Can Luka & Kyrie hold off Wembanyama and Spurs before All Star break? Mavericks vs Spurs recap

Can Luka & Kyrie hold off Wembanyama and Spurs before All Star break? Mavericks vs Spurs recap

A [Applause] Hello welcome to pod Maverick after dark you are joined by Kirk Henderson and Josh Bo we are editors over at Mavs Moneyball it is 9:47 on Valentine’s Day the Dallas Mavericks just beat the the pants off the um San Antonio Spurs 116 to 93 Josh

How you doing I’m doing great I got an air mattress behind me in my office um it’s a lovely background visual for any of any of y’all that are uh checking out the podcast visually very professional um but I’m doing good you know hey real life is real life uh the All-Star break

Is here hallelujah and so that’s GNA probably reflected what we’re talking about tonight oh that that’s really it I mean the now on six straight uh the longest win streak in the NBA along with their uh longest win streak of the Season which is really something

And H this game was a was a weird one you know the the Spurs tend to come out swinging and firing against the Mavericks and you know Victor wanyama uh you know Rookie of the Year candidate came out early and really just sort of along with um Sohan Jeremy Sohan really

Made life difficult for the Mavericks they scored 32 points in the first quarter looked like the Mavericks Defence from yesterday year um second quarter kind of much of the same Luca looked a little lifeless to be quite candid uh at times which you know it’s the game before All-Star break I wasn’t

Entirely surprised by that uh the third you know the the game kind of rounded into form at the end of the second quarter Kyrie Irving uh in particular really took over this was this was a a Kyrie Irving game for the books uh just a really just riotously funny

Performance 15 of 22 shooting 34 points did not get to the free throw line also had also had nine rebounds and seven assists and a pair of steals and a couple I mean he had a move over over over a Victor wanyama that’s gonna get

Played for the rest of the year it was so crazy and he was just really in his bag uh in terms of the ball just feeling like it was a part of him as you watch him dribble and so that was pretty nice which then you know allowed kind of Luca

To kick things off a little bit more on offense the defense for the whole team in the in the the second part of the second quarter into the third quarter was really really really good uh it’s like the the turnaround for this game at one point the Spurs led by his many is

15 the Mavericks led by as many as 29 for those of you who are a little bit math and as I am upon occasion that is a 44o swing like that’s hard to do in an NBA game though the Dallas Mavericks have been on the other end of it having

Giving up something like that and so I’m I’m sure some of you guys are wondering why in the heck Josh and I started you know almost half an hour early well it’s because this game was done like they were this game ended in in a tight two

Hours that does not happen that does not happen so you know there were there’s a lot of fun stuff talk about I’ve kind of been rambling just because I wanted to recap kind of the game for everybody but this game was over with like 15 or you know less than five

Minutes into the third quarter it was great yeah it was like so it was almost like the Washington game a couple days ago except this the Mavericks didn’t realize kind of who they were playing at the Washington game until it felt like the fourth quarter was when both teams kind

Of showed their true colors and the Mavericks pulled away won with a dominant fourth this time it didn’t it just took till the second quarter it was just one quarter it took and then it felt like and then it was these teams started looking like the teams that they

Are because it it not to take away anything from the win you know the Mavericks need to stack wins any way they can and beating bad teams is something they didn’t do last year but it’s hard to emphasize enough that like the Wizards and the Spurs like the wizard Spurs Trailblazers hornets and

Pistons are not only like the five worst teams in the NBA they would all be contenders for the worst team in the league at any point in like the last five years and they’re all they’re all having the they’re all in one season so um which is wild because

There’s not anybody worth tanking for they’re just all really B team it’s supposed to be one of the worst drafts in a while and that’s why like you look at the Western Conference and you just like oh my God look at all these teams like look at all these win totals it’s

Like what’s happening it’s like yeah because there’s basically five teams that give you a guaranteed everybody’s still trying yeah yeah so like those five teams uh are giving you like almost automatic wins of course it’s not automatic those those teams have won a couple games but but yeah you know they

Expended a lot of physical and I think emotional energy in that Thunder game like they’re riding high off the trade deadline to go from that to be like oh now you have to play these two stinko teams you’re at home like you’re not traveling so you’re comfortable and and

Your vacations are coming up the one vacation you get you know in season is happening in a couple days like human nature is wow like okay let’s just I’m I’m ready to to to go to the beach or or whatever I mean I know I do that at my

Job when I’m a couple days away from from PTO and uh and there’s not much on my plate so I’m not like you know I’m sure that there were some some Mavs fans that were pretty concerned about the efforts to start this game and start the Washington game but like people have to

