DieMrBond
05-23-2006, 02:57 AM
Mavs were just too much for Spurs in Game 7
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 45 minutes ago
In the NBA's new dispensation, speed and quickness rule. And that's the primary reason why Dallas prevailed over the Spurs 118-111 Monday in Game 7 in another overtime squeaker to advance to the Western Conference finals.
Dallas takes Game 7 in San Antonio 119-112 to advance to the Western Finals. Hear Avery Johnson pose a familiar question about a Dallas sports team and Dirk Nowitzki discuss the great series.
The Mavs made their intentions known from the get-go by pushing the ball at every opportunity. Josh Howard and Jason Terry ran, drove, and shot the visitors into an early 20-point lead. Another early adjustment from Avery Johnson was to present Dirk Nowitzki with a baseline screen whereby his resulting cut forced Tim Duncan into switching out on him. Nowitzki burned Duncan for two big hoops (out of three tries) to help the Mavs jump ahead.
After the Spurs adjusted to this (by doubling Nowitzki), the Mavs moved their All-Star forward to a position in the middle of the court a step above the 3-point arc. The spacing thusly created made doubling him a risky business and allowed plenty of open lanes for cutters.
When the Spurs adjusted to this (by doubling Nowitzki and zoning the baseline), the Mavs' next trick was to use Nowitzki in high screen/rolls. The resulting switches created big-little mismatches, and once again compelled the Spurs to double-team. Some heads-up ball movement by all the Spurs generated open shots, layups, and spaces for the likes of Howard and Terry to operate one-on-one.
When the Spurs adjusted to this (by battling their way through the screens), the Mavs sent Nowtizki either into the low- or mid-post areas.
The Mavs, meanwhile, two-timed the posted Duncan on every catch, daring the Spurs to hit perimeter shots.
So, then, kudos to Johnson and his staff for coming up with an early game plan that maximized the Mavs' primary advantage (speed), mostly neutralized the reigning champs' greatest asset (Duncan), and forced San Antonio to succeed with the weakest aspect of their offense (their outside shooting).
Eventually, however, Duncan got into a pass-first rhythm, and Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, and Manu Ginobili made enough long-distance buckets to cause the Mavs to play TD straight-up. Dallas, though, occasionally two-timed Duncan on the move, just to keep him slightly off-balance.
But the Spurs had too much heart, resourcefulness, and self-respect to go belly up. In the second half, their doubles were quicker and tighter, their rotations more coordinated, their passing-lane-sniping more effective, and their offense more precise.
Meanwhile, Duncan was busily fouling out Keith Van Horn (who hit three triples before leaving) and hanging foul trouble on Erick Dampier. And the Spurs began pushing the ball.
As the game wore on, instead of running virtually every play through Duncan, Gregg Popovich dusted off the 1-4 formation that had Ginobili up top, and ready to shoot or drive, that had been so successful in Games 5 and 6. MG roared into the paint for a couple of lefty layups, then when the Mavs clustered in the lane, he made accurate passes to Duncan in traffic and Bowen and Finley on the outskirts.
Johnson tried to staunch the Spurs' advance by going small, then going big, then going small again. But nothing seemed to work. It was a trey by Finley that put the Spurs up by three as the fourth quarter raced toward the buzzer.
But the Mavs weren't done either. They showed their own resilience. If Terry and Stackhouse were having trouble locating the basket, Nowitzki became the hub of their offense. For 45 minutes Nowitzki was virtually unstoppable — hitting pull-ups, drives, fadeaways, turnarounds, and even climbing the offensive glass. It sure looked like Nowitzki had matured from being a softie into being a gamer.
Thanks AJ!
But then, in the last three minutes of regulation time, the No-Man apparently reverted to his habitual choke-in-the-clutch mode. That's when he shot an airball on a short flipper, missed a pair of open 17-footers, and committed a foolish foul while trying to capture an offensive rebound. After Terry missed a critical 20-footer, the Mavs seemed destined to disintegrate at the worst possible time.
