Minnesota Sports Forum

There is a lot of content out there to listen to, and I find the pods particularly interesting because I don't know as much about the Mavs as I did about the Suns and Nuggets. We faced them 4 times during the season, but only once when both Kyrie and Luka were playing, and none after the big mid-year trades. Not surprisingly, all of the podcasters are picking Dallas to win. Here are some takeaways:

Matchups: There is no mystery about how the Mavs are going to match up on defense: Their best defender Jones Jr. will be on Ant, their second best defender PJ will be on KAT, the centers will be on Rudy, Kyrie will be on Conley, and Luka will be on Jaden. There is also consensus about how the Wolves will line up, although I don't agree. Ant has already declared publicly that he will be on Kyrie, so that would leave Jaden on Luka, Rudy on the centers, Conley on Jones Jr, and KAT on PJ. Now, the Dallas podcasters like the Luka matchup, because they believe Luka can use his bigger bulk to bully Jaden. I agree, and that's why I want the stronger Ant on Luka and Jaden on Kyrie. We'll have to see what happens.

Injuries : There is a lot of talk about Luka's knee. I wonder if this is another "Jamal Murray" injury; i.e. something that is talked about a lot but not really an issue. I guess we will find out, but I suspect this is not really a factor. On the other hand, Kleber has a real injury and that's a big loss for the Mavs if he can't play. Other than the centers, the Mavs are not very big, and they could use Kleber's size off the bench. He has been seen taking some shots on the court, but he's not going to be reevaluated until Thursday. There's a chance though that he could be cleared for Game 2.

Role players and bench: The Dallas guys rave about the strides PJ Washington has taken, and what Jones Jr. has brought on defense since he arrived. They like them a lot. But it's interesting that there is almost no discussion of the Mavs' bench. They talk about some of the Wolves reserves, but they are silent about the Mavs bench. I see this as a big opportunity for the Wolves if Naz, NAW and SloMo bring their best games.

SloMo: Speaking of SloMo, apparently he is a villain in Dallas. It goes back to when he was a Spur, and one of the podcaster tweeted about an egregious flop that SloMo did. (Kind of ironic considering that he covers Luka for a living). SloMo took offense and a twitter war ensued. Look for some boos when Kyle takes the court.

That's just a few of the things I heard. I'll keep following these pods and post what I hear. If others are checking out some of the many Dallas pods out there, tell us what you hear.

I guess I shouldn't be annoyed that the Dallas guys on Locked on Mavericks are so giddy after a Game 1 win. I suppose I would would be too. I will say that Dane Moore's podcast is much more scholarly than any of the other teams' pods I have listened to.

Much of the podcast I listened to today addressed Ant's inability to guard Kyrie, and about how it wore him out and made him relatively ineffective at both ends. They questioned whether Jaden might be more effective on Kyrie, but they concluded Ant's lack of length might make him ineffective against Luka.

Dane Moore also spent a lot of time talking about the matchups, and considered whether swapping the Luke/Kyrie matchups might be better. Although I still would try it (I think Ant would be fresher is he were matched up with the slower offensive player), they concluded it would be a bad idea for some of the same reasons the Dallas guys did. They went on to talk about how ineffective Mike Conley has been and wondered if his injury might be hampering him. They suggested that perhaps we could give more minutes to NAW and let him guard Kyrie, and put Ant on Jones Jr. where he wouldn't have to work so hard. I would also consider this, but they missed two big points: NAW has been shooting poorly in the last two games, and he also wasn't able to keep Kyrie in front of him when it was his assignment.

We don't know what Finchie is going to come up with as a response, but I have some concerns if he plans to continue to use Ant as Kyrie's primary defender.

FNG wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2024 4:53 pm I guess I shouldn't be annoyed that the Dallas guys on Locked on Mavericks are so giddy after a Game 1 win. I suppose I would would be too. I will say that Dane Moore's podcast is much more scholarly than any of the other teams' pods I have listened to.

Much of the podcast I listened to today addressed Ant's inability to guard Kyrie, and about how it wore him out and made him relatively ineffective at both ends. They questioned whether Jaden might be more effective on Kyrie, but they concluded Ant's lack of length might make him ineffective against Luka.

Dane Moore also spent a lot of time talking about the matchups, and considered whether swapping the Luke/Kyrie matchups might be better. Although I still would try it (I think Ant would be fresher is he were matched up with the slower offensive player), they concluded it would be a bad idea for some of the same reasons the Dallas guys did. They went on to talk about how ineffective Mike Conley has been and wondered if his injury might be hampering him. They suggested that perhaps we could give more minutes to NAW and let him guard Kyrie, and put Ant on Jones Jr. where he wouldn't have to work so hard. I would also consider this, but they missed two big points: NAW has been shooting poorly in the last two games, and he also wasn't able to keep Kyrie in front of him when it was his assignment.

We don't know what Finchie is going to come up with as a response, but I have some concerns if he plans to continue to use Ant as Kyrie's primary defender.

He hasn't been clicking lately on 3's, but I'd play NAW a bit more, maybe an even split with Conley so he can guard Kyrie for heavy minutes.

I do think for sure Ant got worn down on Kyrie. He's better served using his energy mostly offense and some defense. Not mostly defense and some offense like game 1. He was really gassed at the end of the game. Besides that, Kyrie is pretty much tough to guard anyways. Might as well use NAW who can focus on defense and just mostly spot up 3's in the corner on offense.

I do think Ant wanted to prove he can guard Kyrie. It didn't work out well hurting his game on both ends. I think he did OK for sure. But might as well use his talents where he can maximize the teams benefits.