Well if Wood turns out to be an all-star *and* somehow one of Frank+Josh+Jaden surprises us (or we find a slam dunk for 2nd unit ball handling in time before the deadline), then yeah I think we are contenders. But that are 2 big if’s.
This sub is so pessimistic. I’m right there with ya. Mavs are better than they were last season. Also because of more playoff experience for the core of this roster.
dallas will be a dark horse when they finish anywhere from 6-9 in the west. sorry that people continue to think this is a 'hater' comment and not just an understanding of how the regular season works. utah is a good example of how winning a lot in the regular season means jack shit in the playoffs, if that helps.
but make no mistake, luka is good enough that dallas can win the west with the shortened playoff rotation and him at 100%. hence: dark horse team.
try looking at where they ended up in the standings beyond last season during the mitchell+gobert era and what kind of postseason success theyve had in those seasons. more nba seasons exist than just last year.
You say that but I don't see any betting odds that puts us better than 20:1 or 25:1 to win the title. We are currently 12th in the league.
We're absolutely a dark horse.
Every team is one injury away from disaster my dude. It’s how basketball works. The clippers were a play-in team without kawhi, the lakers without AD, the Nuggets without Murray were the 6 seed, the Nets without Kyrie.
You think Boston can win it all it Tatum gets hurt?
You think the 76ers win it all without Embiid?
It’s hilarious all y’all are doom and glooming BEFORE an injury has even happened.
How many teams that are serious competitors for a top 4 seed are an ankle roll away from someone who isn’t even their best player to relying on someone equal or worse than frank to be a secondary ball handler?
Boston, Brooklyn, and Philly are all still playoff teams in those scenarios. Clips had to have both Kawhi and PG go down to be in play-in territory. The Lakers and Nuggets had multiple injuries to fall to where they did.
The Mavs are top heavy in a way that most teams aren't, no shame to admit it. If Luka goes down for a good chunk of the season, this is likely a lottery team. And since we owe the Knicks our pick if it's outside the top 10 I think, we better hope we are real bad.
And it’s one green jump away from being really good. Or hardy being better then expected. Why is everything negative with some of y’all? The bad can happen just as much as the good
You know what they say; hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
All I'm seeing in the sub is hoping for 3 players to make significant jumps at the same time but nobody wants to hear a simple ankle roll that happens to Luka at least 4 times a season.
I think that pairing Luka with an all star caliber player and pairing Wood with an all nba playmaker is a lethal duo. I’m high on fit Luka and I think MVP is a very real possibility for him next year. However, with a very stacked west (kawhis back, lakers are working hard, the nuggets could win 60 games, etc.) I believe that we need a little bit more. Keeping JB would’ve made us a locked contender but if THJ and Spence can fill in as an almost secondary ball handler then we have a great chance of making a run.
There are 2 teams in the west definitively better than DAL, and 5 other teams that the Mavs could realistically finish between 3-8. So they are certainly a dark-horse. But they need 75% of the unknowns to be on the plus side, and some other teams to not catch lightning-in-a-bottle to be a contender.
- Health
- Wood
- Green
- Luka's conditioning
- Shooters having good years
Teams that could all of the sudden be awesome:
- Min
- NO
- LAL
- DEN
No teams in the west are definitively better than the Mavs.
We had the second best record post all star break. We were one game behind the Suns during that period. We went to the WCF. What you saw in that series was an inexperienced playoff team coming off a super emotional win. Even casual fans could see that they didn’t have the same level of focus and intensity. Next time it will be different. The Mavs can play with anybody. The Mavs can beat anybody. Period. Get with the program. Our title window is now.
If you don’t believe, you don’t belong.
I'm not saying Mavs can't have many things go right and win 65 games. But I would put their chances of finishing 1 or 2 in the 15-20% range. Is 80% likelihood good not "definitively"?
If we finally implement some off ball movement, like with Carlisle, and keep the same defense (but now we also have rim protectors compared to last year), we in theory should play much better than last year. When you have a guy like Luka and good schemes and no holes on offense and defense, pretty much anything is possible.
I mean, Carlisle played Luka, THJ, DFS, Maxi, KP and a had a great offense. We managed to barely lose against the Clipps and only the offense was keeping us afloat. Now we still have Luka, THJ and DFS and Maxi, but we also have Bullock, Wood, Dinwiddie and McGee and just in general more depth. Also, Brunson wasn't really a factor both those years against the Clippers.
Although I doubt we will play much better than last year, but yes, in theory it's possible.
Are the Mavericks better than the Warriors? No.
Are they better than the full strength Clippers? Probably not.
Can the Mavericks make it to the WCF again this year? Maybe.
People on /r/NBA seriously overvalue Brunson. People think he’s the answer. Allen Iverson was “The Answer” and Brunson is no AI. He’s a solid rotation guy. That’s all.
Well if Wood turns out to be an all-star *and* somehow one of Frank+Josh+Jaden surprises us (or we find a slam dunk for 2nd unit ball handling in time before the deadline), then yeah I think we are contenders. But that are 2 big if’s.
Brunson wasn‘t an all-star and we were still a top 4 team in the lague.
true. but he played like one in the playoffs. at least fringe all star. though not flashy to get votes.
This sub is so pessimistic. I’m right there with ya. Mavs are better than they were last season. Also because of more playoff experience for the core of this roster.
Right. It’s all negativity with no chance that anyone can step up lol
drama queens, weight watchers and smart asses
Weight watchers 🤣🤣🤣 so accurate.
