This Is Not The Same Dallas Mavericks

This Is Not The Same Dallas Mavericks

How many times has Luca donic had a center who he could throw a pass like this to and here’s Gord welcome to Dallas Big Bella but luuka doesn’t just have one big man who can catch lobs out of the sky he’s now got two of them D

Thinking three now the runner and Lively will slam it down up hard and down and when you look at the new look Dallas Mavericks it’s easy to see why they have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA recently because not only have they given Luka some lob threats but to the

Surprise of no one Luca donic and Kyrie Irving are unstoppable just look at this play against Phoenix where Luca brings the ball up the floor he kicks it to Kai who attacks KD off the dribble draws the entire Phoenix defense before kicking it to kba who swings it to Luca who fakes

The jump shot crosses over O’Neal and then Glides to the rim that’s what they can do as a partnership not to mention when they aren’t sharing the ball some of the things they can do on a b basketball court shouldn’t be legal Ming the other way behind the back and

Into oh what a play by C and Phoenix shouldn’t feel too bad because they were just the latest victims of a Mavs team that is unlike anything we saw earlier in the season having recorded seven consecutive wins on the back of not just an elite offense but an elite defense

And this is what happens when you have players that fit alongside your generational point guard I mean Daniel Gafford didn’t have his best game against Phoenix but four games into his Mavs career and he’s still averaging a double double in just 20 minutes off the

Bench oh and best of all he’s a serious shot blocker just look at him on this play right here is shil just Alexander one of the shiftiest players in the league he gets past Josh green but look here as Gaff helps over and look at the

Hang time to block that shot and that’s the kind of shot blocking that you’re getting nightly from your backup center not to mention Derek Lively’s a pretty handy shot blocker as well but let’s forget about the improved depth on this roster for a second and recognize there

Are two players that are going to be the difference for this Maverick’s team in the playoffs it’s Luca donic and Kyrie Irving because despite some of the narratives that have floated around suggesting they can’t work as a duo in 700 minutes together this season they have an offensive rating of 121 to go

Along with wait for it an elite defense and an elite net rating yeah what everyone told you about this juo was completely wrong but just before I tell you what makes them so good let’s thank the sponsor of today’s video sleeper with the NBA season heating up in the

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Right here you have your enabler with Damen Lillard who despite his struggles I would say he pretty likely to get at least a point I also like a rested Trey young against the Raptor defense on the second night of a back toback on the flip side I like the under on Maxi’s

Assists against an elite Cleveland defense and of course let’s go under on jokic’s points because he’s not going to try so get the ball rolling with sleeper and when you use code six man at sign up you get an instant deposit match up to $500 terms and conditions apply see

Sleepers terms of use for details now a lot of the false narratives around these two guys has been centered around their inability to maximize the offense with only one basketball these two guys in my opinion they’re the same player they need the ball nine 10 11 seconds between

Your turn my turn I don’t think you’re going to win like that but this is where Kyrie Irving doesn’t get nearly enough credit everyone sees the Wizardry he does with the ball in his hands and just assumes the ball is always in his hands but that couldn’t be further from the

Truth he’s an elite off the ball scorer just look at him attack Brandon Miller off the catch here for the floater and there should be a rule that no rookie should ever have the task of guarding Kai because look at scoot Henderson get absolutely cooked on this back cut and

This is what I mean when I say he’s a master of Quick Cuts and angles he’s practically walking but the moment Lively spots him he changes Direction in a split second and everything around Kai’s game is centered around throwing the opposition Defender off balance just

Look here as he gets the switch onto pal and with pal of the Dwight variety having the ball it looks like he’s going to attack that the hand off to the right of screen but look at Kyrie get the ball and his knee practically scrapes the ground before attacking the space for

The bucket and to put into perspective how much work he does without the ball there’s a guy who’s pretty good over in New York I’m sure you guys are familiar with on average he has the ball in his hands for over 8 minutes a game Kyrie

Averages less than 5 minutes a game with the ball in his hands which is about as low as you can go for a high score ing guard which just means there’s more time for Luca to control the ball and do what he does best which is just dissect teams

On a consistent Basis Phoenix have seen this movie a 100 times but it doesn’t get boring to watch look no further than the start of the third quarter where Luca completely shifted the game he started things off by hitting a couple of step back threes on the next play

Nage decided to show on the pick and pop to prevent the three Al he thought as Luca throws it to PJ who has a wide openen three and knocks it down and he wasn’t done making them look foolish because just a play later this time nurkic doesn’t help over and Lucas steps

Back to the right and knocks down the three in Allen’s Grill and just for good measure 20 seconds later Luca gets the ball off the catch penetrates the paint before looking off Allen and finding green for three in just the space of 3 minutes a 3point phoenix lead was turned

Into a 12-point Dallas lead all from the Brilliance of Luca donic but you guys might have heard me mention earlier in the video that with Luca and Kai on the floor the Mavs have an elite defense which wouldn’t be possible if they both sucked defensively like most people

Would have you believe luckily I’m not most people just look at Luca on this play Steph gets him on the switch Luca then does a fantastic job at using his feet and body to stop Steph from getting to his spot before then contesting perfectly on the J jumper and whilst

Everyone loves to highlight anytime Luca gets beat on the perimeter they never mention the fact that his size is a major advantage when he’s playing defense close to the basket just look at him on this play where Aaron Gordon has him in the post he tries to back him

Down unsuccessfully before he then loses the ball and has to throw up a very very low percentage fadeaway but these few examples don’t even come close to doing him justice so far on this season lucer is number one number one in the NBA for post defense he’s also very highly

Ranked for isolation defense and spot up defense and lucer isn’t shy about what he can do defensively either I’m strong people don’t think that but I think I have some of the most powerful legs in the NBA I love it we said we were going to double cat but I said don’t double

Let’s see if I can get a couple stops I like playing post now no amount of numbers or film can stop corny main pages from posting about Luca’s defense but for anyone who actually watches they know there’s been clear Improvement and all of a sudden the maps have a shot at

Being a very good defense because not only did they add Daniel Gafford like I mentioned but they brought in a Swiss army knife in PJ Washington who has the potential to guard multiple positions with his combination of strength and quickness but what makes PJ such an incredible pickup is not only will he

Give you this level of Defense he’s been a consistent an 12 to 15 Point per game scorer on solid efficiency ever since he entered the league and that was on the Hornets he’s now playing with Luca donic and Kyrie Irving PJ Washington another welcome to Dallas moment and this is

What makes him different to the other three and D Wings the Mavs have had in the past he’s not just versatile defensively but also offensively just look at him on this play where he gets the pass from Luca instead of opting for the three he takes the defender off the

Dribble uses his strength before finishing strong at the rim and this versatility is so crucial because it means he can still impact the game even when his shot isn’t falling which isn’t something you could have said for Mavs Wings in the past now they have a few

Guys like Washington that can make those kind of plays either way this Mavs team is significantly better than last year’s team and that’s scary

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