka and Kyrie cant be slowed down .Mavs win in 6 games .

[ChipotleWest]

If Kidd signs a 4 year extension and Luka stays in Dallas they'll be together until he's 30. His legacy is going to be tied to Kidd as coach.

Coach signing 4 year really doesn't mean he stays for 4 year. He can get fired in the first year.

Luka's legacy is tied to Cuban and that's the problem for him
Even Dirk was able to win only one with Cuban...

They already didn't fire him after missing the playoffs, this team doesn't fire coaches. The only coach that's been fired since Cuban bought the team was Avery, and that was because they had arranged for Carlisle to take over because of his relationship with Donnie. So unless things go horribly south like where Luka and Kyrie want him gone he's not going anywhere. They're too good to miss the playoffs unless Luka is injured and then he would have an excuse.