3 things from the Mavericks 108-88 Summer League loss to the Memphis Grizzlies

The Dallas Mavericks Summer League squad got absolutely thumped 108-88 against the Memphis Grizzlies Monday night in Las Vegas, in a game that wasn’t even as close as the score suggested.

This game was never in question, as Dallas fell behind 25-4 in the opening minutes of the first quarter and never recovered. The Mavericks had one of the sloppiest games in Summer League history with an astonishing 27 turnovers, which led to 36 points for Memphis.

The Grizzlies constant ball pressure was no match for the Mavericks overwhelmed guards, who kept coughing it up at almost every opportunity. From there the Grizzlies dominated in transition, finishing with 58 points in the paint. Memphis forward G.G. Jackson led all scorers with 23 points, while Dallas forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper led the Mavericks with 16 points.

Dallas now falls to 0-2 in Vegas, while Memphis improves to 2-0. The Mavericks have another chance.

This was an ass-kicking

I’ve watched a lot of Summer League games, and I’ve seen a lot of sloppy and disjointed basketball. It’s just the nature of throwing together a bunch of rookies, younger players, and journeymen trying to find a place in their professional careers. Even with all those qualifiers, this Mavericks loss might have been one of the ugliest Summer League performances I’ve ever seen.

I already mentioned the team started off down 25-4 in the first quarter, and it just never got any better. The Mavericks literally couldn’t dribble the ball — it was turnover after turnover after turnover. The first half felt like a Globetrotters game, with the Grizzlies skying for alley-oops almost every other possession. With about two minutes left in the third quarter the score was 80-46 and the Mavericks had 23 turnovers and only 17 made field goals.

Dallas cleaned things up a little in the fourth to make it seem respectable, and inch that made field goals number past the turnovers. But the Mavericks still finished with 27 turnovers. Memphis has one of the better Summer League rosters with NBA contributors G.G. Jackson and Scotty Pippen Jr. in their starting lineup, but this was….woof. This was difficult to watch.

More struggles for O-Max

After scoring just 11 points on 2-of-10 shooting in the Mavericks first Summer League game on Friday, Olivier Maxence-Prosper improved against the Grizzlies, but it was still a difficult game for the Mavericks first round pick from last summer.

Propser led the team with 16 points, but struggled from the floor again shooting 6-of-14. In the first half he had just two points on 1-of-6 shooting, and was struggling until garbage time in the fourth quarter, although basically 75 percent of this game was garbage time. Prosper made three straight shots in the fourth to salvage his shooting line, but he still looked a bit rough.

Thankfully for the Mavericks, his motor never shut off. Propser played hard, and he still flashes some really fun defensive potential, but his offense just isn’t suited for Summer League, where he’s being asked to take shots he just never will in an NBA setting. Prosper did rebound from three in this one, going 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Hopefully Prosper can keep improving going into the next game.

We’re all struggling

Speaking of struggles….well have you seen Mavs Moneyball lately? I kid, I kid, but if you take a gander at the home page of our website, you’ll notice the content just hasn’t been flowing like it usually is and these brutal Summer League games definitely don’t help.

It was a long season for our staff, with a frankly unexpected NBA Finals run. Most of the senior staff and editors are way too old to be blogging as a side gig or hobby (raises hand!) and I think most of us were all a little burnt out after the Finals ended since we put so much effort into doing our best to cover the playoff run. We just don’t have a lot left in the tank.

To be honest, I can’t in good conscious recommend you continue watching the Mavericks Summer League. With Dallas’ roster locked in as a contender, there just isn’t much room for any of these guys to contribute at the NBA level, and that’s even if Prosper was lighting it up. NBA contenders don’t normally need Summer League standouts to soak up minutes during the regular season, so that’s no slight to these players or the Mavericks roster construction. On the contrary: Dallas has done such a good job building its NBA roster over the last 18 months that it makes Summer League a quaint luxury.

So maybe find some time to recharge before the real games tip off again in just a few months. October is not that far away! We’ll keep writing about these games of course (unless we forget), and we’ll try to rev up the content machine in earnest before the summer ends. Sorry for the dry spell, we’ll be back at full speed soon enough. Or just keep watching these Summer League games because you’re a true sicko — no kink shaming here.