March 23, 2024 • 35 mins
Is this Mavericks team better than the squad that went to the Western Conference finals two years ago? Where do things stand in the MVP race? And how are the Mavericks preparing for a crucial five-game road trip? Marc Stein tackles it all on the latest edition of The Saturday Stein Line presented by Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles ... with a special guest appearance from Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley.
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(00:04):
Welcome to the Saturday Steinline with MarkStein, presented by Beninian Trading Cards and
Collectibles on ninety seven to one TheFreak, the official homes all Dallas Mavericks
games, hosted by legendary NBA reporterand publisher of his subs deck The Steinline.
Here's Mark Stein. I really wantedto take a look today at this
(00:28):
Mavericks team compared to the Mavericks teamthat went to the West Finals two years
ago. Can the Mavericks as currentlyassembled, or maybe I should say it
like this, well, yeah,can they are? They can? They
will? They can? These Mavericksbe better, more of a force than
the Conference finals team of twenty onetwenty two. The case for Luca is
(00:52):
two years older and wiser and scarierfor defenses to deal with. This team
certainly has a stronger compliment of centerswith Daniel gafferd Derek Lively, Maxi Kliba,
And maybe you could say that Lucaplus Kyrie Irving plus Dante Exum,
that trio might I'm gonna stress mightbecause I'm not sure yet, but that
(01:15):
trio might indeed have a higher offensiveceiling than Luka, Doncic, Jalen Brunson
and Dinwitty did now for the caseagainst Moxi. Kliba was undeniably playing at
a higher level two years ago.Who could forget he had eight threes in
a game in the first round seriesagainst Utah and Okay, Jalen Brunson was
(01:37):
not an All Star yet, buthe was good enough already to more than
keep the Mavericks afloat, leading themto wins in that series. While Luka
Doncic was recovering from the nightmare calfstrain he sustained in that regular season finale.
The three headed backcourt monster Luca JalenDinwitty really good. Together those Evericks
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from year one under Jason Kidd,they have an inherent advantage over the current
cast and that we've already seen themdo it. We know what they were
capable of. They beat the Jazzin the first round to the point that
if you really think about it,Utah was nudged into a total franchise teardown
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in the offseason with trading. Itresulted in the trades that sent away Rudy
Gobert and Minnesota and Donovan Mitchell toCleveland, and then they absolutely dominated Phoenix
in game seven on the Sun's floorthirty three points. I said all that
as if anyone is going to forgetthe details of that one. No chance
(02:43):
that game will always go down asone of the Mavericks' most memorable playoff performances.
We don't know what the current groupis capable of in high pressure games.
The signs lately are pre promising.You have to say, they had
the seven game winning streak, thena one to five nose dive, now
this seven to one rebound, andit sets up a final twelve games with
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tons to play for. Now,can the Mavericks go nine to three to
get to fifty wins? That seemsa touch optimistic on this trip alone.
After the Utah stop, Remember they'vegot two games in a row in Sacramento.
They also have a game in SanFrancisco against the very desperate Warriors,
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and it ends with a stop inHouston against a Rockets team that has somehow
forgotten how to lose, even thoughAlpa and Shangoon their best player just went
down with a very scary ankle injuryand he's likely out for the rest of
the season. So nine and threeto close the season I think is asking
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a lot but securing the sixth seed, that's definitely in play for the Mavericks
and the Kings. The Kings helpDallas tremendously losing in Washington on Thursday night.
Did you know there are only threeteams all season that have lost to
the bottom feeder trio of Charlotte,Detroit and Washington. Portland is on that
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list, Brooklyn is on that list, and the Kings of Sacramento are on
that list, And that could underline, could could wind up helping Dallas offset
the fact that the Kings have alreadywon twice here at the AAC and so
Sacramento only needs a split of thesetwo games at home next week to win
the season series tiebreaker between these teams. And I'm really just I'm so it's
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such an interesting time for a baseballseries, and the scheduling of all that
just fascinates me because there's two daysoff in between the two games. It's
all just very unusual. All right, we're gonna have We have lots to
get to on this edition of theSaturday Steinline. Apologies, again, we
had some issues at the beginning thatI hope we've worked through and sorted out.
(05:00):
We're trying to do this on thefly, and sometimes sometimes the technology
just does not cooperate. But Ithink we've got it sorted out before we
go to break. I do havesome requests. I would love it if
someone who attended Thursday's soccer doubleheader atJerryworld text in tell me how it was
two to one, four seven,eight seven one, nine seven to one
(05:23):
or eight one seven seven, eightseven one, nine seven to one the
United States played Jamaica. By allaccounts, attendance was very sparse, very
poor, and then it picked upas fans started arriving for the second game,
Mexico v. Panama. I gottabe honest with you, I had
no knowledge that these matches were evenhappening until like the day before. Ultimately
(05:47):
that is on me. But Iwould also like to think that I fit
into the target consumer audience for matcheslike these, and so whoever's organizing the
CONKA CAFF Nations League Champions Nations Leaguematches, I would like to think that
their campaign should be reaching me somehow. They might want to look at that
(06:09):
because the shots I saw from thefirst half, I'm clearly not the only
soccer loving consumer who didn't get themessage. So hit me on the Steinlin
text line if you were there andhave an experience to share from Arlington from
Thursday night, or text in ofcourse if you have thoughts on the Mavericks
recent play the Stretch Run. Itis, after all, March twenty third.
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It is the shared birthday for bothMavericks coach Jason Kidd and that little
guy who threw in the lefty runnerat the Buzzer last Sunday on Saint Patrick's
Day to beat the defending champions fromDenver, Kyrie Irving. Yes, coach
and player share a birthday. JasonKidd turns fifty one today, Kyrie Irving
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turns thirty two. You know whatto do. Text us please and let
us know us know your thoughts onthe MAVs. Again, if anybody went
to the soccer matches at Jerry World, I would love to hear from you
as well. We are going toregroup and get ready for our special guest
because after the break Mavericks assistant coachJared Dudley he joins me next here on
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ninety seven won the Freak a SaturdaySteinline rolls On presented by Panini Trading Cards
and Collectibles. The Mavericks have wonseven of their last eight games, responding
well to a one in five skid, and now tomorrow they depart for a
huge five game road trip, mostlyto be played on the Left Coast.
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Somehow, I can't believe this istrue. I don't think we've had this
week's special guest on since Summer League. No idea what I was thinking,
because he is one of my favoriteinterviews on the NBA map. He was
as a player, remains so asa coach, and we're going to wreck
the immediately. Now, let's bringhim in. Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley
(08:05):
duds welcome in, Marcus. Yeah, Marcus, good to be here.
I try not to do too manymedia requests except for this one. So
when it comes to Dallas, you'remy guy, and so it's good to
you know, catch up, whichhas been a while. Always good to
have you on, sir. Andlet me just say, I mean,
this team is really played well herethese last eight games. You could make
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the case that had Luca been ableto play in Oklahoma City, maybe you
guys would not one two. Buttell me what you're seeing out of this
team from your very upclose vantage pointon the bench. Last ten games were
top ten in defense. Our defensewas atrocious after the All Star break.
