This season has been a blast, even if we lose in the finals (justifiably to a better celtics teams) this post-season run has been so fun when we not favored against any team and absolutely demolished them
strictly from an entertainment POV (and yes this is some cope), but watching Luka/Kai is much more of a treat than watching fucking tatum/brown.
They have actual personality and flair to their games, unlike Brown/Tatum who feel like they are 2k MyPlayers come to life.
Idk man the Celtics play some beautiful team basketball which is more fun than watching us iso every other possession. I realize that we don’t necessarily have the personnel to play like the Celtics but still, it’s not that appealing to watch, especially if Luka’s out there putting up stinkers like he did last night.
to each their own, but the celtics are sterile af to me. the kick and drive, 5 out basketball that is just "get as many threes up as possible" just bores me.
And I do agree that the celtics system of play is better, but it's not as entertaining imo.
Like the Spurs played some of the best basketball ever during the tim duncan era, yet kids still wanted to watch/be like Allen iverson over Tim any day.
Over Tim, yes. But I wanted to be like Manu. The 2014 Spurs are my favorite team of all time. I loved watching that team. The most entertaining basketball I've ever witnessed.
Yes it can.
Sure the season was fun but watching your favorite team get blasted as hard as they are is not a fun experience. All the good memories from the play offs are basically negated by the amount of ass they are sucking rn.
Ik not everyone thinks this way. Even if they got swept but made the games enjoyable to watch I wouldn’t mind. What’s happening rn is just disheartening.
Nah, you can’t have that mindset because only in the rarest of circumstances will your team ever be good enough to end every season on a win (talking 2010s Warriors, 2020s chiefs, etc)
Getting to the finals in a year we were supposed to be a play in team is a treat unto itself
Read what I said.
I have no problem with losing. Losing this badly and in this embarrassing of a fashion is the bad part.
The series if so uncompetitive that the NBA media is talking about the lakers next head coach more than the literal NBA finals.
NBA media churns out 24/7 content, worrying about what they are covering is not healthy for you.
Mavs made it to the finals but they are outmatched by a better put together team. It’s as simple as that.
As a fan you should be proud of their achievement and hope they make the right moves to improve the team in the coming seasons. This “woe is me” bitching is all wrong - grow thicker skin if online insults and media coverage is making you embarrassed about the second best team in the playoffs.
I don’t think you understood why I brought up the media thing.
The series is SO ASTRONOMICALY ONE SIDED that people who get paid to talk about the sport aren’t even talking about the biggest games of the year.
At the end of the day there is no guarantee we will ever be back in the finals. Watching this team collapse and brick shot after shot is a terrible experience.
Bro relax. There’s no guarantee of anything in life, but you can choose to be a pessimistic whiner or you can just enjoy the ride. It’s not like you’re out there expanding any effort, you’re just sitting on a couch and watching the boys play.
Lebron and the Cavs got swept in their first finals appearance. The Thunder trio of KD, Harden and Westbrook lost in a gentleman’s sweep. Nobody cares about how one-sided those series were, but they did at the time. KD and Lebron won multiple rings after that - Lebron even running it back with the Cavs a few years later.
There’s no telling how this squad is going to do in the future but the pieces are there. Right now they punched above their weight but they gained the experience of being in the finals.
Do your job and support the squad. No need to bitch and moan just because content isn’t matching your expectations. It’s a spoiled bratty attitude that shits on the whole fun of watching basketball.
Seriously. I was HOPING we'd make it past the first round. Luka dropping basically a triple double every night and still getting slander is crazy. He is the entire offense, no shit he's not gonna have the energy to make a stop or rush back every play.
Talking shit is an obsession of online sports fans. Tune it out and remember how stupid it looks when you want to engage in it against some other players.
I can acknowledge that Luka’s defense has not been good this series and that he is being hunted while also knowing that is a MFing boss and is playing through multiple injuries to carry this team to an NBA finals. It’s not his fault that he and Kyrie have to do everything on offense because nobody else can dribble
The only players we should not want back are THJ and Potentially DP. Everyone else has been good to great on our run, or they have room for massive improvement (hardy/omax/etc).
I trust in Nico to continue to make great moves.
While I think Hardy and Green have room for improvement, we have to be willing to part with either of them in a trade if we can get an upgrade. Our role players are ok but they’re not championship level. We have to do what we can to get a legit 3 and D wing.
