Mavericks (6-3) at Celtics (7-1) Game #9 11/11/19

[Somebody]

lol at whoever downplayed Doncic earlier in the thread. Guy may very well already be the best player in the NBA.

I assume you meant me since I scoffed at the Bird comparisons. I mean I look at him as a Magic/LeBron type, is that called downplaying him?

Not sure if it was you or not, but yeah, Bird comparisons are absolutely legit, and IMO, Larry Legend is right there with Jordan as the best player I ever saw. Doncic is 20 years old. Bird wasn't even in the league til he was 23. Doncic might not be an elite defender, but he's no liability.

Little doubt in my mind he's the best player in the league right now. We double and tripled him all night, played him with one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and he still lit us up and kept an otherwise mediocre team right there til the last 3 min or so.

I'm glad we only see him one more time this season.

I'm not questioning his quality, he's breaking the league right now at the age of twenty. I'm just questioning the Bird comparison - why is a youngster who functions as an on ball maestro in the mould of legends like LeBron/Magic (and even Jordan) is compared to a legend who blended efficient volume scoring and passing together into a mainly off ball profile in Bird?

Because his mindset seems far more like Bird's, and the way he does things (not very vertical, but lots of fakes, slight of hand, predicting the defence, etc.) is more like Bird than those other guys. He's not nearly the athlete Magic was, let alone LeBron or MJ.

Yeah he's similar to Bird in that regard. But I just don't see them as similar players - Doncic approaches the game as a guy who handles the ball a lot (which to me is what Magic/LeBron/Jordan did during their peaks), while Bird approached the game as an off ball guy who mainly moved without the ball and made quick decisions whenever he got it. This is what defines a mindset to me instead of pure skills (Bird would never split double teams off a PnR like Doncic, while Doncic would never fake a pass after catching the ball off a screen before rising up for a jumpshot like Bird).

[keevsnick]

lol at whoever downplayed Doncic earlier in the thread. Guy may very well already be the best player in the NBA.

I assume you meant me since I scoffed at the Bird comparisons. I mean I look at him as a Magic/LeBron type, is that called downplaying him?

Not sure if it was you or not, but yeah, Bird comparisons are absolutely legit, and IMO, Larry Legend is right there with Jordan as the best player I ever saw. Doncic is 20 years old. Bird wasn't even in the league til he was 23. Doncic might not be an elite defender, but he's no liability.

Little doubt in my mind he's the best player in the league right now. We double and tripled him all night, played him with one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and he still lit us up and kept an otherwise mediocre team right there til the last 3 min or so.

I'm glad we only see him one more time this season.

Woahhhh, hold on. Does this guy rebound like Bird or pass like Bird or even play team defense like Bird ? Bird was a wild animal on the boards when he was younger and is the greatest passer from the forward spot in history, plus Bird had obscene scoring nights his entire career and Doncic has not shown the clutch gene that Larry had in spades. I know he is young - but he is not Larry Bird.

Yes, yes, no.

[ETNCeltics]

Did Brad give an update on Kemba?

[tenn_smoothie]

lol at whoever downplayed Doncic earlier in the thread. Guy may very well already be the best player in the NBA.

I assume you meant me since I scoffed at the Bird comparisons. I mean I look at him as a Magic/LeBron type, is that called downplaying him?

Not sure if it was you or not, but yeah, Bird comparisons are absolutely legit, and IMO, Larry Legend is right there with Jordan as the best player I ever saw. Doncic is 20 years old. Bird wasn't even in the league til he was 23. Doncic might not be an elite defender, but he's no liability.

Little doubt in my mind he's the best player in the league right now. We double and tripled him all night, played him with one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and he still lit us up and kept an otherwise mediocre team right there til the last 3 min or so.

I'm glad we only see him one more time this season.

Woahhhh, hold on. Does this guy rebound like Bird or pass like Bird or even play team defense like Bird ? Bird was a wild animal on the boards when he was younger and is the greatest passer from the forward spot in history, plus Bird had obscene scoring nights his entire career and Doncic has not shown the clutch gene that Larry had in spades. I know he is young - but he is not Larry Bird.

Actually yes to all your question. No comparison is perfect, but you could say Doncic is Bird-lite.

Yes to the rebounding, passing, defense and winning ?? Did you see Bird play ? No, which explains your opinion.

[liam]

lol at whoever downplayed Doncic earlier in the thread. Guy may very well already be the best player in the NBA.

I assume you meant me since I scoffed at the Bird comparisons. I mean I look at him as a Magic/LeBron type, is that called downplaying him?

Not sure if it was you or not, but yeah, Bird comparisons are absolutely legit, and IMO, Larry Legend is right there with Jordan as the best player I ever saw. Doncic is 20 years old. Bird wasn't even in the league til he was 23. Doncic might not be an elite defender, but he's no liability.