It took many practices, many accountabilitymeetings, and it took some chemistry and
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jailing to get the team back backtogether. I think it was that Miami
game where like the you know,the end of the world, you lose
to Indiana, lose to Philly,what are the matters doing? And coming
out having on our best defensive performancesworth the Miami heat, they were rolling,
going against the culture. And eversince then we've been we've been playing
good basketball. The chemistry you couldjust tell us different. I think as
(09:18):
a as an ex player, Ican understand that and feel that this team
likes each other. That hell ofa trade at the All Star break from
the front office of getting Danielle Gaffordand PJ. Washington, and I just
think we're gonna keep getting better andbetter. Sometimes you get some losses,
but you could still become stronger atthe team and those losses. I think
that we're gonna do that. Here, de Glass, what twelve or thirteen
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games or so. I mean,you played in the league for so long,
you've been coaching. Now this isyour third season in Dallas. How
rare is it to like find chemistrylike this in March and how hard is
it to just try to establish chemistryafter a trade deadline and you make two
big changes like we saw the Mavericksmake. Yeah, it's very difficult.
(10:03):
It's major, major trades. Ithink sometimes when you're a championship team,
you'll see a minor one or you'llsee guys you know, you get picked
off, when guys get bought outand you find two minimum guys. We
did that with Marqueith with the Lakerswhen we won our championship. You do
see that from time to time.We basically added two new starters, so
that that's that's very rare for ateam that it was already a pretty good
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team. But here we are.We we we had a couple of games
before the break, we've had practices, we've we've had here now a couple
of days off here getting ready herefor Utah and going to Utah. So
we've had time to install stuff,to to correct stuff, to film and
so I mean, no excuses,Russ. It's Russ. You know,
playoff for or failure and we're allsystems to go right now, there's no
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playoff team in the league that's usedas many starting lineups as the Mavericks thirty
three different starting lineups. But nowit really looks like you guys have found
the combination you like with Stafford andDerek Jones Junior joining Luca and Kyrie and
PJ. Washington in the starting five. How comfortable is a coaching staff do
you guys feel with what you foundwith this new starting five? Very comfortable.
(11:16):
But I mean, listen, JoshGreen did well when he started lively
a starter in this league and thefuture, so we know he'll be a
starter. I just think at thetime, you know, of the veteran
status they had of Gafford, theway he was playing at you know d
Jones, that showed you his elitedefensive ability of one on one and guardy
(11:37):
of his length when he content.And then the best thing is health.
We've got healthy here the second half, Dante. I know, Josh Green
just got hurt, but for themost part, when we're healthy, we
have so much depth and stuff likethat. But this staff is comfortable of
being versatile and making changes when needed. Staff is not stuck in their weight
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and and adapt to something. Wethrived to do, Mavericks assistant coach Jared
Dudley joining us here on the Saturdaysteinline here on ninety seven to one.
The freak as always presented by Paninitrading cards and collectibles. If my memory's
right, you actually left Brooklyn justbefore Kyrie Irving got there, so you
(12:20):
didn't have the chance to be histeammate. But he clearly looks so much
more comfortable in Dallas than he everwas in Brooklyn as one of his coaches.
Now, what would you say fromyour perspective, has helped him establish
the comfort level that I think whenyou hear Kyrie speak, you can hear
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it in his voice. I thinkNumber one is Jason Kidd. People don't
understand people. Maybe people do.I mean Jason Kidd is top two,
you know. I mean superstar playersin this league that I want to play
for. Jason Kidd, He's He'sconsidered a cool players coach, Tom great
demeanor, hall of famer, andto have that respect level, that's one
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thing I played for a lot ofsuperstars, Yiannis, I mean Bookers now
getting in there, Shack, SteveNash, grand Hill, Rit Paul the
Lift, Lebron James. The listcan go on. The number one thing
you have to that edition. Kidhas that front players, especially superstars.
So first you have that, youhave credibility and accountability from the from the
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stat then you have to go tothe front office. Nikos don a hell
of a job. We've seen adifferent trade. The culture he's setting well
number one when it comes to accountability. We make him fill at home.
It's a it's a family culture.People talk like his family. But unless
you're in this organization and you seefamily court side, you see how we
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embraced it off the court. Yousee what we do when it comes to
you know, chefs, traveling,all the accommodations that we make its top
tier. But it all starts anin with Jason Kid when it comes to
Kyrie Irving. So on Thursday night, Washington beat Sacramento, which was totally
unexpected. You guys take care ofbusiness beat Utah. Dallas moves up to
(14:07):
six in the West. But inthe locker room or on the practice floor,
how much discussion is there about thestandings or is that something that you
guys prefer to not even get into. Now, we believe to talk about
everything. We will we will wewill, we will talk about everything of
our aspirations and our goals where we'reat, what's coming. We don't we
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don't have to be, you know, blindsided by anything. We definitely talk
about it. No one wants todo a play in or our goal is
to get move ups as much aspossible, uh and avoid that play and
no one wants to have that becauseyou never know what injuries that canna happen.
So yeah, we see who's wesee who's in the front in front
of us, and we see who'sbehind us. And we're a playoff mode,
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so it doesn't matter who's lot,who's losing. Every team that we're
chasing, we have an opportunity toplay Sacramento game coming up here is going
to be a huge playoff playoff series. But even after the you have got
behind us, Golden State, wehave them, Houston, We have Houston.
But I think it's six in arow or maybe six out of seven.
Seven yeah, seven, yeah,understand, And we talk about we
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talk about that and we we definitelyprocessed it all. Well, you mentioned
Sacramento. The scheduling on this tripis really interesting. Monday night at Utah,
then you've got the second half ofa back to back, which is
the first game in Sacramento, thentwo days off, two full days off
in Sacramento, and then you playthe Kings again on Friday night to complete
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the baseball series. How do youguys approach playing the same team twice at
this stage of the season, ateam you're trying to battle with for that
sixth seed, and again with atwo day break in between games in their
city. We don't often see that. We first know, you got to
handle Utah, Utah. We justplayed them, whether they were like four
(15:56):
for thirty something that won't happen againbecause you've got to go into tough environment.
If you see these different teams thatit gets down the wire, it's
a defensive stop or a big shot. Sometimes you have to have and teams
that are are prepared and ready togo handle business there to get ready for
your back to back. For Shacksak Is meeting us twice, one game
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Kyrie didn't play. We're a differentteam than we were then are rebounding our
size. The bonus has given themus trouble. So we'll break down the
film and see how we can guardthem. We've had different ways, but
overall is if you're not physical withthem, if you don't rebound the ball
well, and with they're cutting,cutting a lot and using the bonus with
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the DHLS with Fox and not beable to rebound the basketball, we can
score versus them. We know thatit's defensive the bonus. Harrison Barnes has
heard us, so that to us, it's it's really coaching staff diving in
and come up with the right gameplan, players executing. But we know
that if you can win two ofthose games, then you know you still
(17:00):
pretty pretty well by first. Ifyou lose both of them, they have
a huge advantage of holding on ifnot moving up our last few moments now
with Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley hereon ninety seven won the freak. Late
in your playing career, you hadthe role that Markeith Morris has now in
Dallas where he's you know, theold head, the voice of reason.
