Lebowski Brickowski
04-21-2010, 12:48 PM
It's on the road, and the old adage holds true that a playoff series doesn't start until a home team loses. I feel that it's very important for this series to start tonight. 2 road losses to start a series is not a deathblow, but in this[I] series, for [I]this Spurs team, it could be more damaging than usual.
The mavericks are supremely confident vs. the Spurs at this point, and they should be. They Spurs have reloaded, in large part to be able to beat this dallas team, and on Sunday showed that all the moves and money spent has not made a bit of difference.
The final score of Sunday's game was a smaller than the dominance that the mavericks displayed over the Spurs. The mavs earned their FT edge, their rebounding edge, and their turnover edge, even though Spurs did not help matters with weak perimeter AND interior defense, nor with the excessive fouling and turning the ball over. However, the mavericks played far from their best game. Rewatching Sunday's game, it looked obvious that the execution of both team's play had not caught up with the emotion of arguably the greatest running rivalry in the NBA. Hustle and energy were all over the court (minus a couple of the Spurs 'dogs') but the execution was off for both teams. dallas has almost as much room to improve as San Antonio does and would have won that game by double digits easily if they could have controlled their turnovers and gotten j.terry involved.
The mavs know that they can play much better, and if they execute at least as well as they did no Sunday, they will have no reason to fear going to the AT&T Center with a 2-0 lead.
With a 1-1 series lock up, however, the Spurs can prove to themselves and[I] the mavs that they belong in the gym. To achieve state of 1-1, I think the Spurs must concentrate on what they can control, not what they can't. I don't assume to dictate strategy to the coaching staff, and I hate when fans think they always have the right answer, but below are some general things that I think . . .I HOPE to see from the Spurs tonight.
SPURS CAN CONTROL:
1. Line-ups
This overarching aspect includes everything from small ball to Roger Mason Jr.'s minutes. I think everyone on this board is aware of the dangers here.
Minimize small ball, Mason, Bogans -- maximize interior size and those playing well at this time.
2. Defensive Execution
a. trapping and forcing the ball from Dirk on the PnR will be better than matching up Georgie or TP on switches.
b. Perimeter Rotations
These will have to be executed almost flawlessly. Spurs must be able to keep the bigs in the paint and on the baseline as much as possible by using one of the Spurs' unsung attributes, perimeter quickness, to dis-allow the corner and spot-up 3-point shots.
c. If the Spurs can recover from perimeter breakdowns to clog the lanes, Butler and the mavs centers will have a harder time scoring.
d. Secure the rebounds
This should be helped by avoiding small ball and a focus on clogging the lane. Offensive rebounds might be an assassin if the Spurs can't control their own glass.
3. OFFENSE
a. Clean up the mistakes. Spurs' execution on this end can improve dramatically, and, even though 94 points should be enough, too many dallas scores were the result of sloppy hands, and poorly executed cuts, picks and passes. I think the execution will catch up to the emotion tonight.
b.
The game plan is to let Manu work his magic, and that should work as long as the role players step up. What would help the role players step up though, is to match-up Tony on offense w/ j. kidd. Tony can still destroy this mavs team, even with their mid-season additions: TP is not afraid of the bigs and is still quicker than anyone else on the court, even barrea. If the Spurs can hit dallas with the two-pronged attack of the back-court, dallas won't have an easy time adjusting and there will be open shots everywhere, Matt Bonner will have a better chance to "un-choke" himself, and Richard Jefferson will have enough room to play his game (hopefully.)
c. Richard Jefferson
I don't know what to say at this point. The Spurs need to have him perform, especially with Georgie's ankle sprain. Hopefully he dried his shorts after Sunday's dog-like effort. I think those 2 quick fouls hurt him, but they didn't have to take him out of the whole game.
THE EVER-PRESENT "X-FACTOR"
I won't go so far as to say that George Hill will determine this series, but his health has got to be the most important thing on the minds of the Spurs staff. Like tony said, Hill [I]has to play, and, as is apparent from Sunday's game, he has to be healthy. Otherwise, he will be a waste, and any victory in any game of this series will be in doubt. George Hill is, given the current health of the roster, the MIP -- Most Important Player for the Spurs. If he can play his normal brand of tight, fast, and quick defense, the Spurs should be able to throw many more looks at dirk, will have an easier time guarding the 3-pt line and funnelling drivers to the base-line. Let's hope that George has an unprecedented recovery by tonight, otherwise, we'll see (hopefully) what the rookie Curtis Jarrells can bring to the show.
