Mavs@ Suns sunday

[ponky]

Suns D was a tale of two halves... really only saw anything good coming out in the 4th quarter and then the Mavs started pressing too hard to try and come back, so it made it look even better than it was.

Yes, I haven't gotten anything decent (aka - not a really drunk/embarrassing hookup) since I broke up with my gf about 3 1/2 weeks ago. Also, this girl just got a boob job about a month ago and I will tell you that doctor did some great work... she was kind flat-chested before, but if you're gonna live in Dallas, you're gonna have to visit the plastic surgeon I suppose...

some of us are naturally endowed...haha, anyway congrats on the 'tang and the win! it's a cool night out, time for a jog with my great pyr

[DubMcDub]

mavs and suns both won 2 games each now if I rember right
also marion bricked 2 free throws that would have won the game
and dirk made a three at the buzzer for a mavs win

mavs are lucky suns did not sweep the mavs this regualar season

This post is just so grossly incorrect I had to comment.

Mavs won the first game in PHX by 7. Mavs won the 2nd game when Dirk hit a 2 (not at the buzzer). Suns had another chance to tie/win it with 2 seconds left and couldnt get it done.

And you can point out Marion missing FT's as "the Mavs getting lucky" all you want, but then why don't we just do that for everything:

-Miami was lucky to win the le last year because Dirk missed a critical FT in game 5.

-Phoenix was lucky to win the 3rd game against the Mavs this year because The Mavs went 2-6 from the FT line in the final 40 seconds.

-The Spurs were lucky to beat the Suns in their first matchup this year because Raja Bell missed a FT at the end of regulation.

I could go on and on man. I think it's hilarious that you cite the Mavs as "lucky" that Marion missed some FT's when you completely ignore the fact that the Mavs missed 4 in the final minute of the game in Dallas 2 weeks ago. I guess lucky only applies when the Mavs benefit from it?

[LEONARD]

Well that sucked...

Cool. Now Dallas has to go undefeated the rest of season if they want to reach 70. Not likely now.

We can't have Dallas winning 70. Probably will be 69-13 or 68-14 now. I'm glad even though if Phoenix loses SA is only 1 1/2 games behind.

Are they still a top team? Yes. But we don't want them sitting in NBA history next to MJ's 70-win Bulls.

It's a good thing the players and fans don't give a $hit about 70 wins...

Teams that allow 68% (Phoenix shot that for the game) shooting don't win championships.

Do teams that lose at home to the Pacers?

I love how you always pull stats from single games and try to draw broad conclusions Jeff

No one downplayed it because it was never hyped up to begin with.

The Spurs are just being the Spurs and beating junk teams without getting credit for it, like always.

#1 Spurs fan...I mean, jinxer

[monosylab1k]

The Suns have to play just like that 4 times in a 7 game series to beat Dallas. Not likely. Even less likely considering they'll have to fight for their lives just to get past San Antonio in round 2.

[Shank]

The Suns would have to shoot 65% 4 times to beat Dallas in a series. That's like 260% shooting. No one can shoot 260%. It's impossible.

[LEONARD]

The Suns would have to shoot 65% 4 times to beat Dallas in a series. That's like 260% shooting. No one can shoot 260%. It's impossible.

Good point...damn, I didn't think of that...

Mavs will take a Suns series for sure...

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I don't really visit the Mavs boards often but seeing as how both our teams lost yesterday (though at least yours was to a worthy opponent whereas ours was to a JV girls team) do the Mavs fans on their board overreact as much as Spurs fans do over a loss on our board?


I'm just tryin to figure out of some of us are psycho or if all sports fans are like this

[Shank]

I don't really visit the Mavs boards often but seeing as how both our teams lost yesterday (though at least yours was to a worthy opponent whereas ours was to a JV girls team) do the Mavs fans on their board overreact as much as Spurs fans do over a loss on our board?


I'm just tryin to figure out of some of us are psycho or if all sports fans are like this

Nah, just keep things in perspective and remain humble as a fan. There's always some kneejerking, but it's minimal now that the regular season is starting to round out.

[HeatFan007]

The Suns have to play just like that 4 times in a 7 game series to beat Dallas. Not likely. Even less likely considering they'll have to fight for their lives just to get past San Antonio in round 2.

Are you a moron? They'd have to play like that 4 times in a 7 game series to KILL Dallas, by an average of 22 points, not just beat them.