(17:22):
You know, we don't see Markithplay very much, if at all,
But how significant would you say hisvoice is in the locker room? Oh?
Very significant? I mean, youknow, to get an insight of
someone like Marquith is very rare.That you have made layer on the bench
that can speak truthfully, honest tothe superstars when they're making mistakes, aka
(17:45):
calling them out. He does thatwith Luca, he does that with Kyrie,
and he does it in a certainway where if it needs to be
aggrective, if it needs to bebreaking down basketball IQ of what he should
and shouldn't be doing, he's areflection of the coaching staff of what we're
trying to tell him sometimes, butsometimes you need a player to be able
to say it, not a coach. We talk trash and we play pick
(18:07):
up and we have people that don'tplay a lot of minutes in the games
that we call it bump where weplay five on five and lately we've been
having Luke and Kai because they wantto play so much because of the trash
talking Martif and the other players haveit. So he just brings that energy.
And because of his work ethic andhow he plays and practice and Bump
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to be able to call him out, they respect him because he's not just
talking to talk. He's coming froman unselfish standpoint and a winning standpoint.
So for us, he's more valuablethan just minutes of playing on the court.
His value is coming off the courtand sometimes frankly saying stuff that coaches
so that sometimes coaches it's tough forthem to stay in their faith. You
know, he can really keep itreal. We as a staff try to
be blunt and honest, but aplayer's language is a little bit different than
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a coach's language. Do you knowwhat I mean? All right, Well,
look, I know I gotta letyou go, and tomorrow you guys
will actually be practicing and traveling toSalt Lake City. But I can promise
you this, it will not beseven months for the next time we bring
you back here on the Saturday Steynline. Coach Dudley, thanks Amil for doing
this so anytime. Man, thankyou, Thank you doing good luck to
(19:17):
the Mavericks on this upcoming road trip, and please stick around. We still
have one more segment to go hereon the Saturday Steyle Line. That's next
here on ninety seven to one theFreak. Thanks for sticking with us here
on the Saturday Steinline, presented byPinini Trading Cards and Collectibles. Greatly appreciate
(19:37):
your patience. Had some technical barriersto overcome at the beginning of the show.
Happen sometimes beyond our control, butI think we have sufficiently rebounded.
Thank you to Mavericks assistant coach JaredDudley for joining me. Mavericks off today
on the shared birthday of Kyrie Irvingand Jason Kidd. They will practice tomorrow
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and then fly to Salt Lake Cityfor the start of this five game road
trip that is bizarrely spread out overeleven nights. Stat of the week from
the Mavericks. How about this onefrom my fellow substacker, Justin Kubotko.
Over the past nine games, DanielGafford is shooting eighty seven percent from the
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field eighty freaking seven percent sixty forsixty nine shooting Professor Kubatko says Gafford is
the first player in league history bfirst to average fifteen points or better on
eighty five plus percent shooting from thefield over a nine game span. So
(20:52):
Gafford indeed fell three basket shy ofmaking some long lasting his and besting Wilt
Chamberlain's all time record of thirty fiveconsecutive field goals converted without a miss.
Agonizingly close, Gafford finally missed oneafter thirty three makes in a row,
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but he's still doing okay. He'she's definitely rebounding well and not missing very
often and a big reason why theMavericks are suddenly they're generating raves about their
size, their physicality. Who wouldhave ever thunk it? Last Saturday,
Sorry, last Sunday. You seeif I can get the calendar straight.
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Last Sunday, after the Kyrie Irvingmiracle at the Buzzer, Nikola jokicch raining
NBA Finals MVP. This was Jokicic'sreaction to the Nuggets getting absolutely pounded by
the Mavericks on the boards sixty thirtyseven. Quote. They have the personnel
to do that. They are reallytall and long and attack the glass.
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We are not really a big team, especially on the bench. It is
what it is. End quote,Dallas. Nikola Jokic said all that about
the Mavericks. Not really sure howto replicate the eyes emoji on radio,
but that's what That's the way weshould be rereacting to that. We are
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going to do some MVP talk shortly. But I've been telling you guys,
Producer Maddie and I were not givingup on this on Twitter via my substack
every Saturday on this show, I'mgoing to keep asking you, keep inviting
you to make your voice heard onthe Saturday Steinline. Use the iHeartRadio app.
There's a microphone icon on the Freak'siHeart page. Click that microphone,
(22:48):
record a message, record a question, Leave your name, and what you
send in becomes a contender to beplayed on this show. Preferably. If
you don't want to leave your fullname, you'll at least leave your first
name and initial the city you're from. This is Marcus from Dallas, hypothetically,
and then hit us with your thoughts. What is it going to sound
(23:10):
like when we run your message orquestion on the show. We're going to
play one of these now, Maddie, let's please run the talkback. We
have Quto. Hey, Mark,this is Encore from Dallas. I was
wondering what you thought about the endof the season and looking at the standings.
Do you think the MAVs would purposefullytry to avoid or get certain matchups
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or will they just try to winas many games as they can and let
the chips fall where they do.Totally understand the question, but the reality
is that because of the play intournament now, you can't do that as
much. You got to get tonumber six if you can. We heard
Jared Dudley reference that in the interviewin the previous segment, the Mavericks desperately
want to avoid the play in,which is where you end up if you're
(23:56):
seventh or eighth. So because it'sinteresting, I think if we really ask
the Mavericks, if we really ifwe hooked up key figures in the organization
to lie detectors and made them tellus who they would most want to play,
my suspicion is the answer would beOklahoma City, and not just because
(24:17):
they almost beat the Thunder last weekwith Luca out, but the Thunder are
known to be small. This groupdoesn't have playoff experience. If you are
a lower seed in the West,it would make sense that you want to
play OKC and test all that,and for the MAVs in particular, to
try to rely on that size advantagethey now have that Nikola Jokic referred to,
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You don't want to play Denver inthe first round. OKC or Minnesota
those are the preferences if you're inthat six, seven to eight range.
And obviously we don't know who's gonnawin the West yet, it's probably going
to be either the Nuggets or theThunder. I think Minnesota ends up third
because they're playing without Karl Anthony townand that's why to me, finishing sixth
(25:03):
becomes even more valuable, beyond thefact that you're automatically in the playoffs.
I think a three to six matchupagainst a weekend Minnesota which will either not
have Karl Anthony Towns or we'll betrying to bring him back and reintegrate him
on the fly. I think that'sprobably the best case scenario in Round one.
