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This piece of game doesnt deserve any thoughts
Our beloved Mavs beat the shorthanded Bobcats 95-90 to improve to 12-9, with 10 wins over the last 12 games.
But the only good thing about this victory was the result. In the game, the Mavs defense wasn't great, rebounding was bad, perimeter defense was bad, too many turnovers and at times, the offense was extremely inefficient. I know there is variance in NBA basketball, but it's still annoying that a team w/o it's best player G Wallace and with J Rich just traded hung with us until the final minute.
Kidd, Barea, and Terry seem to be incapable of keeping their man in front of them on the perimeter. This causes the defense to constantly break down and enter in scramble mode. Kidd is an above average defender still IMO, but most of his work is off the ball or against bigger guards.
Dirk/Terry were the best Mavs tonight, Kidd made some nice plays.
As has been custom this year, Dirk was having a really ty 4th quarter... 1/5, but the dagger at the end sealed victory.
It's hard to guage this team until JHo comes back. JHo does a lot of things that piss you off, and it's certainly possible that certain players play better in his absence, but as much as people think JHo has become a lazy jumpshooter I noticed him posting up more before his injury + he gets to the line 5-6 times a game, which isnt' great but is better than what can be expected out of his replacements George and Wright. In the long run, I think Howard would make the Mavs about 2-3 points better per game, which is significant.
Anywho, it's nice that we're 10-2 in the last 12 but the flaws of the Mavs are too many right now. The defense has regressed somewhat the past 4 games, and I feel it's probably due to the 3 guard lineups. Dirk has shot 33% in the 4the 4th this year, the offense is mediocre and inefficient, the rebounding is inconsistent... just a very inconsistent team, still good... but not great.
Dirk is having a great year, but that's because he's a great player. You get a sense though that he'll have to turn the clock back 2 years if the Mavs are able to contend. The Mavs are not good enough to win it all with Dirk playing at this particular level... just need a TAD bit more consistency shooting the ball and more FT's per game... I know it sounds irrational to criticize a 25/9 guy, but that's just the vibe I get.
Let's take care of business against the Thunder/Nuggets... 6-1 is the only acceptable homestand record in my book.
This piece of game doesnt deserve any thoughts
Why dont you just make one topic for the whole season en le "Our Beloved Mavs" instead of just flooding the board with a topic every night or so?
^ I'm not flooding the board, just one topic per night on Mavs games. An example of flooding the board would be tlongII's Blazers related posts.
Anywho, the Mavs have been flirting with disaster against lottery teams like the Clippers, Bobcats, Pacers, and Knicks even during this good stretch. You wonder, are the Mavs simply not good enough to beat these teams by solid margins? It'll catch up with us eventually too.
So you agree with me now that it's ing stupid that Dirk is not trying to get to the FT line anymore.
Sooner or later the 3 guard lineup is going to be exposed defensively, it's a gimmeck that can only work for so long.
BTW Okafar really took a dump on Erica and Dirk tonight for the first 3 quarters.
I mean, I have felt for a few weeks now that DIrk needs to get to the FT line more, I was just saying that he's still getting there 6-7 times a game. I feel it should be 8 a game though, especially if he's gonna play 38-39 minutes per night.
47-48% shooting, 7-8 FT's per game, 38-40% from behind the arc, and better 4th quarter shooting would please me with Dirk. I know that's a lot of numbers, but that's what I feel!
Dirk is the least of this teams problems, but we need to squeeze a little more out of him to be a contending team. Whether he is capable of that, and whether the complimentary pieces will space the floor for him to be capable of that, we will have to wait and see!
Yeah, Okafor had a nice game. I believe 26 points and 16 rebounds. But don't call our beloved Dampier Erica! I feel he's been very serviceable this year, offensive deficiencies aside.
In the 4th quarter, Dirk should make his living at the line, thats what all the great ones do..bc of Dirk's lack of 4th quarter efficency, JET has had to take on the load and during tonights broadcast they showed a stat that JET was 2nd in the league in 4th quarter field goals made. Dirk was no where on that list. JET should not have to carry this team in the 4th as he has done all year
Eric has been a man this season.
