my thoughts: shawn marion... makes the mavs a more clutch team?

[EmptyMan]

Marion is all hype. I want to see him try and challenge Finley on the post.



oh wait...

[Morg1411]

lol Mavericks hard-on thread

[mavs>spurs2]

sounds funny, but its true.

over the past few years, the mavs had to work hard for each and every point, and down the stretch, that will wear you down in a game and make it a lot harder to execute. not to mention, the only guys they could trust to create offense in the clutch was Dirk and Terry. it would basically turn into 2-on-5 because no one else knew how to really feed off of them for easy buckets.

during the few years the suns were good, their specialty on offense was that all they could do was get layups and dunks. easy buckets. but when defenses would clamp down, no one was capable of creating offense.

now the mavs still have their guys who can work and create offense, but having marion adds another dimension in which they can get easy buckets when the defense is focused on stopping Dirk and Terry.

marion's presence should definitely have a positive effect down the stretch for the mavs, in his ability to move without the ball and get easy buckets.

mavs have all the potential in the world. lets hope they build on this win and keep improving. they have a long ways to go.

Funny thing is, I was pretty much thinking this to myself last night during the game. When everyone starting keying in on Dirk and Terry, Maron scored something like 8 straight points when he came back into the game in the 4th. You're right he adds another dimension to this team that we haven't had since Jamison. Now if only we had a real center...

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

If Marion sticks to his role he might help Dallas in crunch time, the concern is when he tries to create for himself off the dribble. What he didn't have in Phoenix was a potent half court scorer like Dirk to take attention off him at the end of games. So far though he seems to be getting along with all of his teammates.

[badfish22]

Marion with a +37 last night

We just killed it when he was in the game.

[pauls931]

Marion brings two things, mainly defense, then rebounding. Regular season he can score, but playoff time, he dissapears when the defense locks down. However I think for the Mavs, they have more than enough scorers and only need him for D and Rebounding.

I love the fact he guarded kobe, everyone bragged about bell being tough on D, but marion was always the best, except when he has to guard Odom.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

I love the fact he guarded kobe, everyone bragged about bell being tough on D, but marion was always the best, except when he has to guard Odom.

Damn in right. It wasn't Marion's fault he couldn't guard Odom, Odom had 3-4 inches and 20-30 pounds on him. People (including myself), love to say the Suns "didn't play defense" from 2005-2007, but statistically they were a middle of the pack defensive team and when Marion left they went from middle of the pack to one of the worst.

[Allanon]

Kobe had a bad shooting night, it happens. I think Kobe will torch Marion the next time around.

Matrix was a great addition as I said in the pre-season, but I don't think he makes them any more clutch.

The Mavs as a team have to execute better in the fourth. They choked in the 4th when the Lakers got it down to 10 but it was the Lakers that choked at that point and the Mavs took advantage.

Mavs still have that 4th quarter choke tendency, the Lakers caught the choke last night, which is unusual.

[pauls931]

Damn in right. It wasn't Marion's fault he couldn't guard Odom, Odom had 3-4 inches and 20-30 pounds on him. People (including myself), love to say the Suns "didn't play defense" from 2005-2007, but statistically they were a middle of the pack defensive team and when Marion left they went from middle of the pack to one of the worst.

I agree, he always got stuck with the worst assignment on D. They had no one to match with Odom's size and no way bell was guarding him. If it wasn't for that mismatch, none of those series would have been close.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

I agree, he always got stuck with the worst assignment on D. They had no one to match with Odom's size and no way bell was guarding him. If it wasn't for that mismatch, none of those series would have been close.

Not only did he get stuck with the worst assignment (or 2nd worst in some situations), he was the team's best help defender and the team's best rebounder. That's the thing about the Shaq, bringing him in isn't what hurt so much, Kerr making that trade completely ignoring the importance of Marion was worse.

[JMarkJohns]

Marion brings two things, mainly defense, then rebounding. Regular season he can score, but playoff time, he dissapears when the defense locks down. However I think for the Mavs, they have more than enough scorers and only need him for D and Rebounding.

I love the fact he guarded kobe, everyone bragged about bell being tough on D, but marion was always the best, except when he has to guard Odom.

His defense is lacking some, or at least was the last handful of years. He was always much more of an athlete than true defender, and now that his athleticism is in decline, his defense is suffering. Maybe Carlisle can get him to become more fundamental in approach and technique?

[pauls931]

His defense is lacking some, or at least was the last handful of years. He was always much more of an athlete than true defender, and now that his athleticism is in decline, his defense is suffering. Maybe Carlisle can get him to become more fundamental in approach and technique?

Maybe it's an illusion being on Dallas compared to the other players.