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But the MAVs can't really think likethat. They just got to make
sure they get to number six andthey go into this five game trip as
the number six. But the Kings. Remember, the Kings have a two
zero series lead already, having wontwice in Dallas, and so Sacramento only
needs to win one of those twogames to clinch the season series. As
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promised, we are going to checkin now on the MVP race because I
did a video essay this week frommy pals at Bally Sports Southwest breaking down
where we stand, and even thoughwe can only do that in audio only
form on the radio, still wantto share it. Produced by Clark Rowe
and Tanner Rotman. Thank you,gentlemen. Let's do it now. Let's
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take this look at what I regardas the three. I regard these as
really the only three credible candidates forthe NBA's most prestigious individual honor. With
three ish weeks to go in theregular season, this much is certain about
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this season's Most Valuable Player chase inthe NBA. We know we're getting a
new one, with last season's MVPJoel Embiid sure to fall well shy of
the sixty five games played that theNBA now requires for MVP considerations. So
who will succeed Embiid in hoisting theMichael Jordan Trophy? On this scorecard inside
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the final month of the regular season, there are only three realistic contenders,
starting with a two time predecessor tohimb Denver's Nikola Jokicic looms the largest head
age twenty nine, and coming offhis breakthrough championship, Jolkic might be playing
the best basketball of his life.Jokicch is no lock, though not.
(27:26):
With Oklahoma City Shaye Gilgis Alexander likewiseplaying better than ever, the Thunderbard is
a legitimate threat to becomes a thirdMDP in franchise history alongside Kevin Durant and
Russell Westbrook, especially since SGA hasOkc in legit contention for the number one
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seed in the Rugged Western Conference andan achievement predicted by pretty much no one
coming into the season, one thatcould sway some boats away from Jokic if
it happened. I genuinely see onlyone other candidate with tangible hopes of denying
yokicher Schek, and Boston's Jason Tatumdoes not appear to be among them.
(28:14):
The Celtics, led by Tatum tothey've assembled as impressive a regular season resume
as a team can manage, butthe supporting cast around Tatum is so good,
with former All Stars Drew Holiday andChristoph porzingis interchangeable as Boston's third and
fourth best players. The instinct hereis that such high level helped probably weakens
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Tatum's and the eks. Luka,Doncic and Dallas in truth is the more
viable threat to the top two contendersas Doncich closes in on his first career
scoring titles. Yet Luca's obstacle,even after that ridiculous recent stretch of thirty
(29:00):
five point triple doubles, is thatthe Mavericks, not unlike the Kings with
their routinely overlooked the Monte Sabonis,are just a bit too far down the
standings. A non stop scream ofinjuries to Lucas supporting cast has been an
undeniable factor, leaving Dallas a longshot to reach fifty win territory when that
(29:25):
would certainly bolster the Doncic case.The standings also represent the primary hurdle for
Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokunbo, another two timeformer MVP. Like the Joker, the
Greek Freak boasts his usual gaudy statline, including ridiculous sixty plus percent shooting from
(29:47):
the field only the gas between theCeltics and the Fox at the top of
the East. It's just too significantto overlook. So there's actually one last
thing we can say for sure aboutthe NBA's highest individual lot. The NBA's
run of international MVPs is about tobe extended to six straight seasons, with
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a Serbian and a Canadian and aSlovenian leading this race. So obviously there
is tons of local interest in whatsort of shot Luka Doncic has at the
MVP Award, and as I justlaid out there, he is unquestionably to
(30:37):
me in the top three. Ithink he's one of only three players who
could win it at this point.But I'm not sure that even if the
Mavericks can muster the nine and threefinish, they need to get to fifty
wins. I don't know how muchthat will change it at this point.
And look, I totally get frustrationwith this because year to year things do
(31:03):
tend to change, and there arerecent examples of players who won an MVP
Award on a team that didn't winfifty games. And shout out to my
pal Kevin Gray hosted the MAVs pregameshow. I know he had a podcast
this week in which he hosted theMAVs TV play by play voice Mark Followell,
(31:27):
and I know they covered this groundas well, and Mark Followell very
convincingly and eloquently made the case that, you know, Luca, his individual
resume is so outstanding that he shouldreceive full, full steam consideration for the
(31:51):
MVP Award even if the Mavericks fallshort of the fifty wins. And look,
I totally agree with that, andI think he does have a resume
that merits an MVP, but Iwould just say the history of voting does
work against him, even if we'regoing to bring up the recent examples of
(32:13):
MVPs who did win on teams thatfell shy of the fifty win plateau,
and I can explain one of thesebecause I was still an official league voter.
My last year casting an official yearend awards ballot in the NBA was
twenty sixteen seventeen. Yes, RussellWestbrook did win the MVP that season on
(32:37):
a forty seven win Thunder team,but there were extenuating circumstances there. The
Thunder won forty seven games after losingKevin Durant in free agency, and Russell
Westbrook was the first player to averagea triple double since the Big O Oscar
(32:58):
Robertson way back in the sixty Thoseare the reasons why Westbrook was able to
overcome that fifty win unofficial fifty winrequirement that before Westbrook, we had not
seen an MVP from a team withless than fifty wins since Moses Malone way
back in the early nineteen eighties withthe Houston Rockets, and then Nikola Jokic,
(33:23):
the second of Jokic's two MVPs,he was on a forty eight win
Denver team. But the caveat therethe disclaimer. The Nuggets played that entire
season without Jamal Murray, who wasrecovering from a knee tear, So Jokic's
primary offensive sidekick, his second bestplayer wasn't there, and neither was Michael
(33:47):
Porter Junior. So Jokic got bonuspoints unofficial bonus points from the voters because
of those circumstances. The Mavericks havehad a zillion inj so you could make
some of the same arguments on Luca'sbehalf. But also what factors in is
the competition. Luca doesn't just haveto overcome where the Mavericks are in the
(34:08):
standings, but he's got to beatout Jokic and SGA in Oklahoma City.
And if Oklahoma City ends up winningthe West, I mean that gives SGA
a shot to beat out Jokic forthis thing. So still three weeks left
in the regular season for things toplay out. Let's see how things shake
(34:29):
out. MVP. It's either goingto be Jokic or SGA or Luca.
To me, those again are theonly three options. I'm pretty convinced of
that all right. That is goingto do it for another fast moving,
way too fast moving addition of theSaturday Steinline. Five game road trip for
(34:49):
the Mavericks starts Monday night in SaltLake City. The Mavericks won't play at
home again until April fourth against Atlanta. Again, it's five games, but
eleven nights away for the Mavericks toplay those five games absolutely huge stretch in
(35:12):
the race to see if they cansecure number six and avoid the playing round.
We the Mavericks will not be backin town next Saturday, but we
will be back next week with anotheredition of the Saturday Steinline. Thank you
to producer Maddy, Thank you toGroobs, and please keep those talkbacks coming
(35:35):
in. We want to work moreof those into the show as we progress
for the rest of the season.That does it for the Saturday Steinline presented
by Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles.Next up vs. In sports Map Radio
here on ninety seven won the Freak
Welcome to the Saturday Steinline with MarkStein, presented by Beninian Trading Cards and
Collectibles on ninety seven to one TheFreak, the official homes all Dallas Mavericks
games, hosted by legendary NBA reporterand publisher of his subs deck The Steinline.
