Game Day (Home Opener): Mavericks (0-0) @ Suns (0-0), Wed 10/17/18

[SDC]

"Deandre Ayton is David Robinson with a jumper."

[UglyTruth]

Booker was fantastic and showed he's well worth the money with his ability to put the team on his back as needed. Ariza was on fire and Jackson looked good on catch and shoots even though he looked mediocre handling the ball.

Ayton was good offensively and didn't rush anything. But he still has long ways to go defensively. It's understandable since he's so young and obviously first game in the league. But this has to be taken care of as he can't be caught simply watching instead of playing.

https://twitter.com/NateDuncanNBA/status/1052767376167424000

[Shabazz]

Great game. 2 quibbles:

Tyson looks like a corpse out there. Couldn’t even grab a defensive rebound which was the only thing he could do last year. I was pining for Holmes.

Why did Troy Daniels play a single minute over Mikal? We gave up a fortune for that guy. Play him. He’s also not a typical rookie. He’s older than Booker!

[virtual9mm]

Booker was fantastic and showed he's well worth the money with his ability to put the team on his back as needed. Ariza was on fire and Jackson looked good on catch and shoots even though he looked mediocre handling the ball.

Ayton was good offensively and didn't rush anything. But he still has long ways to go defensively. It's understandable since he's so young and obviously first game in the league. But this has to be taken care of as he can't be caught simply watching instead of playing.

This happened, but what happened more often was that there was guard penetration forcing Ayton to leave his man (and stop the penetration). And then, there was some nifty interior passing. Ayton wasn't fast enough on the recovery, but this is almost impossible without a Marion-like second jump. Indeed, Ayton was apparently coached to stop the initial penetration -- and I think he did a great job of it.

What's really needed is for better perimeter defense + a secondary shot-blocker at the PF position to cover secondary penetration generated by interior passing. Canaan did his best but you can still see that he's sloooooow brooooo. Booker tried but it's amazing how someone who is so sneaky quick on offense seems to get beaten up by a bigger and stronger Wes Matthews.

[virtual9mm]

Great game. 2 quibbles:

Tyson looks like a corpse out there. Couldn’t even grab a defensive rebound which was the only thing he could do last year. I was pining for Holmes.

Why did Troy Daniels play a single minute over Mikal. We have up a fortune for that guy. Play him. He’s also not a typical rookie. He’s older than Booker!

Time to put Tyson Chandler out to pasture, unless we're playing against a big, slow C.

Mikal Bridges is still injured.

[Nodack]

Awesome game to watch. That was fun.

Booker in the fourth quarter was priceless. He just took over like All Stars do. Welcome Ayton. You were great. You aren’t #1 here yet. Booker is and he just let everybody know it. I predict they will both be playing together in the All Star game at some point in the not to distant future.

It feels like the beginning of something great with those two.

Lol to Jackson alternating between hero and goat. That’s so .net.

[Nodack]

One thing that did bother me about Ayton. He seems to let people on fast breaks go around him for a layup unimpeded even though he seems like he has excellent position to challenge the shot. I don’t know if he is just trying to avoid fouls or what.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Great game. 2 quibbles:

Tyson looks like a corpse out there. Couldn’t even grab a defensive rebound which was the only thing he could do last year. I was pining for Holmes.

Why did Troy Daniels play a single minute over Mikal. We have up a fortune for that guy. Play him. He’s also not a typical rookie. He’s older than Booker!

Time to put Tyson Chandler out to pasture, unless we're playing against a big, slow C.

Mikal Bridges is still injured.

If Bridges was still injured he wouldn't have been put in the game during the last minute. Maybe you're trying to say that he's been injured recently, which is why I think he didn't play much in this game. Igor seems like a coach who needs to see a player perform in practice before he trusts them in a game.

Give Bridges a few weeks. If he's as good as many of us think he is, he'll get plenty of rotation time.

[UglyTruth]

Booker was fantastic and showed he's well worth the money with his ability to put the team on his back as needed. Ariza was on fire and Jackson looked good on catch and shoots even though he looked mediocre handling the ball.

Ayton was good offensively and didn't rush anything. But he still has long ways to go defensively. It's understandable since he's so young and obviously first game in the league. But this has to be taken care of as he can't be caught simply watching instead of playing.

This happened, but what happened more often was that there was guard penetration forcing Ayton to leave his man (and stop the penetration). And then, there was some nifty interior passing. Ayton wasn't fast enough on the recovery, but this is almost impossible without a Marion-like second jump. Indeed, Ayton was apparently coached to stop the initial penetration -- and I think he did a great job of it.

What's really needed is for better perimeter defense + a secondary shot-blocker at the PF position to cover secondary penetration generated by interior passing. Canaan did his best but you can still see that he's sloooooow brooooo. Booker tried but it's amazing how someone who is so sneaky quick on offense seems to get beaten up by a bigger and stronger Wes Matthews.