Understand over the course of an 82 Game season all teams do look like this against Bad teams occasionally you just start out slow because you’re not Juiced up to play one of the best teams in the league it’s just kind of human nature what matters is do you take care of

Business by the end of it and that’s what they did and they definitively won this game so you know no harm no foul really yeah my book like you just what you just got to get to the allstar break at this you just I think I I think if

One of our complaints about Kyrie Irving this year has been that there are times when he simply won’t take control when the Mavericks need some juice and that was what he did tonight in a big big way and you you obviously see it reflected

In the stat line like his energy is is a little bit more palpable and and and translates to other players differently than when Luca is cooking because it’s so much faster he’s attacking in transition he’s doing little he he’s doing things in the lane that are a little more just frankly I

Don’t want to just for a guy of his size like again he the layup that he took over wemy if he’s six you know I know he’s listed at 63 I think he’s about 61 if he’s 61 and wemi 74 that is a 15inch difference in a play in in players like

And that’s just incredible not to mention arm length and so some of the some of the shots he was getting off were really incredible um and that that really seemed to Spur a lot of their um you know a lot of their defensive efforts which is nice um and I I just I

Had a nice time kind of you know I’m not going to sit here and act like I I watch this game all that specifically I really spent a significant portion of the fourth quarter on Instagram um just kind of one of those games and you know you

Look through the box score obviously um you know one of the kind of more interesting minutia based things was was Daniel Gafford uh getting the start over Lively who had a minutes restriction don’t know what that minutes restriction was because Li play minutes um the plus

Minus is pretty funny in this game where Gafford was clearly in there early when the Mavericks were getting their butts kicked um but he still ended up with a plus two but at one point it was it was pretty de deep but that’s you know like plus minus is not a great individual

Stat it’s just like game to game stuff I think sometimes we use it to make a point but sometimes that point can be um as my friend Blake on Twitter noted it’s like sometimes that point is is not correct uh and Gafford ended up having a really nice game statistically um

Grabbed 10 rebounds 10 points that’s just that’s fantastic so like the starting center when you throw a lively number in there the starting center position for the Dallas Mavericks had 15 points and 18 rebounds to go along with four blocks like you take that you’re you’re thrilled by it and and that’s

What I think Mavericks fans have to look look forward to as as as the season goes on into the second not really the second part but like kind of the last third of the year yeah I’m I’m really curious to see what they do coming out of All-Star

Break because presumably Lively will be I would hope that he would be closer to off that minutes restriction and maybe closer to full strength I have not broken my nose so I cannot attest to what he’s going through or how many broken noses does this team have I think

They lead the league that’s some Advanced Data I don’t know um but yeah I’ll be curious to see you know I I wouldn’t think Gafford would would start like it would be really weird for lively to kind of like lose his job while he was hurt because I mean

He was really like right he was really one of yeah he together yeah it’s not like yeah he was one of the few good things that were going when this team was you know 26 and 23 you know basically like a week ago and we you know there was concerns about this the

Bottom falling out again uh he’s been he’s been as steady as as Luca or Kyrie have been when he’s been healthy so I can’t imagine you know and he does some things that I think are better than than gaffer that makes sense in the starting lineup and really whatever they decide

To do it is just ni to see like having those two kind of form like a Voltron just having the that across a 48 minute game being able to go to those options Dwight pal only played three minutes and I I don’t think Maxi kleba played

Tonight so uh the fact that you’re able to get by with with no Maxi and Dwight not having to play really at all uh and you’re still able to win comfortably and get the production you need out of a out of your big men position I mean that’s

Kind of a luxury the Mavericks haven’t had in what what would you say since 2011 Memorial when they had Tyson and Brendan Haywood so yeah that’s nice uh I think Lively’s defensive activity and even as a 20-year-old I think he’s a better Defender than Gafford despite maybe the shot blocking numbers whatever

They say they are but but you know that’s not a knin effort if he’s coming off the bench he’s gonna be a really productive backup bench pick so that was good to see and really I think the main point of these games this win streak and

I go I know you know none of you know really only the OKC game was against a really quality opponent but there’s a couple nice little Trends one the Mavericks have basically won three straight games without lighting it up from three um they were 15 of 38 against OKC which is good

Percentage but and 15 threes is is a decent amount but it’s not like like a crazy outlier like like scor scorching hot game um and then their last two games 25% 36 36% from three like yeah this just didn’t happen like this it doesn’t matter who the opponent was if

The Mavericks were shooting 25% from three or 36% they were losing to whoever they played last season or even the season before that like they just could not win games without making threes so I think that’s a I mean who knows what it looks like when the schedule turns up

When they come out of the All-Star break and they play some better teams but I feel like that’s something that they might be able to build upon now that it’s happened a couple of games in a row I think that’s right also something to kind of pay attention to to is