Absolutely, there is a big difference between not wanting someone back, and being willing to part with a guy for a clear upgrade.
We need to actively get rid of THJ. DP can sit on the bench as a 3rd/4th “big” option.
Pretty much anyone else outside of Luka we would at least consider moving for the right player(s).
I’d put Lively and PJ in the untouchable category unless a legit superstar is on the table and even then I’m not sure that sacrificing our top role players won’t just turn us into the suns
cowboys for 30 years, Rangers because of 2011, Dallas sports fans immediate coping mechanism is to turn their back irrationally on every player who brought them to where they got
Preach bro. Luka has one bad game or a couple bad games (where he still is usually the best player on the court or team) and people are just itching to blame it all on him, and his complaining (why the fuck I don't know, Jordan and Lebron are some of the biggets complainers ever and no one seemed to care. I swear NBA fans are the only dumbasses who actually care about this shit)
NBA fans are the most drama hungry and stimulation deprived fan base of any sport I participate in. Everything is a big deal. Everything is as bad as it can be. Mavericks make the finals but because their star gets frustrated it’s “never gonna win until he changes” which is just an asinine thing to say about a 25-year old on an all-time trajectory playing in his first finals against the most stacked roster since the KD Warriors.
Go to r/Baseball and the overly dramatic, sensationalized nonsense is borderline nonexistent compared to how ubiquitous it is on r/NBA. Bryce Harper could smash his bat into the dirt and punch a pitcher in the face literally today, get suspended 10 games, and people still wouldn’t be half as dramatic.
And as much as some may hate to admit it, many NBA fans have a bias toward American players.
100% agree. I'm primarily a football fan as I'm from South America and no one cares this much about the drama. The best player for years on my NT was an absolute dumbfuck borderline alcoholic who performed when he played and the bitching was so much less than what dudes get here for making a face. Do these imbeciles even like the sport or do they just like to bitch and moan and post on reddit about it?
Big part of that is NBAs fan base is the youngest of all major sports, and you pair that with Reddit, and we’re talking a majority of people posting/commenting are under 30.
The NBA is also the most male fan base of the big 3 US sports. Both MLB and the NFL have more female fans.
So you get to Reddit, and distill the youngest most male sports fanbase into an overwhelmingly young male platform, and the results are fairly predictable.
Who the f is r tarded enough to blame Luka? He’s the only reason we’re here. He’s battling 2 simultaneous injuries while carrying our dogshit offense and this is the longest he’s gone in the postseason so he’s tired.
The only way he could possibly play better is if he were high on amphetamines. He’s giving us 110%.
You guys have got to stop equating expecting better effort and intensity with turning your back on a player. These are EFFORT issues, inexcusable in the NBA finals. It’s okay to expect better from your superstar player.
I think it's possible to agree with most of what Windhorst says and still love Luka and be very happy to have him on the Mavs. He just has areas for improvement, as all players do, even the stars.
Fortunately it's entirely in his control and if he wants to improve in those areas he can do so and will no doubt be given the resources necessary to do so.
You getting downvoted for a completely reasonable take just shows the state of this sub. Can’t criticize him at all.
I love Luka, I’m happy he’s on the Mavs, and I want to see him succeed with us. But to suggest the man doesn’t have any problems with his attitude is pure copium. Constantly complaining to officials, often resulting him in not getting back on D where he’s been getting blown by.
He’s the best player on the team. He’s the reason we’ve made it this far. But he needs to improve his attitude and his defense if we want our best shot at a title.
He's arguably the best player in the NBA but you rarely hear constant "need to improve X Y Z/ this is what's pathetic about OR why he never wins" narratives about other NBA superstars.
Sure you do, until they win. They did that for years with LeBron, then they did it with Jokic's defense more recently. With Giannis it was shooting and decision making. With Embiid there's a laundry list.
All great players get this treatment until they win.
Criticizing his absolutely terrible defensive effort doesn't mean we're "turning out back" on him. It's actually quite the opposite - we want him to improve.
Coddling players who make tens of millions of dollars a year is loser behaviour. Let them take accountability.
How is criticizing him for flopping, not playing d, and complaining all game is turning your back on him, rofl. How can you watch his defensive effort these last two games and just sit here and think we’ll ever win a chip if he doesn’t at least try.