Here's Mark Stein. I really wantedto take a look today at this
(00:28):
Mavericks team compared to the Mavericks teamthat went to the West Finals two years
ago. Can the Mavericks as currentlyassembled, or maybe I should say it
like this, well, yeah,can they are? They can? They
will? They can? These Mavericksbe better, more of a force than
the Conference finals team of twenty onetwenty two. The case for Luca is
(00:52):
two years older and wiser and scarierfor defenses to deal with. This team
certainly has a stronger compliment of centerswith Daniel gafferd Derek Lively, Maxi Kliba,
And maybe you could say that Lucaplus Kyrie Irving plus Dante Exum,
that trio might I'm gonna stress mightbecause I'm not sure yet, but that
(01:15):
trio might indeed have a higher offensiveceiling than Luka, Doncic, Jalen Brunson
and Dinwitty did now for the caseagainst Moxi. Kliba was undeniably playing at
a higher level two years ago.Who could forget he had eight threes in
a game in the first round seriesagainst Utah and Okay, Jalen Brunson was
(01:37):
not an All Star yet, buthe was good enough already to more than
keep the Mavericks afloat, leading themto wins in that series. While Luka
Doncic was recovering from the nightmare calfstrain he sustained in that regular season finale.
The three headed backcourt monster Luca JalenDinwitty really good. Together those Evericks
(02:00):
from year one under Jason Kidd,they have an inherent advantage over the current
cast and that we've already seen themdo it. We know what they were
capable of. They beat the Jazzin the first round to the point that
if you really think about it,Utah was nudged into a total franchise teardown
(02:21):
in the offseason with trading. Itresulted in the trades that sent away Rudy
Gobert and Minnesota and Donovan Mitchell toCleveland, and then they absolutely dominated Phoenix
in game seven on the Sun's floorthirty three points. I said all that
as if anyone is going to forgetthe details of that one. No chance
(02:43):
that game will always go down asone of the Mavericks' most memorable playoff performances.
We don't know what the current groupis capable of in high pressure games.
The signs lately are pre promising.You have to say, they had
the seven game winning streak, thena one to five nose dive, now
this seven to one rebound, andit sets up a final twelve games with
(03:06):
tons to play for. Now,can the Mavericks go nine to three to
get to fifty wins? That seemsa touch optimistic on this trip alone.
After the Utah stop, Remember they'vegot two games in a row in Sacramento.
They also have a game in SanFrancisco against the very desperate Warriors,
(03:27):
and it ends with a stop inHouston against a Rockets team that has somehow
forgotten how to lose, even thoughAlpa and Shangoon their best player just went
down with a very scary ankle injuryand he's likely out for the rest of
the season. So nine and threeto close the season I think is asking
(03:47):
a lot but securing the sixth seed, that's definitely in play for the Mavericks
and the Kings. The Kings helpDallas tremendously losing in Washington on Thursday night.
Did you know there are only threeteams all season that have lost to
the bottom feeder trio of Charlotte,Detroit and Washington. Portland is on that
(04:12):
list, Brooklyn is on that list, and the Kings of Sacramento are on
that list, And that could underline, could could wind up helping Dallas offset
the fact that the Kings have alreadywon twice here at the AAC and so
Sacramento only needs a split of thesetwo games at home next week to win
the season series tiebreaker between these teams. And I'm really just I'm so it's
(04:35):
such an interesting time for a baseballseries, and the scheduling of all that
just fascinates me because there's two daysoff in between the two games. It's
all just very unusual. All right, we're gonna have We have lots to
get to on this edition of theSaturday Steinline. Apologies, again, we
had some issues at the beginning thatI hope we've worked through and sorted out.
(05:00):
We're trying to do this on thefly, and sometimes sometimes the technology
just does not cooperate. But Ithink we've got it sorted out before we
go to break. I do havesome requests. I would love it if
someone who attended Thursday's soccer doubleheader atJerryworld text in tell me how it was
two to one, four seven,eight seven one, nine seven to one
(05:23):
or eight one seven seven, eightseven one, nine seven to one the
United States played Jamaica. By allaccounts, attendance was very sparse, very
poor, and then it picked upas fans started arriving for the second game,
Mexico v. Panama. I gottabe honest with you, I had
no knowledge that these matches were evenhappening until like the day before. Ultimately
(05:47):
that is on me. But Iwould also like to think that I fit
into the target consumer audience for matcheslike these, and so whoever's organizing the
CONKA CAFF Nations League Champions Nations Leaguematches, I would like to think that
their campaign should be reaching me somehow. They might want to look at that
(06:09):
because the shots I saw from thefirst half, I'm clearly not the only
soccer loving consumer who didn't get themessage. So hit me on the Steinlin
text line if you were there andhave an experience to share from Arlington from
Thursday night, or text in ofcourse if you have thoughts on the Mavericks
recent play the Stretch Run. Itis, after all, March twenty third.
(06:32):
It is the shared birthday for bothMavericks coach Jason Kidd and that little
guy who threw in the lefty runnerat the Buzzer last Sunday on Saint Patrick's
Day to beat the defending champions fromDenver, Kyrie Irving. Yes, coach
and player share a birthday. JasonKidd turns fifty one today, Kyrie Irving
(06:54):
turns thirty two. You know whatto do. Text us please and let
us know us know your thoughts onthe MAVs. Again, if anybody went
to the soccer matches at Jerry World, I would love to hear from you
as well. We are going toregroup and get ready for our special guest
because after the break Mavericks assistant coachJared Dudley he joins me next here on
(07:15):
ninety seven won the Freak a SaturdaySteinline rolls On presented by Panini Trading Cards
and Collectibles. The Mavericks have wonseven of their last eight games, responding
well to a one in five skid, and now tomorrow they depart for a
huge five game road trip, mostlyto be played on the Left Coast.
(07:41):
Somehow, I can't believe this istrue. I don't think we've had this
week's special guest on since Summer League. No idea what I was thinking,
because he is one of my favoriteinterviews on the NBA map. He was
as a player, remains so asa coach, and we're going to wreck
the immediately. Now, let's bringhim in. Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley
(08:05):
duds welcome in, Marcus. Yeah, Marcus, good to be here.
I try not to do too manymedia requests except for this one. So
when it comes to Dallas, you'remy guy, and so it's good to
you know, catch up, whichhas been a while. Always good to
have you on, sir. Andlet me just say, I mean,
this team is really played well herethese last eight games. You could make
(08:26):
the case that had Luca been ableto play in Oklahoma City, maybe you
guys would not one two. Buttell me what you're seeing out of this
team from your very upclose vantage pointon the bench. Last ten games were
top ten in defense. Our defensewas atrocious after the All Star break.
