I'm not sure it has been noticed but Luka has shot poorly for 6 straight games now. Less than 43% from the field in each of those 6 games. He had the 11 point barrage against Houston and went to the line 15 times yesterday so it hasn't been as noticeable.Here are his shooting splits by month FG%/3FG%:

Oct: 45.8% / 40.0%
Nov: 43.3% / 36.8%
Dec: 34.4% / 30.8%

Small-ish samples aside, it would be nice for Luka to hit some shots tonight.

Most bipolar team I've ever seen.

How do they dominate at home and look like the worst team in the league on the road?

They just lost to the worst team in the league on the road twice! Phoenix only has 5 wins and 2 of them are against the mavs. Mavericks also lost at Atlanta too.

This is some really strange stuff.

Mavs have gotta get wins over bad teams like this, JJ or not....their schedule is about to get significantly harder. Could easily see a slide here

Dsj comes back and we look like crap. I think there may be some correlation there.

It's a back to back. But we need to beat teams like the suns even if it is a back to back.

I wouldn't pin that one on Smith, although he didn't help things. Looking at the box score it is pretty easy to see why the Mavs lost. They shot 5-33 from behind the arc and turned it over 23 times. That is pretty awful. No one shot well and only Luka more than 2 assists. Not sure what the deal is on the road but these guys had better figure out how to make a shot outside the AAC. It has been a pretty fun season so far but playoff dreams can be crushed quickly unless they can steal some games in this next stretch. I think they need to go 4-7 at minimum to keep pace with the 8th seed.

Tue, Dec 18
@ Denver

Thu, Dec 20
@ LAC

Sat, Dec 22
@ Golden State

Sun, Dec 23
@ Portland

Wed, Dec 26
vs New Orleans

Fri, Dec 28
@ New Orleans

Sun, Dec 30
vs Oklahoma City

Mon, Dec 31
@ Oklahoma City

Wed, Jan 2
@ Charlotte

Fri, Jan 4
@ Boston

Sat, Jan 5
@ Philadelphia

I'll be at the Denver game on Tuesday.

Who would you guess we can go 4-7 with during that stretch? I think @ LAC, one of the Nola's, one of the OKC, and @ Charlotte.

mavsfan4ever said:

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Dsj comes back and we look like crap. I think there may be some correlation there.

It's a back to back. But we need to beat teams like the suns even if it is a back to back.

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Come on man, the entire team played like crap. Last night wasn't the singular fault of a second year PG.

The team reeks like a rotting corpse on the road.

That upcoming schedule is brutal. Would be lucky to survive that stretch without overall record dipping below .500

Couple things, we have struggled against Phoenix for a couple years now for some reason
We have also sucked without Barea leading the bench and providing valuable minutes with starters at times. Hoping Brunson grows into that role

M.C. Swag said:

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mavsfan4ever said:

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Dsj comes back and we look like crap. I think there may be some correlation there.

It's a back to back. But we need to beat teams like the suns even if it is a back to back.

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Come on man, the entire team played like crap. Last night wasn't the singular fault of a second year PG.

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Didn't say it was singularly his fault. But at this point there is no denying we look much better without him on the court. The ball movement and flow of the game is much better when he's out. We obviously need to keep playing him so that he can develop. But if we were only trying to win now, we are better when he's out.

The last couple games before he was out with the wrist injury, our starting lineup had started to gel. DSJ was getting after it on defense and playing better off the ball with Luka creating. DSJ had been pretty good catching the ball on the move and either creating or scoring. He needs to pick up a runner, ala The Jet

Yea, agreed. I've been impressed with his D. And when he plays off the ball, he has a great first step and can get to the rim. The issues come into play when he's the primary ball handler and tries to create off the dribble. But if he can keep up the great D and play off the ball, he actually fits very well with Luka.

DSJ is fine. He's still learning the position. But beyond that he's a worker and fits into the culture. He's a plus to this team and I won't hear anyone who suggest we should give up on a hard working PG just 1 yr and 2 months into his NBA career.

mavsfan4ever said:

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Yea, agreed. I've been impressed with his D. And when he plays off the ball, he has a great first step and can get to the rim. The issues come into play when he's the primary ball handler and tries to create off the dribble. But if he can keep up the great D and play off the ball, he actually fits very well with Luka.