Again, I think the execution will catch up to the emotion tonight. I BELIEVE the Spurs are going to get to work and play like professionals.
The mavericks are supremely confident vs. the Spurs at this point, and they should be. They Spurs have reloaded, in large part to be able to beat this dallas team, and on Sunday showed that all the moves and money spent has not made a bit of difference.
The final score of Sunday's game was a smaller than the dominance that the mavericks displayed over the Spurs. The mavs earned their FT edge, their rebounding edge, and their turnover edge, even though Spurs did not help matters with weak perimeter AND interior defense, nor with the excessive fouling and turning the ball over. However, the mavericks played far from their best game. Rewatching Sunday's game, it looked obvious that the execution of both team's play had not caught up with the emotion of arguably the greatest running rivalry in the NBA. Hustle and energy were all over the court (minus a couple of the Spurs 'dogs') but the execution was off for both teams. dallas has almost as much room to improve as San Antonio does and would have won that game by double digits easily if they could have controlled their turnovers and gotten j.terry involved.
The mavs know that they can play much better, and if they execute at least as well as they did no Sunday, they will have no reason to fear going to the AT&T Center with a 2-0 lead.
With a 1-1 series lock up, however, the Spurs can prove to themselves and[I] the mavs that they belong in the gym. To achieve state of 1-1, I think the Spurs must concentrate on what they can control, not what they can't. I don't assume to dictate strategy to the coaching staff, and I hate when fans think they always have the right answer, but below are some general things that I think . . .I HOPE to see from the Spurs tonight.
SPURS CAN CONTROL:
1. Line-ups
This overarching aspect includes everything from small ball to Roger Mason Jr.'s minutes. I think everyone on this board is aware of the dangers here.
Minimize small ball, Mason, Bogans -- maximize interior size and those playing well at this time.
2. Defensive Execution
a. trapping and forcing the ball from Dirk on the PnR will be better than matching up Georgie or TP on switches.
b. Perimeter Rotations
These will have to be executed almost flawlessly. Spurs must be able to keep the bigs in the paint and on the baseline as much as possible by using one of the Spurs' unsung attributes, perimeter quickness, to dis-allow the corner and spot-up 3-point shots.
c. If the Spurs can recover from perimeter breakdowns to clog the lanes, Butler and the mavs centers will have a harder time scoring.
d. Secure the rebounds
This should be helped by avoiding small ball and a focus on clogging the lane. Offensive rebounds might be an assassin if the Spurs can't control their own glass.
3. OFFENSE
a. Clean up the mistakes. Spurs' execution on this end can improve dramatically, and, even though 94 points should be enough, too many dallas scores were the result of sloppy hands, and poorly executed cuts, picks and passes. I think the execution will catch up to the emotion tonight.
b.
The game plan is to let Manu work his magic, and that should work as long as the role players step up. What would help the role players step up though, is to match-up Tony on offense w/ j. kidd. Tony can still destroy this mavs team, even with their mid-season additions: TP is not afraid of the bigs and is still quicker than anyone else on the court, even barrea. If the Spurs can hit dallas with the two-pronged attack of the back-court, dallas won't have an easy time adjusting and there will be open shots everywhere, Matt Bonner will have a better chance to "un-choke" himself, and Richard Jefferson will have enough room to play his game (hopefully.)
c. Richard Jefferson
I don't know what to say at this point. The Spurs need to have him perform, especially with Georgie's ankle sprain. Hopefully he dried his shorts after Sunday's dog-like effort. I think those 2 quick fouls hurt him, but they didn't have to take him out of the whole game.
THE EVER-PRESENT "X-FACTOR"
I won't go so far as to say that George Hill will determine this series, but his health has got to be the most important thing on the minds of the Spurs staff. Like tony said, Hill [I]has to play, and, as is apparent from Sunday's game, he has to be healthy. Otherwise, he will be a waste, and any victory in any game of this series will be in doubt. George Hill is, given the current health of the roster, the MIP -- Most Important Player for the Spurs. If he can play his normal brand of tight, fast, and quick defense, the Spurs should be able to throw many more looks at dirk, will have an easier time guarding the 3-pt line and funnelling drivers to the base-line. Let's hope that George has an unprecedented recovery by tonight, otherwise, we'll see (hopefully) what the rookie Curtis Jarrells can bring to the show.
Again, I think the execution will catch up to the emotion tonight. I BELIEVE the Spurs are going to get to work and play like professionals.