You're not wrong on this but the secondary player at PF doesn't have to be a shot blocker, just someone that can recover in time. If it's a shot blocker too then great but not necessary.

It's why I hate Ryan Anderson starting. He should be coming off the bench.

[TOO]

Booker was fantastic and showed he's well worth the money with his ability to put the team on his back as needed. Ariza was on fire and Jackson looked good on catch and shoots even though he looked mediocre handling the ball.

Ayton was good offensively and didn't rush anything. But he still has long ways to go defensively. It's understandable since he's so young and obviously first game in the league. But this has to be taken care of as he can't be caught simply watching instead of playing.

This happened, but what happened more often was that there was guard penetration forcing Ayton to leave his man (and stop the penetration). And then, there was some nifty interior passing. Ayton wasn't fast enough on the recovery, but this is almost impossible without a Marion-like second jump. Indeed, Ayton was apparently coached to stop the initial penetration -- and I think he did a great job of it.

What's really needed is for better perimeter defense + a secondary shot-blocker at the PF position to cover secondary penetration generated by interior passing. Canaan did his best but you can still see that he's sloooooow brooooo. Booker tried but it's amazing how someone who is so sneaky quick on offense seems to get beaten up by a bigger and stronger Wes Matthews.

You're not wrong on this but the secondary player at PF doesn't have to be a shot blocker, just someone that can recover in time. If it's a shot blocker too then great but not necessary.

It's why I hate Ryan Anderson starting. He should be coming off the bench.

Or just stay sitting on it, fine with that too.

[Superbone]

Fun fact, Ayton first picked up a basketball at age 12. Doncic got his first professional contract at age 13.

[Flagrant Fowl]

My biggest concern with Doncic before the draft was his athleticism. He's obviously talented and has a great hoops IQ, but for him to become the all-star level player most have projected him becoming he's gonna have to treat his body better. It'll be the difference between becoming the next Manu Ginobili or the next Hedo Turkoglu.

[UglyTruth]

Fun fact, Ayton first picked up a basketball at age 12. Doncic got his first professional contract at age 13.

What's fun about it? Guessing this is supposed to be some kind of dig at Doncic or some kind of theory on why Ayton will improve more than Doncic will?

If anything, the fact that he has been dedicated to basketball since he was 13 is admirable. There are PLENTY of guys both in the NFL and NBA who started playing their individual sport late in their childhood and ended up losing passion for it once coming to the pros and then get washed out of the league.

[Ring_Wanted]

Booker was fantastic and showed he's well worth the money with his ability to put the team on his back as needed. Ariza was on fire and Jackson looked good on catch and shoots even though he looked mediocre handling the ball.

Ayton was good offensively and didn't rush anything. But he still has long ways to go defensively. It's understandable since he's so young and obviously first game in the league. But this has to be taken care of as he can't be caught simply watching instead of playing.

This happened, but what happened more often was that there was guard penetration forcing Ayton to leave his man (and stop the penetration). And then, there was some nifty interior passing. Ayton wasn't fast enough on the recovery, but this is almost impossible without a Marion-like second jump. Indeed, Ayton was apparently coached to stop the initial penetration -- and I think he did a great job of it.

What's really needed is for better perimeter defense + a secondary shot-blocker at the PF position to cover secondary penetration generated by interior passing. Canaan did his best but you can still see that he's sloooooow brooooo. Booker tried but it's amazing how someone who is so sneaky quick on offense seems to get beaten up by a bigger and stronger Wes Matthews.

You're not wrong on this but the secondary player at PF doesn't have to be a shot blocker, just someone that can recover in time. If it's a shot blocker too then great but not necessary.

It's why I hate Ryan Anderson starting. He should be coming off the bench.

It won't (shouldn't) be long before Anderson is out of the starting five and gets zero to 15 min of playing time. On paper Bender is the perfect fit but I don't know if he'll have any more chances. Ayton is prone to be caught just looking, but I am confident he can be coached out of it.

[Nodack]

Doncic has more basketball experience then Ayton. That’s what it means. You can’t project who and how much a player will get better or if they will burn out just by adding up their experience at a yound age. Every player is different.

Ayton with his limited experience went #1. Doncic with his much more experience went #2. That tells me that some people think Ayton’s upside in the long run is bigger than Doncics. The Suns needed a PG worse than anything and still chose Ayton even with Doncic and the coach’s history together.

I wish we had both of those guys.

[Ring_Wanted]

I'd argue the need fot a C was as big.

Anyway, my fear when analysing Ayton vs Doncic was that Luka was already close to his ceiling and that his precocity made may believe that his upside was a way higher than the player he is today, in the sense that he would grow exponentially, when in my opinion he'll improve but it will be incremental, which still equals to a terrific player but not this unheard of hypebeast.

For what it's worth, I would have spent any and everything not named Booker to be able to draft both Ayton and Luka. But if not possible, I wanted Ayton.