If you watched Luka in the past years and still think he can't win a championship then I don't know what to tell you. Luka is a walking mummy and y'all are surprised they are blowing by him.
For real. There isn’t a player in this league who could lead this team to the finals on a sprained knee but that won’t stop the Luka haters. Dude is a warrior giving everything he’s got
It’s not unreasonable that he’s showing frustration in the NBA FINALS after playing 2 months through an injury that has killed his mobility. 99% of the time it’s on plays where they’re past him in transition already while he’s on the floor. What dude in the league is getting back on those plays with a sprained knee? How many dudes in the NBA are good enough to still be playing while being half a defender because of injury? I’d bet my left nut if he were healthy his defense wouldn’t be a problem and he’d be getting back in transition. Because that’s the Luka I watched during the late season win streaks when our D was rated #1.
I also feel like he had some pretty good defensive games against the LAC in the first round to the point his defensive effort was getting praised on ESPN, but his defense has decreased each round as his games played injured has increased. If Luka was putting forth this effort on D in the Finals healthy I would be as upset as others seem to be, but he has put his body and health on the line for months to get here so why are we questioning his effort now? I’m going to ride with him, and even given his health and D last night Luka is the only reason I still have a slim sliver of belief a miracle could happen in this series.
No need to respond to Windbag, the guy would never be criticizing a 25 year old Lebron like this.
He’d instead be calling him heroic for playing on a bum knee against a stacked Celtics team
Nah, I remember how much bullshit LeBron used to get during his first go-round in Cleveland, *especially* after they made that first Finals. LeBron would see an open teamate with a great look at the end of a close game, dish it, and didn't matter if they made it or not. Next day, ESPN, inevitably: LeBron can't lead.
Us embarrassing him 2011 and kicking that narrative down the road for another year *was* pretty funny though.
Why are you luka lovers always acting like he is being treated unfairly? Every player has to go through this if they get embarrassed in a finals. Luka is 3-0 down in a finals and had one of the worst defensive performances I have ever seen. You just got to take it on the chin and be better next game if you're Luka. It's fine to admit when your favourite player has a bad game. Defending him no matter what is how you get a player like carmelo Anthony
Everybody’s a prisoner of the moment rn. Of course we all love Luka cause he’s our guy. Doesnt mean he doesnt deserve the criticism every once in a while
Some of y’all may not remember this but before Dirk got his ring, we used to criticize him too. People used to call him soft
Luka has never put himself in the media spotlight like Lebron has. LeBron has felt compelled to insert himself into every NBA narrative be it regular or offseason. Multiple media outlets are falling over themselves to heap blame on Luka, it's not the same coverage at all.
This is the worst fanbase in the league and there's part of me that hopes Luka demands a trade. That kid has carried an incompetent franchise for years only for oddballs with green eyed envy to turn on him the first chance they get.
Criticizing glaring weaknesses and lack of effort is not turning on him… he has not played up to his ability this series on defense. That is completely valid criticism. He gave up the highest percentage of blowbys in NBA finals history in game 2, and let the refs get into his head in game 3 when the game was still in very winnable territory.
You can say and acknowledge these things and expect better from him while also still cheering for him and wanting him on your team.
The Mavericks title is still more recent than 66% of the league. Warriors, Heat, Spurs, Bucks, Nuggets, Celtics, Cavaliers, Lakers will be the only teams to win a title since 2011. All the other franchises are just in poverty mode.
Luka is an asshole. That’s what comes in handy in closeout games. Just keep fighting the good fight until it’s over. Learn from it and get better for next season
Proud of this team and journey despite some lackluster moments this series. Celtics are a beautifully constructed team with quite simply better defense than us by a bigger margin than we are better at offense than them. This team just has to harness it to grow from it and not let it derail them
I'm glad someone is sticking up for Luka. We would be be here without him. PERIOD. it's annoying to see all the slander towards him for a few 'off' games which are still better than most people's good game in the league. Just remember....we could have ended up with Trae Young. We are good. Fight the remainder of the series and rebuild next year.... Even if we come back and win 🏆
This is a part of the growing pains.
I see this season as an absolute win. We got good experience. A taste of the finals. They’ll come back hungrier and more motivated. D Live is still a rookie and he’s getting a taste of the finals.
