48MoH: Dallas Mavericks 112, San Antonio Spurs 103

[Blackjack]

Dallas Mavericks 112, San Antonio Spurs 103
by Jesse Blanchard

Rivalry games are tough to recap, especially after a tough loss like last night. It’s difficult to sit and gather your thoughts when the only thing running through your mind is how frustrating it is to hear the chants of the opposing team’s fans as they seemingly filled up nearly a third of the home court arena.

If the intensity of the rivalry is enough to skew my basketball analysis, it also was enough to push the Spurs out of character. It was an early night for Gregg Popovich, who was tossed in the first half by a (who else) Joey Crawford-led officiating crew that made several questionable calls —prompting a rare, antagonistic chant from an entire arena (well, two-thirds of an arena).

Without Popovich there to manage minutes the Spurs core players played well past their season averages (could we see a night off for a player or two Sunday?). And if anyone questioned how important the game was to the Spurs, they need only look at the decision to start Manu Ginobili in the third quarter.

Keep reading → (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2010/01/09/dallas-mavericks-112-san-antonio-spurs-103/)

[honestfool84]

Dallas Mavericks 112, San Antonio Spurs 103

Rivalry games are tough to recap, especially after a tough loss like last night. It’s difficult to sit and gather your thoughts when the only thing running through your mind is how frustrating it is to hear the chants of the opposing team’s fans as they seemingly filled up nearly a third of the home court arena.

If the intensity of the rivalry is enough to skew my basketball analysis, it also was enough to push the Spurs out of character. It was an early night for Gregg Popovich, who was tossed in the first half by a (who else) Joey Crawford-led officiating crew that made several questionable calls —prompting a rare, antagonistic chant from an entire arena (well, two-thirds of an arena).

Without Popovich there to manage minutes the Spurs core players played well past their season averages (could we see a night off for a player or two Sunday?). And if anyone questioned how important the game was to the Spurs, they need only look at the decision to start Manu Ginobili in the third quarter.

“They are our archrival, everyone wants to own Texas,” George Hill said after the loss. “It’s always going to be like that. Dallas is a great team and you have to get them respect. They came out fighting and they happened to come out on top this time.”

There will be time to look through the game film later, but from my initial reaction—gathered from the upper deck without the benefits of advanced statistics or replays—the moral of the night’s story might be to let sleeping dogs lie.

Jason Terry is the Mavericks equivalent of Ginobili. He ignites the team and provides a swagger that can carry his entire team, especially when his two-man game with Dirk Nowitzki gets going. Through three quarters Terry had a mundane 10 points, shooting 3-for-9 from the floor. The Spurs had a comfortable lead and all seemed to be well.

Then a 42-point fourth quarter happened.

“Whenever you give up 40 points in a quarter it’s never just one thing,” Richard Jefferson said. “It’s a combination of a lot of things.”

Last night that combination was Nowitzki and Terry. While the newspapers and AP reports will (correctly) point out how Nowitzki shook off a horrible night to score 16 points in the fourth quarter, from the stands it seemed like many of the biggest blows were at the hands of Terry.

Going back to the third quarter, Terry was having a mediocre night and seemed content to simply go through the paces. Then with the Spurs surging, backup point guard George Hill and Terry got into an altercation, earning double technicals. From that point on Terry was zeroed in and on top of his game, not missing a shot on his way to 11 points and four assists in the deciding quarter.

Without looking through the tape, or having insight as to what pick and roll coverages the Spurs were using, it appeared that our point guards were allowing themselves to get taken out by the screen far too easily, forcing Tim Duncan in isolation situations with Terry. Now these moments certainly did not account for all 42 of the Mavericks fourth quarter points, but they did seem to go a long way in providing their momentum.

If our schemes were designed to switch, I have to believe that the Spurs would be better served bringing help earlier to force the ball out of Terry’s hands.

“We had our opportunities, being up 10, up 13,14 points like we were,” Jefferson said. “We need to take pride in our defense. I don’t think I did a very good job defensively in the second half and in the fourth quarter made some errors that you just have to learn from.”

While the defense could have been better, as Pop stated, “Dirk’s a hall of fame basketball player and he showed why.” We should expect him to get his numbers. But the longer we use small lineups with Jefferson as the big forward the more I am disturbed by our inability to create mismatches against opposing teams’ power forwards on the offensive end.