Percentage of three-pointers as part of their shot diet it’s not just the percentage made it’s also the percentage of shots taken and tonight I mean they they took 30 of 84 um they’ve they’ve kind of tre they they’ve treaded close to 45 to 50% I believe you know could be totally

Wrong here but um I’m very I’m very interested in that one um all right give me just a second here Josh so those of you who are in the Stream welcome welcome please consider going and liking the show while you’re uh in here I would very much appreciate that uh while

You’re down there if you consider subscribing to the show Josh and I are a mere 40 Subs away from 2500 uh might not seem like a big deal but we’ve only been doing this since April which uh last April was a really stupid time to start a Dallas Mavericks

YouTube show when the team was utterly garbage but those of you who have been following our show for a while know that Josh and I have had some interesting situations with this uh podcast C over the last year uh well as everybody knows I tried to host as many of these post

Game secondary postgame shows where you guys can uh as possible I don’t think I’m G to do one tonight I’m a little looking forward to um to getting ahead on uh a little bit of my own All-Star rest but my wife and I are actually sleep

Training um the the baby so there’s uh I woke up four times between midnight yeah it’s like the baby was sleeping great and then it’s like we’re going to start sleep training for real and like follow following some and then it just went to crap but no one cares about my problems

Um those of you who are listening on audio streams if you would do me a favor and consider uh leaving a review um and leaving a uh you know comment those sorts of things on all those applications it would be very great for this those of you who are watching the

Video a little bit later uh consider liking this uh the show and going ahead and leaving a comment really love reading some of these comments some of them are absolutely hysterical um one last note before I cut to some ads our overseas listeners are letting me know that they’re actually

Not getting ads I appreciate those of you who are reaching out to me on this I think that has something to do with the distribution platforms where people overseas are probably not getting the ads because they’re American targeted ads uh that would be my assumption by

The way uh thanks so much for taking the time to listen to me spew for a few minutes Josh and I will be back after a very short break okay that always uh takes longer than I intended it to but um I can’t help myself so I wanted to read you

Something something from Brad Townsen that was yesterday morning that just it it sort of ruined my morning Maxi kba’s play and activity level has been much improved the past two weeks after last night’s game he said he dislocated his pinky toe previously and it popped out

Four times causing him to miss 35 games of a 36 game stretch he now inserts a metal plate in his toe or in his shoe to stabilize his toe my God how gross is that cyborg Maxi we were all a little bad now for being like what the we were all

Wondering what kind of HGH was in his system it’s not that he’s he’s a robot now he has become machine metal and a machine I’ll take it I’ll and I’m pretty sure he’s out tonight for a broken nose like it it said toe recovery on the injury report but it also said broken

Nose good Lord yeah they’re a match unit sometimes yeah yeah so I don’t know where you wanted to go uh right out of the break here but but I wanted to ask you a question I you watched a little bit better than I did sure um PJ Washington uh interesting game just from

Bad statistical game but I don’t care about that he right like can you talk about yeah can you talk about what you saw from him that you know he played that it’s just interesting that the Mavericks have a guy that can do some of the things he was doing on the floor

Tonight well he was he was a dog on defense um when you’re guarding Victor wom Yama there’s only a certain number of things you could do like Luc is getting visible frustrated at how wom Yama was being guarded which was absolutely hilarious you know just kind

Of from a comparison point of view um but you know I thought he did a good job kind of digging into um wy’s height wemy really doesn’t I’m very confused by wemy he’s an incredible basketball player but he just like like every seven-foot guy who can dribble he just wants to play

Outside he is not interested like if that dude would just go St like catch the ball at 10 feet and turn and shoot he would have would have crushed the Mavericks and I think he did for a little bit but I really like the way

That that PJ was on him he’s just a a very disruptive Defender um I don’t necessarily know if he’s a good Defender but he’s fun and he’s different than what they’ve had and that is gonna buy Dallas some time um I think the offense is already starting to freak out Mavs

Fans because his shot just looks busted um but I think the you know what you’ve talked about for two shows in a row his ability to dribble is going to matter I’m start I I will wonder what will happen during the playoffs like he’s go to he’s got to make a respectable

Percentage like one of six is a little bit frustrating but I just I I like his motion I like what he does his passing was real nice he had a nice dump off to uh Derrik Lively in the third quarter that resulted in a dunk there’s just

Enough there to where he’s gonna make he I do I I make the same I’m Bill Simmons I make the same references over and over think with some of these lineups with Kyrie and Luca he could be kind of the third heat um uh in the trivection of in

That Jack donie describes because that ball handling really does matter it really really does matter yeah yeah for sure and it’s awesome to have a player that has some defensive versatility that he’s been showing in the last couple of games and that was the thing like when