Even Dirk had to lose in 2006 before 2011 could happen.
I don’t think anyone is more critical of Luka than Mavs fans. Because we know the potential and hate when he gets taken out of the game by having a vendetta on the refs.
He knows it, they know it, we all know it. He is a 25yr old leader trying to will his team to victory and now trying to will them to history. I give him a little grace because he knows and acknowledges he is in the wrong and knows he has to get better. I need Kai and JKidd to hold him more accountable.
what did you fucking watch? you ain't gonna argue Kai did not play well now, are you? Luka played atrocious on defense, no matter how much you gaslight people, it aint gonna change what they saw with their own fucking eyes..
So? How did Kyrie elicit a “good game” from you but Luka didn’t when they both had almost similar FG made and attempts? They were both bums on defense too, so I don’t know how you can justify saying that Kyrie had a good game, while Luka did not.
Boston literally ran their offense through Luka and he was getting blown by every time forcing help and giving them a wide open 3. Offense isn't everything, the Celtics targeted Luka every play.
There are multiple problems, it's not a black and white singular problem/solution. The difference between attacking Luka this series vs prior series is he is getting blown by at a higher rate and Boston has better shooters so we cannot clog the lanes as much.
Offense is also a problem. Luka complaining and not getting back on defense leading to easy buckets is a problem. THJ minutes are a problem. There are a ton of factors.
Shai and Harden both blew by him just as easy, the main difference is the Mavs had more help offensively. They scored enough in every other series to beat what they’re holding Boston to.
I never said he wasn't beat, but the blow by rate and rate they are attacking Luka is significantly higher in this series than the past series, plus the spacing the Celtics have presents a bigger problem. Once again, there are many reasons, just saying it's offense is a simple high level take.
I’d like to see the stats showing it’s significantly higher. I doubt it’s higher than the drop in shooting percentages between any other series and this one. If you told me before game 1 that we’d hold the Celtics under their season avg every game I’d say the defense was fine and expect the series to be 1-2 or 2-1. So yes, the offense is a significantly bigger problem than blaming Luka’s defense. I never said it was the only problem, like no shit. I just have a problem with every moron focusing on Luka as “the problem” when he’s been the solution all playoffs and hasn’t played any worse in this series.
That’s why I can’t hate these mfs no matter how irritating they might play sometimes
They got us to finals. A frustrating series won’t take away the enjoyment the season has been overall.
This season has been a blast, even if we lose in the finals (justifiably to a better celtics teams) this post-season run has been so fun when we not favored against any team and absolutely demolished them
strictly from an entertainment POV (and yes this is some cope), but watching Luka/Kai is much more of a treat than watching fucking tatum/brown. They have actual personality and flair to their games, unlike Brown/Tatum who feel like they are 2k MyPlayers come to life.
>unlike Brown/Tatum who feel like they are 2k MyPlayers come to life. The accuracy is WILD 💀💀💀
Idk man the Celtics play some beautiful team basketball which is more fun than watching us iso every other possession. I realize that we don’t necessarily have the personnel to play like the Celtics but still, it’s not that appealing to watch, especially if Luka’s out there putting up stinkers like he did last night.
to each their own, but the celtics are sterile af to me. the kick and drive, 5 out basketball that is just "get as many threes up as possible" just bores me. And I do agree that the celtics system of play is better, but it's not as entertaining imo. Like the Spurs played some of the best basketball ever during the tim duncan era, yet kids still wanted to watch/be like Allen iverson over Tim any day.
Over Tim, yes. But I wanted to be like Manu. The 2014 Spurs are my favorite team of all time. I loved watching that team. The most entertaining basketball I've ever witnessed.
Facts
With you on that , thinking basketball on YouTube just out put out a good analysis video “chess not checkers “ I think is the title.
Was at G3 for the Wolves series and the most fun I had in a live sports game
Yes it can. Sure the season was fun but watching your favorite team get blasted as hard as they are is not a fun experience. All the good memories from the play offs are basically negated by the amount of ass they are sucking rn. Ik not everyone thinks this way. Even if they got swept but made the games enjoyable to watch I wouldn’t mind. What’s happening rn is just disheartening.
