Rick Von Braun
05-26-2005, 10:32 AM
Spurs-Suns series hints that 'D' wasn't Dallas' real problem
12:51 AM CDT on Thursday, May 26, 2005
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It seems the more we watch, the less we know. The Mavericks couldn't do what the San Antonio Spurs have done to Phoenix.
Dallas simply doesn't have enough offense.
Weren't there a lot of experts suggesting something else was going to happen in this series, that the Spurs' total commitment to defense would knock Phoenix down into the '90s?
Nothing like that at all has happened in San Antonio taking a 2-0 lead. Steve Nash is still playing – at the offensive end, anyway – at the highest playoff level for a point guard since Magic Johnson. Amare Stoudemire still hasn't scored fewer than 35 points against the Spurs in any game this season.
But San Antonio is ahead 2-0 because their offense – specifically, their fourth-quarter offense – is vastly superior to the Mavericks'.
San Antonio hasn't shot below 70 percent in the fourth quarter of either game. Tim Duncan knows what to do in the low post. Dirk Nowitzki does not.
Manu Ginobili knows how to explode through the lane to draw fouls, create his own shot or set up shots for others. The Mavericks don't have that player. The one that comes the closest is Josh Howard, and he's not there yet.
At least we can dispel the silly notion that the Mavericks still don't guard anyone, that they will never win with this mix of players. When Erick Dampier managed to stay in games, he was at least marginally effective at moving Stoudemire away from the basket and defending him better than anyone has for San Antonio.
That's a good sign. His repeated collapses into foul trouble were not, and you have to wonder if Dampier can change his stripes after eight NBA seasons.
You also have to question, as good as Avery Johnson appears to be as a head coach, how much he can change Jason Terry into a point guard by next season. That's not Terry's inclination.
The thing he does best is shoot, not pass. Do you want to take that away from him to create more opportunities for others? Or do you play him more like a shooting guard and let Howard and maybe Marquis Daniels, a player who needs a comeback season in a bad way, run the offense at least for stretches while Devin Harris continues up the learning curve?
None of these changes will matter and the Mavericks will not beat Phoenix or San Antonio in next year's playoffs to get to the conference finals if they don't simply shoot the basketball better. That's what you get from watching the Spurs go after the Suns.
There's a clamor out there to move Michael Finley to the bench and give Jerry Stackhouse Finley's minutes. Fine.
You just installed a black hole who shot lower than 39 percent from the field in the postseason into your starting five. Be careful what you wish for. Even Finley shot 42.5 percent.
But the player who has to shoot better and demonstrate at least some clue as to what being a leader is all about is Nowitzki. His remarks following the Game 6 loss were candid but scary.
He questioned the team's basketball IQ. While he did accept some of the blame, he continued to call out Jason Terry and Dampier. That's hard to listen to after watching Nowitzki shoot a measly 40.2 percent for the playoffs.
While Nash was igniting his team at the very end, Nowitzki missed his last six shots of Game 6, and the Mavericks called it a season. Yes, there were lapses on the defensive end, but you see the Spurs doing some of the same things against Phoenix.
There is no easy answer against the Suns, but the Spurs cause Phoenix more serious matchup problems. Shawn Marion can guard Nowitzki because Dirk, in seven years, hasn't developed a strong post game. Shawn Marion can't guard Duncan.
The Mavs couldn't take advantage of Joe Johnson's absence because neither Finley nor Stackhouse had a good shooting series, except for Stackhouse's occasional streaks. The Spurs take advantage with Ginobili, who is coming closer to proving that the best international basketball player plays in Texas.
But not in Dallas.
E-mail [email protected] ([email protected])
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/052605dnspocowlishaw.e3661003.html
12:51 AM CDT on Thursday, May 26, 2005
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/img/standing/sports/columnists/mugs/mug_cowlishaw.jpg (http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spt/columnists/tcowlishaw/vitindex.html)
It seems the more we watch, the less we know. The Mavericks couldn't do what the San Antonio Spurs have done to Phoenix.
Dallas simply doesn't have enough offense.
Weren't there a lot of experts suggesting something else was going to happen in this series, that the Spurs' total commitment to defense would knock Phoenix down into the '90s?
Nothing like that at all has happened in San Antonio taking a 2-0 lead. Steve Nash is still playing – at the offensive end, anyway – at the highest playoff level for a point guard since Magic Johnson. Amare Stoudemire still hasn't scored fewer than 35 points against the Spurs in any game this season.
But San Antonio is ahead 2-0 because their offense – specifically, their fourth-quarter offense – is vastly superior to the Mavericks'.
San Antonio hasn't shot below 70 percent in the fourth quarter of either game. Tim Duncan knows what to do in the low post. Dirk Nowitzki does not.
Manu Ginobili knows how to explode through the lane to draw fouls, create his own shot or set up shots for others. The Mavericks don't have that player. The one that comes the closest is Josh Howard, and he's not there yet.
At least we can dispel the silly notion that the Mavericks still don't guard anyone, that they will never win with this mix of players. When Erick Dampier managed to stay in games, he was at least marginally effective at moving Stoudemire away from the basket and defending him better than anyone has for San Antonio.
That's a good sign. His repeated collapses into foul trouble were not, and you have to wonder if Dampier can change his stripes after eight NBA seasons.
You also have to question, as good as Avery Johnson appears to be as a head coach, how much he can change Jason Terry into a point guard by next season. That's not Terry's inclination.
The thing he does best is shoot, not pass. Do you want to take that away from him to create more opportunities for others? Or do you play him more like a shooting guard and let Howard and maybe Marquis Daniels, a player who needs a comeback season in a bad way, run the offense at least for stretches while Devin Harris continues up the learning curve?
None of these changes will matter and the Mavericks will not beat Phoenix or San Antonio in next year's playoffs to get to the conference finals if they don't simply shoot the basketball better. That's what you get from watching the Spurs go after the Suns.
There's a clamor out there to move Michael Finley to the bench and give Jerry Stackhouse Finley's minutes. Fine.
You just installed a black hole who shot lower than 39 percent from the field in the postseason into your starting five. Be careful what you wish for. Even Finley shot 42.5 percent.
But the player who has to shoot better and demonstrate at least some clue as to what being a leader is all about is Nowitzki. His remarks following the Game 6 loss were candid but scary.
He questioned the team's basketball IQ. While he did accept some of the blame, he continued to call out Jason Terry and Dampier. That's hard to listen to after watching Nowitzki shoot a measly 40.2 percent for the playoffs.
While Nash was igniting his team at the very end, Nowitzki missed his last six shots of Game 6, and the Mavericks called it a season. Yes, there were lapses on the defensive end, but you see the Spurs doing some of the same things against Phoenix.
There is no easy answer against the Suns, but the Spurs cause Phoenix more serious matchup problems. Shawn Marion can guard Nowitzki because Dirk, in seven years, hasn't developed a strong post game. Shawn Marion can't guard Duncan.
The Mavs couldn't take advantage of Joe Johnson's absence because neither Finley nor Stackhouse had a good shooting series, except for Stackhouse's occasional streaks. The Spurs take advantage with Ginobili, who is coming closer to proving that the best international basketball player plays in Texas.
But not in Dallas.
E-mail [email protected] ([email protected])
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/052605dnspocowlishaw.e3661003.html