Here we go again!
With Dallas down by three, however, and only seconds remaining, Nowitzki was the featured performer in the game's most important play. Operating under the duress of Bowen's ferocious defense, Nowitzki nevertheless drove to the ring, made a tight spin, hit a complicated layup despite being clobbered — then calmly buried the subsequent free throw.
The Spurs had a chance to salvage the game, and opted to set up Ginobili in their 1-4 spread. But Ginobili missed a very makeable lefty baby hook, and Duncan couldn't quite corral the rebound in time to put up a meaningful shot.
The overtime belonged to Dallas. The Spurs were worn out by their game-long chase, while Stackhouse and Terry still have lively legs and were too quick to be stopped. After Dampier fouled out, Johnson also made a big move when he inserted DeSagana Diop into the action.
Diop, who had been used sparingly in the game, paid immediate dividends: Dunking on a nifty S/R run in tandem with Terry. Snatching a tough offensive rebound and netting one of his two subsequent free throws. But, most of all, using his fresh legs to swarm Duncan's several attempts to score in the pivot.
Here's what TD managed against Diop in the extra period: Two missed flip-shots, a blown layup under heavy pressure and a missed put-back that followed, a hard-driving hook that rattled through the hoop. And a traveling violation. That's 1-of-5, plus a turnover.
Duncan, Ginobili, and the rest of the Spurs had run out of gas and out of miracles.
Throughout the series, the Mavs were clearly the better team. They were quicker, had a deeper bench, and had a much more diverse group of scorers. Somehow, Johnson had managed to fashion a quick-handed, fleet-footed defense out of a bunch of previously inept defenders. And that's exactly why he deserved his Coach of the Year award.
Credit the Spurs' courage, experience, relentless will-power, as well as the expertise of their coaches for extending a superior team to OT in Game 7.
Luck had nothing to do with the results, for as Branch Rickey famously said, "Luck is the residue of design." And the Dallas Maverick now have designs on the championship.
:depressed
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 45 minutes ago
In the NBA's new dispensation, speed and quickness rule. And that's the primary reason why Dallas prevailed over the Spurs 118-111 Monday in Game 7 in another overtime squeaker to advance to the Western Conference finals.
Dallas takes Game 7 in San Antonio 119-112 to advance to the Western Finals. Hear Avery Johnson pose a familiar question about a Dallas sports team and Dirk Nowitzki discuss the great series.
The Mavs made their intentions known from the get-go by pushing the ball at every opportunity. Josh Howard and Jason Terry ran, drove, and shot the visitors into an early 20-point lead. Another early adjustment from Avery Johnson was to present Dirk Nowitzki with a baseline screen whereby his resulting cut forced Tim Duncan into switching out on him. Nowitzki burned Duncan for two big hoops (out of three tries) to help the Mavs jump ahead.
After the Spurs adjusted to this (by doubling Nowitzki), the Mavs moved their All-Star forward to a position in the middle of the court a step above the 3-point arc. The spacing thusly created made doubling him a risky business and allowed plenty of open lanes for cutters.
When the Spurs adjusted to this (by doubling Nowitzki and zoning the baseline), the Mavs' next trick was to use Nowitzki in high screen/rolls. The resulting switches created big-little mismatches, and once again compelled the Spurs to double-team. Some heads-up ball movement by all the Spurs generated open shots, layups, and spaces for the likes of Howard and Terry to operate one-on-one.
When the Spurs adjusted to this (by battling their way through the screens), the Mavs sent Nowtizki either into the low- or mid-post areas.
The Mavs, meanwhile, two-timed the posted Duncan on every catch, daring the Spurs to hit perimeter shots.
So, then, kudos to Johnson and his staff for coming up with an early game plan that maximized the Mavs' primary advantage (speed), mostly neutralized the reigning champs' greatest asset (Duncan), and forced San Antonio to succeed with the weakest aspect of their offense (their outside shooting).