Little doubt in my mind he's the best player in the league right now. We double and tripled him all night, played him with one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and he still lit us up and kept an otherwise mediocre team right there til the last 3 min or so.

I'm glad we only see him one more time this season.

Woahhhh, hold on. Does this guy rebound like Bird or pass like Bird or even play team defense like Bird ? Bird was a wild animal on the boards when he was younger and is the greatest passer from the forward spot in history, plus Bird had obscene scoring nights his entire career and Doncic has not shown the clutch gene that Larry had in spades. I know he is young - but he is not Larry Bird.

Actually yes to all your question. No comparison is perfect, but you could say Doncic is Bird-lite.

Yes to the rebounding, passing, defense and winning ?? Did you see Bird play ? No, which explains your opinion.

That explains this: "Bird would never split double teams off a PnR like Doncic" Bird never split a double team?

[Somebody]

lol at whoever downplayed Doncic earlier in the thread. Guy may very well already be the best player in the NBA.

I assume you meant me since I scoffed at the Bird comparisons. I mean I look at him as a Magic/LeBron type, is that called downplaying him?

Not sure if it was you or not, but yeah, Bird comparisons are absolutely legit, and IMO, Larry Legend is right there with Jordan as the best player I ever saw. Doncic is 20 years old. Bird wasn't even in the league til he was 23. Doncic might not be an elite defender, but he's no liability.

Little doubt in my mind he's the best player in the league right now. We double and tripled him all night, played him with one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and he still lit us up and kept an otherwise mediocre team right there til the last 3 min or so.

I'm glad we only see him one more time this season.

Woahhhh, hold on. Does this guy rebound like Bird or pass like Bird or even play team defense like Bird ? Bird was a wild animal on the boards when he was younger and is the greatest passer from the forward spot in history, plus Bird had obscene scoring nights his entire career and Doncic has not shown the clutch gene that Larry had in spades. I know he is young - but he is not Larry Bird.

Actually yes to all your question. No comparison is perfect, but you could say Doncic is Bird-lite.

Yes to the rebounding, passing, defense and winning ?? Did you see Bird play ? No, which explains your opinion.

That explains this: "Bird would never split double teams off a PnR like Doncic" Bird never split a double team?

He could, but he doesn't do it often simply because he doesn't run an offense that way. Do you see Bird handling the ball and running pick and rolls 24/7? His main mode of attack was using his off ball movement to create an opening and attack after catching the ball. Obviously he can create gaps in the defense with his on ball abilities, but he's just not that type of player to do it often.

[saltlover]

Doncic is and will be a generational player.  It is a disservice to compare him to other players, and them to him.  Really special player.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

In classes tonight. Didn't catch the game. Anyone want to give me a run down?

[manl_lui]

nice grind at the end, hopefully Walker is fine and hope Tatum comes out of that slump

[ETNCeltics]

In classes tonight. Didn't catch the game. Anyone want to give me a run down?

Kemba had a shaky first half, went nuclear in the 2nd half.

Smart all around solid game, made the Mavs offense miserable at times.

Jaylen with another good game.

Tatum with one of the worst games a Celtic star ever had.

KP was almost as bad as Tatum was.

Doncic is a beast and every Celtic fan should thank God he's in the Western Conference.

[blink]

In classes tonight. Didn't catch the game. Anyone want to give me a run down?

Brown played really well the whole game, Kemba came alive in the 2nd half, especially the 4th quarter to break open a really tight game...Doncic was basically unstoppable for large parts of the game, and the Mavs were hitting a lot of shots out of his dribble penetration.  Kemba, Smart, and Jaylen all with big buckets down the stretch to ice the game.

No Gordon and Tatum was 1-18 from the field, and we still won by double digits.

[liam]

Doncic is and will be a generational player.  It is a disservice to compare him to other players, and them to him.  Really special player.

He is a generational player and a very unique one. I just think he has a little Bird in his game. I've seen players for 30 years be compared to Bird and this is the only one where I can see some parallels. Donic is a really special player.

[bdm860]

Here's a random fact.  After 8 seasons in Charlotte, the longest winning streak of Kemba Walker's NBA career was 7 games in '16.  He surpasses that within his first month in Boston.

[liam]

In classes tonight. Didn't catch the game. Anyone want to give me a run down?

Brown played really well the whole game, Kemba came alive in the 2nd half, especially the 4th quarter to break open a really tight game...Doncic was basically unstoppable for large parts of the game, and the Mavs were hitting a lot of shots out of his dribble penetration.  Kemba, Smart, and Jaylen all with big buckets down the stretch to ice the game.

No Gordon and Tatum was 1-18 from the field, and we still won by double digits.

Celtics held there own in rebounding and the bench came up with 29 points. Green and Wannamaker came up big in this one combining for 19. This squad fits together very nicely!

[SHAQATTACK]

kemba with minor neck strain