The trade happened is most PE you know from what I’ve watched and I’m you know admittedly I’m not here I’m just gonna be honest I’m not sitting here grinding hours and hours and hours of PJ Washington tape or i’ haven’t watched a ton of hornets games but from what I’ve

Watched and what I kind of looked at after the trade is and this is you know not a not a unique thought you know a lot of a lot of other observers have noted this is he has the tools to to be an impact Defender and the biggest thing

In Charlotte was is just consistency and effort it wasn’t that he couldn’t play good defense it’s just that he consistently wasn’t uh and when you’re you’re in a bad situation like he was with the Hornets for so long it’s like how much of that motivation and effort is coming because of something personal

To him that he needs to change and how much of it is the team situation so that was always going to be the thing like when he gets to Dallas is he cannot play with the same kind of effort level and disposition that he did in Charlotte

Like it has to be better um and I think that’s that’s shown so far for three games we’ll see how long it lasts but I I think his defensive intensity and his effort has been pretty good and yeah the shot is a little concerning and I understand that you know offense is

Probably the first thing that a lot of people look at that jumps off the page when you’re looking at a box score so I get being worried about it the shooting like I said doesn’t really concern me all that too much as long you know as

Long as he’s got the pump and go and close out drive an aack game but there’s a limit to that like he has to he cannot be like a 30% shooter for no like he h he has to be like near 34 near 35 which again isn’t like you’re not you’re not

Uh you’re not blistering the league with that number but that’s good enough for what he would do Elsewhere on the court but he just needs to get that number up just a little bit more he just can’t be a guy that’s o for or one for in these

Games uh which you know it’s been three games so we’ll see uh but the the defensive tools I mean they’ve always been there so it’s good to see him kind of you know that’s the hope when you move environments like this as it can recharge a guy and I think that’s him so

Far at least on the defens yep and what was also nice to see is that the Mavericks continue to look for him um you know 20 26 minutes one for six from the floor six rebounds two assists one block one turnover I always keep an eye like I’m kind of keeping an

Eye more and more on on guys who don’t handle the balls turnovers because it’s that’s just like an area where we bitched about Grant Williams we gotta be fair about everybody else um the Mavericks as a whole had only had 13 turnovers this is like a low turnover

Game for both teams relatively speaking and then a low foul game for both teams that’s that’s that’s another reason why the game kind of flew along like I was mentioning um you know oh hello God I hate this ESPN Auto ad play stuff it just like blares into my headphones when I’m

Looking at something on the screen um you know this this game is is worth kind of talking about big picture I also think it’s sort of worth looking back to see um you know what we had been talking about in the previous you know games and

Weeks if if you know I was very very testy with the Dallas Mavericks during their um during the Bucks recap I’m going to see if I can find that one um and and but in the meantime I wantan to I want to Circle back I think to like

How the Mavericks finish but I wanted to Pivot slightly because the past two days have had some back and forth some I will just say that like we as Mavs fans quite correctly are already getting like pre- defensive about all things Luca um just because like the the discussion you know

Joel and be’s out for the year you know more or less and so the the MVP discussion has changed a little bit and it always feels like that ESPN is looking for one reason or another to say why the Mavericks aren’t it you know first it was it was about how this trade

Is too much gambling for the future um and then there was like this this the cryon was bad meaning like the headlines on the bottom of the screen um but the actual discussion on the ESPN about Luca and guys was more about like why don’t these players want to play with Luca uh

Meaning specifically um uh big big old loser Spencer deny and big old loser Kyle kosma and the the kind of takeaway from that for me um I is is that Luca is you know just gonna kind of continue to have an uphill battle but there was one

Of my Twitter followers um I’m pretty sure you f or he follows you and me both um Matt nine had a really fantastic tweet that just puts kind of the MVP conversation in a different context and I wanted to talk about it um he said Miss total Miss games by each starter on

MVP candidate teams uh joic he has Murray kcp uh mpj and Gordon 25 missed games between those four other players uh Shay gillus Alexander has uh one of the one of the Jaylen Williams uh Josh giddy Chad Lou Dort total of nine missed games this season between those four players uh

Yannis and tentac kmo has Dame Michael Beasley Chris Middleton and Brook Lopez total of 22 missed games between those players Luca donic and this is the the what Jason kid said was the starting five now it’s probably changed but let’s just look at it going into this year

Kyrie Irving 22 games uh Dante exom 22 games Derrik Jones Jr five games Derrik Lively has missed 18 games 67 missed games almost three times as many as the next closest option and that just changes the calculus of what we’re talking about here Luca’s not going to

