94chem said:

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When does the choking stop, and the actual basketball begin? Game 35 or so?

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They'll never consistently win until Luka figures out he's not the only person on team in the last minute of a half or game. This team is too talented for him to be doing **** like that consistently.

dave94 said:

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If y'all think that Luka is why we lost this game then I don't know what to say.

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Stfu. Dude has been atrocious in clutch time. Scoring 31 doesn't undo the dumb **** end of game bs he keeps doing

That was ****ing pathetic by Luka. I'm sick of watching him late in games.

Stupid 15 foot rainbow.

Then when grimes hit the 3, he was *****ing at the ref which alllowed curry to easily catch the inbound. He could have prevented it.

Then instead of fouling, he wastes 10 seconds. I guess he didn't want to be the one to commit the foul, even though he only had two fouls? And we had a foul to give.

And then of course no one else touches the ball on the last possession and he chunks up his patented step back 3 point brick at the end of the game.

Offense needs to run through Kyrie late in the 4th. Or anyone else.

Warriors stars closed the game Mavs stars didn't

reoccurring theme this season

— Slightly Biased (@BiasedSlightly) November 13, 2024

Sums it up pretty well.

dave94 said:

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If y'all think that Luka is why we lost this game then I don't know what to say.

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He's not the reason we lost but he's also the reason we didn't win, if that makes sense. Had a great stretch of several possessions where he got 3 layups in the 1st half.. Then went away from it the rest of the game. He's gotta stop settling for mid range shots when he can get to the basket and he's gotta stop the ridiculous 3s, particularly at the end of games and at the end halves/quarters. He also had 5 turnovers tonight.

if you think Luka is the problem, you just dont know ball. Its ok

PatAg said:

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if you think Luka is the problem, you just dont know ball. Its ok

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If you don't, you haven't watched the last few games, or at least not the end. Again, as shack as so eloquently put it…none of the amazing stat lines mean dick if you're gonna throw up hail mary desperation in clutch moments

We were expecting an MVP from him this year and he has not been playing anywhere close to MVP level.

Steph Curry outscoring our entire team 12-3 in the last three and a half minutes had a lot to do with us losing.

The tweet about other team stars closing games and ours not is pretty spot on for this one. What did Luka, Kyrie, and Klay do the last three and half minutes? What did Steph do?

5-6

Don't know about the rest of you but that record is ****ing ugly. Definitely not what I had in mind coming off a finals trip and adding klay to the mix.

Looked like there was way too many second chance / second chance baskets given up by our team. Looney was going to town picking up rebounds like crazy with 3-4 white jerseys by the basket just watching him work.

5-6 ****ing A

Grapesoda2525 said:

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5-6

Don't know about the rest of you but that record is ****ing ugly. Definitely not what I had in mind coming off a finals trip and adding klay to the mix.

Looked like there was way too many second chance / second chance baskets given up by our team. Looney was going to town picking up rebounds like crazy with 3-4 white jerseys by the basket just watching him work.

5-6 ****ing A

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Seems like GS, particularly Looney, always get a ton of offensive rebounds against us. Not sure if it s because of the way they move so much on offense or if it has to do with the number of 3s and long rebounds. We looked like we were completely unprepared for their style of offense, honestly.

Regarding the overall record, it's been a difficult schedule and the Mavs have been really hurt the last week+ without Lively and PJ. Maxi and Exum being out has also hurt.

The schedule will get easier and the team will hopefully get healthier. No need to panic yet.

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/clutch-traditional

Mavs 29th in the NBA in clutch games at 1 - 5. You would have to think regression is coming on this so I wouldn't overreact even if is a frustrating watch.

But there are two Luka things I would be concerned about.

1. Luka is at 32% from 3 point range. I would assume regression is coming here as well, but to what? In year 1/2 he was around 32%. In year 3/4/5 he climbed to around 35%. Last year he was at 38%. Was that the outlier? I don't like his current shot profile at 32%-35%. He doesn't want to get into the paint because it is a beating. I get that, its a long season. But you can't shoot 10 3-pointers per game and only hit 32%. Either he has to hit at a higher clip or put more pressure on the rim.

2. Luka looking gimpy already. The guy played into June last year then tried to get Slovenia to qualify for the Olympics. I don't think the rested properly and now there won't be time to do so. Eye test looks like he isn't having as easy a time pressuring the rim even if he wanted to. All of the efficiency metrics have him at a career low (TS%, Scoring Efficient, eFG%) and I can't help but think that this is directly related to not having a proper summer off. I don't know how this gets better and that is a concern.

It's not totally fair to hang 1 - 5 clutch record on your best player, but the reality is that if Luka is on normal career efficiency that record could dramatically flip. Ultimately these guys need to be clicking off wins and peaking starting in Feb/March. Unfortunately though these early season L's count the same and could cost the Mavs home court advantage or worse toss them into a play-in situation.

Great video talking about exactly what we were discussing last night regarding Luka. Luka is settling for more mid range jumpers than ever, while also shooting his worst ever on all jump shots. He's also shooting 30% on floaters when he's normally a 60% floater shooter.

Something is clearly wrong with Luka, and the debate is whether it's just a slump, working in to shape, or really injured.

shack009 said:

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Great video talking about exactly what we were discussing last night regarding Luka. Luka is settling for more mid range jumpers than ever, while also shooting his worst ever on all jump shots. He's also shooting 30% on floaters when he's normally a 60% floater shooter.

Something is clearly wrong with Luka, and the debate is whether it's just a slump, working in to shape, or really injured.