[ShelC]

Couldn't catch the 2nd half and for some reason couldn't record the game but glad to hear Booker turned it on when we needed it. Love Ariza's statline, 6 assists from Ayton are huge and nice to read Jackson had a strong 2nd half. I thought we played well in the 1st half but went to bed expecting Dallas to adjust at halftime and come back to win. Good to see I was wrong.

Regarding Jackson, I think we need to slow down and really use this season as a barometer. He's playing a role now that's best suited for him, as a complementary player and not a #1 or even #2 guy. Let him learn to pick his spots playing off Booker and Ayton rather than forcing offense or trying to play PG and set everyone else up. His jumper needs work and I think he shot 2, maybe 3 airballs in the 1st half on shots that shouldn't have been airballs. Not sure what he did differently in the 2nd half but he finished with 18pts and three 3s, so we know he can find the basket.

I think the one area we really need improvement is defense. We don't have great defenders and that needs to change but I also thought guys were just a step slow. Offensively, the flow is great and everyone's touching the ball but I'd like to see Ayton get more shots in the post rather than just be a screener. 8-11 is super efficient, but there are going to be games when TJ, Jackson and Ariza aren't hitting their 3s and we'll need Ayton to provide reliable offense.

Looking at the boxscore, we pretty much went with 7 1/2 guys...Jackson saw 28 minutes and TJ saw 24, Chandler got 11. Okobo played 7 minutes and didn't look terrible IMO and actually made some nice plays and was solid on D I thought. He's got potential. No Bender tho and it'll be interesting to see how much Jamal plays - I'm assuming he'll cut into Canaan's 33 minutes and maybe affect Ariza and Ryan's minutes?

Great start to the season tho and hopefully we can keep up the passing and shooting.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Couldn't catch the 2nd half and for some reason couldn't record the game but glad to hear Booker turned it on when we needed it. Love Ariza's statline, 6 assists from Ayton are huge and nice to read Jackson had a strong 2nd half. I thought we played well in the 1st half but went to bed expecting Dallas to adjust at halftime and come back to win. Good to see I was wrong.

I was pretty much the opposite. Missed most of the first half and caught pretty much everything in the second half out of at least one eye. Booker was the all-star level player we and his contract expect him to be. He stepped up when it mattered, and that can't be understated. I was expecting this type of game from Ariza after watching a lot of the pre-season. He's a professional who understand his responsibility to this team. He's not gonna be like this every night, but he's also not going to check out like a chump when it gets rough.

Regarding Jackson, I think we need to slow down and really use this season as a barometer. He's playing a role now that's best suited for him, as a complementary player and not a #1 or even #2 guy. Let him learn to pick his spots playing off Booker and Ayton rather than forcing offense or trying to play PG and set everyone else up. His jumper needs work and I think he shot 2, maybe 3 airballs in the 1st half on shots that shouldn't have been airballs. Not sure what he did differently in the 2nd half but he finished with 18pts and three 3s, so we know he can find the basket.

I 100% agree. JJ is really a smaller version of Marion, to put it in Suns terms. He can do a little bit of everything and sometimes you'll look at the box score and wonder how the hell he did that. But, just like Marion, you can't put him in a role that asks him to regularly create for himself or his teammates. I think he's a little better than Marion at doing that, but it still needs to come in a way that's fluid with the offensive motion, not a 'give it to him on the wing and let him go' kind a way.

I think the one area we really need improvement is defense. We don't have great defenders and that needs to change but I also thought guys were just a step slow. Offensively, the flow is great and everyone's touching the ball but I'd like to see Ayton get more shots in the post rather than just be a screener. 8-11 is super efficient, but there are going to be games when TJ, Jackson and Ariza aren't hitting their 3s and we'll need Ayton to provide reliable offense.

Defense is going to be a problem. And we're not going to shoot like we did tonight all the time. We're going to be underdogs in the next 3 games, so getting a win in one of those will be very encouraging. Regardless, beating teams like Dallas at home should become a routine. That's the first step to get out of the tanking hole.

Great start to the season tho and hopefully we can keep up the passing and shooting.

Amen.

[bajanguy008]

Know others were wondering including myself and I'm actually surprised TJ had done it 4 times already

https://twitter.com/kpelton/status/1052762213952368643

[O_Gardino]

Great game. 2 quibbles:

Tyson looks like a corpse out there. Couldn’t even grab a defensive rebound which was the only thing he could do last year. I was pining for Holmes.

Why did Troy Daniels play a single minute over Mikal? We gave up a fortune for that guy. Play him. He’s also not a typical rookie. He’s older than Booker!

I agree that Bridges should play, but he's been hurt.

Tyson literally had the best defensive rebounding numbers in the game. He had 5 in 11:31, and grabbed 43.4% of all available rebounds when he was in. If you aren't familiar with the numbers, 25%ish is average for a center, 30%ish is extremely good.