For all the talk about how Jefferson has not meshed with Parker, or our starting unit, at some point you have to be able to just grab the ball and go, right? Nowitzki is going to create mismatches on offense. Always. But as much as he has improved on the defensive end over the years Nowitzki should not be able to guard quality wings. Or a forward or center for that matter. Wouldn’t our best defense be to attack his?

I have trouble believing that given the ball 18-20 feet from the basket, Jefferson can’t simply just drive past Nowitzki. Or that a couple of pick and rolls between Jefferson and Duncan wouldn’t force the Mavericks to go small to match up, exposing Nowitzki’s defense to Duncan.

[pjjrfan]

The Spurs have so many glaring weaknesess it's heartbreaking. On offense and defense, most of them are fixable, but some of them are downright baffling, like Tim's penchant for throwing the ball into the stands or at the opposing team, Manu running out of gas and making dumb passes to the opponents and Tony consistently getting trapped or driblbing out the entire shot clock with no sense of what he really wants to do. And these are our 3 main guys. is it any wonder that the rest of the team hasn't pulled it together?

I'm frustrated with the team but I saw one bright spot, Hill continues to mature as a player in crunch time and I loved his spunk when Terry pulled that bush league move on him.

[MaNu4Tres]

Good article and good points as always from 48oh.

One thing he forgot about potential Jefferson/ Duncan pick and roll possesions to expose Dirk's defense..... Tony Parker was on the floor.

[wildbill2u]

I guess we're a 36 minutes of Hell team.

[ElNono]

Dallas Mavericks 112, San Antonio Spurs 103

Rivalry games are tough to recap, especially after a tough loss like last night. It’s difficult to sit and gather your thoughts when the only thing running through your mind is how frustrating it is to hear the chants of the opposing team’s fans as they seemingly filled up nearly a third of the home court arena.

If the intensity of the rivalry is enough to skew my basketball analysis, it also was enough to push the Spurs out of character. It was an early night for Gregg Popovich, who was tossed in the first half by a (who else) Joey Crawford-led officiating crew that made several questionable calls —prompting a rare, antagonistic chant from an entire arena (well, two-thirds of an arena).

Without Popovich there to manage minutes the Spurs core players played well past their season averages (could we see a night off for a player or two Sunday?). And if anyone questioned how important the game was to the Spurs, they need only look at the decision to start Manu Ginobili in the third quarter.

“They are our archrival, everyone wants to own Texas,” George Hill said after the loss. “It’s always going to be like that. Dallas is a great team and you have to get them respect. They came out fighting and they happened to come out on top this time.”

There will be time to look through the game film later, but from my initial reaction—gathered from the upper deck without the benefits of advanced statistics or replays—the moral of the night’s story might be to let sleeping dogs lie.

Jason Terry is the Mavericks equivalent of Ginobili. He ignites the team and provides a swagger that can carry his entire team, especially when his two-man game with Dirk Nowitzki gets going. Through three quarters Terry had a mundane 10 points, shooting 3-for-9 from the floor. The Spurs had a comfortable lead and all seemed to be well.

Then a 42-point fourth quarter happened.

“Whenever you give up 40 points in a quarter it’s never just one thing,” Richard Jefferson said. “It’s a combination of a lot of things.”

Last night that combination was Nowitzki and Terry. While the newspapers and AP reports will (correctly) point out how Nowitzki shook off a horrible night to score 16 points in the fourth quarter, from the stands it seemed like many of the biggest blows were at the hands of Terry.

Going back to the third quarter, Terry was having a mediocre night and seemed content to simply go through the paces. Then with the Spurs surging, backup point guard George Hill and Terry got into an altercation, earning double technicals. From that point on Terry was zeroed in and on top of his game, not missing a shot on his way to 11 points and four assists in the deciding quarter.

Without looking through the tape, or having insight as to what pick and roll coverages the Spurs were using, it appeared that our point guards were allowing themselves to get taken out by the screen far too easily, forcing Tim Duncan in isolation situations with Terry. Now these moments certainly did not account for all 42 of the Mavericks fourth quarter points, but they did seem to go a long way in providing their momentum.

If our schemes were designed to switch, I have to believe that the Spurs would be better served bringing help earlier to force the ball out of Terry’s hands.

“We had our opportunities, being up 10, up 13,14 points like we were,” Jefferson said. “We need to take pride in our defense. I don’t think I did a very good job defensively in the second half and in the fourth quarter made some errors that you just have to learn from.”

