Mavs/Suns

C

CadetHorn

250+ Posts
Mavs are trying to get that elusive win over a team over .500. They have gone on a Kansas like run in the last 7 or 8 minutes to take control of this game. Dirk has 31, and is just an oustanding basketball player....period.

It seems to me their problems are defensively....they constantly score enough to win, they just don't stop people.
 
Mavs pull it out 105-98.....2 games up of Golden State for the lsat playoff spot with 5 games to go, and hold the tie-breaker. Barring a huge collapse will be in the postseason. The West is fun.
 
That team did not give up. They were not intimidated by Shaq or Stoudemare. Josh Howard more active in 4th. Kidd did a great job qb'ing the team and playing D on Nash. Kept driving to the basket. Great job Mavs!

Hook'em!!!!
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What a weird season this is shaping up to be. I feel like the Mavs are only average and are probably going out in the first round. Then, I look at the standings (and today's game) and they're only a handful of games behind teams that seem so much better than them.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that, in the past, squeeking into the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed usually meant a quick exit from the playoffs. This year, who knows?
 
I like that matchup as a mavs fan. I think we have a decent shot at the Spurs. Win that series, and it's anybody's conference!
 
Have to agree with Cadethorn. Parker will average 25+ against Kidd. Of course, I also wouldn't want to face a fire-breathing Kobe either. I liked seeing Bass and Antoine Wright on the floor at the same time. It gets old seeing tall SGs shooting over Terry all the time.
 
Let's go ahead and call a spade a spade.....this Mavs team can't play D....whether it's because of Kidd, i don't know, but they can't.
 
cadetHorn,

I thought they got that win over a .500 team when they beat the warriors the other day. But I guess this makes it the second team since J Kidd came to Dallas.
 
Truthfully, I haven't been able to watch the Mavs all that much because of how busy I am and most of the time only when they are on national TV. So, maybe I came to a hasty conclusion about the team from what I saw against the Suns yesterday and the Lakers Friday. At any rate SOMETHING is missing from last year or the year before and I'm not talking about Devin Harris because that SOMETHING was still missing before he was gone. Maybe they are figuring things out now and are prime to make a run in the post-season, who knows? But for the majority of the 82 game season they have not looked like the 67 win team of a year ago or the West Champion team of the year before. Just trying to figure out why.
 
Cadet - from what I saw, that something is Dirk being agressive. When they beat SA to win the West two years ago, Dirk was almost always either posting up near the basket (if Bowen guarded him), or driving and slashing to the hoop (if Duncan guarded him). I don't watch the NBA regular season a whole lot, but in the few Mavs games I have seen since then, I haven't seen that Dirk. I've seen a Dirk who goes spinning away from two or three guys to throw up a fadeaway every time. It still works pretty well since he can make those shots and he's tall enough that it's unblockable, but it's not going to get them to any more Finals.
 
Stat, you're making sense here. Dirk is NOT comfortable doing that type of thing, just look @ last year's playoffs as a perfect example. He doesn't like being uber (pardon me) aggressive, but when he is, he is usually very successful. That's the reason they went to the finals in 06 and his departure from that mentality is the reason they lost those 4 straight games to Miami (that and DWade becoming unguardable with a little help from the zebras).

I am saying this as someone who has watched probably 80% of Dallas' games the last 7 or 8 years.

Dirk & Josh Howard playing aggressively on the offensive end (taking it to the HOOP!) is what make this team successful.
 
You're right that this team defensively isn't as good as last year or the year before, but they are just as good as they were pre-trade, if not better. This Mavs team was getting eaten alive defensively even while Harris and Diop were still here. The Nuggets beat them at home pre-trade by dropping 120 ish, and AI abused Harris all day.
 
to say dirk is not agressive is a joke. He is the only player on the mavs who consistantly tries to get to the basket. His drives set up the fade away jumper, because his man plays off of him out of the fear he will drive right past him.
this teams problem is avery johnson, jason terrys offense and defense, howards jump shooting and defense and devan george getting too many minutes. Also stackhouse sucking doesn't help.
 
stackhouse is hurt right? I'm a little out of the loop.

And I agree with Stat, good point. I think Dirk's mentality is a bit different....he used to rebound better too, or at least what I can remember.

At any rate, it is clear this team has a lot of fire, and it looks like they just MIGHT be figuring things out at the right time......this year more than any, seedings don't matter at all.
 
I'm really not sure what Dirk can do to win people over. I guess when you're in the upper echelon of players like he is, the microscope drills deep especially when you are the reigning MVP:

Sorry to dwell on numbers, but it seems like, and I am certainly not innoncent when it comes to making subjective conclusions, but without breaking down his numbers against "tough" opponents vs. "non-tough" opponents his annual totals seem to give some idea of how he's played recently.

Last 3 years starting in 2005-06 (the NBA Finals year), his averages are:

Points: 26.6 - 24.6 - 23.6 (less scoring; more team player)
Assists: 2.8 - 3.4 - 3.5 (more team player)
RB's: 9.0 - 8.9 - 8.7 (decline is pretty minor but stout totals nevertheless)
Steals: 0.7 - 0.7 - 0.7
Blocks: 1.0 - 0.8 - 1.0

His rebounds are down, but pretty insignificant. To me (and here's my subjectivity) he's grown every year as a player, he's tougher and more of a leader. He can't do it by himself. That's why I think Kidd is such a great addition b/c it allows Dirk to get open more and not be responsible for running the offense by himself, especially in the isolation.

Hook'em!!!
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We will see, and I am the biggest Dirk fan you can find. I do think it was unfair to high expectations on the team with Kidd coming in the lineup; they needed some time. They still need more but they don't have that luxery, but I can see the team starting to come together, or maybe it's my Maverick lenses I'm looking through.
 
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