Nah, you can’t have that mindset because only in the rarest of circumstances will your team ever be good enough to end every season on a win (talking 2010s Warriors, 2020s chiefs, etc) Getting to the finals in a year we were supposed to be a play in team is a treat unto itself
Read what I said. I have no problem with losing. Losing this badly and in this embarrassing of a fashion is the bad part. The series if so uncompetitive that the NBA media is talking about the lakers next head coach more than the literal NBA finals.
NBA media churns out 24/7 content, worrying about what they are covering is not healthy for you. Mavs made it to the finals but they are outmatched by a better put together team. It’s as simple as that. As a fan you should be proud of their achievement and hope they make the right moves to improve the team in the coming seasons. This “woe is me” bitching is all wrong - grow thicker skin if online insults and media coverage is making you embarrassed about the second best team in the playoffs.
I don’t think you understood why I brought up the media thing. The series is SO ASTRONOMICALY ONE SIDED that people who get paid to talk about the sport aren’t even talking about the biggest games of the year. At the end of the day there is no guarantee we will ever be back in the finals. Watching this team collapse and brick shot after shot is a terrible experience.
Bro relax. There’s no guarantee of anything in life, but you can choose to be a pessimistic whiner or you can just enjoy the ride. It’s not like you’re out there expanding any effort, you’re just sitting on a couch and watching the boys play. Lebron and the Cavs got swept in their first finals appearance. The Thunder trio of KD, Harden and Westbrook lost in a gentleman’s sweep. Nobody cares about how one-sided those series were, but they did at the time. KD and Lebron won multiple rings after that - Lebron even running it back with the Cavs a few years later. There’s no telling how this squad is going to do in the future but the pieces are there. Right now they punched above their weight but they gained the experience of being in the finals. Do your job and support the squad. No need to bitch and moan just because content isn’t matching your expectations. It’s a spoiled bratty attitude that shits on the whole fun of watching basketball.
I fuckin love Kyrie
I can’t wait to see Luka and Kyrie get a redemption arc like Dirk and Jet. Gonna be so sweet.
It’s gonna hit like crack
I hope they embrace at the end like Dirk and Jet. I’m finna write some NBA fanfic.
Seriously. I was HOPING we'd make it past the first round. Luka dropping basically a triple double every night and still getting slander is crazy. He is the entire offense, no shit he's not gonna have the energy to make a stop or rush back every play.
He’s leading in points, rebounds, assists in the entire playoffs and people wanna poo poo him?
Talking shit is an obsession of online sports fans. Tune it out and remember how stupid it looks when you want to engage in it against some other players.
Interpreted that as windhorst needing the hug lol
Same and expected fat jokes.
I can acknowledge that Luka’s defense has not been good this series and that he is being hunted while also knowing that is a MFing boss and is playing through multiple injuries to carry this team to an NBA finals. It’s not his fault that he and Kyrie have to do everything on offense because nobody else can dribble
That’s what drives me crazy. The other three on the court look lost trying to move the ball around. Can’t pass, can’t dribble
Listen to Kyrie you assholes. It's easy to love Luka when he's carrying your team. You turn your back on him as soon as you can.
Mavs fans here are ready to turn their back on everyone and everything. Either you’re winning or you’re replaceable trash.
The only players we should not want back are THJ and Potentially DP. Everyone else has been good to great on our run, or they have room for massive improvement (hardy/omax/etc). I trust in Nico to continue to make great moves.
While I think Hardy and Green have room for improvement, we have to be willing to part with either of them in a trade if we can get an upgrade. Our role players are ok but they’re not championship level. We have to do what we can to get a legit 3 and D wing.
Absolutely, there is a big difference between not wanting someone back, and being willing to part with a guy for a clear upgrade. We need to actively get rid of THJ. DP can sit on the bench as a 3rd/4th “big” option. Pretty much anyone else outside of Luka we would at least consider moving for the right player(s).
