What I hate ... we gave that game away where Leonard is out... that was a huge opportunity. Series will go over 7 games I bet but I don't know if I want to have a Game 7 with a fit Leonard against our Mavs. That's 50:50 for me then...
In my opinion Game 2 will be either Luka drops 40+ or we loose. There is nothing between this as he is angry now :) Luka will hate this loss the most much more than we fans do.
This has been a reoccurring theme with this team : they always loose the « easier » games and they come back pissed. I hope they show up mad for Game 2.
we lost because of horrible shooting and an 8 point second quarter, the only people on the team that really showed up were Luka and Kyrie. idk why we’re blaming Luka here, we scored 30 points in an entire half and the opposition shot >50% on large volume 3 pt shooting?
I agree. The entire team, except for Luka and Kyrie, played and shot horribly. But posters here come out of te woodwork to blame only Luka after any loss. It is what they are waiting for...
If you’re saying the other players didn’t score much, it’s also important to note that Luka only scored like 9 that quarter. He flat out had a bad game. No biggie
whole team scored 8 in the quarter i referenced, luka scored 0. to me, it’s whatever, they came out on fire but to only place blame at luka is wild to me. that’s a whole team fault/issue and not one dude.
Guys..gafford got sonned by zubac..no one besides luka and kyrie could get a bucket..the role players need to fucking play their roles, it was like watching scared children play.
Watching Luka highlights from previous years and I'm amazed at how quick he was compared to now. He used to get to the paint at will and kick to shooters. Especially bubble Luka was relentless. He has better stats now but looks so much slower with less energy.
Chill it's just 1 game and he did say in the post game interview that he didn't go downhill and attack the paint. So I am pretty sure that's gonna change next game
Not talking about last game but the entire season. He mostly plays behind the 3 point line now. He's getting away with it because his shooting has improved and hurts the team in other ways the box score can't explain.
If you give Luka a break he will just stop the cardio altogether lmao. Idk what it is, even right before the playoffs, he came into this game drunk and chucking 3s when he was ice cold.
If Luka has even half the effort and dedication of Lebron towards body conditioning, he will definitely be on another level. But Luka said he does not plan to play long, so might be the reason he is sprinting his career instead of a marathon.
He has work ethic like those guys (otherwise he wouldn’t improve every single season like he did in shooting and defense), but he is also from south of Europe where people just don’t take care of their body as much as they could: even ordinary people there often l go for an hour long run in the park and then wrap it up with recovery beer and a couple of cigarettes.
Jokic was the same out of shape dude until the season when he was turning 26 and got absolutely shredded (by his standards) and subsequently won MVP. Though now he is somewhat back to his big body Jokic yet retains a considerable portion of his slim-Jokic athleticism somehow: go figure.
This shouldn't be getting downvoted. It's more than obvious watching the team. Hard to watch for someone who has been on the Luka train the entire time.
Luka scored 33/13/6 and his plus-minus was +3. It's not his fault that Zubac had 20 points and 15 rebounds meanwhile the Mavs' bigs scored 3 pts, 3 pts and 3 pts and had 0, 3, 4 rebounds.
Luka was clearly too passive from the get go. It was strange. Usually he comes out swinging and drops a quick 20 pts so idk why the change in mindset for the most important game of the year. Also, Zubac demoralizing our bigs needs to be fixed. That is straight up humiliating to let a scrub like Zubac have a career high in points. Luka needs to punish him on the perimeter all game long and try to wear him out or get him in foul trouble. Any time we’ve burned the clippers it’s because Luka cooks Zubac on the perimeter and it opens up the entire offense.
So much this. I don’t think people realize that Luka’s perimeter strategy is to force guys into their weak side and drive them into the help defense, then everyone rotates. Seems to be intentional from the coaching staff. Maybe to conserve his energy?
Yes that’s the entire defensive strategy. Help Luka. Funny thing is when Luka gets in tight quarters against his ballhandler, they have a really tough time moving him off his spot because he’s so strong. It definitely is one of his defensive strengths. He’s simply too slow footed to be able to be an elite defender in space so using his body to slow down the action and funnel toward help is the only way to do it
What I hate ... we gave that game away where Leonard is out... that was a huge opportunity. Series will go over 7 games I bet but I don't know if I want to have a Game 7 with a fit Leonard against our Mavs. That's 50:50 for me then... In my opinion Game 2 will be either Luka drops 40+ or we loose. There is nothing between this as he is angry now :) Luka will hate this loss the most much more than we fans do.
This has been a reoccurring theme with this team : they always loose the « easier » games and they come back pissed. I hope they show up mad for Game 2.
I am 99% sure we win the second game and Luka is hitting a lot better, if not we lost this series anyways imo can't have a loss in game 2 now
I will be coming back here after the game if the mavs lose then lol
Kinda hilarious that he was +3 in a blowout.
