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NBA 2024-25 Season Thread


Fastbreak

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This was the possession right before.  Luka bites on a pump fake forcing lively to commit which leaves his man open for the offensive rebound and put back. Luka is mad and blaming the wrong person.  He'd been doing it all game, throwing his hands up at teammates and refs for what he felt were no calls or bad calls.  And then the last possession of the game he does that.  Watch how Grimes and Naji react after the winning bucket when Luka blows his assignment.  They were so irritated with him.

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35 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Did we not have a whole ass thing last year during the finals with Mavs fans trying to gaslight us into believing Luka was a good defender? Lol

You just don't get it. Luka gets blown by so consistently and easily that the Mavs' defense is able to gameplan around it as a certainty, so they can predictably funnel his man into other defenders in the paint. Luka is doing his part!!

 

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44 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Did we not have a whole ass thing last year during the finals with Mavs fans trying to gaslight us into believing Luka was a good defender? Lol

That's the frustrating thing about Luka - he's a decent face-up defender when his heart's in it.  He's shown that again in the first 11 games this season.  There are spurts where you watch him on the perimeter or in the paint being posted up and it's impressive.  But he checks out a handful of possessions every game on rotations or assignments which gives opponents wide open looks.  He still lacks the maturity to bring it on every possession, both on defense and in his mindspace not arguing with the refs.  We've lost the last 4 games by 3, 1, 2, and 2.  These lapses in focus make a difference when the margins are so thin. 

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59 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Did we not have a whole ass thing last year during the finals with Mavs fans trying to gaslight us into believing Luka was a good defender? Lol

You guys just wouldn't understand. Not paying attention to the guy with the ball OR the man you're guarding and making no attempt to stay in between those two things is elite. Just look at his metrics!!

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28 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

That's the frustrating thing about Luka - he's a decent face-up defender when his heart's in it.  He's shown that again in the first 11 games this season.  There are spurts where you watch him on the perimeter or in the paint being posted up and it's impressive.  But he checks out a handful of possessions every game on rotations or assignments which gives opponents wide open looks.  He still lacks the maturity to bring it on every possession, both on defense and in his mindspace not arguing with the refs.  We've lost the last 4 games by 3, 1, 2, and 2.  These lapses in focus make a difference when the margins are so thin. 

There was another one last night where he just let Sexton pull up for a midrange and didn't even move or contest it.  Just let him have it. 

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That last possession was rough. If I'm trying to defend him, it looks like he's anticipating the screen and he's readying for the switch. He was being too smart for his own good. 

But really, that's fucking horrible. The very first thing they teach you about defense is to stay between your man and the basket. The second thing they teach you is ball - eye - man. You need to constantly have your head on a swivel and know where your man is and know where the ball is at all times. Watch Jason Kidd as soon as he realizes how out of position Luka is. 

The crunch time thing with the Mavs is weird. I know they've had some tough calls, but I think it's more of a small sample size issue. They will win more of these over the long haul. Between Doncic and Irving, they can almost always manufacture a decent look in the clutch.

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4 hours ago, Js1 said:

Did we not have a whole ass thing last year during the finals with Mavs fans trying to gaslight us into believing Luka was a good defender? Lol

BUT LOOK AT THE (CHERRY-PICKED) STATS!!!!

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21 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

That last possession was rough. If I'm trying to defend him, it looks like he's anticipating the screen and he's readying for the switch. He was being too smart for his own good. 

But really, that's fucking horrible. The very first thing they teach you about defense is to stay between your man and the basket. The second thing they teach you is ball - eye - man. You need to constantly have your head on a swivel and know where your man is and know where the ball is at all times. Watch Jason Kidd as soon as he realizes how out of position Luka is. 

The crunch time thing with the Mavs is weird. I know they've had some tough calls, but I think it's more of a small sample size issue. They will win more of these over the long haul. Between Doncic and Irving, they can almost always manufacture a decent look in the clutch.

Clarkson looked shocked, considering he telegraphed the whole thing with his eyes. 

But it also looked like the bench was screaming that Collins was wide open and somehow he was too zoned out to notice? 

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24 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

That last possession was rough. If I'm trying to defend him, it looks like he's anticipating the screen and he's readying for the switch. He was being too smart for his own good. 

But really, that's fucking horrible. The very first thing they teach you about defense is to stay between your man and the basket. The second thing they teach you is ball - eye - man. You need to constantly have your head on a swivel and know where your man is and know where the ball is at all times. Watch Jason Kidd as soon as he realizes how out of position Luka is. 

The crunch time thing with the Mavs is weird. I know they've had some tough calls, but I think it's more of a small sample size issue. They will win more of these over the long haul. Between Doncic and Irving, they can almost always manufacture a decent look in the clutch.

That's Jason Kidd's thought too which is why he seldom draws inbounds plays.  These past 4 games our last shots have been wildly bad.  Everyone knows where the ball's going and it's the same play over and over the past 5 seasons. 

 

 

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Montrezl Harrell doing everything he can to prove he should get another look from an NBA team. Joey Wright used to be the head coach of the 36ers for several years. Harrell was having a good season in the NBL to this point as well. I like keeping up with Aussie sports and this just happened today. 

https://www.espn.com.au/nbl/story/_/id/42438033/nbl-montrezl-harrell-fans-ejected-tensions-boil-melbourne

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Ty Jerome is gonna be in the 6th man of the year conversation. Dude is a true diamond in the rough. Can't believe this guy bounced around several teams his first few years, and then turned into this kind of player. He basically subbed in for Donovan Mitchell tonight and the team didn't miss a beat. I can't imagine his current shooting is going to remain consistent all season, but it's fun while it lasts 58/54/83 splits is so good for a guy coming off the bench.

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1 hour ago, LurkingHorn said:

Mavs did just about everything they could to choke that away. Amazing how much they’ve regressed in clutch time this season. 

We've been terrible in the clutch.  To be fair though, Luka was out with an injury and Dante Exum is still out so the only true PG we had was Kyrie who was being doubled the last 2 minutes to deny him handling the ball.  Our secondary ball handlers bringing it up court (Naji, Hardy, PJW) all turned the ball over or made a poor decision resulting in a turnover in the last minute and a half.  

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17 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

You guys are gonna be shocked, but the Nuggets suck without Jokic. 0-2 on his paternity leave.

He's currently rocking a nice, tidy +31.3 on/off court rating. Opponents are 19 points per 100 possessions better than them when he's not playing. Not great, Bob.

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1 hour ago, closetohumping said:

Is this Gianni’s to Houston talk real?

No. Unless (until) he demands a trade, you simply cannot trade a Top 3 player still very much in his prime that can't become a free agent until 2027 if he opts out of his player option. Milwaukee may never find a player of his caliber again.

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In early season statistical anomalies that only interest me news, Kevon Looney is averaging 8.4 rebounds...in 15.7 minutes a game. 4.3 of them are offensive. 

Per 36 minutes, he's averaging 19.1 rebounds, 9.4 offensive. Both lead the league by a mile.

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