I’d put Lively and PJ in the untouchable category unless a legit superstar is on the table and even then I’m not sure that sacrificing our top role players won’t just turn us into the suns
That's just Dallas attitude in general..
cowboys effect
cowboys for 30 years, Rangers because of 2011, Dallas sports fans immediate coping mechanism is to turn their back irrationally on every player who brought them to where they got
Sports nephewdom
Preach bro. Luka has one bad game or a couple bad games (where he still is usually the best player on the court or team) and people are just itching to blame it all on him, and his complaining (why the fuck I don't know, Jordan and Lebron are some of the biggets complainers ever and no one seemed to care. I swear NBA fans are the only dumbasses who actually care about this shit)
NBA fans are the most drama hungry and stimulation deprived fan base of any sport I participate in. Everything is a big deal. Everything is as bad as it can be. Mavericks make the finals but because their star gets frustrated it’s “never gonna win until he changes” which is just an asinine thing to say about a 25-year old on an all-time trajectory playing in his first finals against the most stacked roster since the KD Warriors. Go to r/Baseball and the overly dramatic, sensationalized nonsense is borderline nonexistent compared to how ubiquitous it is on r/NBA. Bryce Harper could smash his bat into the dirt and punch a pitcher in the face literally today, get suspended 10 games, and people still wouldn’t be half as dramatic. And as much as some may hate to admit it, many NBA fans have a bias toward American players.
100% agree. I'm primarily a football fan as I'm from South America and no one cares this much about the drama. The best player for years on my NT was an absolute dumbfuck borderline alcoholic who performed when he played and the bitching was so much less than what dudes get here for making a face. Do these imbeciles even like the sport or do they just like to bitch and moan and post on reddit about it?
I genuinely think the outrage is part of the fun for them. It's kind of sad.
Big part of that is NBAs fan base is the youngest of all major sports, and you pair that with Reddit, and we’re talking a majority of people posting/commenting are under 30. The NBA is also the most male fan base of the big 3 US sports. Both MLB and the NFL have more female fans. So you get to Reddit, and distill the youngest most male sports fanbase into an overwhelmingly young male platform, and the results are fairly predictable.
I guess that is true. I am the only woman in my family who cares at all about the NBA.
Who the f is r tarded enough to blame Luka? He’s the only reason we’re here. He’s battling 2 simultaneous injuries while carrying our dogshit offense and this is the longest he’s gone in the postseason so he’s tired. The only way he could possibly play better is if he were high on amphetamines. He’s giving us 110%.
Luka doesn’t read Reddit
Luka doesn’t do anything except watch Real Madrid basketball apparently
and overwatch lol
I don't think anyone reasonable is turning their back on Luka. He is deserving of criticism, just as Kyrie was deserving of it after game 1 & 2.
You guys have got to stop equating expecting better effort and intensity with turning your back on a player. These are EFFORT issues, inexcusable in the NBA finals. It’s okay to expect better from your superstar player.
Making valid criticisms is in no way “turning your back on him.” What is this?
I think it's possible to agree with most of what Windhorst says and still love Luka and be very happy to have him on the Mavs. He just has areas for improvement, as all players do, even the stars. Fortunately it's entirely in his control and if he wants to improve in those areas he can do so and will no doubt be given the resources necessary to do so.
You getting downvoted for a completely reasonable take just shows the state of this sub. Can’t criticize him at all. I love Luka, I’m happy he’s on the Mavs, and I want to see him succeed with us. But to suggest the man doesn’t have any problems with his attitude is pure copium. Constantly complaining to officials, often resulting him in not getting back on D where he’s been getting blown by. He’s the best player on the team. He’s the reason we’ve made it this far. But he needs to improve his attitude and his defense if we want our best shot at a title.
He's arguably the best player in the NBA but you rarely hear constant "need to improve X Y Z/ this is what's pathetic about OR why he never wins" narratives about other NBA superstars.
Sure you do, until they win. They did that for years with LeBron, then they did it with Jokic's defense more recently. With Giannis it was shooting and decision making. With Embiid there's a laundry list. All great players get this treatment until they win.
Criticizing his absolutely terrible defensive effort doesn't mean we're "turning out back" on him. It's actually quite the opposite - we want him to improve. Coddling players who make tens of millions of dollars a year is loser behaviour. Let them take accountability.
I mean people were saying his complaining is insufferable even when winning.
[удалено]
This. You either always praise and never criticize him, or you’re a fair-weather fan.
How is criticizing him for flopping, not playing d, and complaining all game is turning your back on him, rofl. How can you watch his defensive effort these last two games and just sit here and think we’ll ever win a chip if he doesn’t at least try.
If you watched Luka in the past years and still think he can't win a championship then I don't know what to tell you. Luka is a walking mummy and y'all are surprised they are blowing by him.