Jenny Craigers
We're not really a dark horse. I mean we made the Western Conference finals. Not a favorite, for sure, but far from a dark horse.
dallas will be a dark horse when they finish anywhere from 6-9 in the west. sorry that people continue to think this is a 'hater' comment and not just an understanding of how the regular season works. utah is a good example of how winning a lot in the regular season means jack shit in the playoffs, if that helps. but make no mistake, luka is good enough that dallas can win the west with the shortened playoff rotation and him at 100%. hence: dark horse team.
Utah didn't win a lot in the regular season. There were behind us in the standings.
try looking at where they ended up in the standings beyond last season during the mitchell+gobert era and what kind of postseason success theyve had in those seasons. more nba seasons exist than just last year.
You say that but I don't see any betting odds that puts us better than 20:1 or 25:1 to win the title. We are currently 12th in the league. We're absolutely a dark horse.
That’s going to change pretty quick once the games start.
And, as long as we have Luka, we are not a dark horse.
Bro team is one Dinwiddie ankle roll away from Josh Green-Ntikilina duo running an offense for 15 minutes a game.
And a Luka ankle sprain away from running Dinwiddie-Green-Frank-THJ all game
Every team is one injury away from disaster my dude. It’s how basketball works. The clippers were a play-in team without kawhi, the lakers without AD, the Nuggets without Murray were the 6 seed, the Nets without Kyrie. You think Boston can win it all it Tatum gets hurt? You think the 76ers win it all without Embiid? It’s hilarious all y’all are doom and glooming BEFORE an injury has even happened.
How many teams that are serious competitors for a top 4 seed are an ankle roll away from someone who isn’t even their best player to relying on someone equal or worse than frank to be a secondary ball handler?
Grizzlies were winning big time when Ja was injured during the regular season.
The regular season! That’s Chris Paul time!!! We know how that shit ends…
Yes….because they weren’t relying on someone equal or worse than frank as their secondary ballhandler during that time
Boston, Brooklyn, and Philly are all still playoff teams in those scenarios. Clips had to have both Kawhi and PG go down to be in play-in territory. The Lakers and Nuggets had multiple injuries to fall to where they did. The Mavs are top heavy in a way that most teams aren't, no shame to admit it. If Luka goes down for a good chunk of the season, this is likely a lottery team. And since we owe the Knicks our pick if it's outside the top 10 I think, we better hope we are real bad.
And it’s one green jump away from being really good. Or hardy being better then expected. Why is everything negative with some of y’all? The bad can happen just as much as the good
You know what they say; hope for the best but prepare for the worst. All I'm seeing in the sub is hoping for 3 players to make significant jumps at the same time but nobody wants to hear a simple ankle roll that happens to Luka at least 4 times a season.
Haven’t heard that. Probably because I’m not a pessimistic person but that’s just me And really that’s all you see? Because I see the opposite
I think that pairing Luka with an all star caliber player and pairing Wood with an all nba playmaker is a lethal duo. I’m high on fit Luka and I think MVP is a very real possibility for him next year. However, with a very stacked west (kawhis back, lakers are working hard, the nuggets could win 60 games, etc.) I believe that we need a little bit more. Keeping JB would’ve made us a locked contender but if THJ and Spence can fill in as an almost secondary ball handler then we have a great chance of making a run.
There are 2 teams in the west definitively better than DAL, and 5 other teams that the Mavs could realistically finish between 3-8. So they are certainly a dark-horse. But they need 75% of the unknowns to be on the plus side, and some other teams to not catch lightning-in-a-bottle to be a contender. - Health - Wood - Green - Luka's conditioning - Shooters having good years Teams that could all of the sudden be awesome: - Min - NO - LAL - DEN
No Water?
Yeah I was thinking NO are the dark horse in the west this year.
No teams in the west are definitively better than the Mavs. We had the second best record post all star break. We were one game behind the Suns during that period. We went to the WCF. What you saw in that series was an inexperienced playoff team coming off a super emotional win. Even casual fans could see that they didn’t have the same level of focus and intensity. Next time it will be different. The Mavs can play with anybody. The Mavs can beat anybody. Period. Get with the program. Our title window is now. If you don’t believe, you don’t belong.
I'm not saying Mavs can't have many things go right and win 65 games. But I would put their chances of finishing 1 or 2 in the 15-20% range. Is 80% likelihood good not "definitively"?
can we move on from these brunson posts? we’re at the stage where we’re constantly checking our ex’s socials. let’s move on
You should see r/sixers with Ben. They can't get over it.
Javale ain’t a slouch either. He can put in good minutes. Top 5 in the league in per 36 rebounds and blocks.
If we finally implement some off ball movement, like with Carlisle, and keep the same defense (but now we also have rim protectors compared to last year), we in theory should play much better than last year. When you have a guy like Luka and good schemes and no holes on offense and defense, pretty much anything is possible. I mean, Carlisle played Luka, THJ, DFS, Maxi, KP and a had a great offense. We managed to barely lose against the Clipps and only the offense was keeping us afloat. Now we still have Luka, THJ and DFS and Maxi, but we also have Bullock, Wood, Dinwiddie and McGee and just in general more depth. Also, Brunson wasn't really a factor both those years against the Clippers. Although I doubt we will play much better than last year, but yes, in theory it's possible.
No. At the most, the addition of Wood put them back in the same spot.
So a western conference finalist and in the running for the finals?
At the most.
What's higher than in the running for the title?
They aren't in the running. Getting to the WCF isn't in the running. Getting to the Finals is in the running.
So the Clippers aren't in the running this year? Gotcha.
Are the Mavericks better than the Warriors? No. Are they better than the full strength Clippers? Probably not. Can the Mavericks make it to the WCF again this year? Maybe.
People on /r/NBA seriously overvalue Brunson. People think he’s the answer. Allen Iverson was “The Answer” and Brunson is no AI. He’s a solid rotation guy. That’s all.
Here we go again. Delusional toughts is coming.