Dlo out of the last preseason games GDT

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

- Defense and overall energy was good tonight. I thought the Mavs made a lot of tough, contested 3s. Hardaway and Richardson were really shooting it well.

- Interesting that Saunders did go bigger in the second half with Layman playing a lot more small forward.

- Edwards was fun to watch. He still has a long ways to go. Misses a ton of shots. Most impressive thing about tonight for him though? Zero turnovers.

- Reid didn't shoot it well, but otherwise filled up the box score in his 26 minutes and he is 2X the screen-setter that KAT is.

- Nowell may be the most refined player of all our wings....may be not the best yet, but he is really smooth out there. He competes on defense too. He does not belong in the G-League this year.

- Juancho does nothing for me. He is useless on defense.

- Loved how Okogie and Beasley went at Doncic tonight. That was a weird second half starting lineup for Saunders though...

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Tonight, Culver only reinforced my belief that he should be starting on this team. Send Okogie to the bench.

[60WinTim]

Tonight, Culver only reinforced my belief that he should be starting on this team. Send Okogie to the bench.

Yup. If he is not going to start Rubio, then at least start Culver to add more ball handling.

[Coolbreeze44]

Tonight, Culver only reinforced my belief that he should be starting on this team. Send Okogie to the bench.

Yup. If he is not going to start Rubio, then at least start Culver to add more ball handling.

Culver is a better player than Okogie, but so is 90% of the league. Edwards will start sooner than later.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Tonight, Culver only reinforced my belief that he should be starting on this team. Send Okogie to the bench.

Yup. If he is not going to start Rubio, then at least start Culver to add more ball handling.

Culver is a better player than Okogie, but so is 90% of the league. Edwards will start sooner than later.

Edwards isn't better than Culver right now. He's more talented, but not better. Start Culver and if Edwards usurps him, then so be it.

[Coolbreeze44]

Tonight, Culver only reinforced my belief that he should be starting on this team. Send Okogie to the bench.

Yup. If he is not going to start Rubio, then at least start Culver to add more ball handling.

Culver is a better player than Okogie, but so is 90% of the league. Edwards will start sooner than later.

Edwards isn't better than Culver right now. He's more talented, but not better. Start Culver and if Edwards usurps him, then so be it.

Cam, what has Culver done you're so impressed with? He played okay against the end of the Mavs bench. What am I missing?

[Lipoli390]

- Defense and overall energy was good tonight. I thought the Mavs made a lot of tough, contested 3s. Hardaway and Richardson were really shooting it well.

- Interesting that Saunders did go bigger in the second half with Layman playing a lot more small forward.

- Edwards was fun to watch. He still has a long ways to go. Misses a ton of shots. Most impressive thing about tonight for him though? Zero turnovers.

- Reid didn't shoot it well, but otherwise filled up the box score in his 26 minutes and he is 2X the screen-setter that KAT is.

- Nowell may be the most refined player of all our wings....may be not the best yet, but he is really smooth out there. He competes on defense too. He does not belong in the G-League this year.

- Juancho does nothing for me. He is useless on defense.

- Loved how Okogie and Beasley went at Doncic tonight. That was a weird second half starting lineup for Saunders though...

I agree with all your takes, Q. I especially agree with you takes on Nowell and Juancho.

Nowell definitely appears to be our most refined wing. He's a complete player who competes and plays effectively on both sides of the ball. I love the say he slides his feet defensively. He's very quick laterally defense well on the ball. Offensively, he has a full arsenal, including a very nice mid-range game to go with very good three-point shooting and excellent ball-handling. He just looks like he knows how to play.

As for Juancho, I can't add anything to what you wrote. I still scratch my head every time I think about Rosas paying him $7 million a year guaranteed for two years.

Some additional thoughts.

1. Your guy Vanderbilt didn't play much, but I liked what I saw from him tonight. I'll go out on a bit of a limb and declare him to be our 2nd best rebounder after KAT. And he plays really hard. Based on what I saw tonight, I want to see more.

2. Culver looks much improved over last season and I really like what I saw from him tonight. If he continues to shoot the way he shot tonight, he's going to be very good.

3. Beasley has issues off the court, but I really like what he brings to the team, namely his toughness, energy, 3-point shooting and rebounding. He's probably our best rebounding wing. And this team really needs though players with some dog in them. Beasley provides that.

4. RHJ played well again tonight and I'd really like to see him ahead of Juancho in the rotation. Like Beasley, he brings toughness and energy. He also provides some desperately needed size and rebounding in front court.

[KiwiMatt]

Didn't watch the game but looking at the box score Culver was a team high + 25, with 18 points, 2/3 from behind the arc with 2 steals and 2 blocks. Promising. Meanwhile Okogie was a - 29!

[Lipoli390]

I believe I wrote this last year... and the year previously...

Luka Doncic is one of the best players in the league.

But he might be the biggest whiner in the league. He's truly insufferable.



[Note: As noted the first time I wrote that... it works. He's been getting the superstar treatment for his entire career... in part because he's always acted the part. The indignation. The confidence. The browbeating. The incessant whining every 20 second on the court...]

I found myself despising him tonight. He acts like such a punk. But boy is he good!

[Lipoli390]

Jaylen Nowell has great mechanics. I dont know how we cant find some playing time for him in our rotation. Imagine if we just would have drafted Precious with that 17th pick. I am still failing to see how Rubio fits with either the development or the needs of this team.

I totally agree with you, Doper, on both Nowell and Rubio. I've always been a big Ricky fan and was unhappy when Thibodeau traded him. However, he just doesn't fit well with this team as I see it. Culver and Nowell can handle the ball and play some point. It also looks like Edwards can play some lead guard also. And that's all in addition to DLO and JMac.