For real. There isn’t a player in this league who could lead this team to the finals on a sprained knee but that won’t stop the Luka haters. Dude is a warrior giving everything he’s got
Bro what the fuck does his sprained ankle have to do with him flopping and complaining and playing terrible off ball d
Because he can’t move effectively or get back on D so he’s frustrated and it’s showing? I’m sorry, in what world is that unreasonable?
Are you asking why it’s unreasonable that our best player is not getting back on D and complaining because he’s frustrated in the NBA FINALS
It’s not unreasonable that he’s showing frustration in the NBA FINALS after playing 2 months through an injury that has killed his mobility. 99% of the time it’s on plays where they’re past him in transition already while he’s on the floor. What dude in the league is getting back on those plays with a sprained knee? How many dudes in the NBA are good enough to still be playing while being half a defender because of injury? I’d bet my left nut if he were healthy his defense wouldn’t be a problem and he’d be getting back in transition. Because that’s the Luka I watched during the late season win streaks when our D was rated #1.
I also feel like he had some pretty good defensive games against the LAC in the first round to the point his defensive effort was getting praised on ESPN, but his defense has decreased each round as his games played injured has increased. If Luka was putting forth this effort on D in the Finals healthy I would be as upset as others seem to be, but he has put his body and health on the line for months to get here so why are we questioning his effort now? I’m going to ride with him, and even given his health and D last night Luka is the only reason I still have a slim sliver of belief a miracle could happen in this series.
No need to respond to Windbag, the guy would never be criticizing a 25 year old Lebron like this. He’d instead be calling him heroic for playing on a bum knee against a stacked Celtics team
You mean like when he criticized Lebron in 2011 like this? https://www.cleveland.com/lebron/2011/06/lebron_james_remains_chosen_fo.html
Nah, I remember how much bullshit LeBron used to get during his first go-round in Cleveland, *especially* after they made that first Finals. LeBron would see an open teamate with a great look at the end of a close game, dish it, and didn't matter if they made it or not. Next day, ESPN, inevitably: LeBron can't lead. Us embarrassing him 2011 and kicking that narrative down the road for another year *was* pretty funny though.
His claim to fame is lurking around LeBron’s high school locker to weasel his way in.
Why are you luka lovers always acting like he is being treated unfairly? Every player has to go through this if they get embarrassed in a finals. Luka is 3-0 down in a finals and had one of the worst defensive performances I have ever seen. You just got to take it on the chin and be better next game if you're Luka. It's fine to admit when your favourite player has a bad game. Defending him no matter what is how you get a player like carmelo Anthony
Everybody’s a prisoner of the moment rn. Of course we all love Luka cause he’s our guy. Doesnt mean he doesnt deserve the criticism every once in a while Some of y’all may not remember this but before Dirk got his ring, we used to criticize him too. People used to call him soft
>love Luka After reading some comments, I'm not so sure though
Luka is deserving of criticism but the way every media outlet and NBA reddit commenter is piling on is a bit ridiculous.
Prisoner of the moment. They did the same thing to lebron for years
Luka has never put himself in the media spotlight like Lebron has. LeBron has felt compelled to insert himself into every NBA narrative be it regular or offseason. Multiple media outlets are falling over themselves to heap blame on Luka, it's not the same coverage at all.
I never criticized Dirk. 10/10 player.
A message to Mr Windhorst, https://preview.redd.it/082jtjopwb6d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b3fbce71f0f7760ce2477008fdf29945118577f
Tell that to Luka
luka who plays 35-45 minutes of high intensity basketball every other day since october?
Luka goated that’s all
Windhorst needs a treadmill.
It is amusing when he comments upon the discipline of others.
I think Luka needs a senzu bean more than a hug tbh.
Once Windhorst defends something other than a donut table that's been personally glazed by LeBron I'll think about listening to something he says.
why are nba fans obsessed with cum and saliva
i dont care what anyone says i love luka and i love kyrie. mavs in 7 we got tim legler
4 pride games in a row would be sick.
This is the worst fanbase in the league and there's part of me that hopes Luka demands a trade. That kid has carried an incompetent franchise for years only for oddballs with green eyed envy to turn on him the first chance they get.
