the mavs still need to play defense and there is nothing that indicates they will be doing this any better than they have in the past.
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the mavs still need to play defense and there is nothing that indicates they will be doing this any better than they have in the past.
I think the mavs will struggle on offense.
none of the guys they brought in can create thier own shot, and Kidd's ability to create shots for others is dwindling every year.
Terry and Howard both relied on quickness and athleticism to generate offense and Terry at least is on the downslope of his career, Howard has probably reached his ceiling also and is now only getting older.
they are going to rely more than ever Nowitzki, Good teams will shut down Terry and Barea, maybe even Howard...
I think Marion will make things very tough for the Spurs. I expect them to use him in multiple positions - though he's traditionally a SF, I see them using him primarily as a SG and PF. Both positions allow him to play with their other forwards, Howard and Nowitzki, on the floor.
As a SG, his length would make for a tough match-up, particularly if Manu's not 100% healthy. And Marion's ability to rebound as a 2-guard would really hurt us (with Kidd that would easily be the best rebounding backcourt in the league). In the flash of a substition (say Terry in for Dampier), Marion becomes the PF, Dirk moves to center and Duncan is forced into a very difficult defensive assignment. The Mavs have used this at the end of games against Spurs (Dirk as the lone big man) and it generally gives us fits. Obviously I don't like Duncan having to guard Dirk at the 3-pt line, and putting him on Marion would really tie up his legs - maybe we're forced to play zone?
On the other end it's not a great match-up for them, but I'd rather have Dirk guarding Duncan than Duncan guarding Dirk (I absolutley love Tim, but there was a reason Dirk was 1st team All-NBA last year and not TD). And then, while it's a struggle for us having one big out there, I can't imagine we'd have another, say McDyess, Bonner, Blair, etc? So who, Finley, Mason, Hill?
And Gortat's a nice addition for them as well. In the Denver series they got killed by the athletic bigs - along with Marion this will help.
I think RJ will be a more valuable addition for us than Marion for Dallas OVERALL, that is throughout the season. But in the team match-up, I fear Marion's versatility may trump him. Hopefully this is just my natural tempering of enthusiasm, go Spurs...