Be on a top three team if most of his team is missing games with him that gets held against Luca though despite Luca continuing to show up and put push put up numbers I don’t think he’s the MVP I’m just gonna be candid here but I do

Think he’s being downplayed in a way that’s fairly frustrating to me from an from a from a a a you know media member point of view but also Mavs fan point of view yeah it’s interesting I wonder how much of this do you think like Luca was so good so soon and

He’s he’s basically I mean his production is higher than it’s ever been this season but it’s not like crazy far off from basically his second season like he’s obviously scoring he’s scoring like six more points per game in this season which is just kind of nuts when you can when you’re averaging 28

Textually ridiculous yeah yeah but but in terms of like you know he’s been a first team all-nba player for the since his second season and it hasn’t changed he’s been First Team all NBA every season since he’s gonna he’s gonna be it this year he’s gonna be again so do you

Think that any of this is just like he just keeps doing it and he’s still so young that the novelty has kind of worn off because I’m and again I’m not talking like MTH fans I’m talking like how he gets discussed in the in the mainstream media narrative do you think it’s

Because the novelty has worn off a little bit he’s not the fun shiny new toy because he’s been doing this now for basically five years really or four years um and now he his expectation level has changed it’s changed how people view like the the Baseline of

What his performance can be and also like isn’t the way that the stuff goes in the NBA is like you always like everyone always turns out to be the villain like James Harden was not like known as this like hated guy when he was like on the Thunder like people love

Like I remember like there was everyone loved James Harden like it wasn’t like this thing where there was like this passionate group of NBA fans or NBA media that just despised him of like how he played and foul baiting and that’s like he was such an incredible free throw drawer to where it

Felt like he was breaking the rules yeah yeah and I’m not trying to say like he didn’t you know he’s requested trades obviously that stuff hurts but it just feels like the cycle for these NBA stars goes from when they in their first year or two it’s like oh look at this how

Precious how new and then it’s like okay well we’ve already talked about you for two or three years we’re talking about the next guy unless you’re like LeBron or or or Giannis when you an Earnest push for um Anthony Edwards who is on you know the number one seed but you

Just scroll through Anthony Edwards box scores and he has nights where he has like 14 points and and seven rebounds and like like Luca can’t do that first quarter right it’s just yeah I just there’s something about it where I almost wonder if he’s he’s just been so

Good so early that I don’t know people just don’t seem as as one like Amazed by it I don’t know I I I don’t know people don’t need to be I mean people can have the whatever opinions they want and at the end of the day National media is

Kind of funny the way it’s talked about because like when we were growing up and when we were in high school I felt like what the national media was saying about your team as a fan uh mattered more because there just simply wasn’t as many outlets to go through like nowadays you

Could get whatever coverage of whatever team you want do you want wipe your bottom feed you a bottle and and tell you that your team can’t do do any wrong you can get that you want your team sucks every single night doesn’t matter what they do they’re the worst team ever

There’s an Avenue that someone’s providing that too do you want something in the middle sure like the national media like it creates these narratives but in terms of as a fan like that stuff is just becoming more and more like white noise to me because like just look

At our own Mavericks Community like there’s there’s locked on Mavs there’s um oh yeah we talk there’s bib’s podcast there’s there yeah sj’s podcast uh you know is talks writing on D Magazine like Dalton with Dallas basketball like there’s so much like TGK yeah Garcia kid there’s so many good

People doing good stuff that it’s like that that feel and we all feel yeah and it’s we all feel like kind of what everyone would want out of Team coverage that it’s like who cares if Brian windhorse says something stupid on on an ESPN show like that’s kind of where I’m

Starting to get but I also understand because what they say they still have some swing and it kind of creates this negative feedback loop but like to me I’m just kind of like over this kind of conversation about what the national media says because quite frankly like teams have better local coverage than

Like at any point in NBA history I feel like like dude I wish there were this many options when I was when I was 12 or 13 and I was watching AMS like my options were the local newspaper or Sports Center like that’s kind of what

It felt like back then so well I I think I mean this is this is a really big picture take but like the LeBron ification of everything has broken a lot of the way that the monolith let’s just not the monolith media you know the the

The ESPN all that sort of stuff I mean it’s so you know the do you remember the N the NFL campaign this year the script writing that really funny series of commercials they’re so funny because it was so ridiculous that’s why it worked because it’s just like what ridiculous

Thing can happen in in the NFL next the NBA really does feel like a shittily written script thrown out during the writer strike I mean the story today about well the Warriors made a pitch for LeBron and it’s like can we not talk about this 40-year-old man who’s gonna

Play on the 10th seed again and it’s not that I hate him but it’s like it’s all Downstream from there because everything becomes about him and his trade desires which then turn into every other National or uh a superstar level player of where’s he going to go next and