Eventually, however, Duncan got into a pass-first rhythm, and Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, and Manu Ginobili made enough long-distance buckets to cause the Mavs to play TD straight-up. Dallas, though, occasionally two-timed Duncan on the move, just to keep him slightly off-balance.
But the Spurs had too much heart, resourcefulness, and self-respect to go belly up. In the second half, their doubles were quicker and tighter, their rotations more coordinated, their passing-lane-sniping more effective, and their offense more precise.
Meanwhile, Duncan was busily fouling out Keith Van Horn (who hit three triples before leaving) and hanging foul trouble on Erick Dampier. And the Spurs began pushing the ball.
As the game wore on, instead of running virtually every play through Duncan, Gregg Popovich dusted off the 1-4 formation that had Ginobili up top, and ready to shoot or drive, that had been so successful in Games 5 and 6. MG roared into the paint for a couple of lefty layups, then when the Mavs clustered in the lane, he made accurate passes to Duncan in traffic and Bowen and Finley on the outskirts.
Johnson tried to staunch the Spurs' advance by going small, then going big, then going small again. But nothing seemed to work. It was a trey by Finley that put the Spurs up by three as the fourth quarter raced toward the buzzer.
But the Mavs weren't done either. They showed their own resilience. If Terry and Stackhouse were having trouble locating the basket, Nowitzki became the hub of their offense. For 45 minutes Nowitzki was virtually unstoppable — hitting pull-ups, drives, fadeaways, turnarounds, and even climbing the offensive glass. It sure looked like Nowitzki had matured from being a softie into being a gamer.
Thanks AJ!
But then, in the last three minutes of regulation time, the No-Man apparently reverted to his habitual choke-in-the-clutch mode. That's when he shot an airball on a short flipper, missed a pair of open 17-footers, and committed a foolish foul while trying to capture an offensive rebound. After Terry missed a critical 20-footer, the Mavs seemed destined to disintegrate at the worst possible time.
Here we go again!
With Dallas down by three, however, and only seconds remaining, Nowitzki was the featured performer in the game's most important play. Operating under the duress of Bowen's ferocious defense, Nowitzki nevertheless drove to the ring, made a tight spin, hit a complicated layup despite being clobbered — then calmly buried the subsequent free throw.
The Spurs had a chance to salvage the game, and opted to set up Ginobili in their 1-4 spread. But Ginobili missed a very makeable lefty baby hook, and Duncan couldn't quite corral the rebound in time to put up a meaningful shot.
The overtime belonged to Dallas. The Spurs were worn out by their game-long chase, while Stackhouse and Terry still have lively legs and were too quick to be stopped. After Dampier fouled out, Johnson also made a big move when he inserted DeSagana Diop into the action.
Diop, who had been used sparingly in the game, paid immediate dividends: Dunking on a nifty S/R run in tandem with Terry. Snatching a tough offensive rebound and netting one of his two subsequent free throws. But, most of all, using his fresh legs to swarm Duncan's several attempts to score in the pivot.
Here's what TD managed against Diop in the extra period: Two missed flip-shots, a blown layup under heavy pressure and a missed put-back that followed, a hard-driving hook that rattled through the hoop. And a traveling violation. That's 1-of-5, plus a turnover.
Duncan, Ginobili, and the rest of the Spurs had run out of gas and out of miracles.
Throughout the series, the Mavs were clearly the better team. They were quicker, had a deeper bench, and had a much more diverse group of scorers. Somehow, Johnson had managed to fashion a quick-handed, fleet-footed defense out of a bunch of previously inept defenders. And that's exactly why he deserved his Coach of the Year award.
Credit the Spurs' courage, experience, relentless will-power, as well as the expertise of their coaches for extending a superior team to OT in Game 7.
Luck had nothing to do with the results, for as Branch Rickey famously said, "Luck is the residue of design." And the Dallas Maverick now have designs on the championship.
:depressed