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Jazz vs. Mavs in round one

Doncic will be out for Games 1 and 2 at a minimum. Jazz need to try to win both those games. Let's move on and talk about lineups...

Mavs need to start their regular guys -- Brunson / Dinwiddie / Bullock / Finney-Smith / Powell. They need to put their best scorers on the floor, and at the same time they can't put themselves in a position to get completely crushed on the boards. Luka not only leads the Mavs in scoring and assists, he also leads the team in rebounding at 9 rpg. Jazz will have an opportunity to crash the offensive boards. One of Powell or Kleber will need to be on the floor to contend with Gobert/Whiteside. If they really play DFS at the 5, he'll be giving up 6 inches and 40 lbs on our guys. Even if Gobert doesn't punish that matchup consistently, Whiteside will. They might try to buy some minutes with Marquese Chriss in their frontcourt.

With Luka out of the lineup, the Mavs' depth becomes an issue. Off the bench, they have Josh Green, Davis Bertans and Maxi Kleber, which doesn't give them a lot of scoring punch. Those guys average 7ppg, 5ppg and 5ppg, respectively, so they're going to have to try to turn it up a notch. Don't be surprised if Sterling Brown and Frank Ntilikina play some minutes, though neither is an efficient shooter.

DFS is the Mavs' best individual defender, and he'll likely try to defend Mitchell. However, both Mike and Donovan will probably try to bring Dwight Powell into a pick-and-roll with Gobert and get the switch onto Powell who is a mediocre defender away from the rim. The other guy to attack is Brunson, simply because he's 6'1" with a 6'4" wingspan, and guys like Mitchell and Clarkson will just shoot over him. If Bertans is on the floor, then obviously our guys will attack him and make him Peking Duck.

With Luka out of the lineup, the Jazz's main advantage comes from Mitchell and Gobert in the starting lineup, and the Jazz's quality depth off the bench. In this scenario, the Jazz's bench production should really be +15 or better over the Mavs' bench. The Jazz should also have a pretty consistent rebound advantage, if the Jazz keep the Mavs' guards off the boards.

If I were the Jazz, I would start House ahead of O'Neale. The reason is that the Mavs have a very perimeter-oriented attack, especially without Luka working out of screen/roll actions. House could guard Dinwiddie, while Mitchell guards Bullock on the wing. This would also help keep Mitchell fresher to attack on the other end. So the Jazz would put Conley on Brunson, Mitchell on Bullock, House on Dinwiddie, Bojan on Finney-Smith, and Gobert on Powell. Whether he starts or not, House should be guarding Dinwiddie when he's in the game. Dinwiddie will need to score 25+ every night for the Mavs to have a chance at keeping up with the Jazz's offense.
 
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Dallas fans sound like Jazz fans with Conley during the Clippers series last year lmao
 
MT Steve said:
I keep my house pretty bright actually.
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Avery said:
Everything is so white.

Racism confirmed.
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When I was 14 I worked in a retirement home in the dining room as a server. There was one guy who only ordered the white and/or light colored stuff. Roast beef and brown gravy or turkey and yellow gravy, he'd get the turkey. Coffee, soda, or ... milk, he gets the milk. We have a special chocolate cake for dissert, nah, he'll have vanilla ice cream. Literally no exceptions ever at all. He was a jackass and he was a very frail. very pale, white haired guy. He and another guy there feuded all the time over everything but the other guy was really nice otherwise.

Random
 
Ferguson_Mellochill said:
Doncic will be out for Games 1 and 2 at a minimum. Jazz need to try to win both those games. Let's move on and talk about lineups...

Mavs need to start their regular guys -- Brunson / Dinwiddie / Bullock / Finney-Smith / Powell. They need to put their best scorers on the floor, and at the same time they can't put themselves in a position to get completely crushed on the boards. Luka not only leads the Mavs in scoring and assists, he also leads the team in rebounding at 9 rpg. Jazz will have an opportunity to crash the offensive boards. One of Powell or Kleber will need to be on the floor to contend with Gobert/Whiteside. If they really play DFS at the 5, he'll be giving up 6 inches and 40 lbs on our guys. Even if Gobert doesn't punish that matchup, Whiteside will. They might try to buy some minutes with Marquese Chriss in their frontcourt.