That’s what frustrates us because you know LCA donic his next contract could be worth nearly $400 million with the Mavericks the next person who tells me that Luca is going to leave a tenth of a billion dollars to go play for another team I just just miss me with that and

So this this whole conversation fires everybody up because what we would like to hear about and you know the what I’ve been told about this seriously because I know people that work in like the numbers of the TV shows and that sort of stuff it just doesn’t draw numbers when

You actually talk about basketball but then problem but but then now listen to this all cities Network Adam mahrez Tim Tim legler their ESPN or their podcast has absolutely taken on off the last three weeks I know because Adam is my is one of my personal friends and has been

Sharing with me their numbers they’re kind of incredible um the dunker spot podcast with Nikas Duncan and Steve Jones you know I’d be very interested to see what their numbers are because they dip into a lot of WNBA but they talk real basketball people that talk about the basketball that’s being played there

Is a market for it I understand that there’s a market for clickbait my God I go on Facebook and some of the dumb that I get thrown my way I like it makes it makes the you know when we used to get mad at Dalton for some of the things

That he would put out into the universe some of the insane stuff that’s on there like there’s just the market for it you’re probably right but I still feel the need to address it from time to time because I think it can be different you know the fact that that Tim bontemps who

Is honestly Tim is a friend of mine nobody you know some of y’all might not believe that that’s fine Tim is a friend of mine I talk to is an NBA Shadow broker I talk to like it’s just a thing I talk to everyone um I don’t know how that happened but

It’s it’s a weird thing summer league baby well summer league and then frankly just like reaching out my my favorite was we used to have this one guy who worked with us for like six weeks and he kept reaching out to all these like highlevel NBA reporters and being like

I’m so and so with Mavs Moneyball you know Kirk Henderson’s site I’m like oh no don’t ever do that again and then we let the guy go um but this is like a long way of saying that like I still get frustrated you know Bon Temps talked to

Yesterday or today on the The Hoop Collective podcast about how the MVP is a narrative award that is so stupid it shouldn’t be a narrative award it should be about the basketball now by and large that usually wins out that’s why M beid last year closed the season

Strong there’s a basketball argument for him winning the MVP I’m not you know he just did he closed out stronger than joic I don’t really like the War I don’t like the results but that’s the way it is with LCA donic when I see like that

Straw pole there’s joic there um Luca I think was fourth overall between like the 200 people that he pulled there was uh I want to say it was yic it was Yannis Shay Giles Alexander Giannis then Luca and I get the argument for all three guys above him and one of the

Things that I wanted to talk about last is something I well I guess there’s a few things I want to talk about last I’m enjoying talking to you about this sorry we’re kind of getting all over the place earlier in the show uh my friend Harold

Said the Mavs are going to be a top four seed by season’s end I held on to this the whole thing because I think it’s worth pivoting to Luca can’t be the MVP unless he’s a top top four or top three guy and getting to the top four seed is

Going to be an absolute insane mountain to climb the Mavericks have won six in a row and are still in the eighth seed no they’s seven now they’re seven uh there seven uh I’m looking at it okay they’re seventh yeah yeah yeah but they’re not going to climb into six tonight because

The the the the Phoenix Suns are going to win and and they’ve just they’ve had very they they moved up one spot in in the course of a six-game streak so it’s really difficult for for that sort of thing to happen even though I see the

Vision because you look at the rest of the Mavericks schedule and you’re like okay if they don’t let up off the gas they could really really push it and so these things all tiing together and I wanted to kind of talk to you would see what your feelings are because this this

Streak you know the Mavericks were as recently as like they never fell to 500 thank goodness but as recently as what was it they were 25 yeah they are 26 and 23 after the loss to the Bucks they were three games above 500 now they are nine nine games above 500

Because they’ve won six in a row and so it’s like how far do we really think they can streak how far do we really think they can climb and do we actually think they’re going to climb there I don’t know because if you look at the west standings this is outrageous

The top 10 teams in the west of the top 10 nine of them are either seven and three or six and four in their last 10 games that’s crazy oh and the other team that that is it it’s five and five so no team in the top 10 in the west has a

Losing record over the last 10 games that is outrageous and circles back to my point about how these all these crappy teams that are at the bottom like all these teams just keep Rota oh oh they’re playing San Antonio now oh now they’re playing Detroit like they keep

Getting these wins and it’s just funny it’s like inflating the win total because the bottom three of each conference is just such dog water yeah that there’s just not there’s just so much congestion at the top of the standings because everyone keeps picking up these wins um so yeah it’s going to