I don't know why but for some reason centers are always the most criticized players in basketball. I think it's just because fans see these big guys, and they want them to dominate, without understanding that at 7ft tall it's very hard to move around fluidly, let alone play with some of the greates athletes in the world. Damp is one of the best per minute rebounders in the league, and does as good of a job as anyone at protecting the rim. That's why he is here, people should chill on him. He has been a tremendous part of the success the Mavs have had. If you don't understand this than go back and watch tapes of last season when Avery insisted on playing Bass and Dirk too much, and our defense went downhill.
Why isn't Green and Williams getting any burn?
I had to mute the Bobcats announcers because of the way they pronounced Barea and Desagana.
Not sure on Williams/Green... I think Williams may be battling a minor injury... the emergence of Barea makes it harder to receive guard minutes... and George hasn't COMPLETELY sucked the last few games, so it's hard to take away minutes from him.
Green hadn't been looking good lately regardless... Williams adds some toughness to the team IMO.
Why is Devean George getting burn?
And Erica and his contract doesn't need anyone defending him. Not saying he hasn't helped, good thing for him since Diop has been as useful as Breath since they signed him to the full MLE.
See, it's about his contract now. Centers are an overpaid commodity in this league, they are a rarity and therefore get paid more. The thing with his contract is that:
1) You and I are not paying it, Mark is!
2) The Mavs were over the cap anyway, so it's not like his contract is killing our flexibility.
Damp is the 2nd best rebounder per minute in the NBA, that's pretty damn good man. But once in a while people will have a good game. And don't bring up Duncan, it's not like other teams can stop him.
A pirate went to see a movie. What was it rated?
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
It's amazing that he can secure that many rebounds but he can't hold onto a routine pass. In an odd twist of irony, his absolute re ation at catching passes actually forced him to pass it out to Kidd for that game tying 3 against the Spurs.
Damp has played pretty well this season all things considered, but the guy has deserved every last bit of roasting he recieves. He's overpaid, can't catch passes, has very little offensive ability, oftentimes he's meek on defense, and in seasons past has been pretty damn lazy in everything he does.
Holy crap, that game sucked.
I wonder what the mentality of our Mavs are. Do our players think we are a contender or do they, like most of the media and fans, think we're a fringe 1 and done playoff team?
I would rather they think the former than the latter, even if the former is somewhat delusional.
What concerns me about our beloved Mavs, as I've mentioned a few times earlier this year, is our lack of greatness in any aspect of the game. Defense, slashing, getting to the FT line, 3-PT shooting, offense, rebounding, 4th quarter, Dirk in the 4th quarter... you cannot say the Mavs are great at any of these things. And to win a championship, you have to be great at atleast something (usually defense and rebounding)... I was under the impression that we were in "win now" mode and that's what influenced the Kidd trade, so I don't feel my expectations are higher than what they should be.
Andit's been 21 games, so the Mavs are likely not going to suddenly morph into a juggernaut offense/defensive/rebounding team... that is too large of a sample size that eliminates most anomalies.
I just wanna see a little more efficiency/good basketball out of our beloved Mavs, but I just am not sure if we're physically capable of it. This begs for a trade.
We will see how things are when J-Ho comes back though... If J-Ho comes back without disrupting the rhythm Terry and Barea have acquired during the last few games, then it's a different story.
The Mavs are a 6-8 seed and first-round exit at this point.
and thats looking at it from a best case scenario
Yeah. This team needs to get another All-Star for nothing if it wants to even sniff Cleveland, LA or Boston.
The Mavs only hope is turing Stack contract into something similar to the Gasol deal last year. Mavs fans who think we can trade Diop on the 15th are crazy. He has no value with that crap contract and little if no production he brings. Diop = Jerome James and Ji Mcllvaine combined
I don't see why the #6 seed would be the best case scenario, especially since outside of the Lakers nobody has shown they're a clear cut #2 in the west.
The best case scenario for the Mavs would be to stay relatively healthy throughout the year, win a few "flukish" games, have some hot 3-PT shooting stretches, and finish with a #3 or #4 seed.
Now, that's not probable, but it's certainly a "best case scenario" that is plausible..
I think the Mavs have looked great after their rough start, far better than I'd have thought them capable when I was writing them off a month ago. If everyone can learn their role and embrace it then they can be dangerous. Kidd is clutch, and they need to be able to keep the game close or give him a lead and let him finish for them. This is their window, though.
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