It took many practices, many accountabilitymeetings, and it took some chemistry and
(08:54):
jailing to get the team back backtogether. I think it was that Miami
game where like the you know,the end of the world, you lose
to Indiana, lose to Philly,what are the matters doing? And coming
out having on our best defensive performancesworth the Miami heat, they were rolling,
going against the culture. And eversince then we've been we've been playing
good basketball. The chemistry you couldjust tell us different. I think as
(09:18):
a as an ex player, Ican understand that and feel that this team
likes each other. That hell ofa trade at the All Star break from
the front office of getting Danielle Gaffordand PJ. Washington, and I just
think we're gonna keep getting better andbetter. Sometimes you get some losses,
but you could still become stronger atthe team and those losses. I think
that we're gonna do that. Here, de Glass, what twelve or thirteen
(09:41):
games or so. I mean,you played in the league for so long,
you've been coaching. Now this isyour third season in Dallas. How
rare is it to like find chemistrylike this in March and how hard is
it to just try to establish chemistryafter a trade deadline and you make two
big changes like we saw the Mavericksmake. Yeah, it's very difficult.
(10:03):
It's major, major trades. Ithink sometimes when you're a championship team,
you'll see a minor one or you'llsee guys you know, you get picked
off, when guys get bought outand you find two minimum guys. We
did that with Marqueith with the Lakerswhen we won our championship. You do
see that from time to time.We basically added two new starters, so
that that's that's very rare for ateam that it was already a pretty good
(10:26):
team. But here we are.We we we had a couple of games
before the break, we've had practices, we've we've had here now a couple
of days off here getting ready herefor Utah and going to Utah. So
we've had time to install stuff,to to correct stuff, to film and
so I mean, no excuses,Russ. It's Russ. You know,
playoff for or failure and we're allsystems to go right now, there's no
(10:52):
playoff team in the league that's usedas many starting lineups as the Mavericks thirty
three different starting lineups. But nowit really looks like you guys have found
the combination you like with Stafford andDerek Jones Junior joining Luca and Kyrie and
PJ. Washington in the starting five. How comfortable is a coaching staff do
you guys feel with what you foundwith this new starting five? Very comfortable.
(11:16):
But I mean, listen, JoshGreen did well when he started lively
a starter in this league and thefuture, so we know he'll be a
starter. I just think at thetime, you know, of the veteran
status they had of Gafford, theway he was playing at you know d
Jones, that showed you his elitedefensive ability of one on one and guardy
(11:37):
of his length when he content.And then the best thing is health.
We've got healthy here the second half, Dante. I know, Josh Green
just got hurt, but for themost part, when we're healthy, we
have so much depth and stuff likethat. But this staff is comfortable of
being versatile and making changes when needed. Staff is not stuck in their weight
(11:58):
and and adapt to something. Wethrived to do, Mavericks assistant coach Jared
Dudley joining us here on the Saturdaysteinline here on ninety seven to one.
The freak as always presented by Paninitrading cards and collectibles. If my memory's
right, you actually left Brooklyn justbefore Kyrie Irving got there, so you
(12:20):
didn't have the chance to be histeammate. But he clearly looks so much
more comfortable in Dallas than he everwas in Brooklyn as one of his coaches.
Now, what would you say fromyour perspective, has helped him establish
the comfort level that I think whenyou hear Kyrie speak, you can hear
(12:41):
it in his voice. I thinkNumber one is Jason Kidd. People don't
understand people. Maybe people do.I mean Jason Kidd is top two,
you know. I mean superstar playersin this league that I want to play
for. Jason Kidd, He's He'sconsidered a cool players coach, Tom great
demeanor, hall of famer, andto have that respect level, that's one
(13:05):
thing I played for a lot ofsuperstars, Yiannis, I mean Bookers now
getting in there, Shack, SteveNash, grand Hill, Rit Paul the
Lift, Lebron James. The listcan go on. The number one thing
you have to that edition. Kidhas that front players, especially superstars.
So first you have that, youhave credibility and accountability from the from the
(13:26):
stat then you have to go tothe front office. Nikos don a hell
of a job. We've seen adifferent trade. The culture he's setting well
number one when it comes to accountability. We make him fill at home.
It's a it's a family culture.People talk like his family. But unless
you're in this organization and you seefamily court side, you see how we
(13:46):
embraced it off the court. Yousee what we do when it comes to
you know, chefs, traveling,all the accommodations that we make its top
tier. But it all starts anin with Jason Kid when it comes to
Kyrie Irving. So on Thursday night, Washington beat Sacramento, which was totally
unexpected. You guys take care ofbusiness beat Utah. Dallas moves up to
(14:07):
six in the West. But inthe locker room or on the practice floor,
how much discussion is there about thestandings or is that something that you
guys prefer to not even get into. Now, we believe to talk about
everything. We will we will wewill, we will talk about everything of
our aspirations and our goals where we'reat, what's coming. We don't we
(14:28):
don't have to be, you know, blindsided by anything. We definitely talk
about it. No one wants todo a play in or our goal is
to get move ups as much aspossible, uh and avoid that play and
no one wants to have that becauseyou never know what injuries that canna happen.
So yeah, we see who's wesee who's in the front in front
of us, and we see who'sbehind us. And we're a playoff mode,
(14:48):
so it doesn't matter who's lot,who's losing. Every team that we're
chasing, we have an opportunity toplay Sacramento game coming up here is going
to be a huge playoff playoff series. But even after the you have got
behind us, Golden State, wehave them, Houston, We have Houston.
But I think it's six in arow or maybe six out of seven.
Seven yeah, seven, yeah,understand, And we talk about we
(15:13):
talk about that and we we definitelyprocessed it all. Well, you mentioned
Sacramento. The scheduling on this tripis really interesting. Monday night at Utah,
then you've got the second half ofa back to back, which is
the first game in Sacramento, thentwo days off, two full days off
in Sacramento, and then you playthe Kings again on Friday night to complete
(15:35):
the baseball series. How do youguys approach playing the same team twice at
this stage of the season, ateam you're trying to battle with for that
sixth seed, and again with atwo day break in between games in their
city. We don't often see that. We first know, you got to
handle Utah, Utah. We justplayed them, whether they were like four
(15:56):
for thirty something that won't happen againbecause you've got to go into tough environment.
If you see these different teams thatit gets down the wire, it's
a defensive stop or a big shot. Sometimes you have to have and teams
that are are prepared and ready togo handle business there to get ready for
your back to back. For Shacksak Is meeting us twice, one game
(16:17):
Kyrie didn't play. We're a differentteam than we were then are rebounding our
size. The bonus has given themus trouble. So we'll break down the
film and see how we can guardthem. We've had different ways, but
overall is if you're not physical withthem, if you don't rebound the ball
well, and with they're cutting,cutting a lot and using the bonus with
(16:37):
the DHLS with Fox and not beable to rebound the basketball, we can
score versus them. We know thatit's defensive the bonus. Harrison Barnes has
heard us, so that to us, it's it's really coaching staff diving in
and come up with the right gameplan, players executing. But we know
that if you can win two ofthose games, then you know you still
(17:00):
pretty pretty well by first. Ifyou lose both of them, they have
a huge advantage of holding on ifnot moving up our last few moments now
with Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley hereon ninety seven won the freak. Late
in your playing career, you hadthe role that Markeith Morris has now in
Dallas where he's you know, theold head, the voice of reason.