Be I mean it’s going to be tough look they’re four and a half games back of fourth and that’s Denver like the reigning NBA champions who when they kind of sto playing with their food still look like the best team in the NBA uh the top four teams in the west are

All winning at a rate of like 56 wins or better um like do you think the Mavericks are going to get to 56 57 58 wins uh I don’t know of course you know maybe those top some team in in the top four falls back there’s can be injuries

We don’t know but those teams have those top four have been except for the Clippers during the the hard the first like seven Harden games yep they have been outrageously consistent like they haven’t had a lot of slumps so it’s not really against the Mavericks if they

Don’t get to top four this season I just think this is a pretty outrageous season I don’t know if that should be held against Luca but I really do think that these win totals are getting inflated by these crappy teams and it’s just hard because historically you know there are

Some outliers yic was on a 48 win six seed nuggets when he won his first MVP uh Westbrook was on a six seed as well when he won his um but he only got up because he you know he he was average the first triple double since Oscar

Robinson so uh they have to have you know and yic was outrageous his first season one MVP like he was just so much better than every other player that that season it’s just otherwise like MVP almost always goes to a team top four in either the west or the East well and

Someone in the comment Luca it’s just this is a hard year this is a really hard year well and and and something happened you know Westbrook obviously want it not being a top seed yic W it not being a top seed the time for that is gone like that’s just that that comes

That’s when Bon Temps those uni those were unique Seasons there were unique Seasons unique kind of firsttime things and frankly it just feels like that it’s going to be another 10 years until something like that is justifiable and so I I you know I I I I I see the argument for

Me and I think for everybody else particularly in the chat and and that listens on the show you want to see the Mavericks advance in the playoffs but you also want to see Luca kind of get rewarded and that’s where for me right now Luca is building a resume and and

Ben in the chat said I think I could see Luca winning MVP next year if he continues to build on what he’s doing right now closes the season hard because I mean like that’s presumably the team’s also better you know’s argument to be made that Luca or that that Dirk nitz’s

2007 MVP when the Mavs W went 67 and 15 his numbers were no different than the year before it’s just that the voters didn’t know what to do with it like Kobe kind of was probably MVP That season but I also thought Dirk should have won it in

2006 and and sometimes these things just happen a year later it is very narrative driven it drives me a little bit crazy um I I think it’s okay for in terms of Luca being hungry I’m very interested in that um and and I think he is like these guys

Look reinvigorated they’re going to go on a you know a short break here you know Luca’s got to go to um All-Star Weekend up in the wonderful city of Indianapolis um and then he’ll fly to to wherever he and his family go on a very short vacation though um Luca I’ve got

To tell you vacationing with an infant even as a rich person sucks uh I just have to like there’s no like like like having a t a tiny being to take care of is challenging regardless of social status um Kings won against Denver that’s interesting okay um you know so I don’t

Want to like read my own article um but I am G to read this section uh I wrote this after the Bucks lost three games above 500 26 and 23 I said you know at some point the constant winging about any given thing happening in a Mavericks

Game by someone associated with the team is starting to get to be too much whether it’s an exasperated Luka donic at a given n non call Mark Cuban screaming at the rest from his place on the bench Tim Hardway Jr and Grant Williams barking above their stations or the television announc crew vo

Vocalizing their frustration with the refereeing it’s becoming an epidemic of course the only guy who doesn’t get in the mix is the coach is Jason kid as he shares his disdain for what’s been going on postgame and does so like a bystander who couldn’t possibly affect the outcome

This team is frustrated and so are the fans losses feel worse right now because this team clearly has something but due to injuries and bad luck it started feel like we might never see what that is but the only way out of some things is through them the NBA season is

Relentless and the Mavericks need to look in the mirror pull themselves together and close out the schedule strong before before the allar break boy howdy six game win streak pretty complished take a bow it’s all all because of you you did it well it’s Del it’s delightful to see them n like

Buckle down I mean like I think if we had a real criticism about this season it was just woeful inconsistency right they just couldn’t string together anything and they’ve really strung and granted that’s come with slowly improving Health you know those things are related we talked about

All that I mean I like again it is so weird I can’t I can’t possibly yeah the David’s making fun of me for reading my own writing you’re right about that it is weird but I just I wanted to go back because I mean as recently as two weeks ago I felt

Terrible about this team just perfectly honestly and it’s really nice to feel good about this team I mean by and large this season I have been positive about the Mavericks and that is simply not my default my posit like like my place is the the the the skeptic and I am really

Looking forward to seeing how this this season closes out like this is you know we’ve been doing this together you’ve been riding the site for 12 13 years yeah summer of 2011 I’ve been riding at the site for since 2013 so 20 so 11 years we’ve been doing the podcast together

