48MoH: San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks revisited

[Blackjack]

San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks revisited: A blueprint in black and silver
by Jesse Blanchard

The greatest seventh seed in NBA history? Not exactly a compliment in the eyes of Tim Duncan. Certainly the San Antonio Spurs are the first seventh seed to eliminate a second seed (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2010/04/29/san-antonio-spurs-97-dallas-mavericks-87-george-hill-and-manu-ginobili-close-out-the-mavericks/) since the NBA Playoffs switched formats to a first round best-of-seven series. But Duncan and the rest of the world will have to be forgiven if the moment hardly seems historical, or surprising.

This season’s incarnation of the San Antonio Spurs garnered its fair share of doubts (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2010/02/09/the-science-was-sound/), and at times deservedly so (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2010/02/22/detroit-pistons-109-san-antonio-spurs-101/), but no matter the seed they were labeled with, the Spurs advanced to the second round against the Phoenix Suns because their identity remains largely the same: the principles and system of head coach Gregg Popovich executed at the highest levels first and foremost by the trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

For all the talk generated about the Dallas Mavericks’ new identity (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/041910dnsposherringtoncol.43fb409.html), it was the San Antonio Spurs that reclaimed theirs. For all the words dedicated to the Mavericks’ superior depth–and the Spurs getting lost in the NBA’s arms race–it was Gregg Popovich’s players that were simply the more talented team.

Keep reading → (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2010/05/02/san-antonio-spurs-and-dallas-mavericks-revisited-a-blueprint-in-black-and-silver/#more-7966)

[NFGIII]

From the article******* While it is true the Dallas Mavericks have a lot of depth, much of it is redundant. In Eric Dampier and Brendan Haywood, the Mavericks go from a defensive center whose offense the Spurs don’t really have to respect to….a defensive center whose offensive game they did not really respect. For the series Butler and Terry created a plethora of pull-up jump shots but did not always get to the rim, which is sort of Dirk Nowitzki’s gig. Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion? Keep them out of transition and off the three-point line and they were essentially useless on offense.

Meanwhile, George Hill is becoming the San Antonio Spurs swiss army knife. As a defensive player, Hill is Gregg Popovich’s utility player. On offense, his ability to knock down shots on the move or in the corner fits as an additional puzzle piece as opposed to offering more of the same.

Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess fill out the starting lineup as solid glue guys, and Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair offering vastly different skill sets of the bench.

But more than anything, it’s the diversity of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker together that delivered the death blow to the Mavericks. There is no one specific thing you can take away from any of the players, nor style you can force that will render each completely ineffective. *******
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I thought the article made some excellent points, especially the one about the redundancy of the skill sets the Mavs have. Where the Spurs could replace one player's skill set with a different one the Mavs couldn't. I think the inability for the Mavs to drive to the rim consistently was a major factor in this series win for the Spurs. Live by the jumpshot then you die.....etc.

Also the Spurs Big 3's diversitry over the Mavs was critical, too. In the end the Mavs had no low post presence to fear and ultimately settled for jumpshots. POs are usually won down low and all you have to do is look at the past 10 winners and see who was the dominate big, In 7 of out of 10 you had Shaq and TD: "00 - '02 & '06 Shaq (4) - '03/'05/'07 TD (3). Though in '04 Big Ben wouldn't be considered a dominate big but his D made up for some of that. In '08 you had Perkins teamed with KG and '09 Bynum with Gasol so you could say that you had a significant low post team effecting the outcome of the game.


BTW thanks for posting these articles BLackjack. Keep it up!