Dallas’ recent slide down the standings went from bad to worse on Friday night as the Mavericks dropped a game to the lowly Hornets and were met with loud boos from their home fans in the third quarter when they fell behind by 18 points, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Most of the Mavericks’ recent losses have come with at least one of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving unavailable, but both stars played on Friday as the club fell out of the top 10 in the Western Conference. The 36-38 Mavs now hold the No. 11 spot, putting them at least temporarily out of the play-in picture in the West.
According to ESPN, Dallas entered the game as a 16-point favorite, which made the eight-point Hornets victory the biggest upset of the NBA season so far. Head coach Jason Kidd described his team’s effort as “dog s–t” and said the Mavs probably should have been booed in the first quarter rather than the third, per MacMahon.
“The interest level wasn’t high,” Kidd said. “It was just disappointing.”
Here’s more on the struggling Mavs:
- Doncic said after Friday’s game that he’s as frustrated now as he has been at any point since entering the NBA, MacMahon relays. “I think you can see it with me on the court,” Doncic said. “Sometimes I don’t feel it’s me. I’m just being out there. I used to have really fun, smiling on court, but it’s just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons, not just basketball.” Asked to clarify his “not just basketball” comment, the All-NBA guard cited issues in his personal life, MacMahon adds.
- In an interview with Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson expressed some regrets about the way his final year in Dallas played out, noting that he expected to be a Maverick for a long time and wishes things “would’ve happened differently.”
- According to Haynes, Brunson would have been willing to sign the same four-year, $55.6MM extension that Dorian Finney-Smith got from Dallas if the team had offered it prior to the 2021/22 season instead of waiting until after the 2022 trade deadline. “There were two times that I thought we had offers on the table before the season, and then around, I think December or January, they looked the other way,” Brunson said. “They had every right in the world to do so. I don’t blame them for making any business decisions. That’s on them.”
- The Mavericks officially submitted the paperwork and paid the $10K fee to formally protest Wednesday’s loss to the Warriors, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up (YouTube video link), Brian Windhorst explained why the Mavs shouldn’t count on the protest being successful.
The Mavs are done. No chance the protest gets approved.
About what I would expect from a Jason Kidd coached team after the 1st year with him as coach.
Whoever approved the Irving trade should be fired. Giving up all those players and picks for a few months of Irving is going down as one of the worst trades ever.
The bigger issue with Dallas is their in-house scouting of their own players. Jalen Brunson was very good in Dallas playing with Luka, and then would turn it up a notch when Luka was out, and the team wouldn’t miss a beat.
They make the horrific decision to not give Brunson a deal after the 2021 season.
They would have him signed for close to half of what he left for, and they would still have all of the assets they gave up for Kyrie to shore up other weaknesses.
Losing Dorian Finley-Smith hurts your defense. Adding Kyrie hurts it even further.
Para mi se deberia cambiar al entrenador
If he leaves it, gives us a lot of cap space. There was always a chance he left but it got us out of DFS and Dinwiddie’s contracts.
Kyrie is a cancer.
Kyrie isn’t the problem.
It’s cuban
cuban cigars are known to cause cancer for sure.
And an anti-Semite. And a racist.
Cuban wasting $10,000 since it was him that thought the ball was Dallas even though the Refs pointed it GSW ball. Why didn’t Dallas player go to take it out of bounds if they thought it was their ball.
Notice Kidd never takes any responsibility for anything. Even if it would just amount to lip service, the fact he doesn’t speak volumes. How can the players be expected to play with heart and passion when the guy barking orders at them is hardly a leader himself? I’m sure they’re tired of him, both as a person and as a head coach. He coaches them to less than the sum of the parts.
Not that it’s all on Kidd, of course. He’s not the one who put together a limited roster and then doubled down with the dumb Kyrie trade.
Not that it’s all on the GM, either. Cuban is the one who let broken power dynamics fester, then hired some gambling guy with very limited office experience.
Sad that a team with Luka at the helm has a dark future at the moment. It shouldn’t be that way.
NBA needs Doncic in the play-in mix
Y’all can blame Adolf Silver. Players can’t even goof off with him running the league. Doncic ain’t the only one. Silver bout to run the league in the ground. Players gonna bounce and go somewhere else. NBA won’t be the end all be all anymore.
“Players gonna bounce and go somewhere else. ”
Oh.
Meanwhile, back in NY, the Knicks are celebrating as they see the their pick slide towards the top 10 (currently at 11).
It’s top 10 protected. So we need it to be
11-14. Yesss
Thanks Dallas …. first for taking KP
Then letting Brunson walk. Thank You
Knicks fans.
“You obviously want to play well, but it’s only five people on the court that can play for the Dallas Mavericks,” Irving continued. “If the fans want to change places, then hey, be my guest. Got years of work ahead to be great enough to be on this level. But our focus isn’t necessarily on the boos.”
Kyrie at his best……. why would anyone want to play with this … Mavs are 7-12 since trade. When Kyrie and Luka play they are 3-7. So if Kyrie walks. What do they have. Knicks own their pick this yr…. Oh!! so thanks again Mavs
just keep losing lol.
link to nypost.com
ThankU — ThankU —ThankU Mark Cuban
Brunson NYK – 65 gms, 35 mins, 24 pts,
6.2 ast, 3.6 reb, .490 FG%, .411 (3PT%)
With Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic on this roster, Jason Kidd is gone. It’s not going to turn around. It’s unfair as hell but it’s the way things are working in 2023. I’d like to see Kidd get another chance to head coach. He’ll at least get to be an assistant.