The Only Mavericks Podcast

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya and Mike Piellucci dive into everything we’ve seen through the team’s first two days of free agency, including Klay Thompson, how it shows the difference of this front office compared to the past regime, the strange (but not bad) Derrick Jones Jr. for Naji Marshall swap, Quentin Grimes optimism and caution, and everything else Dallas has done and could still do.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya and Mike Piellucci talk about the best moments and lessons learned from the Mavericks' Finals run that ended earlier this week.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about what's real from Game 4 and what might not be in Game 5: the rim protection, Dereck Lively II's reemergence, Kyrie Irving, the rotation, and Luka Doncic.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya, and Mike Piellucci talk about the Mavericks' 0-2 hole in the NBA Finals, what's led to them being here, and what things need to change — things that absolutely can — for Dallas to get back into this series.

Tim Cato talks to Locked On Mavs' Nick Angstadt about the Mavericks' Game 1 defeat in the NBA Finals, where we think the offense was much more of a problem than the defense. We discuss why Boston took away the lob dunk so effectively without conceding corner 3s and what rotation changes or other tweaks might be coming to change that in Game 2. We both ended up in a more optimistic place ab...

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya and Dave DuFour tell you how the NBA Finals is about to go down. We break down both sides of the court, the Kristaps Porzingis questions, how the rotation might change, Theoretical Maxi Kleber and his potential importance, and what paths we see for Dallas to win this whole thing.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Mavericks’ five-game series win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, what we learned, when we realized this team could be a finals contender, and how this journey has felt. We’ll be back early next week with a full Finals preview.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya are rejoined by Mike Piellucci to talk about Dallas’ Game 3, which truly felt like a win of destiny as the team overcame the absence of Dereck Lively II to win a game they had to win. They also talk about what it’ll take to win Game 4.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk with The Onion’s Ben Collins about Luka Doncic’s stepback game-winner vs. Rudy Gobert and whether this series is over.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Mavericks winning Game 1, how they did it with just six made 3s, how historic it is, and why the Timberwolves should feel sick. They also talk about what could improve from Minnesota that Dallas must be aware of going forward.

Tim and Austin talk with Dave DuFour about what we expect to see from the Mavericks’ offense against Minnesota, Dallas’ defense vs. the Anthony Edwards-led attack, how both teams may end up using very shortened rotations as the series wears on, and how much fun Luka vs. Ant should be.

We (Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya) talk how Dallas beat the Thunder in six games to advance to the Western Conference Finals and what this series win taught us about this team and its future, which is awfully bright right now. Then we briefly touch on the upcoming matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Stay tuned for a full preview episode of that series coming Tuesday.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya record live from the American Airlines Center after a miserable defeat in Game 4. They discuss why it happened, what they’ve thought of the series so far, and what comes next.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about the Mavericks’ semifinals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, covering Maxi Kleber’s injury and how the rotations adjust, what advantage Dallas will see from its big men vs. a smaller Thunder rotation, and which players we’re watching most closely to see how they look in this series.

Tim Cato talks with Locked On Mavercks’ Nick Angstadt about the Mavericks’ agonizing Game 4 loss and where the series goes from here. This is the first part of an hour-long discussion, with the other half posted on the Locked On Mavericks feed.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya break it all down: the missed opportunity in Game 1, the brilliant Game 2 win, Luka Doncic’s defense and his mostly superb but slightly weird offensive execution so far, both him and the entire team’s brilliant defending, the role players we think can be trusted for the series, where they work best (and why), and what our expectations are, optimistically and pessimitic...

Tim Cato and new dad Mike Piellucci talk to The Athletic’s Law Murray, who covers the L.A. Clippers, about the upcoming first round series and what to expect from it.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya look back at the Dallas Mavericks’ regular season with The Athletic’s Dave DuFour, sharing some of our favorite moments and which aspects of the year really snuck up on us. Then, we each share three big questions we have for the team’s upcoming first-round series vs. the L.A. Clippers. We’ll be back later this week with a full preview.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk to their old friend from The Athletic, Dave DuFour, about the surging Mavericks, what criteria really should matter for the MVP voting, and whether Luka Doncic can usurp Nikola Jokic. We agree they’re the best two players in basketball this season, and that one of them deserves it. Will it, and should it, be Doncic?

With Dallas cruising toward a top-six seed, Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya rank which postseason opponents are most favorable and then draft rotation players by playoff importance.

Tim Cato talks to  Mavs.com ’s Bobby Karalla about the Mavericks’ new offense, its deliberate paint-pounding approach, how the center position might be the team’s third-best “player”, the way that the team’s Tuesday win against Sacramento showcased another way for the team to play, and what’s needed for this defense to be good.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya talk about whatever THAT impossible shot was from Kyrie Irving that gave Dallas its best win of the 2023-24 season, and more about what this win represents for the Mavericks’ season.

Tim Cato and Austin Ngaruiya look forward to the Mavericks’ next three games, ones where we can potentially learn a lot about whether Dallas has improved defending the corner 3 and five-out lineups, what the postseason rotation might look like, and what Dante Exum’s effect on the team really is.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya, and Mike Piellucci talk deep on the team’s most polarizing player, Tim Hardaway Jr., who is hurting Dallas. There’s more nuance than the discourse has given him to the player he’s been in Dallas and the actual mechanics of taking him out of the rotation if this continues. Then we talk about Jason Kidd, and whether he’s the right person to solve this.

Tim Cato, Austin Ngaruiya, and Mike Piellucci link up to chat about what we expect from the Dallas Mavericks for the rest of the season — and what we expect from Tim Hardaway Jr., his role going forward, and whether Jaden Hardy makes more sense in the rotation over him.