While the defense could have been better, as Pop stated, “Dirk’s a hall of fame basketball player and he showed why.” We should expect him to get his numbers. But the longer we use small lineups with Jefferson as the big forward the more I am disturbed by our inability to create mismatches against opposing teams’ power forwards on the offensive end.

For all the talk about how Jefferson has not meshed with Parker, or our starting unit, at some point you have to be able to just grab the ball and go, right? Nowitzki is going to create mismatches on offense. Always. But as much as he has improved on the defensive end over the years Nowitzki should not be able to guard quality wings. Or a forward or center for that matter. Wouldn’t our best defense be to attack his?

I have trouble believing that given the ball 18-20 feet from the basket, Jefferson can’t simply just drive past Nowitzki. Or that a couple of pick and rolls between Jefferson and Duncan wouldn’t force the Mavericks to go small to match up, exposing Nowitzki’s defense to Duncan.

Thank you

[itzsoweezee]

starting manu the third quarter was not a good idea. he could've got some much needed rest for a few minutes there.

[TD 21]

Excellent point in that article about the Spurs not attacking Nowitzki's sub part man defense. Wing isos, pick-and-roll, wedge-roll, etc. all should have been deployed. Just like Jefferson (and the rest of the smalls, as the Spurs continue to play into the hands of this overrated career choke artist and treat him like he's one of the greatest players of all-time by allowing him to do what he wants to do, which is shoot fade and fall-away jumpers, which players roughly half a foot smaller can't affect) can't guard Nowitzki, there's no chance that Nowitzki should theoretically be able to guard Jefferson, but Pop apparently likes making things as easy as possible for Nowitzki, as he continues to burn this team over and over and no adjustments are ever made. This team is turning into the 05-07 Suns right before our eyes, only they don't have the athletes nor the get-out-and-go mindset that those Suns had.

[HarlemHeat37]

I thought it was very funny that we didn't go to RJ more when he was being guarded by Nowitzki and even Tim fucking Thomas..Jefferson was productive last night..he was working off the ball and he was scoring in iso situations as well..

Obviously most of the fans here will continue to blame him even when he doesn't have the ball in his hands..

[Johnny RIngo]

I thought it was very funny that we didn't go to RJ more when he was being guarded by Nowitzki and even Tim fucking Thomas..Jefferson was productive last night..he was working off the ball and he was scoring in iso situations as well..

Obviously most of the fans here will continue to blame him even when he doesn't have the ball in his hands..

Offensively he was fine but his defense sucked in the 4th(got Dirk going) and he can't rebound for shit anymore.

[ElNono]

I thought it was very funny that we didn't go to RJ more when he was being guarded by Nowitzki and even Tim fucking Thomas..Jefferson was productive last night..he was working off the ball and he was scoring in iso situations as well..

There was nothing funny about it. We either dribble, dribble, dribble and took a hurried shot (when it wasn't blocked) or we passed to the stands or chucked out a terrible shot.

[Blackjack]

Thank you

:lol

The more hits to 48MoH, the better off we all are; thus the link.:toast

[Chieflion]

Offensively he was fine but his defense sucked in the 4th(got Dirk going) and he can't rebound for shit anymore.
Dice was the one who got Dirk going. RJ defended Dirk as well as anyone could have.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

The Spurs have so many glaring weaknesess it's heartbreaking. On offense and defense, most of them are fixable, but some of them are downright baffling, like Tim's penchant for throwing the ball into the stands or at the opposing team, Manu running out of gas and making dumb passes to the opponents and Tony consistently getting trapped or driblbing out the entire shot clock with no sense of what he really wants to do. And these are our 3 main guys. is it any wonder that the rest of the team hasn't pulled it together?

I'm frustrated with the team but I saw one bright spot, Hill continues to mature as a player in crunch time and I loved his spunk when Terry pulled that bush league move on him.

...except, this: "Going back to the third quarter, Terry was having a mediocre night and seemed content to simply go through the paces. Then with the Spurs surging, backup point guard George Hill and Terry got into an altercation, earning double technicals. From that point on Terry was zeroed in and on top of his game, not missing a shot on his way to 11 points and four assists in the deciding quarter."

Very true. That was the turning point of the game, and Terry was the one who benefitted from it, the little punk. :ihit


Excellent point in that article about the Spurs not attacking Nowitzki's sub part man defense.

Agreed. :tu


:lol

The more hits to 48MoH, the better off we all are; thus the link.:toast

Linking like that is also courteous the blog owner - it's their story, give them a hit for it. Everyone should give it a click. Good work Blackjack. :tu