[monosylab1k]

Are you a moron? They'd have to play like that 4 times in a 7 game series to KILL Dallas, by an average of 22 points, not just beat them.

if you think they're going to shoot 65% every game in the playoffs, or even 1 in 5 games, you're insane. but i wouldn't expect anything less from somebody who endorses "blowing ass".

i'm as pissed as anyone about Dallas mailing this game in, but the bottom line is this: Phoenix NEEDED this game, Dallas didn't.

when the playoffs come around and Dallas turns their intensity way up, things won't go this way ever again.

it's a moot point tho, because Phoenix is going to lose to San Antonio.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Are you a moron? They'd have to play like that 4 times in a 7 game series to KILL Dallas, by an average of 22 points, not just beat them.

I think, like the last Spurs-Suns game, the score is a bit askew


I don't think it was nearly as much of a blowout as the score indicated.


For those that watched the game, while Dallas may have never taken the lead in the 2nd half (I don't think) they were still within 5-6 points for most of the third. Same deal with SA. It was a neck and neck game, up until the latter half of the fourth when Phoenix kicked it up a notch and to their credit blew the game open.

So yeah, I don't think Phoenix will shoot 65% for the series, and at the end of the day, it comes down to defense. While I think should DAL-PHX meet in the playoffs the games will be high scoring, but AJ hopefully knows enough that trying to run and gun with phoenix isn't going to work and keeping the score under 100 if possible is key.

Also, as stated many times before, Dampier's absence was crucial. I was stunned at Diop's lack of production, considering how impressed I normally am with his D on Duncan, but 3 rebounds in 26 minutes isn't going to cut it. With Damp back in, the rebounding falls back in the Mavs favor, and we all know how crucial rebounding is when it comes to winning games.

You can't stress that enough.

[mabber]

I think, like the last Spurs-Suns game, the score is a bit askew


I don't think it was nearly as much of a blowout as the score indicated.


For those that watched the game, while Dallas may have never taken the lead in the 2nd half (I don't think) they were still within 5-6 points for most of the third. Same deal with SA. It was a neck and neck game, up until the latter half of the fourth when Phoenix kicked it up a notch and to their credit blew the game open.

So yeah, I don't think Phoenix will shoot 65% for the series, and at the end of the day, it comes down to defense. While I think should DAL-PHX meet in the playoffs the games will be high scoring, but AJ hopefully knows enough that trying to run and gun with phoenix isn't going to work and keeping the score under 100 if possible is key.

Also, as stated many times before, Dampier's absence was crucial. I was stunned at Diop's lack of production, considering how impressed I normally am with his D on Duncan, but 3 rebounds in 26 minutes isn't going to cut it. With Damp back in, the rebounding falls back in the Mavs favor, and we all know how crucial rebounding is when it comes to winning games.

You can't stress that enough.

While both Damp & Diop are inconsistent, I think Damp is a much more consistent rebounder than Diop. I think Damp could have played if the game was important but they are being cautious with him. The Suns aren't a team that he plays a lot of minutes against anyway.

[Dirk41MVP]

we were missing our most important player in defense (damp), his defense, rebounding were not there. We had to play small ball with dirk and george most of the game, gimme a f'ing break. We'll never beat the Clippers in the 1st round like that...

We've proven we can defend that team, go back to the last game in march 14. Sure we didn't lock them down for the entire game (specially with avery and his defense schemes), but in the 3rd we locked them down and turned a double-digit deficit into a double-digit lead....

Phoenix just had one of those nights when everything you throw up, goes in. If you think they'll shoot 65% for an entire series, you're a . Avery will put a uniform and knock nash on his ass before that happens, there's just no way...

Props to Phoenix they shot lights out, and played as good as any team can play another team.

Edit: Poster above me, I can see you know nothing of the team you call yourself a fan of. Damp's the main man against amare now, he anchors our defense, our rebounding and contains penetration . The last game he had 11 offensive boards that game us many more shots, those same boards and that defensive presence were missing last night...

I'd like to see the Spurs defense without Tim Duncan play against the Suns, now THAT would be fun...

[Amuseddaysleeper]

oh I agree with Damp being a much better rebounder. I just didn't expect only 3 boards from a 7 footer in 26 minutes.

Those are Oberto numbers right there!