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The 3 to tie should have gone to Klay or Kyrie….or why do we even have them? I'm so tired of playing into the opponent's hand by it being a Luka shot or bust. It's ****ing ******ed and honestly should be reigned in by Kidd or the front office. If Luka insists on the shot and refuses to be an adult, then **** him. The dude isn't Lebron…yet. He deserves every ounce of criticism for being a whiny ***** and for being an end of quarter, half and game ball hog. An occasional game tier or winner 1 out of 10 times doesn't undo the other 9 air balls or bricks. And then and even worse, after he throws up that garbage, he stomps back to our bench like a little kid. And, as others have said, he cost us at least 2 warrior buckets in the closing mins by doing his usual whining routine with the refs. I love the dude, but only because he's ours. If I weren't a Mavs fan, he'd easily be in my top 5 for most hateable players currently in the league.

Sample size too small. Stuff will get ironed out eventually.

shack009 said:

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PatAg said:

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if you think Luka is the problem, you just dont know ball. Its ok

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The biggest issue with this team in close games is Luka's shot selection. It's also on him to get the offense going and we scored 3 points in the final 3.5 minutes tonight (Grimes step back). That's just a fact. Luka has to be better throughout the game, and especially late in the game.

You know why Steph is able to get to his step back 3 so easily? Because he also will try to get to the rim. You know why Luka's step back is never available late in the game? Because he hasn't been putting pressure on the rim consistently, and especially not in late game/half situations.

What makes it so frustrating is we know he is capable of better.

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Actually it's the opposite. If you don't see major holes in Luka's game, especially in last possessions of quarters and the last 3-4 minutes of close games, then you don't know ball. I'm not sure how it's even debatable at this point.

You have to be good in clutch time in the NBA. If he's good/great the rest of the game but then goes into his typical self the last 3/4 minutes and takes step back after step back without moving the ball around, we aren't going to be very good. And we are literally giving away multiple possession a game with him at the end of quarters. If we have 5-8 seconds left, most teams push it and get to the rim or get a clean look. But he just brings it up the court and shoots a 30+ foot step back literally every time. Doesn't even try to push it to get a better shot. We have a good team but it's very hard to give away possessions like this and beat other good teams.

I'd love to see his field goal percentage or efficiency rating on possessions where we are within 3 points and there is less than a minute left or less than 2 minutes left over the last few years. Not sure if that's something you can look up. Most non-Mavs fans probably thinks he's great at clutch shots but that's just bc they only see the highlights on sports center when he makes a shot to win the game. And don't see the 80+% that he misses. He literally takes the shot every time so of course he's going to have some game winners.

I would also assume we have to be near last in the league on last possessions of quarters. Whether we have 3 seconds or 20 seconds, it's ending in a Luka contested step back.

He's got to be better in these situations. I'm fine if he doesn't score and misses some shots. As long as they aren't dumbass step back 3s with no ball movement whatsoever. That's unacceptable.

And I get why everyone is saying that it's early and things will work themselves out. I'm hoping that's true (and think we will still have a good season). But at the end of the year, I guarantee you that if we were 2-3 games better then that would be huge. The difference between going on the road or home court, being the 2 seed or 1 seed, being in the play in or not, etc. So these games do matter and we should easily have won a 2-3 more.

I would like to go ahead and propose the phrase "you don't know ball" gets retired. Not just from TexAgs, but from the whole internet.

mavsfan4ever said:

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shack009 said:

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PatAg said:

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if you think Luka is the problem, you just dont know ball. Its ok

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The biggest issue with this team in close games is Luka's shot selection. It's also on him to get the offense going and we scored 3 points in the final 3.5 minutes tonight (Grimes step back). That's just a fact. Luka has to be better throughout the game, and especially late in the game.

You know why Steph is able to get to his step back 3 so easily? Because he also will try to get to the rim. You know why Luka's step back is never available late in the game? Because he hasn't been putting pressure on the rim consistently, and especially not in late game/half situations.

What makes it so frustrating is we know he is capable of better.

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Actually it's the opposite. If you don't see major holes in Luka's game, especially in last possessions of quarters and the last 3-4 minutes of close games, then you don't know ball. I'm not sure how it's even debatable at this point.

You have to be good in clutch time in the NBA. If he's good/great the rest of the game but then goes into his typical self the last 3/4 minutes and takes step back after step back without moving the ball around, we aren't going to be very good. And we are literally giving away multiple possession a game with him at the end of quarters. If we have 5-8 seconds left, most teams push it and get to the rim or get a clean look. But he just brings it up the court and shoots a 30+ foot step back literally every time. Doesn't even try to push it to get a better shot. We have a good team but it's very hard to give away possessions like this and beat other good teams.

I'd love to see his field goal percentage or efficiency rating on possessions where we are within 3 points and there is less than a minute left or less than 2 minutes left over the last few years. Not sure if that's something you can look up. Most non-Mavs fans probably thinks he's great at clutch shots but that's just bc they only see the highlights on sports center when he makes a shot to win the game. And don't see the 80+% that he misses. He literally takes the shot every time so of course he's going to have some game winners.

I would also assume we have to be near last in the league on last possessions of quarters. Whether we have 3 seconds or 20 seconds, it's ending in a Luka contested step back.

He's got to be better in these situations. I'm fine if he doesn't score and misses some shots. As long as they aren't dumbass step back 3s with no ball movement whatsoever. That's unacceptable.

And I get why everyone is saying that it's early and things will work themselves out. I'm hoping that's true (and think we will still have a good season). But at the end of the year, I guarantee you that if we were 2-3 games better then that would be huge. The difference between going on the road or home court, being the 2 seed or 1 seed, being in the play in or not, etc. So these games do matter and we should easily have won a 2-3 more.

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This guy gets it.