(17:22):
You know, we don't see Markithplay very much, if at all,
But how significant would you say hisvoice is in the locker room? Oh?
Very significant? I mean, youknow, to get an insight of
someone like Marquith is very rare.That you have made layer on the bench
that can speak truthfully, honest tothe superstars when they're making mistakes, aka
(17:45):
calling them out. He does thatwith Luca, he does that with Kyrie,
and he does it in a certainway where if it needs to be
aggrective, if it needs to bebreaking down basketball IQ of what he should
and shouldn't be doing, he's areflection of the coaching staff of what we're
trying to tell him sometimes, butsometimes you need a player to be able
to say it, not a coach. We talk trash and we play pick
(18:07):
up and we have people that don'tplay a lot of minutes in the games
that we call it bump where weplay five on five and lately we've been
having Luke and Kai because they wantto play so much because of the trash
talking Martif and the other players haveit. So he just brings that energy.
And because of his work ethic andhow he plays and practice and Bump
(18:30):
to be able to call him out, they respect him because he's not just
talking to talk. He's coming froman unselfish standpoint and a winning standpoint.
So for us, he's more valuablethan just minutes of playing on the court.
His value is coming off the courtand sometimes frankly saying stuff that coaches
so that sometimes coaches it's tough forthem to stay in their faith. You
know, he can really keep itreal. We as a staff try to
be blunt and honest, but aplayer's language is a little bit different than
(18:53):
a coach's language. Do you knowwhat I mean? All right, Well,
look, I know I gotta letyou go, and tomorrow you guys
will actually be practicing and traveling toSalt Lake City. But I can promise
you this, it will not beseven months for the next time we bring
you back here on the Saturday Steynline. Coach Dudley, thanks Amil for doing
this so anytime. Man, thankyou, Thank you doing good luck to
(19:17):
the Mavericks on this upcoming road trip, and please stick around. We still
have one more segment to go hereon the Saturday Steyle Line. That's next
here on ninety seven to one theFreak. Thanks for sticking with us here
on the Saturday Steinline, presented byPinini Trading Cards and Collectibles. Greatly appreciate
(19:37):
your patience. Had some technical barriersto overcome at the beginning of the show.
Happen sometimes beyond our control, butI think we have sufficiently rebounded.
Thank you to Mavericks assistant coach JaredDudley for joining me. Mavericks off today
on the shared birthday of Kyrie Irvingand Jason Kidd. They will practice tomorrow
(20:03):
and then fly to Salt Lake Cityfor the start of this five game road
trip that is bizarrely spread out overeleven nights. Stat of the week from
the Mavericks. How about this onefrom my fellow substacker, Justin Kubotko.
Over the past nine games, DanielGafford is shooting eighty seven percent from the
(20:29):
field eighty freaking seven percent sixty forsixty nine shooting Professor Kubatko says Gafford is
the first player in league history bfirst to average fifteen points or better on
eighty five plus percent shooting from thefield over a nine game span. So
(20:52):
Gafford indeed fell three basket shy ofmaking some long lasting his and besting Wilt
Chamberlain's all time record of thirty fiveconsecutive field goals converted without a miss.
Agonizingly close, Gafford finally missed oneafter thirty three makes in a row,
(21:15):
but he's still doing okay. He'she's definitely rebounding well and not missing very
often and a big reason why theMavericks are suddenly they're generating raves about their
size, their physicality. Who wouldhave ever thunk it? Last Saturday,
Sorry, last Sunday. You seeif I can get the calendar straight.
(21:36):
Last Sunday, after the Kyrie Irvingmiracle at the Buzzer, Nikola jokicch raining
NBA Finals MVP. This was Jokicic'sreaction to the Nuggets getting absolutely pounded by
the Mavericks on the boards sixty thirtyseven. Quote. They have the personnel
to do that. They are reallytall and long and attack the glass.
(22:00):
We are not really a big team, especially on the bench. It is
what it is. End quote,Dallas. Nikola Jokic said all that about
the Mavericks. Not really sure howto replicate the eyes emoji on radio,
but that's what That's the way weshould be rereacting to that. We are
(22:21):
going to do some MVP talk shortly. But I've been telling you guys,
Producer Maddie and I were not givingup on this on Twitter via my substack
every Saturday on this show, I'mgoing to keep asking you, keep inviting
you to make your voice heard onthe Saturday Steinline. Use the iHeartRadio app.
There's a microphone icon on the Freak'siHeart page. Click that microphone,
(22:48):
record a message, record a question, Leave your name, and what you
send in becomes a contender to beplayed on this show. Preferably. If
you don't want to leave your fullname, you'll at least leave your first
name and initial the city you're from. This is Marcus from Dallas, hypothetically,
and then hit us with your thoughts. What is it going to sound
(23:10):
like when we run your message orquestion on the show. We're going to
play one of these now, Maddie, let's please run the talkback. We
have Quto. Hey, Mark,this is Encore from Dallas. I was
wondering what you thought about the endof the season and looking at the standings.
Do you think the MAVs would purposefullytry to avoid or get certain matchups
(23:32):
or will they just try to winas many games as they can and let
the chips fall where they do.Totally understand the question, but the reality
is that because of the play intournament now, you can't do that as
much. You got to get tonumber six if you can. We heard
Jared Dudley reference that in the interviewin the previous segment, the Mavericks desperately
want to avoid the play in,which is where you end up if you're
(23:56):
seventh or eighth. So because it'sinteresting, I think if we really ask
the Mavericks, if we really ifwe hooked up key figures in the organization
to lie detectors and made them tellus who they would most want to play,
my suspicion is the answer would beOklahoma City, and not just because
(24:17):
they almost beat the Thunder last weekwith Luca out, but the Thunder are
known to be small. This groupdoesn't have playoff experience. If you are
a lower seed in the West,it would make sense that you want to
play OKC and test all that,and for the MAVs in particular, to
try to rely on that size advantagethey now have that Nikola Jokic referred to,
(24:40):
You don't want to play Denver inthe first round. OKC or Minnesota
those are the preferences if you're inthat six, seven to eight range.
And obviously we don't know who's gonnawin the West yet, it's probably going
to be either the Nuggets or theThunder. I think Minnesota ends up third
because they're playing without Karl Anthony townand that's why to me, finishing sixth
(25:03):
becomes even more valuable, beyond thefact that you're automatically in the playoffs.
I think a three to six matchupagainst a weekend Minnesota which will either not
have Karl Anthony Towns or we'll betrying to bring him back and reintegrate him
on the fly. I think that'sprobably the best case scenario in Round one.
