Findog
04-18-2007, 10:36 AM
From today's edition of Slam:
http://slamonline.com/online/2007/04/nobody-clinched-anything-last-night-awesome/
I really want to commend Avery Johnson for this psychological ploy. You can tell that he has learned well from Gregg Popovich. Two seasons ago when the Suns and Spurs were the best in the West, they met up in a late regular season game. The Suns would have proven that they are on the Spurs level with a win. The Spurs would have proven hey we’re still the Spurs and we are invincible. But, if the Suns were to win that game, then it could have given them confidence and maybe planted a little doubt in the Spurs minds. So, Pop had Duncan and Ginobili sit out, and Amare scored 50 in a win that revealed nothing. In the playoffs that year, San Antonio won their Western Conference Finals showdown, in part due to their psychological edge.
Last night, by going with the B or C team, Avery prevented the Warriors from gaining what must already be a staggering amount of confidence against his team. If Dallas played Dirk, Howard, etc. and won, it would have been nice but the Warriors already know they can beat them. By holding out his two best players among others, Avery refused to let Golden State enjoy the feeling of “We OWN those guys.” Well played, Mr. Johnson. Also, by going hard to win the game, the Mavs would have been seen as panicking, feeling the need to knock a team out of the playoffs to control their own match-up. Which could be interpreted as fear. 66 win teams should fear having to play no one.
This is the best and most rational take I've heard so far. If you're a title team, you aren't going to be derailed by Golden State or anybody else. They're on a 15-5 tear to end the season, and there are some impressive wins in that stretch, beating us, Phoenix, the Pistons in Detroit, Utah, Washington twice, but they've also beaten a lot of crap teams tanking for Oden/Durant or playing out the string.
As for matchups, I think we're going to have our hands full trying to cover Davis, Richardson and Ellis since they're just as quick as our guards. But playoff basketball is different -- games are called tighter and there's a premium on who can get stops and execute better in the halfcourt. Nellie's smallball doesn't work against elite teams in the tournament. The Warriors can run and score but they can't guard an empty gym. Small ball is also hard to prepare for when you're on the 2nd night of a back to back and the Warriors coaches and players are up for you because you're the defending conference champs. Dallas lost the first game against Phoenix last year partly because they weren't quite ready for the Sun's speed in the open court and the transition D was horrible in the first game.
I'm calling it now, if we don't get one of the LA teams: Mavs in 6.
http://slamonline.com/online/2007/04/nobody-clinched-anything-last-night-awesome/
I really want to commend Avery Johnson for this psychological ploy. You can tell that he has learned well from Gregg Popovich. Two seasons ago when the Suns and Spurs were the best in the West, they met up in a late regular season game. The Suns would have proven that they are on the Spurs level with a win. The Spurs would have proven hey we’re still the Spurs and we are invincible. But, if the Suns were to win that game, then it could have given them confidence and maybe planted a little doubt in the Spurs minds. So, Pop had Duncan and Ginobili sit out, and Amare scored 50 in a win that revealed nothing. In the playoffs that year, San Antonio won their Western Conference Finals showdown, in part due to their psychological edge.
Last night, by going with the B or C team, Avery prevented the Warriors from gaining what must already be a staggering amount of confidence against his team. If Dallas played Dirk, Howard, etc. and won, it would have been nice but the Warriors already know they can beat them. By holding out his two best players among others, Avery refused to let Golden State enjoy the feeling of “We OWN those guys.” Well played, Mr. Johnson. Also, by going hard to win the game, the Mavs would have been seen as panicking, feeling the need to knock a team out of the playoffs to control their own match-up. Which could be interpreted as fear. 66 win teams should fear having to play no one.
This is the best and most rational take I've heard so far. If you're a title team, you aren't going to be derailed by Golden State or anybody else. They're on a 15-5 tear to end the season, and there are some impressive wins in that stretch, beating us, Phoenix, the Pistons in Detroit, Utah, Washington twice, but they've also beaten a lot of crap teams tanking for Oden/Durant or playing out the string.
As for matchups, I think we're going to have our hands full trying to cover Davis, Richardson and Ellis since they're just as quick as our guards. But playoff basketball is different -- games are called tighter and there's a premium on who can get stops and execute better in the halfcourt. Nellie's smallball doesn't work against elite teams in the tournament. The Warriors can run and score but they can't guard an empty gym. Small ball is also hard to prepare for when you're on the 2nd night of a back to back and the Warriors coaches and players are up for you because you're the defending conference champs. Dallas lost the first game against Phoenix last year partly because they weren't quite ready for the Sun's speed in the open court and the transition D was horrible in the first game.
I'm calling it now, if we don't get one of the LA teams: Mavs in 6.