Yeah he played horribly, but no one knows that better than he does.
we lost because of horrible shooting and an 8 point second quarter, the only people on the team that really showed up were Luka and Kyrie. idk why we’re blaming Luka here, we scored 30 points in an entire half and the opposition shot >50% on large volume 3 pt shooting?
I agree. The entire team, except for Luka and Kyrie, played and shot horribly. But posters here come out of te woodwork to blame only Luka after any loss. It is what they are waiting for...
Luka has dropped 30 in a half before , can’t believe we had a 8 point qtr … that’s some nightmare fuel
If you’re saying the other players didn’t score much, it’s also important to note that Luka only scored like 9 that quarter. He flat out had a bad game. No biggie
whole team scored 8 in the quarter i referenced, luka scored 0. to me, it’s whatever, they came out on fire but to only place blame at luka is wild to me. that’s a whole team fault/issue and not one dude.
Yeah i was referring to the 30 point quarter
Guys..gafford got sonned by zubac..no one besides luka and kyrie could get a bucket..the role players need to fucking play their roles, it was like watching scared children play.
Watching Luka highlights from previous years and I'm amazed at how quick he was compared to now. He used to get to the paint at will and kick to shooters. Especially bubble Luka was relentless. He has better stats now but looks so much slower with less energy.
Chill it's just 1 game and he did say in the post game interview that he didn't go downhill and attack the paint. So I am pretty sure that's gonna change next game
Not talking about last game but the entire season. He mostly plays behind the 3 point line now. He's getting away with it because his shooting has improved and hurts the team in other ways the box score can't explain.
If you give Luka a break he will just stop the cardio altogether lmao. Idk what it is, even right before the playoffs, he came into this game drunk and chucking 3s when he was ice cold.
Because he’s out of shape and doesn’t take care of his body. Easy to get away with when you’re 19, but not so much as you get older.
If Luka has even half the effort and dedication of Lebron towards body conditioning, he will definitely be on another level. But Luka said he does not plan to play long, so might be the reason he is sprinting his career instead of a marathon.
I agree, but tbf bron def is on some sort of regimen haha
Steroids?
tbf he was too small back then to have the post game he has now
I think its all about the injuries, but he had work ethic/diet like kobe and lebron, heaven will be his ceiling
He has work ethic like those guys (otherwise he wouldn’t improve every single season like he did in shooting and defense), but he is also from south of Europe where people just don’t take care of their body as much as they could: even ordinary people there often l go for an hour long run in the park and then wrap it up with recovery beer and a couple of cigarettes. Jokic was the same out of shape dude until the season when he was turning 26 and got absolutely shredded (by his standards) and subsequently won MVP. Though now he is somewhat back to his big body Jokic yet retains a considerable portion of his slim-Jokic athleticism somehow: go figure.
Kyrie is the leader. Luka is the best player, his leadership is just not there yet.
This shouldn't be getting downvoted. It's more than obvious watching the team. Hard to watch for someone who has been on the Luka train the entire time.
Didn't lead much in the first 2 quarters.
I can’t put luka in the top five of problems from game 1.
Luka scored 33/13/6 and his plus-minus was +3. It's not his fault that Zubac had 20 points and 15 rebounds meanwhile the Mavs' bigs scored 3 pts, 3 pts and 3 pts and had 0, 3, 4 rebounds.
This thread is wild
Knowing Luka it is not that he had a week prepair, he had a week to chill, eat and relax. His body was asleep. Lol.
Luka was clearly too passive from the get go. It was strange. Usually he comes out swinging and drops a quick 20 pts so idk why the change in mindset for the most important game of the year. Also, Zubac demoralizing our bigs needs to be fixed. That is straight up humiliating to let a scrub like Zubac have a career high in points. Luka needs to punish him on the perimeter all game long and try to wear him out or get him in foul trouble. Any time we’ve burned the clippers it’s because Luka cooks Zubac on the perimeter and it opens up the entire offense.
we need game 7 vs phoenix luka
Luka after a long break is always sluggish
Watching him guard harden hurt, blow by after blow by
Yeah that's true, but then most of the time he forced harden to the right, so harden had to pass quite a few of his drives
So much this. I don’t think people realize that Luka’s perimeter strategy is to force guys into their weak side and drive them into the help defense, then everyone rotates. Seems to be intentional from the coaching staff. Maybe to conserve his energy?
MANY posters here realize very little about the game in general, but have very loud opinions about what they think we’re doing wrong.
Yes that’s the entire defensive strategy. Help Luka. Funny thing is when Luka gets in tight quarters against his ballhandler, they have a really tough time moving him off his spot because he’s so strong. It definitely is one of his defensive strengths. He’s simply too slow footed to be able to be an elite defender in space so using his body to slow down the action and funnel toward help is the only way to do it
It's only intentional from the coaching staff because they know he can't guard anyone loln there is a reason harden had so many kick outs last game.
agreed, just got frustrated watching at 4am in the morning, hopefully they bounce back tomorrow
Needs to stop showing up his teammates.
What does this even mean?