(25:25):
But the MAVs can't really think likethat. They just got to make
sure they get to number six andthey go into this five game trip as
the number six. But the Kings. Remember, the Kings have a two
zero series lead already, having wontwice in Dallas, and so Sacramento only
needs to win one of those twogames to clinch the season series. As
(25:48):
promised, we are going to checkin now on the MVP race because I
did a video essay this week frommy pals at Bally Sports Southwest breaking down
where we stand, and even thoughwe can only do that in audio only
form on the radio, still wantto share it. Produced by Clark Rowe
and Tanner Rotman. Thank you,gentlemen. Let's do it now. Let's
(26:11):
take this look at what I regardas the three. I regard these as
really the only three credible candidates forthe NBA's most prestigious individual honor. With
three ish weeks to go in theregular season, this much is certain about
(26:32):
this season's Most Valuable Player chase inthe NBA. We know we're getting a
new one, with last season's MVPJoel Embiid sure to fall well shy of
the sixty five games played that theNBA now requires for MVP considerations. So
who will succeed Embiid in hoisting theMichael Jordan Trophy? On this scorecard inside
(27:00):
the final month of the regular season, there are only three realistic contenders,
starting with a two time predecessor tohimb Denver's Nikola Jokicic looms the largest head
age twenty nine, and coming offhis breakthrough championship, Jolkic might be playing
the best basketball of his life.Jokicch is no lock, though not.
(27:26):
With Oklahoma City Shaye Gilgis Alexander likewiseplaying better than ever, the Thunderbard is
a legitimate threat to becomes a thirdMDP in franchise history alongside Kevin Durant and
Russell Westbrook, especially since SGA hasOkc in legit contention for the number one
(27:47):
seed in the Rugged Western Conference andan achievement predicted by pretty much no one
coming into the season, one thatcould sway some boats away from Jokic if
it happened. I genuinely see onlyone other candidate with tangible hopes of denying
yokicher Schek, and Boston's Jason Tatumdoes not appear to be among them.
(28:14):
The Celtics, led by Tatum tothey've assembled as impressive a regular season resume
as a team can manage, butthe supporting cast around Tatum is so good,
with former All Stars Drew Holiday andChristoph porzingis interchangeable as Boston's third and
fourth best players. The instinct hereis that such high level helped probably weakens
(28:40):
Tatum's and the eks. Luka,Doncic and Dallas in truth is the more
viable threat to the top two contendersas Doncich closes in on his first career
scoring titles. Yet Luca's obstacle,even after that ridiculous recent stretch of thirty
(29:00):
five point triple doubles, is thatthe Mavericks, not unlike the Kings with
their routinely overlooked the Monte Sabonis,are just a bit too far down the
standings. A non stop scream ofinjuries to Lucas supporting cast has been an
undeniable factor, leaving Dallas a longshot to reach fifty win territory when that
(29:25):
would certainly bolster the Doncic case.The standings also represent the primary hurdle for
Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokunbo, another two timeformer MVP. Like the Joker, the
Greek Freak boasts his usual gaudy statline, including ridiculous sixty plus percent shooting from
(29:47):
the field only the gas between theCeltics and the Fox at the top of
the East. It's just too significantto overlook. So there's actually one last
thing we can say for sure aboutthe NBA's highest individual lot. The NBA's
run of international MVPs is about tobe extended to six straight seasons, with
(30:11):
a Serbian and a Canadian and aSlovenian leading this race. So obviously there
is tons of local interest in whatsort of shot Luka Doncic has at the
MVP Award, and as I justlaid out there, he is unquestionably to
(30:37):
me in the top three. Ithink he's one of only three players who
could win it at this point.But I'm not sure that even if the
Mavericks can muster the nine and threefinish, they need to get to fifty
wins. I don't know how muchthat will change it at this point.
And look, I totally get frustrationwith this because year to year things do
(31:03):
tend to change, and there arerecent examples of players who won an MVP
Award on a team that didn't winfifty games. And shout out to my
pal Kevin Gray hosted the MAVs pregameshow. I know he had a podcast
this week in which he hosted theMAVs TV play by play voice Mark Followell,
(31:27):
and I know they covered this groundas well, and Mark Followell very
convincingly and eloquently made the case that, you know, Luca, his individual
resume is so outstanding that he shouldreceive full, full steam consideration for the
(31:51):
MVP Award even if the Mavericks fallshort of the fifty wins. And look,
I totally agree with that, andI think he does have a resume
that merits an MVP, but Iwould just say the history of voting does
work against him, even if we'regoing to bring up the recent examples of
(32:13):
MVPs who did win on teams thatfell shy of the fifty win plateau,
and I can explain one of thesebecause I was still an official league voter.
My last year casting an official yearend awards ballot in the NBA was
twenty sixteen seventeen. Yes, RussellWestbrook did win the MVP that season on
(32:37):
a forty seven win Thunder team,but there were extenuating circumstances there. The
Thunder won forty seven games after losingKevin Durant in free agency, and Russell
Westbrook was the first player to averagea triple double since the Big O Oscar
(32:58):
Robertson way back in the sixty Thoseare the reasons why Westbrook was able to
overcome that fifty win unofficial fifty winrequirement that before Westbrook, we had not
seen an MVP from a team withless than fifty wins since Moses Malone way
back in the early nineteen eighties withthe Houston Rockets, and then Nikola Jokic,
(33:23):
the second of Jokic's two MVPs,he was on a forty eight win
Denver team. But the caveat therethe disclaimer. The Nuggets played that entire
season without Jamal Murray, who wasrecovering from a knee tear, So Jokic's
primary offensive sidekick, his second bestplayer wasn't there, and neither was Michael
(33:47):
Porter Junior. So Jokic got bonuspoints unofficial bonus points from the voters because
of those circumstances. The Mavericks havehad a zillion inj so you could make
some of the same arguments on Luca'sbehalf. But also what factors in is
the competition. Luca doesn't just haveto overcome where the Mavericks are in the
(34:08):
standings, but he's got to beatout Jokic and SGA in Oklahoma City.
And if Oklahoma City ends up winningthe West, I mean that gives SGA
a shot to beat out Jokic forthis thing. So still three weeks left
in the regular season for things toplay out. Let's see how things shake
(34:29):
out. MVP. It's either goingto be Jokic or SGA or Luca.
To me, those again are theonly three options. I'm pretty convinced of
that all right. That is goingto do it for another fast moving,
way too fast moving addition of theSaturday Steinline. Five game road trip for
(34:49):
the Mavericks starts Monday night in SaltLake City. The Mavericks won't play at
home again until April fourth against Atlanta. Again, it's five games, but
eleven nights away for the Mavericks toplay those five games absolutely huge stretch in
(35:12):
the race to see if they cansecure number six and avoid the playing round.
We the Mavericks will not be backin town next Saturday, but we
will be back next week with anotheredition of the Saturday Steinline. Thank you
to producer Maddy, Thank you toGroobs, and please keep those talkbacks coming
(35:35):
in. We want to work moreof those into the show as we progress
for the rest of the season.That does it for the Saturday Steinline presented
by Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles.Next up vs. In sports Map Radio
here on ninety seven won the Freak
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