But I'm sure he was having an off game, cuz I know Diop is better than that (I think)

[Dirk41MVP]

diop is not known for his great rebounding actually. His #'s are not those of a 7 footer in terms of rebounding. And especially this season, his production has dipped from last year. He needs to get his together come playoff time and go back to last year's Diop, he hardly did anything last night...

With that said, give Phoenix credit they made shots, not many rebounds to get when your opponent shoots 65 % for the game. Good thing we lost this bad right now and the mavs have tape to look at if we play them in the PO's so we won't do the same errors we did last night.

[mabber]

oh I agree with Damp being a much better rebounder. I just didn't expect only 3 boards from a 7 footer in 26 minutes.

Those are Oberto numbers right there!

But I'm sure he was having an off game, cuz I know Diop is better than that (I think)

No one but Howard & Stack came to play. That was the worst game I've seen Dirk play in a long, long time. Not only did he have a weak offensive game but he was, easily, the worst defender on the court yesterday.

It's slightly strange for this particular Mav team to not show up (at least on defense) as Avery has been able to keep them focused most of the season.

[mavsfan1000]

Also a lineup change from D'antoni I thought was very smart was putting Barbosa in the starting lineup and going even smaller. Dirk was forced to guard either Marion which tired him out on the offensive end. I think that lineup change really helped Phoenix in this game on the offensive end and caused Dirk to have a bad game.

[mabber]

diop is not known for his great rebounding actually. His #'s are not those of a 7 footer in terms of rebounding. And especially this season, his production has dipped from last year. He needs to get his together come playoff time and go back to last year's Diop, he hardly did anything last night...

With that said, give Phoenix credit they made shots, not many rebounds to get when your opponent shoots 65 % for the game. Good thing we lost this bad right now and the mavs have tape to look at if we play them in the PO's so we won't do the same errors we did last night.

Suns didn't do anything that anyone hasn't seen. The Mavs made all the defernsive errors that the coaches told them not to make. Yeah, give the Suns credit for making the open shots but I don't think the Mavs can learn anything from this game in regards to X's & O's. They just didn't execute the defensive game plan.

[Mavschick]

Suns didn't do anything that anyone hasn't seen. The Mavs made all the defernsive errors that the coaches told them not to make. Yeah, give the Suns credit for making the open shots but I don't think the Mavs can learn anything from this game in regards to X's & O's. They just didn't execute the defensive game plan.

They haven't executed the defensive game plan the past 3 games. How they let two mediocre offensive teams like NYY and MIL which was without Bogut and Villanueva score 103 points and nearly beat them is a mystery. It's funny how the Mavs have these more-than-occasional 3-4-game stretches of spotty defensive play.

[Dirk41MVP]

They didn't make just open shots, they made shots from all over the court, contested and not contested...

Barbosa was awesome with his 3 pointers, nash was his efficient self again, amare made jumper after jumper with people in his face (when's the last time amare's shot was THAT good?), Diaw killed jet on those switches when jet was forced to guard him on the post, marion got dunks, layups, etc., even james jones shot 50% from the field...

That was a complete offensive display. They scored 100 points in 36 minutes!!, The mavericks made errors no doubt, but when the suns are hot, there's just nothing anybody can do. You're a fool though If you think the solars will shoot 65% for a 7-game series, especially after a series with Denver? and San Antonio.

To me, it looks like avery still doesn't know how to defend the solars, especially in the pick n' roll. I know 1 thing can't happen and that's for Diop to guard nash in the perimeter and terry/harris to end up on diaw or Stoudemire on the block. That can be looked at in film, cause I don't think the mavs stand a chance if they keep on switching on every single pick 'n roll.

I agree with the game plan thing too though, this tea, has looked completely out of focused as of late. I doubt we'll play that bad in the Playoffs though, the guys know the importance of these regular season games, especially with a 6 game lead over our closest opponent...

mavsfan1000: I thought of that too when I saw Diaw checking into the game. I thought he wasn't playing due to injury or something like that, but D'antoni wanted Dirk to guard marion and not diaw and did that line-up change with that intent... That being said, there's still no excuse for Dirk and especially devin (2-8 fg, 6 points) to play as bad as they did last night.

[RonMexico]

All-in-all: good points... Suns/Spurs game this Thursday is very important too for a playoff preview.

Hope the Suns can finally get over the hump, even though it would mean a Mavs team is waiting in the CF.

[atxrocker]

mav fans got on again. second round losers, book it.

[LEONARD]

mav fans got on again. second round losers, book it.

Wow....