With Luka out of the lineup, the Mavs' depth becomes an issue. Off the bench, they have Josh Green, Davis Bertans and Maxi Kleber, which doesn't give them a lot of scoring punch. Those guys average 7ppg, 5ppg and 5ppg, respectively, so they're going to have to try to turn it up a notch. Don't be surprised if Sterling Brown and Frank Ntilikina play some minutes, though neither is an efficient shooter.

DFS is the Mavs' best individual defender, and he'll likely try to defend Mitchell. However, both Mike and Donovan will probably try to bring Dwight Powell into a pick-and-roll with Gobert and get the switch onto Powell who is a mediocre defender away from the rim. The other guy to attack is Brunson, simply because he's 6'1" with a 6'4" wingspan, and guys like Mitchell and Clarkson will just shoot over him. If Bertans is on the floor, then obviously our guys will attack him and make him Peking Duck.

With Luka out of the lineup, the Jazz's main advantage comes from Mitchell and Gobert in the starting lineup, and the Jazz's quality depth off the bench. In this scenario, the Jazz's bench production should really be +15 or better over the Mavs' bench. The Jazz should also have a pretty consistent rebound advantage, if the Jazz keep the Mavs' guards off the boards.
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A big key in this series will be Jordan Clarksons play style. I harp on this all the time but he needs to attack the paint. He is literally one of the best finishers around the paint in the nba and you can see guys get exhausted trying to chase him around and deal with his attacks time after time down the court. However, he isn't a great three point shooter yet will sometimes jack em up from outside and let the defense off the hook. I hope quin has given him the green light to attack all he wants but if he is settling for 3's then quin better yank him quick.
 
fishonjazz said:
A big key in this series will be Jordan Clarksons play style. I harp on this all the time but he needs to attack the paint. He is literally one of the best finishers around the paint in the nba and you can see guys get exhausted trying to chase him around and deal with his attacks time after time down the court. However, he isn't a great three point shooter yet will sometimes jack em up from outside and let the defense off the hook. I hope quin has given him the green light to attack all he wants but if he is settling for 3's then quin better yank him quick.
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What did you have for dinner tonight?
 
fishonjazz said:
A big key in this series will be Jordan Clarksons play style. I harp on this all the time but he needs to attack the paint. He is literally one of the best finishers around the paint in the nba and you can see guys get exhausted trying to chase him around and deal with his attacks time after time down the court. However, he isn't a great three point shooter yet will sometimes jack em up from outside and let the defense off the hook. I hope quin has given him the green light to attack all he wants but if he is settling for 3's then quin better yank him quick.
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If the Mavs go small and spread, playing DFS at the 5, then Mitchell and Clarkson need to be going to the rim.
 
Sean said:
I don't think the Jazz are contenders, though. They're a fifth seed for a reason and go through the history of the NBA Playoffs, at least from 1950, and you'll see only nine teams in history have made the Finals with a seed lower than three.

Only one, Houston in 1995, actually won it.

9 teams out of 150 or so. Statistically, it's not impossible - but quite improbable (like 1%).

And that's counting two with unusual circumstances:

Miami (5 seed) from 2020 during that wild COVID in the bubble season and New York (8 seed) from the lockout shortened 1999 season.

So, when you don't factor in anomaly NBA seasons or playoffs, which absolutely could have had an impact, we're looking at a total of seven teams since 1950.

It's just not a good number.

So, at this point, I just want the Jazz to win as many playoff games as possible. That's way more likely to happen with Luka out.

NBA seeding is important and absolutely dictates whether a team is a title contender. Utah isn't a title contender. History pretty much shows this.
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This was a pretty weird year too with all the covid stuff, just look at our January. Every team had to deal with it, but it definitely had an effect on final seeding.

Your point mostly stands, we haven't played like a contender. Our chances of advancing isn't great, but if there is going to be another exception to the rule this year could also make sense.
 
Hearsky said:
What did you have for dinner tonight?
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Haven't eaten yet but im going to be having brussell sprouts, string cheese, carrots, aussie bites, and chicken thighs.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
This was a pretty weird year too with all the covid stuff, just look at our January. Every team had to deal with it, but it definitely had an effect on final seeding.

Your point mostly stands, we haven't played like a contender. Our chances of advancing isn't great, but if there is going to be another exception to the rule this year could also make sense.
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And see, unfortunately I look at 2021 as the year where COVID really impacted seeding. I think the Jazz was inflated all around and are likely more in line with where they fell this season, which is pretty much exactly where they've been the last 20 years.
 
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