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Yea, I don't think he has the handle to consistently take a good defender straight up yet, but he absolutely can burn people when it's swung to him off screens

No one has said we should give up on him.

No one here did, which is why you'll notice my comment wasn't to anyone in particular. Felt like the convo here may have been drifting towards that sentiment. If not it's littered on Mavs reddit and within the stadium itself. 2 guys were sitting behind me at the Magic game devising ways in which Dallas needs to sell DSJ's stock now before it plummets. Just irked me is all. Apologies if it came off as an attack on you. Wasn't my intention.

M.C. Swag said:

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No one here did, which is why you'll notice my comment wasn't to anyone in particular. Felt like the convo here may have been drifting towards that sentiment. If not it's littered on Mavs reddit and within the stadium itself. 2 guys were sitting behind me at the Magic game devising ways in which Dallas needs to sell DSJ's stock now before it plummets. Just irked me is all. Apologies if it came off as an attack on you. Wasn't my intention.

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Clearly they haven't immediately gelled on the court, but anyone who thought they would is an idiot. Just like they would be an idiot to think you give up on a 1st round draft pick in their 2nd year. He had one year in college at 19, whereas Luka had 3-4 years as a pro. It normally takes young PG's a while to learn the nuances of the NBA game. DSJ is starting to get better using his speed and athleticism, he can basically cruise at 3/4 quarter speed and still be quicker than most people. He is doing a better job already of being under control when he gets into the paint, so he can create and score more easily in that scenario.

It may very well be that we eventually trade him, but who knows.

Damn, De'Aaron Fox looks like he's going to be really good.

No worries, I didnt take it as an attack. I enjoy the discussion.

I'm getting fairly concerned about him, But we obviously can't give up on him yet.

^Idc how much he stuffs those stats; DJ needs to not be retained. Noel got benched for entire games for doing 1/10 of the stuff that DJ does on a routine basis.

M.C. Swag said:

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^Idc how much he stuffs those stats; DJ needs to not be retained. Noel got benched for entire games for doing 1/10 of the stuff that DJ does on a routine basis.

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Yea, I don't know if he just pouts some plays or what, because he will also go balls to the wall on plays. He might just be mentally not tough enough.

I just don't understand how he can see that in film review and not be completely embarrassed.

Do you guys not remember him here? Turgeon routinely had him on the bench because his lack of effort and discipline.

The hope was that he'd mature once he had a few years in the NBA but I think the ghosting of Cuban a few years back pretty much proved he is mentally weak and lazy.

Good 1-year pickup, but no desire to offer any kind of multi-year deal to him.

I do but he was 18 yrs old. Most 18 yr olds are lazy and selfish. I cant fathom how a 10 yr veteran professional is ok with putting that effort on tape. If I was a teammate I'd have a hard time not resenting him (especially given his pay). I said it earlier in this thread...I can accept losing, but I can't accept losing with no-effort play. It's inexcusable.

Also, based on the past few games I really hope Carlisle re-evaluates Maxis role. He's clearly outplaying his minutes. He's our only true rim protector and does just enough on offense to actually be useful. I'm starting to bang the drum that Maxi should start over Barnes. Especially if Barnes is going to be playing his BS iso-no-matter-what ball.

M.C. Swag said:

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Also, based on the past few games I really hope Carlisle re-evaluates Maxis role. He's clearly outplaying his minutes. He's our only true rim protector and does just enough on offense to actually be useful. I'm starting to bang the drum that Maxi should start over Barnes. Especially if Barnes is going to be playing his BS iso-no-matter-what ball.

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Maxi can also defend on the perimeter, where Jordan is the old school big that is afraid to venture out past 10 ft.
I'm not hating on him, and I wish he could get his mind right.

Road game tomorrow

Look out folks.

Road game against probably the best team in the nba...this one could be ugly

Just need to go 4-6 the next 10 games. That's it. Walk Into January with a .500 record and I'll be jumping for joy.

Gonna be a rough stretch

Jokic is pretty fat.

This team has to figure how to win on the road. Absolutely will not make the playoffs if they dont

Rick is still having to roster science to figure out what doesn't work.