More or less you’ve been doing it longer than me you started the own thing we’ve been doing this since 2017 is yeah we really didn’t start in Earnest with the game recap stuff until like 2019 we were on and off this season thus far for me is the second most fun

One I’ve had doing all this stuff other than the run to the Conference Finals I mean this has been nice and I I just I hope they keep it up yeah I mean dude they won 38 games last season like this this is I mean I

You know I was I was my season prediction was 45 wins and and maybe the fifth or sixth seed so like anything past that or anything matching that is is absolutely gravy um so and there’s a Rejuvenation with I mean the trade deadline There’s A Renewed sense of

Purpose and energy we’ve seen it you commented on not just the team but the fan base like I know that it coincides with the Super Bowl and football season ending and football fans and and Cowboys fans and other things are like oh let’s watch something else because there’s no

More football to watch uh but also like people I think the new faces are like oh like this is different like this is a different mths team than the one I am used to like Yep this team has a different disposition about it in terms of athleticism and talent and size that

Really we haven’t seen a Mavs team this young this athletic while still winning games man since when when was the last time a Mavericks team had this many plus athletes on the floor never we talked like that was a discussion in the in the in the Mavs party the I don’t like ever

Period like sha Maran was an incredible incredible athlete they’ve had Brandon Wright they’ve had uh uh green um what was his name contest yeah Gerald Green they’ve had some super incredible athletes but never more than one at a time yeah now they got Washington live Gafford Josh Green like there’s four like really

Bouncy Ultra athletic players that get up and down the floor they’ve just never had that before so and it’s something that the team has wanted forever like when the last time they’ve had a big man rotation Lively in Gafford it’s it’s legitimately either you know it’s probably 2011 when they had Tyson

Chandler and Brendan Haywood like it’s just been a long time since this team has had some stuff uh that’s gotten people truly excited outside of you know of course lcas basketball also played like that’s the other part like it was was a mid-range game as recently as you

Know 12 years ago yeah so I think a lot of people are seeing what they’ve built and we don’t know if it’s going to totally work or not but I think people are excited for this kind of newness that is the direction of the team right

Now yeah no for sure all right well we’ve talked too much but I enjoyed this conversation um I don’t think I’m going to do a postgame show maybe I’ll do one here in a couple days if I do I will post about it you know just say maybe we

Have a live show where you guys come talk with me um you know what just one last thing shout out Jaden Hardy for another good game he did have a good game he also pump faked wmy in the corner got him off his feet went and

Drove to the basket and laid it in probably one of the best moves he’s made all year um it’s really amazing to be he’s been really good the last like he’s been really good yeah him and Josh green guys that I’ve wanted to Exile and you know looking good love it couldn’t be

Couldn’t be happier to be wrong um yeah so anyway I don’t know you know I have to go on a work trip which is rare for me uh right after All-Star break so we’ll see sort of what shows if any we put up I’ve sent some feelers out to

Different people that I’m friends with around the league see if they want to talk Mavs but I’m getting kind of the the sense from a lot of of media folk they kind of treat the All-Star break the same way the players do which is let’s decompress before a stretch run

And I get it you know yeah for sure we’ll see where it lasts maybe we get together before you go on work and just see what’s going on you know I’m see what Luca looks like in an All-Star Game this year I wonder if it changes that’s I think I think I’m

Right about that I I’ve really been thinking about it because it’s like it matters to me and a lot of people are going to hate this take but I think if fans go out of their way to vote for you it’s not just an award it’s an act and

You kind of you don’t need to go play your ass off but you do need to try a little bit and like last year in Utah was just it was really frustrating like I tune in to watch my favorite player play against and with some of the best

Players in the world and if you don’t want to be there don’t go I don’t know I feel very like I feel very old man I feel like like my dad called me the day after the Super Bowl and he was like really pissed at Travis

Kelce so it’s like maybe that’s how I sound or it’s like all right can we just settle down everyone um maybe I’m wrong that’s that’s always possible all right well this has been Kirk Henderson and Josh Bo of pod Maverick and Ms Money Ball thanks so much for hanging out with

Us uh we will talk with you guys later go forth and enjoy the rest of your week go Mavs

Kirk and Josh (most likely) connect to talk about the Mavericks playing the Spurs for the third time this season and before heading into the All-Star break. Derrick Lively returns from a long absence but gets to match up against the potential NBA Rookie of the Year in Victory Wembanyama. Dallas is looking to extend their six game win streak. #BlueWireVideo

Start time is an estimate!

LIKE the stream, SUBSCRIBE to the show, CLICK THE BELL to get notified when we go LIVE, and LEAVE a comment.

Interested in advertising on this podcast? Email sales@bluewirepods.com

Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/6632355645227008