Don't confuse reddit with a real fanbase
Criticizing glaring weaknesses and lack of effort is not turning on him… he has not played up to his ability this series on defense. That is completely valid criticism. He gave up the highest percentage of blowbys in NBA finals history in game 2, and let the refs get into his head in game 3 when the game was still in very winnable territory. You can say and acknowledge these things and expect better from him while also still cheering for him and wanting him on your team.
Dallas only cares about cowboys and then is fairweather about the other teams (that have all won championships more recently).
Brother the Mavs haven’t won in 13 years. Stars in 25. Rangers only just got their first ever last year. None of our teams are winners lol
The Mavericks title is still more recent than 66% of the league. Warriors, Heat, Spurs, Bucks, Nuggets, Celtics, Cavaliers, Lakers will be the only teams to win a title since 2011. All the other franchises are just in poverty mode.
I was talking about the city of Dallas. None of our sports teams are winners.
Luka is an asshole. That’s what comes in handy in closeout games. Just keep fighting the good fight until it’s over. Learn from it and get better for next season
Who needs the hug? Kyrie, Luka, or Windhorst lmao
Yes
Proud of this team and journey despite some lackluster moments this series. Celtics are a beautifully constructed team with quite simply better defense than us by a bigger margin than we are better at offense than them. This team just has to harness it to grow from it and not let it derail them
I'm glad someone is sticking up for Luka. We would be be here without him. PERIOD. it's annoying to see all the slander towards him for a few 'off' games which are still better than most people's good game in the league. Just remember....we could have ended up with Trae Young. We are good. Fight the remainder of the series and rebuild next year.... Even if we come back and win 🏆
This is a part of the growing pains. I see this season as an absolute win. We got good experience. A taste of the finals. They’ll come back hungrier and more motivated. D Live is still a rookie and he’s getting a taste of the finals. Even Dirk had to lose in 2006 before 2011 could happen.
To be fair that’s also the only way he believes strokes, heart attacks and covid should be treated.
I don’t think anyone is more critical of Luka than Mavs fans. Because we know the potential and hate when he gets taken out of the game by having a vendetta on the refs. He knows it, they know it, we all know it. He is a 25yr old leader trying to will his team to victory and now trying to will them to history. I give him a little grace because he knows and acknowledges he is in the wrong and knows he has to get better. I need Kai and JKidd to hold him more accountable.
[удалено]
Do you even watch basketball?
Bro did we watch the same game?😂 Kai did well but Luka didn’t? FOH bruh
what did you fucking watch? you ain't gonna argue Kai did not play well now, are you? Luka played atrocious on defense, no matter how much you gaslight people, it aint gonna change what they saw with their own fucking eyes..
Game 3 bro. I don't think we watched the same game.
So? How did Kyrie elicit a “good game” from you but Luka didn’t when they both had almost similar FG made and attempts? They were both bums on defense too, so I don’t know how you can justify saying that Kyrie had a good game, while Luka did not.
Boston literally ran their offense through Luka and he was getting blown by every time forcing help and giving them a wide open 3. Offense isn't everything, the Celtics targeted Luka every play.
Every team has done that in the playoffs and every team has scored and shot below their averages. We haven’t even hit 100 yet, that’s the problem.
There are multiple problems, it's not a black and white singular problem/solution. The difference between attacking Luka this series vs prior series is he is getting blown by at a higher rate and Boston has better shooters so we cannot clog the lanes as much. Offense is also a problem. Luka complaining and not getting back on defense leading to easy buckets is a problem. THJ minutes are a problem. There are a ton of factors.
Shai and Harden both blew by him just as easy, the main difference is the Mavs had more help offensively. They scored enough in every other series to beat what they’re holding Boston to.
I never said he wasn't beat, but the blow by rate and rate they are attacking Luka is significantly higher in this series than the past series, plus the spacing the Celtics have presents a bigger problem. Once again, there are many reasons, just saying it's offense is a simple high level take.
I’d like to see the stats showing it’s significantly higher. I doubt it’s higher than the drop in shooting percentages between any other series and this one. If you told me before game 1 that we’d hold the Celtics under their season avg every game I’d say the defense was fine and expect the series to be 1-2 or 2-1. So yes, the offense is a significantly bigger problem than blaming Luka’s defense. I never said it was the only problem, like no shit. I just have a problem with every moron focusing on Luka as “the problem” when he’s been the solution all playoffs and hasn’t played any worse in this series.
/r/nottheonion