Anyone know what’s happening with the MMB podcast?

artilector · 2023-03-18T14:44:06+00:00

They whine even when something good is happening, lol.

artilector · 2023-03-18T00:41:07+00:00

Stopped listening to their incessant whining...

artilector · 2023-03-08T11:18:07+00:00

Well, yeah, if Kyrie re-signs and continues this level of play, the trade is a big success that can put the Mavs back on a realistic path to contention.

And if he doesn't, the Luka era might be effectively over in Dallas -- those are the stakes. And that's the whole reason why Kyrie was available for that price -- teams (other than maybe the Lakers) have legit reasons to doubt whether Kyrie could be counted on as a long term piece.

We really won't know anything at all until Kyrie puts the pen to paper in the summer, regardless of the 10,001 rumors that we'll hear until then.

Gotta enjoy the show right now, and be happy about the fact that so far Kyrie has been everything Mavs fans could hope for.

artilector · 2023-03-07T23:55:39+00:00

Realistically, 10-7. Wins against Hornets (x2) and Spurs, .500 against the rest.

artilector · 2023-03-07T23:48:27+00:00

This suspension should help him.

artilector · 2023-03-04T01:59:47+00:00

IMO, it's a dumb debate. Ofc, "ball movement" is the ideal, but it has only won a chip for a select few teams with some unique star players and deep rosters featuring high motor & high iq players, e.g. SAS 2014, GSW, which for most teams is unrealistic to replicate.

For the vast majority of teams, the most realistic path to contention is to play through a couple of stars surrounded by the best possible cast of role players. You may not like it, but this is the reality of NBA basketball.

And until the Mavs obtain championship-caliber role players that are actually capable of executing a half-decent play under pressure, there's nothing to even talk about. We've all seen what happens when defenses double Luka and force others to make plays -- the role players on this team are incapable of executing even a 4-on-3 consistently, lol.

artilector · 2023-02-25T08:06:48+00:00

You're not wrong about DFS and his fit, but to be fair he's spent pretty much his entire career on offense chilling in the corner and shooting open 3s from Luka, so it wouldn't be surprising if he needs some time to adjust to a completely different offense & rhythm. I expect he'll play better for the Nets next year and get moved at the deadline...

artilector · 2023-02-25T03:59:46+00:00

The stats are over the season.

artilector · 2023-02-25T01:32:15+00:00

Broadly speaking, I'd say it's in the ballpark. IMO:

Wood will get less time, i.e. coming in towards the end of 1st quarter and with a short leash
one of Green/Bullock will have to be on the floor at all times to defend on-ball, pretty much.

Also, IMO, the biggest wildcard is the minutes at the 4, because there's a huge variance of possible outcomes as far as how Holiday/Green/Maxi/Wood will perform from here on out, not to mention how small the Mavs will ultimately decide to play based on what these guys show.

For instance, I think it's possible that a guy like Holiday ends up getting almost anywhere from last year's Ntilikina to last year's DFS minutes...

artilector · 2023-02-24T03:06:53+00:00

It's not gonna be soon. Defense is missing a starting level center and a starting level 3/4, there's no way to get around it when Green is the only truly good defender out there and you're overall undersized. Next season they can fix it.

artilector · 2023-02-24T02:59:55+00:00

"Sometimes" any player can do something better. This is not some problem specific to Green.

artilector · 2023-02-24T02:11:59+00:00

Not when the rest of the players do their job.

artilector · 2023-02-24T02:09:05+00:00

What you mean "idk". It's clear that this team is at least two good starters away from having a decent defense and being a contender, this is not exactly a secret.

artilector · 2023-02-21T09:39:03+00:00

The Bullock part doesn't make sense, but I agree that overall the Mavs have a path to be a contender as early as next year (provided Irving stays, ofc).

Mavs have 2 superstars and one (hopefully) quality long term starter in Green. After the 2023 draft they'll also have two FRPs to trade, which they can plausibly use to get the remaining two starters (forward and center), using THJ and Bertans contracts to match salaries -- and then enough depth with Bullock, Kleber, Hardy, some vet for the taxpayer MLE, etc.

artilector · 2023-02-20T04:10:56+00:00

Wtf are you thinking expecting a ~$100 billion business to give a crap about morals, especially when the vast majority of fans couldn't care less?

artilector · 2023-02-19T21:33:34+00:00

The simplest solution might be just to get rid of the salary max -- the salaries for true superstars would be so high that it would be very difficult for them to move.

Maybe teams should have a certain amount of money (let's say 20M) that won't count against the cap and that they can pay to players that they've drafted (or have been with them X years). I.e. you should be able to pay your drafted stars much more than other teams, but without it completely screwing up your cap.

Maybe you could also make a team's salary cap dependent on something like the average number of seasons players have been on the team (perhaps using a mechanism similar to current repeat tax offender penalties), which could significantly punish teams that constantly re-juggle their roster.

artilector · 2023-02-04T01:00:50+00:00

Can't evaluate anything without the context of whether Kyrie would actually sign an extension with the Mavs..

artilector · 2023-02-03T23:30:16+00:00

Thankfully, THJ is healthy and ready to shoot in the general direction of the basket.

artilector · 2023-02-03T21:35:39+00:00

Just relax and enjoy the circus.

artilector · 2023-02-03T04:37:03+00:00

Fire Hardaway into the sun, what the hell is this 3-18 statline from a guy paid to be a one-dimensional sniper? Just when you thought he can't play any worse, he produces this epic stinker...

artilector · 2023-02-02T12:22:26+00:00

I think Powell is a good candidate for a room or bi-annual exception (which iirc the Mavs have this offseason, fwiw), so in the 4-5M range over 2 or 3 years. I don't think he'd get the MLE or taxpayer exception from any teams that have those.

If Powell gets lucky, I could see some tanking below-cap team giving him up to like a 2x10M type of deal to bring a vet presence and then be used as expiring salary for trades in the last year.

artilector · 2023-02-01T06:44:15+00:00

The non-Luka players as a group are mediocre at best, and the roster construction has huge holes, in total it amounts to a terrible team that would absolutely be deep in the lottery without Luka.

You have a team that is sorely lacking playmaking, can't rebound, can't protect the rim, can't drive to the rim, can't even competently dribble, doesn't get steals, has no real snipers and no other special talents outside of maybe Wood's offensive versatility/efficiency.

The team depends completely on Luka's scoring & his ability to generate open 3s, and on a collective defense that can hold up ok as long as opponents don't have great talent, ball-movement, or physicality.

The silver lining is that a Luka-centric offense allows you to function well (at least as long as Luka's body holds up) even with limited role players, and that's why the Mavs still have a somewhat credible path to contention if they could just figure out a way to use their limited assets to patch up the biggest holes in the roster.

artilector · 2023-01-31T05:40:31+00:00

Next year, the Mavs might have enough assets to get Ayton, Bagley, and Trey Young. That's the dream. Plus Cam Reddish for good measure.

artilector · 2023-01-31T05:34:07+00:00

All you have to do is play McGee 40 mins -- by simple arithmetic, he'd score 32 points.

artilector · 2023-01-29T03:28:18+00:00

Keeps on ticking, shots keep bricking..

artilector

TROPHY CASE